Pope Saint John Paul II noted, when Jesus calls His mother “woman” from the cross, He is showing us that she is the “woman” whom God said would have total enmity with the seducer of mankind and be with the Redeemer. In what is called the protevangelium (or “first gospel” announcing our redemption), God tells the serpent in the Garden that He “will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike at your head while you strike at his heel” (Gn 3:15).
