The word of Jesus on the cross responds to the longing of the beloved disciple and deepens this longing before it is fulfilled. The disciple receives a happiness, a favor, that he did not even dare to dream of. He draws so close to his God that from now on he will regard the very Mother of his God as his own. To prevent his heart from fainting at the thought of such unthinkable dignity, the Savior’s words “this is your mother” come to establish and found in his heart a love unknown to all previous ages: a love that from this moment forward will enter the hearts of the most wretched disciples, through which they become the Savior’s brothers to such an extent that His Mother becomes their mother.
(Cardinal Charles Journet /1891–1975/, The Seven Words of Christ on the Cross)
