Introduction to Mary

Transcription

NTRODUCTION TO M ARY
The Heart of Marian Doctrine and Devotion
NTRODUCTION TO MARY
The Heart of Marian Doctrine and Devotion
Mark Mir avalle
Foreword by
Edouard Cardinal Gagnon, P.s.s.
New Revised Edition
QUEENSHIP PUBLISHING
NIHIL OBSTAT
Father James Dunfee
Censor Librorum
IMPRIMATUR
Most Reverend Gilbert Sheldon
Bishop of Steubenville
January 12, 1993
© Mark I. Miravalle, S.T.D.
All rights reserved.
Library of Congress Number: 93-083229
First Edition – 1992
Second Edition – March, 2006
Third Edition – June, 2006
Queenship Publishing
P.O. Box 220
Goleta, CA 93116
(800) 647-9882, (805) 692-0043, Fax: (805) 967-5843
Printed in the United States of America
ISBN 1-882972-06-6
DEDICATION
To the Spiritual Mother of All Peoples;
and to my wife, Lysbeth,
and our precious children,
John-Mark, Michael, Sr. Maria, Mariana,
Joseph, Annaleah, Mary-Bernadette and Philumena.
Contents
Foreword by His Eminence, Edouard Cardinal Gagnon ......... 1
Preface .................................................................................. 3
Chapter One: The Truth About Mary ................................ 5
Chapter Two: What Is Devotion to Mary? ....................... 13
Chapter Three: Mary in Scripture ..................................... 23
Mary in the Old Testament ............................................. 24
Mary in the New Testament ............................................ 30
Chapter Four: Mary in the Early Church .......................... 41
Chapter Five: The Four Marian Dogmas .......................... 51
The Mother of God ......................................................... 52
The Perpetual Virginity .................................................. 56
The Immaculate Conception ........................................... 64
The Assumption of Mary ................................................ 72
Chapter Six: Mother of All Peoples ................................... 83
Spiritual Motherhood ...................................................... 84
Maternal Mediation ......................................................... 88
Co-redemptrix .......................................................... 94
Mediatrix of All Graces ........................................... 102
Advocate .................................................................. 114
Mary and the Church ...............................................119
Chapter Seven: The Greatest Marian Prayer ................... 127
What Is the Rosary? ...................................................... 128
Brief History of the Rosary ............................................131
Essential Qualities of the Rosary ................................... 136
Fruits of Praying the Rosary .......................................... 144
The Family Rosary ........................................................145
Chapter Eight: Consecration to Jesus Through Mary ..... 153
What Is Marian Consecration? .......................................153
St. Louis Marie de Montfort ...........................................156
Marian Consecration in Modern Papal Teaching ........... 164
Marian Consecration and the Brown Scapular ............... 172
Chapter Nine: Mary in Private Revelation ..................... 181
Nature and Purpose of Private Revelation ..................... 182
Criteria for Evaluation of Reported Apparitions .............185
Marian Message to the Modern World .......................... 189
Miraculous Medal.................................................... 190
Lourdes.................................................................... 191
Fatima ..................................................................... 194
Medjugorje .............................................................. 204
Amsterdam .............................................................. 207
Chapter Ten: Responding to Ten Common Objections...... 213
Conclusion ......................................................................... 231
Appendix: Marian Prayers ................................................ 233
How to Pray the Rosary ............................................... 234
Total Consecration Prayer to Jesus Through Mary ........ 241
Index .................................................................................. 251
For ewor d
How important it is for us all to turn to the Mother of God
and our Mother in our present historical moment for the Church
and for the world.
The more we know of the extraordinary prerogatives of the
Mother of God, the more we will love this Mother as our own.
The more we will love this Mother, the more we will go to her
with true confidence and hope in the midst of our daily needs: in
the face of our numerous domestic and national situations which
cause us anxiety and worry, in the presence of world concerns of
fratricidal struggle and terrorism, of poverty and plague, of global
events of significant historic magnitude.
We must also keep in mind that Our Lady bears the ancient
title and role of “Conqueror of All Heresies.” Do we not also
have great need for the exercise of this role in our present era of
the Church when strange and concerning ideas are being voiced,
doctrinal and moral positions which deny basic truths of divine
revelation and the natural law, such as human life beginning at
conception; the intrinsic evil of contraception; that marriage is
only possible between a man and a woman; the divinity and
celibacy of Jesus Christ, and many more? We need our Lady,
who protects the Church by protecting the depositum fidei and by
guarding the Tradition and Life of the People of God in faithful
discipleship to the Crucified and Risen Lord.
Dr. Mark Miravalle, Professor of Theology and Mariology
at the Franciscan University of Steubenville, is internationally
renowned for his unquestioned f idelit y to the Church’s
Magisterium and for his outstanding scholarship and love in honor
1
2
I n t r o duc t i o n t o M a r y
of the Blessed Mother. You can rest assured that the Mariology
contained in his excellent work, Introduction to Mary, is a true
and faithful summary of Catholic teaching on the Mother of the
Lord, and at the same time will inspire you to a greater devotion
to the Mother that the Crucified Jesus gave personally to each
one of us from the Cross (cf. Jn. 19:25-27). Introduction to Mary
is a must for every Catholic library, at school and at home.
Edouard Cardinal Gagnon, P.s.s.
President Emeritus, Pontifical Council for the Family
President Emeritus, Pontifical Committee
for International Eucharistic Congresses
P r e face
Introduction to Mary comes as a response to repeated requests
from Mariology students, Marian conference members, and friends
in and out of the Catholic Faith, for a contemporary book that
would present the fundamental elements of both authentic Catholic
doctrine and devotion regarding Mary, the Mother of Jesus.
Far from being a comprehensive treatment of Mariology (the
study of the theology of Mary), the goal of this work is rather to
synthesize Marian doctrine and devotion so as to serve as a basic
introduction for both the parish study group and the college
classroom, for both the inquiring non-Catholic and the longstanding
Catholic. For a more extensive work on Marian doctrine and
devotion, I would refer you to the three volume American work,
Mariology, edited by the late Juniper Carol, O.F.M. (Milwaukee:
Bruce Publishing Co., 1955-61), the Irish study by Fr. Michael
O’Carroll C.S.Sp., Theotokos: A Theological Encyclopedia of the Blessed
Virgin Mary, (Delaware: Michael Glazier, Inc., 1983), or the Italian
work by Fr. Gabriel M. Roschini, O.S.V., Maria Santissima Nella
Storia Della Salvezza (Editrice M. Pisani, 1969, 3 volumes).
We find ourselves in the midst of a Marian reawakening. Any
authentic renewal of the heart towards the Mother of Jesus must
be firmly based on the truth about Our Lord’s Mother as taught
by the Church’s Magisterium. I pray that this work will in some
small way help to articulate the proper doctrinal and devotional
foundation to what many of our contemporaries see as a climax
of our presently designated “Age of Mary.”
Mark Miravalle
Professor of Theology and Mariology
Franciscan University of Steubenville
3
4
Chapter One
T HE T RUTH A BOUT M A RY
Holy Mary, Mother of God, you have given the world its true
light, Jesus, your Son—the Son of God. You abandoned yourself
completely to God’s call and thus became a wellspring of the goodness
which flows forth from him. Show us Jesus. Lead us to him. Teach
us to know and love him, so that we too can become capable of
true love and be fountains of living water in the midst of a thirsting
world.
Pope Benedict XVI
Encyclical Deus Caritas Est, No. 42
In discussing the person and role of Mary, Mother of Jesus,
two extremes must always be avoided. The first extreme is Marian
excess. This is to place the Blessed Virgin on the level of a goddess,
to ascribe to Mary a divine nature that would grant her equality
with God himself. This excess radically violates the revealed
biblical truth about the singularity of God and the complete
though exalted humanity of Mary. Although historically there
have been very few occasions when the Mother of Jesus has been
posed as a “goddess,” nonetheless, it remains a Marian excess
that is obviously a grave rejection of and danger to the Christian
faith.
The second extreme regarding the person and role of the
Blessed Virgin is what we can call Marian defect. This is to
5
6
minimize the role of the Blessed Virgin, to ascribe to Mary
less than what the sources of divine revelation reveal about her.
Marian defect, for example, would limit the Mother of Jesus
to being only a “good disciple,” a “sister in the Lord,” a mere
“physical channel of Jesus,” but nothing more.
Un for t unately it is th is second ex t reme of Mar ian
minimalization that is encountered more widely today. This
extreme also violates the revealed truth of the role of the Blessed
Virgin, for Mary is revealed, as we shall discuss, both as intercessor
and as Spiritual Mother to all humanity. To deny Mary the role
of Spiritual Mother is to deny that aspect so central to her own
identity, and to her relationship with Christ and his Body, the
Church.
As we will examine, examples of Mary’s role as intercessor
and Spiritual Mother are clear in Scripture in such places as John
2:1, at the Wedding of Cana, where Mary intercedes for the first
miracle of Jesus, as well as in John 19:26, where at the foot of
the Cross Mary is given the role of Spiritual Mother of John, the
beloved disciple, and all later disciples of the Lord.
We can fi nd warnings concerning these extremes, Marian
excess and Marian defect, generally referred to in a statement
from the Second Vatican Council regarding the proper balance
of devotion to the Mother of Jesus:
It [the Council] strongly urges theologians and
preachers of the word of God to be careful to
refrain as much from all false exaggeration as
from too summary an attitude in considering the
special dignity of the Mother of God. Following
the study of Sacred Scripture, the Fathers, the
doctors and liturgy of the Church, and under the
guidance of the Church’s magisterium, let them
rightly illustrate the duties and privileges of the
Blessed Virgin which always refer to Christ, the
Th e Tru t h A b o u t M a r y
7
source of all truth, sanctity, and devotion (Lumen
Gentium, No. 67).
What then safeguards the Christian from these two Marian
extremes? What protects us from a “false exaggeration” in Marian
excess or “too summary an attitude” in forms of Marian defect?
The answer is the full truth and corresponding love properly
attributed to the Mother of the Lord as officially taught and
preserved by the Magisterium of the Catholic Church. The
Magisterium is that official teaching authority that Our Lord
has granted to his Apostles and their successors, who, guided by
the Holy Spirit, have the crucial responsibility to safeguard, interpret, and serve divine revelation, which is the revelation of God
as contained in both Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture.
