Benedict XVI has launched a book on 'Mary, the mother of Jesus,' which invites children to discover the teachings of the Virgin and put your hands in the joys and difficulties of everyday life.

Published in Italian by the Piccola Casa Editrice, the book relies on the introduction of the new archbishop of Milan, Cardinal Angelo Scola, who recalls that "the first face that we all saw, once born, was the mother."

"Little by little you learn to recognize and respond to your smile, confident learning to distinguish the faces of others in life. And so it was with Jesus."

Over 48 pages, the teachings of Pope illustrate the principal events of Mary's life and explain the meaning of the feasts that were instituted by the Catholic Church in his honor.

This is done with the help of a set of representations Marian, which includes the so-called "Virgin of Tenderness," an image of the Byzantine tradition depicting the baby Jesus with his face resting on his mother.

The Cardinal is just a description that makes the Pope a book on the Byzantine tradition, the Virgin "tenderness."

This figure "shows the child Jesus with the face resting - cheek to cheek - the Mother of the boy look at the mother, and she looks at us, almost mirroring what watches and prays, the tenderness of God, it descended from heaven and incarnate in the Son who takes into his arms. "

In the introduction released by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, the cardinal recalled that the Virgin conceived without sin, "they lived our joys and sorrows, the same hard times and our toil and enthusiasm ... but always trusting in God and trusting in God ".

"And this is the difference that makes a dignified and beautiful, as he says elsewhere in this book, Pope Benedict:" only God is great, so man is great. With Mary, we must begin to understand that this is so. "

Maria says the cardinal, "teaches us not to discourage us in the face of things do not happen or that affect us, nor before our mistakes, if they have the humility to recognize them and ask forgiveness, even before the terrible mystery of death "that she lived face to face at the foot of the Cross of her Son Jesus, who is soon overcome with the joy of the Resurrection on Holy Saturday.

Cardinal Scola concludes with a recommendation to read this book recalled: "I suggest a simple way" to trust in the Virgin: "pray, kneeling beside their beds, a Hail Mary every night. I did well and helped me a lot ".