John, the only one of the Twelve present at Calvary, saw and testified that beneath the cross stood Jesus’ mother together with the other women (cf. Jn 19:25). And he heard with his own ears the last words of the Master, among which were these: “Woman, here is your son!” and then, turning to him, “Here is your mother!” (Jn 19:26-27).

Mary’s motherhood through the mystery of the Cross took an unimaginable leap: the mother of Jesus became the new Eve, the source of new and eternal life for every person who comes into the world. (…) The fruitfulness of the Church is the same fruitfulness as Mary’s; it is realized in the lives of her members to the extent that they relive, “in miniature,” what the Mother lived, namely, they love according to the love of Jesus. All the fruitfulness of the Church depends on the Cross of Christ. (Pope Leo XIV, Jubilee of the Holy See, 9 June 2025)