Let us return to the words of the Second Vatican Council to
see how God’s full Word is revealed to us:
In order that the full and living Gospel might
always be preserved in the Church the apostles
left bishops as their successors. They gave them
“their own position of teaching authority.” This
sacred Tradition, then, and the sacred Scripture of
both Testaments, are like a mirror, in which the
Church, during its pilgrim journey here on earth,
contemplates God.... Sacred Scripture is the speech
of God as it is put down in writing under the
breath of the Holy Spirit. And Tradition transmits
in its entirety the Word of God which has been
entrusted to the apostles...so that, enlightened by
the Spirit of truth, they may faithfully preserve,
expound and spread it abroad by their preaching.
Thus it comes about that the Church does not
draw her certainty about all revealed truths from
the holy Scriptures alone. Hence, both Scripture
8
and Tradition must be accepted and honored with
equal feelings of devotion and reverence.1
The Council points out that there is one twinfold source of
God’s revelation to humanity. The first aspect of this one twinfold
source is Sacred Tradition. Sacred Tradition comprises the oral
truths and acts of Jesus Christ transmitted to the Apostles and
their successors (the pope and the bishops in union with the pope)
under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Vatican II describes Sacred
Tradition in the following way:
The apostolic preaching, which is expressed in
a special way in the inspired books, was to be
preserved in a continuous line of succession until
the end of time. Hence, the apostles, in handing
on what they themselves had received, warn the
faithful to maintain the traditions which they had
learned either by word of mouth or by letter (cf. 2
Thes 2:15); and they warn them to fight hard for
the faith that had been handed on to them once
and for all (cf. Jude 3). What was handed on by
the apostles comprises everything that serves to
make the People of God live their lives in holiness
and increase their faith. In this way the Church,
in her doctrine, life, and worship, perpetuates and
transmits to every generation all that she herself
is, all that she believes.2
Sacred Scripture is the other aspect of that one twinfold
source. Scripture comprises the divine truths of God written
down under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The books of
Scripture, as the Council notes, “firmly, faithfully and without
error, teach that truth which God, for the sake of our salvation,
wished to see confided to the sacred Scriptures.”3
9
The Second Vatican Council strongly points out that both
Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture must receive equal reverence
as aspects of God revealing himself to humanity for our salvation.
This understanding of the unity of Tradition and Scripture is
extremely important in the proper study of Mariology. Many of
the truths that God has revealed about the Mother of Jesus are
strongly contained in Sacred Tradition, but at the same time,
Marian doctrine will also be contained at least implicitly in the
apostolic preaching that came to be written down and today is
known as the New Testament.
The role of safeguarding this deposit of faith in Scripture and
Tradition is given to the Magisterium of the Church, the official
teaching body. Again from the Council we read:
But the task of giving an authentic interpretation
of the Word of God, whether in its written form
or in the form of Tradition, has been entrusted
to the living teaching office of the Church alone.
Its authority in this matter is exercised in the
name of Jesus Christ. Yet this Magisterium is not
superior to the Word of God, but is its servant. It
teaches only what has been handed on to it. At the
divine command and with the help of the Holy
Spirit, it listens to this devotedly, guards it with
dedication and expounds it faithfully. All that it
proposes for belief as being divinely revealed is
drawn from this single deposit of faith [Tradition
and Scripture].4
The Magisterium, then, has the unique responsibility of safeguarding the deposit of faith that Christ gave to his Church
which is guided by the Holy Spirit.
Why is a discussion about divine revelation so crucial for a
proper understanding of the doctrine and devotion concerning
the Blessed Virgin Mary? Because Marian orthopraxis is based on
10
Marian orthodoxy. “Orthopraxis” is a Greek word which means
the right practice, or correct devotion. “Orthodoxy” means the
right or correct doctrine. Devotion to Mary will be authentic
and spiritually fruitful only when it is based on the authentic
doctrine that comes from the Word of God entrusted to the
Church. Marian devotion will then be authentic and, as such,
an instrument of grace and ultimate union with Jesus Christ,
only when it avoids both Marian excess and Marian defect, and
has sound Marian truth as its foundation. True doctrine about
Mary is revealed in Scripture and Tradition, as safeguarded by
the Magisterium. The truth of Christ and his Church is the only
legitimate foundation for a balanced and legitimate devotion to
the Mother of Jesus. In short, we can say that true devotion to
Mary must be based on true doctrine about Mary.
It is also critically important to establish the twinfold source
of Tradition and Scripture when discussing the presence and
development of Marian doctrine. The question is sometimes posed,
“How can a Catholic believe in the Immaculate Conception of
Mary, or her Perpetual Virginity, or her Assumption when these
doctrines are not explicitly contained in the Bible?”
We must remember that the Bible is not the only source of
God’s revelation. In fact, to believe that the Bible is the only
source of Revelation is in itself a non-scriptural position—since
nowhere in the Bible does it state that Scripture is the only source
of Revelation. Rather, Scripture and Tradition constitute the
full revelation of God entrusted to the Church,5 and therefore
a Christian truth need not be explicitly revealed in the Bible to be an
authentic Christian doctrine. This includes the Church’s doctrine about
Mary.
Nonetheless, every Church doctrine about the Mother of
Jesus has at least an implicit presence in Sacred Scripture, and
this scriptural “seed” is then nurtured and developed under
the guidance of the Holy Spirit in the Church’s Tradition and
history, until it becomes the great “tree” of a Marian doctrine
or dogma.
11
On this journey of Marian doctrine and devotion we will
begin by discussing the nature of devotion to Mary and its origins
in the first centuries of the Church. In Chapters Three through
Six we will examine the doctrine of the Blessed Virgin as found
in the sources of divine revelation and as taught by the Church’s
Magisterium.
After we have a solid understanding of Marian truth, we will
then examine the expressions of authentic Marian love. This will
include treatments on the Rosary, the greatest Marian prayer;
consecration to Jesus through Mary, the crowning of Marian
devotion; and Mary’s message to the modern world through
private revelation. We will end with a discussion in “defense of
Mary,” responding to basic objections both to the doctrine and
to the devotion of the Blessed Virgin.
We begin our journey of Marian doctrine and devotion with
the most complete ancient Marian prayer, recorded and dated at
approximately 250 A.D. It is known as the Sub Tuum Praesidium
(“Under Your Protection”):
We fly to your patronage,
O Holy Mother of God,
despise not our petitions
in our necessities,
but deliver us from all danger,
O ever glorious and blessed Virgin.
12
Notes
1
2
3
4
5
Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation,
Dei Verbum, November 18, 1965, Nos. 7, 9.
Ibid., No. 8.
Ibid., No. 11.
Ibid., No. 10.
Cf. Ibid., No. 9.
C h a p t e r Tw o
WH AT I S D E VO T I O N
T O M A RY ?
The Nature and History of Devotion to Mary
…Let us carry on and imitate Mary, a deeply Eucharistic soul,
and all our lives will become a Magnificat.
Pope Benedict XVI
Closing of Lourdes Grotto in the Vatican, May 2005.
We begin our inquiry into the person and role of Mary,
Mother of Jesus, by addressing a most fundamental question:
What is devotion to Mary?
To answer this question we must first make a basic theological
distinction. As St. Thomas Aquinas explains, adoration, which is
known as latria in classical theology, is the worship and homage
that is rightly offered to God alone. It is the manifestation of
submission and acknowledgement of dependence appropriately
shown towards the excellence of an uncreated divine person and
to his absolute Lordship.1 It is the worship of the Creator that God
alone deserves. Although we see in English a broader usage of
the word “adoration” which may not refer to a form of worship
exclusive to God (for example, when a husband says that he
13
14
“adores his wife”), in general it can be maintained that adoration
is the best English denotation for the worship of latria.
Veneration, known as dulia in classical theology, is the honor
and reverence appropriately due to the excellence of a created
person.2 Excellence exhibited by created beings likewise deserves
recognition and honor. We see a general example of veneration
in events like the awarding of academic awards for excellence
in school or the awarding of olympic medals for excellence in
sports. There is nothing contrary to the proper adoration of God
when we offer the appropriate honor and recognition that created
persons deserve based on achievement in excellence.3
We must make a further clarification regarding the use of
the term “worship” in relation to the categories of adoration and
veneration. Historically, schools of theology have used the term
“worship” as a general term which would include both adoration
and veneration. They would distinguish between “worship of
adoration” and “worship of veneration.” The word “worship” (in a
similar way the liturgical term “cult” is traditionally used) was not
synonymous with adoration, but could be used to introduce either
adoration or veneration. Hence Catholic sources will sometimes
use the term “worship” not to indicate adoration, but only the
worship of veneration given to Mary and the saints. Confusion
over the use of the term worship has led to the misunderstanding
by some that Catholics offer adoration to Mary in a type of
“Mariolatry,” or idol worship given to Mary. Adoration of Mary
is a grave rejection of Christian revelation and has never been nor
will never be part of authentic Catholic faith and life.4
Under the category of veneration we see the honor and
reverence that the saints rightly receive. Why? Because the
saints manifested a true excellence in the pursuit and attainment
of Christian holiness, and in light of this excellence, Our Lord
grants the saints in Heaven an ability to intercede for those on
earth who are in the process of pursuing holiness. This is a basic
principle of the Mystical Body of Christ and the communion of
saints.
Wh at i s D e vo t i o n t o M a r y ?
15
St. Thomas Aquinas points out a further truth regarding
veneration of the saints. The devotion a person has to God’s
saints does not end with the saints themselves, but rather reaches
ultimately to God through the saints.5 For to give honor to a saint
who has excelled in loving union with God is also to honor the
object of his loving union: God himself.
For example, if we praise a beautiful piece of artwork then
we are ultimately praising the artist who created the artwork.
So too, when we honor the saint we are ultimately giving honor
to God himself, who is both Author and object of their holiness
and their love.
In short, we can say it is pleasing to God and, ultimately, it
gives him glory when we honor those who excelled in love of
him. This is especially true about honoring the Mother of Jesus,
who is the Heavenly Father’s greatest masterpiece and the Queen
of all saints.
Within the general category of veneration we can speak of a
unique level of veneration, an exalted level of honor that would
be appropriate for honoring a created person whose excellence
rises above that of every other created person. It is in this special
level of veneration, classically called hyperdulia, that we fi nd the
proper devotion ascribed to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Hyperdulia, or the entirely unique devotion given to the
Blessed Virgin Mary, remains essentially different and inferior
to adoration that is due to God alone. Devotion to Mary is never
to rival in nature or in degree the adoration proper only to God.
While veneration of the Blessed Virgin will always be inferior to
the adoration given uniquely to God, it will always be superior
and higher than devotion given to all other saints and angels.
This distinction between adoration and veneration and the
unique veneration due to Mary is discussed by the Second Vatican
Council:
This cult [veneration of Mary], as it has always
existed in the Church, for all its uniqueness, differs
16
essentially from the cult of adoration, which is
offered equally to the Incarnate Word and to the
Father and the Holy Spirit, and it is most favorable
to it. The various forms of piety towards the
Mother of God, which the Church has approved
within the limits of sound and orthodox doctrine,
according to the dispositions and understanding
of the faithful, ensure that while the mother
is honored, the Son through whom all things
have their being (cf. Col 1:15-16) and in whom
it has pleased the Father that all fullness should
dwell (cf. Col 1:19) is rightly known, loved and
glorified and his commandments are observed
(Lumen Gentium, No. 66).
Mary’s Exalted Devotion
Why does the Blessed Virgin deserve a unique and a higher
level of veneration and love than all of the other saints and angels?
There are at least three fundamental reasons an exalted devotion
is appropriate to the Virgin of Nazareth.
First of all, Mary was granted by God a fullness of grace. From
the greeting of the Angel Gabriel in the words, “Hail, full of
grace, the Lord is with you” (Lk 1:28), we get an indication of
God’s special gift to Mary at the moment of conception. Mary
received God’s gift of being free from original sin from the first
instant of her conception, which prepared her to be the fitting
Mother of the Word made f lesh. This unique gift allowed a
plenitude of grace for the Virgin, since this fullness of grace was
in no way limited by a fallen nature.
All other saints, on the other hand, have shared to an excellent
degree in grace, but they did not possess a plenitude of grace,
due to the limitations of their fallen nature. Even St. John the
Baptist, who was sanctified in the womb, as Tradition tells us,6
started with a fallen nature and was then sanctified in the womb.
17
Only a nature free from all stain of sin allows for a true fullness
of grace. Mary’s unique freedom from original sin and its effects,
coupled with an exalted perfection in grace, rightly calls for an
unparalleled recognition amidst the communion of saints.
Secondly, Mary alone had the privilege of being the “Mother
of God.” The humble virgin of Nazareth alone became the
Theotokos, or “God-bearer” in giving flesh to the Second Person
of the Trinity who became man for our salvation. In giving flesh
to the “Word made flesh,” Mary is properly recognized with an
excellence and a dignity beyond any other creature. We can only
imagine the intimate union and the extraordinary spiritual effects
of having God physically present in her for nine months and of
giving Jesus his human nature. Because Mary gave to Jesus what
our mothers gave to us, that is, a nature identical to her own, she
is rightly the Mother of God.
Theologians have explained the singular dignity of Mary in
her Divine Motherhood by stating that the Blessed Virgin Mary
alone had an “intrinsic relationship with the Hypostatic Union.”7
The Hypostatic Union is the union of the divine nature and the
human nature in the one divine person of Jesus Christ. Only
Mary, of all creatures, had an interior and essential role in Jesus’
taking on human nature in the Incarnation.
In short, the Blessed Mother gave the “carne” to the
Incarnation. She gave f lesh to the “Word made f lesh” who
“dwelt among us” ( Jn 1:14). Only the Church in its fullness can
ponder the unfathomable depths of how closely united Mary
was, and still is, to her divine Son. This inestimable experience
of having the physical presence of Jesus in the womb of Mary for
nine months would be like having the Holy Eucharist, the true
body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ, constantly present
within us for nine complete months, constantly sanctifying its
human tabernacle day and night by its physical and real presence.
All other saints, even St. Joseph, no matter how closely associated
with the Incarnation, had at best an external relationship with
God becoming man for our salvation.
18
The third reason for an exalted devotion to the Mother of
Jesus is Mary’s perfect obedience to the will of God throughout
her life on earth. Mary’s fi at, her yes to the will of God, was
her response to God’s will not only at the Annunciation (cf.
Lk 1:38) but throughout her earthly life. By freely cooperating
with her God-given enmity against Satan (cf. Gen 3:15), his
seed of sin, Mary gave her “yes” to God’s manifest will at every
moment of her earthly life, and never said no to the will of God
during her earthly sojourn. It is for this reason that the Council
of Trent (the universal council of the Church in the sixteenth
century) declared: “No justified person can for his whole life
avoid all sins, even venial sins, except on the grounds of a special
privilege from God, such as the Church holds was given to the
Blessed Virgin.”8
Only one creature was granted the grace to be free from
original sin, to cooperate in perfect obedience to God’s will,
and never to commit even one venial sin. Because of this, the
Mother of Jesus is the perfect model of all Christian virtue. She
is the perfect model not only of obedience, but also of humility,
of faith, hope and charity. She is referred to as the “Model of
the Church,” or the person the Church seeks most to imitate in
her pursuit of Christian virtue and holiness.9
For these reasons and many more, the Blessed Virgin rightly
receives a singular and unique place of special devotion in the
Church which is higher than that of the saints and angels, but
always humbly below the adoration due to God alone. This is
summarized in the words of Vatican II:
Joined to Christ the head and in communion
with all his saints, the faithful must in the fi rst
place reverence the memory “of the glorious ever
Virgin Mary, Mother of God and of our Lord
Jesus Christ”…. Mary has by grace been exalted
above all angels and men to a place second only
to her Son, as the most holy mother of God who
19
was involved in the mysteries of Christ: she is
rightly honored by a special cult [devotion] in the
Church (Lumen Gentium, Nos. 52, 66).
Since God has willed that the Blessed Virgin have such an
important role in the work of God becoming man and saving the
human family, devotion to Mary should not be considered either
arbitrary or extraordinary. Rather, devotion to Mary is an ordinary
part of the Christian journey to Christ and eternal salvation. Pope
St. Pius X, the pontiff at the beginning of the twentieth century,
confirms this truth about the singular privilege of Mary as being
not from necessity, but part of the providential will of God, and
therefore calling for our proper acceptance and response:
God could have given us the Redeemer of the
human race and the Founder of the Faith in
another way than through the Virgin, but since
Divine Providence has been pleased that we should
have the God-man through Mary, who conceived
Him by the Holy Spirit and bore Him in her
womb, it remains for us to receive Christ only
through the hands of Mary.10
As is true of so many of the aspects of our faith, including
our very salvation, the role of the Blessed Virgin and the proper
devotion that comes as a result of her role are not from necessity,
but rather from the manifest will of God whose divine ways are
perfect. God did not have to use the Blessed Mother either in
terms of the Incarnation or in terms of Redemption. Yet, the fact
of divine revelation is that it was God’s will that Mary have this
central role. Because it was God’s will that Jesus Christ come to
us through Mary, and that he redeem the world with the unique
cooperation of Mary, it calls for an appropriate response by the
human family: We as the human family should rightly and justly
offer a response of special devotion to the woman and mother
20
chosen to be at the heart of the mysteries of the Incarnation and
Redemption.
Devotion to Mary should not be on the same level as a
preferred devotion to an individual saint, like St. Jude, St. Thérèse,
or St. Francis, as valuable and praiseworthy as devotions to
individual saints are. Rather, our devotion to the Mother of Our
Lord should be more generous and heartfelt than our devotion
to all other saints. This superior devotion to the Blessed Mother
will never take away the primacy or the dignity of Jesus Christ
as the one Savior and Redeemer. Her role and her corresponding
devotion will always be subordinate to the adoration proper to
Jesus Christ. St. Louis Marie de Montfort, one of the Church’s
greatest Marian enthusiasts of all times, illustrates this point well
in his very fi rst paragraph of his famous treatise, True Devotion
to Mary:
I avow, with all the Church, that Mary, being
a mere creature that has come from the hands
of the Most High, is in comparison with His
Infinite Majesty less than an atom; or rather, she
is nothing at all, because only He is “He who is”
(Ex 3:14); consequently that grand Lord, always
independent and sufficient to Himself, never had,
and has not now, any absolute need of the holy
Virgin for the accomplishment of His glory. He
has but to will in order to do everything.
Nevertheless, I say that, things being as
they are now—that is, God having willed to
commence and complete His greatest works
by the most holy Virgin ever since He created
her—we may well think He will not change His
conduct in the eternal ages.11
21
Notes
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
Cf. St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, II-II, Q. 103, a. 3, 4.
Ibid., II-II, Q. 84, a. 1; Q 304, a. 1-4.
Ibid.
Cf. Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church,
Lumen Gentium, November 21, 1964, No. 66.
Cf. St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, II, II, Q. 82, a. 2.
Ibid., III, Q. 27, a. 6.
Cf. Suarez, S.J., Disputationes, 10, all III.
Council of Trent, Denzinger’s Enchiridion Symbolorum (DS), 833.
Lumen Gentium, No. 63.
St. Pius X, Encyclical Ad diem illum, February 2, 1904, No. 6; Acta Sanctae
Sedis (ASS) 36.
St. Louis Marie de Montfort, True Devotion to Mary, beginning of Ch.
1.
22
C h a p t e r Th r e e
M A RY I N S C R I P T U R E
Like all central Christian mysteries, the doctrine and the
devotion to the Blessed Virgin started in seed form in Sacred
Scripture and Apostolic Tradition, doctrinal seeds planted by
the Divine Sower. These doctrinal and devotional seeds revealed
in the Bible and Tradition then develop and blossom over time
through the guidance of the Holy Spirit in the dynamic life of
the Church to become the more developed and specified dogmas
and doctrines which we learn today.
Here we want to look briefly at the beginnings of Marian
truth and love from its foreshadowings in the Old Testament,
to its more complete revelation in the New Testament, to its
initiation in the infant Church, and its continued growth up
to the Church Council of Ephesus in 431. After the Council
of Ephesus, where Mary is proclaimed “Mother of God,”
we will see that the history of Marian devotion is basically
as widespread and ubiquitous as the histor y of Christian
civilization itself.
The following survey of Marian references in Scripture seeks
only to briefly identify and introduce three principal Marian
passages, while a more in-depth discussion of the major passages
will take place when examining the dogma or doctrine relevant
to the Scripture reference.
23
24
Mary in the Old Testament
The role of Mary, like other Catholic truths, was foreshadowed
in the Old Testament. In Genesis—the very fi rst book of the
Old Testament, which has been called the “Protoevangelium,”
meaning “fi rst gospel”—the woman and the serpent are put in
“enmity”: “I will put enmity between you [the serpent] and the
woman, and between your seed and her seed; she shall crush your
head, and you shall bruise her heel” (Gen 3:15).
Enmity means a complete and entire mutual opposition. We
see in this passage that God places the same enmity, as radical
opposition between the woman and the serpent (who represents
Satan), as he does between the seed of the woman and the seed of
the serpent (which represents sin). Since the seed of the woman
must be Jesus Christ, the seed of victory who will triumph over
the seed of sin, therefore the woman must ultimately refer to
Mary, the Mother of Jesus Christ. Keep in mind that this is a
great prophetic verse which foretells a victory over sin in the
future, a victory only possible through Jesus Christ, and hence
the woman who is to be future mother of this victorious seed
must refer to Mary. Her absolute enmity with Satan granted by
God himself also reveals the scriptural grounds for her freedom
from all stain of sin and the fullness of grace obtained in her
Immaculate Conception.
There has been some modern biblical discussion over whether
the pronoun referring to the person who crushes the head of the
serpent should be “he” or “she.” St. Jerome, the linguistic genius
and saint who translated the Old Testament from Hebrew into
Latin based upon ancient Old Testament manuscripts no longer
available in our day, translated the pronoun, ipsa, or “she.” The
documents of the Church and the Papal Magisterium, based on
the Latin Vulgate by St. Jerome, have perennially used “she” as the
pronoun referring back to the Woman, who is also the original
antecedent subject who is placed in enmity with the serpent in
the passage. Since some male Hebrew pronouns from the Old
M a ry i n Scr i p tu r e
25
Testament can be also understood in the feminine sense, the
feminine translation of “she” remains a legitimate translation.1
Nonetheless, some recent translators have changed the
traditional translation of “she” to “he.” Regardless of the gender
of the pronoun, what is clear in the text is that the Woman is
integrally involved with the seed of victory, Jesus Christ, the
Redeemer of humanity, in the defeat of the serpent and his
seed of sin. In the papal document which solemnly defi ned the
Immaculate Conception of Mary, Ineffabilis Deus, Bl. Pope Pius
IX offers the following papal explanation of the Genesis 3:15
passage:
The Fathers and ecclesiastical writers, enlightened
by instruction from on high, taught that the
divine prophecy—“I will put enmity between
you and the woman, between your seed and her
seed”—clearly and plainly foretold how there was
to be a merciful Redeemer for mankind, namely,
the only-begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ.
They also taught how the prophecy pointed
to His Blessed Mother, the Virgin Mary, and
how it clearly expressed at the same time their
common enmity toward the devil. Just as Christ,
the Mediator between God and men, by taking
our nature, cancelled the decree of condemnation
against us, triumphantly nailing it to the cross,
so too the most holy Virgin, intimately and
indissolubly united to Christ, became with Him
the everlasting enemy of the venomous serpent,
and thus shared with her Son His victory over
the serpent, crushing as she did the serpent’s head
with her virginal foot.2
The prophecy of Isaiah 7:14 speaks of the “Virgin-Mother of
Emmanuel”: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign.
26
Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall
be called Emmanuel.” Later in Isaiah, Emmanuel is referred to as
the future Savior of his people (cf. Is 8:8-9). The prophet Isaiah
foretells an extraordinary future sign: that a virgin, without the
cooperation of a man, will give birth to a child who will be the
“God-with-us,” the Messiah who will be the remedy for the
great trials of division and infidelity to the Covenant facing the
people of Israel. Isaiah’s prophecy directly predicts the Virgin of
Nazareth and the birth of the Christ child.
The prophecy of Micah 5:2-3 foretells the birth of the Savior
in Bethlehem from a woman who will “bring forth” the “ruler
of Israel”:
But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are little
to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall
come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel,
whose origin is from of old, from ancient days.
Therefore he shall give them up until the time
when she who is in travail has brought forth; then
the rest of his brethren shall return to the people
of Israel.
The mother, introduced so suddenly in Micah and so
specifically designated without a husband, conveys the same
virginal sense as we see in Isaiah 7:14. The fact that she is clearly
designated as a woman without a husband, something most
unusual in Jewish genealogy and identification, represents an
implicit reference to that same virgin birth.
Numerous other models or types of the Blessed Virgin Mary
are present in the Old Testament. The definition of a biblical type
is a person, a thing, or an action, which has its own independent
identity, but at the same time is intended by God to prefigure a
future person, thing, or action. Bl. Pope Pius IX, in his dogmatic
definition of the Immaculate Conception in 1854, refers to several
27
Old Testament types of Mary which were recognized by the early
Church Fathers.3
Mary was seen as the Ark of Noah, built by divine command
who escaped the effects of sin (cf. Gen 6:9). Jacob’s Ladder, which
reached from earth to heaven and witnessed the ascent and
descent of angels, was seen as a type of the future intercession of
the Blessed Virgin (cf. Gen 28:12). The Fathers saw the Burning
Bush of Moses as a type of Mary, because it held the presence of
God within itself, but did not experience material corruption
(cf. Ex 3:1). In the Canticle of Canticles, Mary is depicted as
the impenetrable Tower of David and as the enclosed and inviolable
garden (cf. Cant 4:4,12), which reflects her purity and perpetual
virginity. The Temple of God in 1 Kings 8 represented a sanctified
house of God which foreshadowed Mary as the future tabernacle
of Jesus.4 And references to created wisdom in the feminine gender
from the book of Wisdom are also seen to foreshadow Our Lady,
who is the “Seat of Wisdom”
Arguably the greatest of the Old Testament types of Mary is
the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark of the Covenant was the sacred
chest which held the presence of God for the people of Israel.
The Ark contained the tablets on which the Ten Commandments
were written (cf. Deut 10:5), a gold vessel holding manna which
fed the Israelites during the Exodus (cf. Ex 16:34), and the rod
of Aaron which blossomed (cf. Heb 9:4).
God himself gave the description of the ark to be built (cf.
Ex 25:10-22), and the Ark was the visible sign of God’s presence
and protection. The presence of God in the form of a cloud
would also overshadow the Ark, which came to be known as the
“shekinah,” meaning the Divine Presence or Divine Glory.
The humble Virgin of Nazareth becomes the “New Ark” of
the Covenant, an eternal covenant between God and humanity in
the person of Jesus Christ. As the Holy Spirit overshadows Mary
(symbolized by the shekinah overshadowing the Ark), Mary
becomes the sacred container directly and immaculately fashioned
by God himself to bear Jesus Christ. Jesus is the fulfillment of the
28
Law of the Ten Commandments, the Eternal High Priest, and the
Eucharistic manna which feeds unto life eternal. Mary as the New
Ark of the Eternal Covenant should also be seen as a true sign of
God’s presence and protection for the Church in every age.
Beyond these types, there are a number of strong and faithful
women of the Old Testament that serve as glimpses or “prefigurings” of the Mother of Jesus.
Sarah, the wife of Abraham, overcame her sterility in her
old age through a miracle of God (cf. Gen 17:16; 21:1-2). She
is referred to as “mother of nations” (cf. Gen 17:16). Mary, as a
virgin, bears Jesus through a miracle of God, and later is given
by Jesus on the Cross to all humanity as “Mother” of all nations
and peoples (cf. Lk 1:38; Jn 19:25-27).
Rebecca is the wife of Isaac who dresses Jacob in the clothes
of his older brother Esau to secure the blessings of Isaac (cf. Gen
27:15-29). Mary clothes Jesus in human flesh and offers him to
the Father in order to secure his blessing of Redemption upon
us and the entire human race.
Rachel, the beautiful wife of Jacob, is the mother of Joseph,
who is sold into slavery for twenty pieces of silver (cf. Gen 37:28),
but who then saves his people. Mary is the entirely beautiful
Mother of Jesus, who saves humanity after being sold for thirty
pieces of silver (cf. Mt 26:15).
Miriam (whose name is the Hebrew word for “Mary”) is the
sister of Moses, the great Patriarch and Liberator for the people of
Israel, and sister to Aaron, the priest of the Old Covenant. Miriam
is also present with Moses and Aaron at the “Tent of Meeting” in
the presence of the Ark (cf. Num 12:4). Mary is Mother of Jesus,
the Eternal Law Giver and High Priest, and is herself the New Ark
of his Eternal Covenant, who bears the presence of God.
Deborah is the prophetess who helps the people defeat Sisera,
who is eventually killed by a spike driven through his head by
another woman, Jael (cf. Judges 4). Mary is the woman in total
enmity with Satan, who participates in the crushing of his head
(cf. Gen 3:15).
29
The heroic efforts of Judith in defending her people leads
to the cutting off of the head of Holofernes (cf. Judith 8-15), in
another pre-figuring of Mary’s role in the crushing of Satan’s
head.
Esther is the Queen who, by risking her life in entering the
chamber of King Ahasuerus, succeeds in saving her people from
death (cf. Esther 4:16; 7:1-10). Mary, Queen and Mother of Jesus
Christ the King, cooperates in the redemptive mission of her Son
which saves humanity from eternal death and loss.
The heroic mother of Maccabees watches and supports her
seven sons during their martyrdom in order to be true to the
Covenant (cf. 2 Mac 7:1-41). Mary, Mother of Jesus, watches
and shares in the death of her Son, to redeem the world, and thus
to bear seven sorrows in her Immaculate Heart (cf. Lk 2:35; Jn
19:26-27).
Other Old Testament typologies foretelling the Mother of the
Redeemer in her multiplicity of roles and prerogatives include
the themes of the Daughter Zion and the Queen Mother. The
Daughter Zion (sometimes also referred to as “Mother Zion,”
cf. Is 66) represents the faithful servant to the Old Testament
Covenant of Yahweh, the daughter who remains faithful to the
Covenant even amidst trials and persecutions.5 Mary is indeed
the fulfi llment of the Daughter Zion, as the Jewish maiden who
gives her “fiat” to Yahweh and his invitation to participate in the
new and eternal Covenant which fulfi lls and brings to perfection
the Old Testament alliance between God and his people.
The Queen Mother tradition (which will be further discussed
in the treatment on Mary as “Advocate”) refers to the tradition
among the Davidic kings of appointing their mothers as their
queens of the Kingdom, which meant they became the principal
advocates for the people of Israel to their kingly sons (cf. 1 Kings
2:19). The Queen-Mother was referred to as the “Gebirah”
or “Great Lady” of the Kingdom, who gave the people of the
kingdom their greatest intercession to the King. In the New
Testament, we have a new and eternal King in Jesus Christ,
30
who takes over the “throne of his father, David” (Lk. 1:32). We
therefore have a new Queen-Mother in Mary, the Mother of
Jesus, who becomes the “Great Lady” of all nations and peoples
within the universal kingdom of her divine Son.
These Old Testament references reveal the repeated
foreshadowings of the Mother of the Redeemer. The Old
Testament is rich in foretelling, through references, types, and
models, the future role of the Mother of Jesus.
As the Second Vatican Council confirms:
She is already prophetically foreshadowed in the
prom ise of victory over the serpent which was
given to our fi rst parents after their fall into sin
(cf. Gen 3:15). Likewise, she is the virgin who
shall conceive and bear a son, whose name shall
be called Emmanuel (cf. Is 7:14; Mic 5:2-3; Mt
1:22-23). She stands out among the poor and
humble of the Lord, who confidently hope for
and receive salvation from him. After a long
period of waiting the times are fulfi lled in her,
the exalted Daughter of Sion and the new plan
of salvation is established, when the Son of God
has taken human nature from her, that he might
in the mysteries of his flesh free man from sin
Mary in the New Testament
The New Testament reveals the fulfillment of the woman
prophesied in the Old Testament in ways beautiful, mysterious,
and profound. The greatest events of the New Testament, in
particular the Incarnation and the Redemption, manifest the
central role played by Mary in intimate cooperation with and under
her Divine Son in the historic work of human salvation.
31
The question may be asked, “Why is there not a greater
quantity of references or degree of development concerning Mary
in the New Testament?” For several reasons, the New Testament
revelation of the Mother of Jesus had to be both profound and
concise.
The complete attention of the faithful in the infant years of
the one Church of Christ had first to be directed pre-eminently
to Jesus Christ himself. The proper adoration of Jesus had to
be established before any secondary veneration of Mary would
be appropriate or fitting. Her honor, of course, arises fi rst and
foremost from her being the Mother of Jesus.
Further, the comparative obscurity of Mary was important
to avoid any rash conclusion of an all too human conception of
Jesus. In other words, to avoid concluding that the “wise, pure
and holy” Jesus was simply the product of a very “wise, pure
and holy” mother. Mary’s obscurity protected and focused the
attention of the Apostolic Church towards the single primacy of
Jesus and his heavenly origins.
Of great importance in the appropriate biblical revelation
of Mary was the avoidance of anything that would support any
perception of her as a goddess. An immediate full revelation of all
the extraordinary prerogatives and roles of Jesus’ Mother could
inadvertently encourage seeing her as a goddess along side Jesus
himself. Since it was commonplace for many pagan religions of the
time to deify woman in representing a particular virtue or power,
the revelation of the roles and virtues of Mary had to be revealed
both in truth and in humility.
Moreover, it was important that during Mary’s lifetime her
humility was rightly respected and protected. Mary was to be
the perpetual example of hidden holiness, of interior sanctity—a
model for Christians of all future ages.
For these reasons, it was very fitting that Mary, as the humble
handmaid of the Lord, not receive a more developed treatment
in the New Testament, so as not to diminish the primacy of her
Son and the efficient preaching of the Good News.
32
I n t r o duc t i o n t o M a ry
At the same time, the New Testament manifestation of the
Mother of Jesus remains a revelation of the greatest creature in
human history who participates more than any other creature
in the mission of the Savior. From her “yes” which brings us
our Redeemer, to the prophecy of the piercing of her heart by
Simeon, to her intercession for the newly married couple at Cana,
to her united suffering with her Son for the world’s Redemption
at Calvary, the New Testament reveals not a woman in Scripture,
but The Woman of Scripture.
Let us now survey the principal Marian references in the New
Testament, with a greater treatment of their inspired meanings as
they relate to the respective dogmas and doctrines:
•
•
The Annunciation of the Angel Gabriel to Mary (Lk 1:2638): “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you.” When
Mary gives her “fiat” or “let it be done to me” to the
angel’s invitation directed to her as “full of grace,” the
Virgin of Nazareth becomes the Mother of Jesus and
all the prophecies of the Old Testament concerning the
Messiah are brought to life and fulfillment. Mary freely
and actively participates in God becoming man, and is
thus immediately the unique cooperator (or Co-redemptrix)
with the Redeemer, a cooperation that will continue unto
Calvary and for the rest of her earthly life.
The Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth (Lk 1:39-56): Mary
immediately departs for the hill country to serve her
cousin, Elizabeth. In bringing the unborn Jesus into
the presence of Elizabeth, two events of grace take
place: Elizabeth prophesies by the Holy Spirit and the
unborn John is sanctified in Elizabeth’s womb: “When
Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe in
her womb leapt, and she was filled with the Holy
Spirit” (Lk 1:41). Mary then, inspired by the same
Holy Spirit, proclaims her “Magnificat” or song of praise
glorifying the Lord, in which she rightly prophesies that
•
•
•
all generations will call her blessed: “My soul magnifies
the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden.
For behold, henceforth all generations will call me
blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things
for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is on
those who fear him from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm, he has scattered
the proud in the imagination of their hearts, he has
put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted
those of low degree; he has fi lled the hungry with
good things, and the rich he has sent empty away. He
has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his
mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to
his posterity for ever” (Lk. 1:46-55).
The Nativity of Jesus (Lk 2:4-20): Mary “brought forth
her fi rst-born Son and wrapped him in swaddling
clothes” (Lk 2:7). Mary gives birth to God the Son
made man, and thus, as one ancient antiphon states, a
wonderment of nature takes place, for a creature gives
birth to her Creator.
The Presentation of the Infant Jesus to the Temple (Lk 2:2239): Jesus is presented to the Temple in fulfi llment
of Jewish law, and in a prophetic offering that finds
its fulfi llment with the offering of Jesus at Calvary.
Simeon foretells the suffering of Mary’s heart that
will ultimately take place at Calvary in this biblical
introduction to devotion to the Immaculate and
sorrowful heart of Mary: “And a sword will pierce
your own heart too” (Lk 2:35).
The Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple (Lk 2:4152): When the child Jesus is found after three days
(foreshadowing his three days in the tomb), Mary
is informed by Jesus: “I must be about my Father’s
business” (Lk 2:49), and the Gospel tells us that Mary
33
34
“kept all these things, pondering them in her heart”
(Lk 2:51). Due to her freedom from original sin and
all its effects, Mary possessed an infused knowledge
concerning the things of God, (as did Adam and Eve) 6
and therefore Mary pondered fully the mysterious
events of her Son and forever kept them in her
heart.
The Gospel of St. Matthew adds several more Marian
scriptural references:
•
•
•
•
•
The Betrothal of Mary (Mt 1:18) to Joseph.
The Ordeal of Joseph (Mt 1:20) concerning the virgin
conception of Jesus in Mary, where the angel tells
Joseph “do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for
that which is conceived of her is of the Holy Spirit.”
The Arrival of the Magi (Mt 2:1-12), the wise men, and
how “going into the house they saw the Child with
Mary his Mother, and they fell down and worshipped
him” (Mt 2:11).
The Flight of the Holy Family into Egypt (Mt 2:13-18),
where Joseph was again instructed by a dream to
“take the Child and his Mother and flee into Egypt”
(Mt 2:13).
The Return into Israel (Mt 2:19-23), where Joseph is
instructed to “rise, take the Child and his Mother,
and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the
Child’s life are dead” (Mt 2:20).
Note that many of these infancy references repeatedly bespeak
the unity of “the Child and his Mother” as a sign of the profound
union of Jesus and Mary that would continue for all time, as well
as continuing to indicate Mary’s virginity, as the child is not
referred to as Joseph’s child, but Mary’s child.
35
Beyond the infancy narratives of St. Luke and St. Matthew,
other principal Marian Scripture references include:
•
The Wedding of Cana ( Jn 2:1-10). “Do whatever he
tells you” ( Jn 2:5). The Mother of Jesus intercedes at
Cana for two events of grace: the first public miracle
of Jesus and the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry,
which eventually leads them both to Calvary. When
Jesus calls his mother, “Woman,” far from anything
derogatory, he is in fact identifying and connecting
her with the “Woman” of Genesis (cf. Gen. 3:15), the
“Woman” who will be at his side at Calvary (cf. Jn.
19:25), and the “Woman” who will be crowned and
glorified in Heaven as Queen in the Kingdom of God
(cf. Rev. 12:1). Jesus’ response, “what is this to you
and to me, my time has not yet come” essentially asks
the question, “Are you ready to begin a public mission
that will end in Calvary in untold pain and suffering?”
Mary responds directly to the servants in manifesting
her readiness to initiate the public journey that will
lead to the redemptive sacrifice at Calvary, which was
foretold by Isaiah in the prophecies of the “Suffering
Servant” (cf. Is 52:13-53:12) and also prophesied by
Simeon in the piercing of Mary’s heart (Lk. 2:35). It
is indeed Mary’s faith in her Son and his divine power
that makes it the “right time” to begin his public
ministry.
The motherly mediation of Mary brings to the
attention of Jesus the needs of the wedding couple,
who have run out of wine, as she does for all followers
of Christ and for all humanity.7 The last words of
Mary recorded in the Bible “Do whatever he tells
you” ( Jn. 2:5) profoundly ref lect the goal of the
Mother of Jesus’ intercessory role for all nations and
peoples—to direct all humanity to her divine Son so
36
•
•
•
they might receive the miraculous graces necessary
for salvation.
Mary at the Foot of the Cross (Jn. 19: 25-27). “Woman,
behold, your Son... behold, your Mother” ( Jn 19:2627). As the final gift of the crucified Savior from
the Cross, Jesus gives to John, and symbolically in
John to all who seek to be “beloved disciples,” and
even to all humanity, the gift of his own Mother
to be our own Spiritual Mother. The redemption
event at Calvary was a universal spiritual event for all
humanity, and Jesus’ gift of his mother also constituted
a universal spiritual gift. Mary’s spiritual motherhood
is a personal gift which Jesus Christ offers personally
to every Christian and to every person.8
As the beloved disciple “took her into his own
home” (Jn. 19:27), so too is every Christian and every
member of the human family invited to imitate John
by taking Mary into our “homes,” that is, the interior
lives of our Christian faith and life—the inner home
of our hearts.9
The Presence of Mary in the Upper Room (Acts 1:132:4). After the Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus,
Mary is central amidst the Apostles and disciples in
the Upper Room who await and petition for the
descent of the Holy Spirit, Mary’s divine spouse.
Once again, “Mary, the Mother of Jesus” (Acts 1:14)
is seen at the heart of the infant Church, mothering
and nurturing the Church as she did the infant Jesus
himself, through the overshadowing and power of the
Holy Spirit.
Pauline Reference of Galatians 4:4: where St. Paul tells
us the Savior was “born of a woman” (Gal 4:4). St.
Paul testifies here to the Divine Motherhood, that
God the Father sent his only begotten Son on his
redemptive mission through Mary. His reference “born
•
of a woman” again associates Mary as the Woman
of the Bible who works intimately with and under
the Redeemer in their united mission of obtaining
“adopted sons,” a coredemptive mission as given
by the Father and as sustained by the “Spirit of the
Father,” who leads all true sons and daughters of the
Lord to cry out “Abba, Father” (Gal 4:5-6).
The Woman Clothed with the Sun (Rev. 12:1). “A
woman clothed with the sun with the moon under
her feet and on her head a crown of twelve stars” (Rev
12:1). Here Mary is seen in her assumed and crowned
glory as the Queen-Mother of the male child who
will “rule all the nations with a rod of iron” (Rev
12:5). While this feminine image also refers to the
Church, it must in the fi rst place refer to Mary, as
only Mary gave birth to the “male child” who is
Jesus, King and ruler of all nations.
The passage immediately preceding the description
of this heavenly woman crowned in glory, is the
powerful revelation of the Ark of the Covenant as
appearing in heaven: “Then God’s temple in heaven
was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen
within his temple; and there were flashes of lightning,
loud noises, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and
heavy hail” (Rev 11:19). As Mary is the New Ark
of the New and everlasting Covenant, the appearance
of the Ark of the Covenant in heaven to St. John,
which is immediately followed by the description of
the Woman clothed with the Sun, further identifies
and confirms the first meaning of the Woman of
Revelations 12 as revealing the Mother of Jesus.
This woman is also in mortal combat with Satan,
the ancient dragon (cf. Rev 12:3-6). Hence the
perennial battle between God’s greatest creature,
Mary, and his most evil creature, Satan, constitutes
37
38
the “bookends of Scripture” as found in the first book
of the Bible (cf. Gen 3:15) and in the fi nal book of
the Bible (cf. Rev 12:1-6). The labor pains referred
to in Revelations 12:2 while at first glance might
be mistakenly attributed to Mary in giving birth to
Jesus, are actually a reference to the pains experienced
by Mary in giving “spiritual birth” to the Church
with and under Jesus at Calvary (cf. Jn. 19:25-27),
a “mystical birth” by the “New Eve” which brings
forth children of God who are spiritually conceived
and baptized in the blood of Jesus Christ, the “New
Adam.”
In sum, we can witness to the sublime revelation of the
immaculate daughter of the Father, the coredemptive Mother of
the Son, and the fruitful spouse of the Holy Spirit as contained
in the written Word of God. These pregnant scriptural passages
about Mary will gradually experience their gestation and birth
in the form of dogmas and doctrines in the fruitful womb of the
Church, over the course of time and under the guidance of the
Holy Spirit.
The Sacred Word of God written down testif ies to the
unparalleled dignity and role the Mother of Jesus possesses in
the perfect plan of God for the salvation of humanity. May all
believers of the Bible accept the gift of Jesus from the Cross to
“behold your Mother” (Jn 19:27) so that we can do our Christian
part in fulfi lling scriptural prophecy: “All generations shall call
me blessed” (Lk1:48).
39
Notes
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Cf. D. Scaiola, “Testi tradizionale rivisitati (Gn 3,15; Is. 7,14),” Theotokos
8, 2002, 563; and cf. Fr. Stefano Manelli, FI, All Generations Shall Call Me
Blessed: Biblical Mariology, Academy of the Immaculate, second edition,
2005, pp. 20-21.
Bl. Pius IX, Apostolic Constitution Ineffabilis Deus, December 8, 1854.
Cf. Ibid.
Cf. Ibid.
Cf. Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Daughter Zion, Ignatius, 1983.
Cf. St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, I, Q. 94, a. 3.
John Paul II, Encyclical Redemptoris Mater, March 25, 1987, Nos. 2122.
Ibid., No. 45.
Ibid.
40
Ch a pter Four
M A RY IN TH E
E A R LY C H U RCH
As in Scripture so too in the infant Church, we see the
attention of the faithful rightfully focused fi rst and foremost
on Jesus Christ. The divine primacy of Jesus Christ (with its
appropriate worship of adoration) had to be clearly established
before any subordinate corresponding devotion to his Mother
could be properly exercised. Nonetheless, the beginnings
of acknowledgement and devotion to the Mother of Jesus is
present from apostolic times in the living Tradition of the early
Church.
The fi rst historic indications of the existing veneration of
Mary carried on from the Apostolic Church is manifested in the
Roman catacombs. As early as the end of the first century to the
first half of the second century, Mary is depicted in frescos in the
Roman catacombs both with and without her divine Son. Mary
is depicted as a model of virginity with her Son; at the Annunciation; and at the adoration of the Magi; and as the orans (the
“praying one”), the woman of prayer.1
A very significant fresco found in the catacombs of St. Agnes
depicts Mary situated between St. Peter and St. Paul with her
arms outstretched to both. This fresco reflects, in the language of
Christian frescoes, the earliest symbol of Mary as “Mother of the
Church.” Whenever St. Peter and St. Paul are shown together, it
is symbolic of the one Church of Christ, a Church of authority
41
42
and evangelization, a Church for both Jew and Gentile. Mary’s
prominent position between Sts. Peter and Paul illustrates the
recognition by the Apostolic Church of the maternal centrality
of the Savior’s Mother in his young Church.
It is also clear from the number of representations of the
Blessed Virgin and their locations in the catacombs that the
Mother of Jesus was also recognized for her maternal intercession
of protection and defense. Her image was present on tombs, as
well as on the large central vaults of the catacombs. Clearly, the
early Christians dwelling in the catacombs prayed to Mary as
intercessor to her Son for special protection and for motherly
assistance. As early as the fi rst century to the fi rst half of the
second century, Mary’s role as Spiritual Mother was recognized
and her protective intercession was invoked.2
The early Church Fathers, (also by the middle of the second
century), articulated the primary theological role of the Blessed
Virgin as the “New Eve.” What was the basic understanding of
Mary as the “New Eve” in the early Church? Eve, the original
“mother of the living,” had played an instrumental though
secondary role in the sin of Adam which resulted in the tragic
fall of humanity from God’s grace. However, Mary, as the new
Mother of the living, played an instrumental though secondary
role to Jesus, the New Adam, in redeeming and restoring the life
of grace to the human family.
Let us examine a few citations from the early Church Fathers
that manifest this growing understanding of Mary’s spiritual and
maternal role as the “New Eve,” who as the “new Mother of the
living,” participates with Christ in restoring grace to the human
family.
St. Justin Martyr (d.165), the early Church’s f irst great
apologist, describes Mary as the “obedient virgin” through
whom humanity receives its Savior, in contrast to Eve, the
“disobedient virgin,” who brings death and disobedience to
the human race:
M a r y i n t h e E a r ly C h u r c h
43
[The Son of God] became man through the
Virgin that the disobedience caused by the serpent
might be destroyed in the same way in which it
had originated. For Eve, while a virgin incorrupt,
conceived the word which proceeded from the
serpent, and brought forth disobe dience and
death. But the Virgin Mary was fi lled with faith
and joy when the Angel Gabriel told her the glad
tidings.... And through her was he born.…3
St. Irenaeus of Lyon (d.202), great defender of Christian
orthodoxy and arguably the fi rst true Mariologist, establishes
Mary as the New Eve who participates with Jesus Christ in the
work of salvation, becoming through her obedience the “cause
of salvation for herself and the whole human race”:
Just as Eve, wife of Adam, yet still a virgin, became
by her disobedience the cause of death for herself
and the whole human race, so Mary, too, espoused
yet a Virgin, became by her obedience the cause of
salvation for herself and the whole human race....
And so it was that the knot of Eve’s disobedience
was loosed by Mary’s obedience. For what the
virgin Eve bound fast by her refusal to believe, this
the Virgin Mary unbound by her belief.4
The teaching of St. Irenaeus makes evident the Early Church’s
faith and understanding that Mary freely and uniquely cooperates
with and under Jesus, the New Adam, in the salvation of the
human race. This early patristic understanding of Mary’s unique
cooperation appropriately develops into the later and more
specified theology of Marian Coredemption.
St. Ambrose (d.397) continues to develop the New Eve
understanding, referring to Mary as the “Mother of Salvation”:
44
It was through a man and woman that flesh was
cast from Paradise; it was through a virgin that
flesh was linked to God....Eve is called mother of
the human race, but Mary Mother of salvation.5
St. Jerome (d.420) neatly summarizes the entire patristic
under standing of the New Eve in the pithy expression: “death
through Eve, life through Mary.”6
The Second Vatican Council confirms this early understanding of Mary as the “New Eve” by the Church Fathers, as
well as the Fathers’ certain testimony to her active and unique
participation in man’s salvation:
Rightly, therefore, the Fathers see Mary not
merely as passively engaged by God, but as
freely cooperating in the work of man’s salvation
through faith and obedience.... Hence not a few of
the early Fathers gladly assert with him [Irenaeus]
in their preaching: “the knot of Eve’s disobedience
was untied by Mary’s obedience: what the virgin
Eve bound by her disbelief, Mary loosened by
her faith.” Comparing Mary with Eve, they call
her “Mother of the living” and frequently claim:
“death through Eve, life through Mary” (Lumen
Gentium, No. 56).
The Christian witness of the first centuries of the Church also
provides us with examples of direct prayer to Mary as a means of
intercession to the graces and the protection of her Son.
For St. Irenaeus, Mary is an “Advocate” or interceding helper
for Eve and for her salvation.7 St. Gregory Thaumaturgis (d.350)
depicts Mary interceding for those on earth from her position
in Heaven.8
St. Ephraem (d.373), the great Eastern doctor and deacon,
directly addresses the Blessed Virgin in several Marian sermons.
45
Direct prayer to Mary is also found in a sermon of the great
Eastern Father, St. Gregory Nazianzen (330-389).9 By the last
part of the fourth century and the beginning of the fi fth, we
have numerous explicit examples of direct prayer to the Mother
of God, for example in the writings of St. Ambrose, as well as
by St. Epiphanius.10
As already referred to, the most complete ancient prayer
to the Blessed Mother historically preserved is the Sub Tuum
Praesidium (250 A.D.):
O holy Mother of God,
in our necessities,
but deliver us from all dangers.
Note that by the third century, our early Christian brothers
and sisters already accepted Mary under the title of “Mother of
God,” even though this title would not be solemnly defined for
another two hundred years. Further, the early Church realized
that direct prayer to Mary did not consist of forms of idolatry or
adoration, as is sometimes mistakenly interpreted in our day, but
rather as a spiritual communication of love and petition to the
Mother of Jesus, who continues to care for the Mystical Body of
her Son by her intercession.
Moreover, the Sub Tuum prayer tells us that the early Christian
community went to their motherly Advocate especially in times
of trial and danger. The acknowledgement of Our Lady’s special
intercession especially for the Church in times of danger continues
to our present day.11
By the time of the Council of Ephesus in 431 A.D., where
Mary is formally declared the “Mother of God,” we have
cathedrals dedicated to her in the central ecclesial locations
of Rome, Jerusalem and Constantinople. After the Council
46
of Ephesus, the Church experiences an extraordinary flourishing of devotion to the Blessed Virgin both in the East and the
West, the quantity and quality of which would exceed the most
comprehensive study. Historians have compared the expansive
spreading of Marian devotion in both Eastern and Western lungs
of the Church to the post Anno Domini development of Western
civilization itself. Marian prayers, Marian liturgical feast days,
Marian icons, Marian paintings and Marian artwork became
ubiquitous throughout the Christian world after the Council of
Ephesus.
The Second Vatican Council attests to this tremendous
flourishing of Marian devotion from the early Church onward:
From the earliest times the Blessed Virgin is
honored under the title of Mother of God, whose
protection the faithful take refuge together in
prayer in all their perils and needs. Accordingly,
following the Council of Ephesus, there was a
remarkable growth in the cult of the People of
God towards Mary, in veneration and love, in
invocation and imitation, according to her own
prophetic words: “all generations shall call me
blessed, because he that is mighty hath done
great things to me (Lk 1:48) (Lumen Gentium,
No. 66).
Historians have further testified to the vast inf luence of
Marian devotion upon the overall development of Western
civilization. The British historian, Kenneth Clark (not a Catholic)
describes in his excellent work, Civilization, the dramatic effect
of devotion to the Blessed Virgin on Western civilization. He
describes Mary as
the supreme protectress of civilization. She had
taught a race of tough and ruthless barbarians
47
the virtues of tenderness and compassion. The
great cathedrals of the Middle Ages were her
dwelling places upon earth…in the Renaissance,
while remaining Queen of Heaven, she became
also the human Mother in whom everyone
could recognize qualities of warmth and love
and approachability…. The all-male religions
[a reference to Israel, Islam and the Protestant
North] have produced no religious imagery—in
most cases have positively forbidden it. The great
religious art of the world is deeply involved in the
female principle.12
Along with the impact of devotion to Mary on Western
civilization, the fruitful effects of Marian devotion on the proper
dignity of woman has also been historically verified. The noted
historian, William Lecky (neither Catholic nor Christian but
a self-professed rationalist), offered these comments about the
influence of Mary on the West:
The world is governed by its ideals, and seldom
or never has there been one which has exercised
a more salutary inf luence than the medieval
concept of the Virgin. For the first time woman
was elevated to her rightful position, and the
sanctity of weakness was recognized, as well as
the sanctity of sorrow.
No longer the slave or toy of man, no longer
associated only with ideas of degradation and
of sensuality, woman rose, in the person of the
Virgin Mother, into a new sphere, and became the
object of reverential homage, of which antiquity
had no conception.... A new type of character was
called into being; a new kind of admiration was
fostered. Into a harsh and ignorant and benighted
48
age, this ideal type infused a conception of
gentleness and purity, unknown to the proudest
civilizations of the past.
In the pages of living tenderness, which many
a monkish writer has left in honor of his celestial
patron; in the millions who, in many lands and in
many ages, have sought to mold their characters
into her image; in those holy maidens who, for
love of Mary, have separated themselves from
all glories and pleasures of the world, to seek in
fastings and vigils and humble charity to render
themselves worthy of her benedictions; in the
new sense of honor, in the chivalrous respect, in
the softening of manners, in the refi nement of
tastes displayed in all walks of society; in these
and in many other ways we detect the influence of
the Virgin. All that was best in Europe clustered
around it, and it is the origin of many of the
purest elements of our civilization.13
As no other besides her Son, the Mother of Jesus and the
rightful doctrine and devotion granted to her from Scripture and
the early Church, and further developed throughout the ages, has
borne fruit in a proper respect for person, a proper respect for
the unique dignity of woman, and a new cultivation of all that
is good in Western civilization.
We conclude with the words of Dante from the classic The
Divine Comedy, which typifies well the strength of devotion to the
Blessed Virgin that has been evidenced throughout the history of
the Church, based on the truth about her as revealed in the Bible
and Apostolic Tradition:
With living mortals you are a living spring of hope.
Lady, you are so great and have such worth, that if
anyone seeks out grace and flies not to thee, his longing
is like flight without wings.14
49
Notes
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
Cf. John Murphy, “Origin and Nature of Marian Cult” in Juniper Carol,
O.F.M., ed., Mariology, Vol. III, Milwaukee: Bruce, 1961, pp. 4-5.
Ibid., pp. 3ff.
St. Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, ch. 100, Patrologia Graeca (PG)
Migne, 6, 709-712.
St. Irenaeus, Adversus haereses, Bk. 3, pg. 32, I; PG 7, 958-959.
St. Ambrose, Epist. 63, No. 33, Patrologia Latina (PL) Migne, 16, 12491250; Sermon 45, No. 4; PL, 17, 716.
St. Jerome, Epist. 22, No. 21, PL 22, 408; cf. Walter Burghart, S.J. “Mary
in Western Patristic Thought,” in Carol, ed., Mariology, Vol. I, Bruce,
1955.
St. Irenaeus, in J. Barthulot, Saint Irénée: Démonstration de la Prédication
Apostolique, traduite de l’Arménien et annotée, in R. Graffi n and F. Nau,
Patrologia Orientalis (PO), vol. 12, Paris, 1919, pp. 772 et seq.
Murphy, “Origin and Nature of Marian Cult,” Mariology, Vol. III, p.
6.
PG 35, 1181; Murphy, “Origin and Nature of Marian Cult,” Mariology,
Vol. III, p. 6.
Cf. Ambrose, De virginibus, lib. 2, cap. 2; PL 16, 221ff; De instit. virginis,
nn. 86-88; PL 16, 339-340; Epiphanius, Adv. haer., 3, t. 2; PG 42, 735,
742; Murphy, “Origin and Nature of Marian Cult,” Mariology, Vol. III,
p. 6.
Cf. John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation Christifidelis Laici, December 30,
1988, end of closing prayer.
Kenneth Clark, Civilization, as quoted in Dan Lyons, The Role of Mary
Through the Centuries, Washington, New Jersey, World Apostolate of
Fatima.
Cf. Lyons, The Role of Mary Through the Centuries.
Dante, “Paradise” in The Divine Comedy, Canto 33.
50
Chapter Five
T H E F OU R
M A R I A N D OGM AS
The Authentic doctrine regarding the Virgin Mary is in fact
a revelation of the person of Mary herself. Far from the mistaken
concept that the Church doctrine taught about the Mother of
Jesus was nothing more than abstract, speculative, ivory tower
truths that do not really have anything to do with the “real
Mary,” the Marian dogmas and doctrines indeed reveal precisely
who Mary is and what she does in God’s plan of salvation for all
nations and peoples.
Once again, authentic love of Mary must be based on the
truth about Mary. The more we know who Jesus’ Mother really
is, the more we can strive to love her as Jesus loves her. Love of
Mary is an essential aspect of the imitation of Christ.
Here we will look at four of the central Catholic doctrinal
truths regarding the Blessed Virgin Mary which have all been
defi ned by the Church as “dogmas”: the Motherhood of God, the
Perpetual Virginity, the Immaculate Conception, and the Assumption.
A dogma is a Church doctrine that has been solemnly defi ned
as constituting the highest level of revealed truth and something
directly revealed by God, whether by an infallible declaration by
a pope, or by an ecumenical council confi rmed by the Roman
Pontiff. And in the following chapter, we will see how these four
Marian dogmas converge in her fi fth doctrinal role as Spiritual
51
52
Mother of all humanity, at the service of both the Holy Trinity
and the human family.
The historical sequence of these Marian dogmas helps us to
understand the logical relation between the dogmas themselves.
For example, with the early Apostolic Church’s acknowledgment
of Our Lady’s Divine Motherhood and its uniqueness, light
was shed on her Perpetual Virginity as an expression of the
extraordinary prerogatives belonging to the only creature to
give birth to her creator. Mary’s Divine Maternity and Perpetual
Virginity brought to surface the issue of Mary’s pre-eminent
sanctity, which naturally led to a deeper understanding of her
Immaculate Conception and its consequent effect in her bodily
Assumption.
The Mother of God
The first and foremost revealed truth about the Virgin Mary
from which all her other roles and all her other honors flow, is her
providential role as the Mother of God. This dogma proclaims
that the Virgin Mary is true Mother of Jesus Christ, who is God
the Son made man. The dogma of Mary’s Divine Motherhood,
as it is commonly referred to, was solemnly defined at the third
ecumenical council of Ephesus (431 A.D.).
Mary’s role as the Mother of God is revealed in Sacred
Scripture. At the Annunciation, the Angel Gabriel declares to
Mary: “Behold, you shall conceive in your womb and shall bring
forth a son, and you shall call his name Jesus... therefore, the holy
one who shall be born of you shall be called Son of God” (Lk
1:31; Lk 1:35).
The angelic message which originates from the Heavenly
Father himself attests that Mary becomes the true Mother of
Jesus and secondly, that Jesus is the true Son of God. From these
words of the angel, we can derive the following simple theological
syllogism: Mary is Mother of Jesus; Jesus is God; therefore, Mary
is Mother of God. Since Jesus is truly God the Son, and Mary is
Th e F o u r M a r i a n D o g m a s
53
repeatedly referred to in Scripture as the “Mother of Jesus” (cf. Mt
2:13, 2:20; Jn 2:1, 3; Acts 1:14, etc.), then Mary must be the true
Mother of God made man.
St. Paul also witnesses to the Divine Maternity when he states
in his letter to the Galatians: “When the fullness of time had
come, God sent his Son, born of a woman” (Gal 4:4).
In Tradition, we find the truth of Mary’s Divine Motherhood
attested to in the Apostles’ Creed. This ancient and great formula
of the essential doctrinal beliefs of the early Church professes faith
in “Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by
the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary.”
From the papal and conciliar authority of the Church, we
have the historic Marian event of the third ecumenical council,
the Council of Ephesus in 431 A.D. Ecumenical councils are
those general assemblies of bishops who, with the authority and
confi rmation of the pope and guided by the Holy Spirit, teach
and defi ne doctrine as found in divine revelation, which are
subsequently binding on the universal Church (hence, the name
ecumenical or general council).
The Council of Ephesus solemnly declared the Blessed
Virgin Mary to be the Mother of God or “Theotokos” (literally
the “God-bearer”). The Council approved the teaching of St.
Cyril of Alexandria who, against the errors of Nestorius, Patriarch
of Constantinople, declared:
If anyone does not confess that the Emmanuel
[Christ] in truth is God and that on this account
the Holy Virgin is the Mother of God [Theotokos]
in as much as she gave birth to the Word of God
made flesh...let him be anathema.1
Nestorius refused to call Mary “Mother of God” not primarily
because of a Mariological error, but because of a Christological
error concerning the nature and personhood of Jesus Christ.
54
Nestorius erroneously referred to the Lord Jesus as being
of two separate persons, one divine and one human, instead of
the true and necessary doctrine which was to become known
as the “Hypostatic Union”: that Jesus Christ is one divine person,
with both a divine and a human nature. 2 When Nestorius
refused to call Mary the “Theotokos” or God-bearer, but only
the “Christotokos” or mother of the human nature of Christ,
it revealed his Christological error which denied the profound
Hypostatic Union of both the divine and human nature in the
one divine person of the Lord. The Ephesus defi nition about
the Blessed Virgin actually protects the doctrinal orthodoxy
regarding Jesus Christ.
We see then at Ephesus a case in point of the ongoing
historical experience that authentic doctrine about Mary will
always protect and safeguard the authentic doctrine about Jesus
Christ. Several times in the early Church, when there was a
statement about Our Lord Jesus which lacked clarity concerning
its nature or ramifications, it was applied to the Mother of Jesus,
whereby it then became clear that the Christological statement
was incompatible with authentic Catholic teaching as passed on
in Apostolic Tradition. As in the early life of Jesus, so too, in the
early life of the Church, the Mother protects the truth and the
love of the Son.
The Nature of Motherhood
To have an accurate understanding of the Blessed Virgin Mary
as Mother of God, we must first have a clear understanding of the
nature of motherhood itself. How do we define motherhood?
Motherhood is the act of a woman giving to her offspring the
identical type of nature that she herself has. This gift of nature
is given through the process of conception, gestation or growth,
and birth. The fruit of this process of maternal generation is
the entire child, the son or daughter, and not only the physical
body.
55
For example, we rightly say that Sarah is the “mother” of
Isaac, that is, mother of the complete person, not just of Isaac’s
body. This is a true statement, even though we know that Sarah
did not give Isaac his soul which is created and infused directly by
God. Motherhood then refers to the gift of the same nature, with
the fruit of motherhood always including the entire person.
In this same way we rightly identify Mary as the “Mother
of God.” What precisely does Mary give to Jesus in her act of
motherhood? First of all, Mary did not give Jesus his divine
nature, nor did Mary give Jesus his divine personhood. Both
of these divine aspects of Jesus Christ existed from all eternity.
However, “when in the fullness of time, God sent his Son, born
of a woman” (Gal 4:4), Mary gave Jesus a human nature identical to
her own. Since the human nature of Jesus is inseparably united to his
divine nature in the one person of Christ in his wondrous Hypostatic
Union, we correctly say that Mary gave birth to a Son who is
truly God and truly man. In sum, Mary fulfi ls the conditions of
motherhood by giving to her offspring, Jesus, a nature identical to
her own, an immaculate human nature. And since the child she
bore possesses a divine nature, she is truly “Mother of God.”3
Jesus is therefore both “Son of God” and “Son of Mary.”
Jesus is Son of the Father, since his divine nature and person was
generated (not made) by the Father from all eternity. Jesus is Son
of Mary, since his human nature was given to him by Mary, his
earthly Mother.
The truth of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s Divine Motherhood
and its correspond ing dignity are found in these words of the
Second Vatican Council:
She is endowed with the high office and dignity of
the Mother of the Son of God, and therefore she
is also the beloved daughter of the Father and the
temple of the Holy Spirit. Because of this gift of
sublime grace she far surpasses all creatures, both in
heaven and on earth (Lumen Gentium, No. 53).
56
The Perpetual Virginity
The second dogma regarding the Blessed Virgin is the dogma
of Mary’s Perpetual Virginity. This def ined truth received
generally unanimous acceptance among the early Church Fathers
and was confirmed by papal and conciliar definitions.
The dogma of Mary’s Perpetual Virginity proclaims that the
Blessed Virgin Mary was always a virgin, before, during, and
after the birth of Jesus Christ. This threefold character of Mary’s
virginity was declared in the defi nition of Pope St. Martin I
at the Lateran Synod in 649 A.D., where he pronounced as an
article of faith that:
The blessed ever-virginal and immaculate Mary
conceived, without seed, by the Holy Spirit, and
without loss of integrity brought Him forth, and
after His birth preserved her virginity inviolate.4
Virginity Before the Birth of Jesus
Mary’s virginity before the birth of Jesus is explicitly revealed
in Sacred Scripture. The prophecy of Isaiah 7:14 states: “Therefore
the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold a virgin shall
conceive, and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel.”
Although the Hebrew word for “virgin” can also be translated
“maiden,” the Old Testament use of maiden was likewise in a
virginal context. Moreover, the New Testament fulfillment of the
prophecy confirms inerrantly that indeed a virgin conceives and
bears the redeeming “Emmanuel” or “God with us.” The Gospel
of St. Luke tell us, “the Angel Gabriel was sent from God… to a
virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house
of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary” (Lk 1:26-27). In
the dialogue between the Angel Gabriel and Mary, we have a
further confirmation of Mary’s virginity as Gabriel announces:
“You will conceive in your womb and bear a Son” (Lk 1:31).
57
Mary responds: “How will this be since I know not man?” (Lk
1:34). To “know” in this scriptural context is a reference to
sexual relations. The Archangel Gabriel responds: “The Holy
Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will
overshadow you” (Lk 1:35). The dialogue between Mary and
Gabriel manifests both the virginity of Mary and the conception
of Jesus in Mary’s womb by the miraculous overshadowing of
the Holy Spirit.
The Apostles’ Creed professes Mary’s virginity before the
birth of Jesus when it states that Jesus Christ “was conceived by
the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary.” The early Fathers of
the Church unanimously expressed their belief that Jesus had
no human father and was conceived in Mary in a virginal and
miraculous manner by the power of the Holy Spirit. The virginity
before the birth was taught by St. Ignatius of Antioch (d.107), St.
Justin the Martyr (d.165), St. Irenaeus of Lyon (d.202), and on
and on, down the line of the early Church Fathers and continuing
in the Church’s Tradition.
Virginity During the Birth of Jesus
The second aspect of this dogma refers to Mary’s physical
virginity during the birth of Our Lord, Jesus Christ. Here we
can take a more specific look into what the virginal birth of Jesus
truly means.
The papal defi nition of Mary’s continued virginity during
the birth of Christ refers to the event that at the appointed time
of birth, Jesus left the womb of Mary without the loss of Mary’s
physical virginity. The Church understands Mary’s virginity
during the birth of Christ as an absence of any physical injury
or violation to Mary’s virginal seal (in Latin, virginitas in partu)
through a special divine action of the all-powerful God. This
divine act would safeguard Mary’s physical virginity which is
both symbol and part of her perfect, overall virginity; a virginity
both internal and external, of soul and of body.
58
The Fathers of the Church overwhelmingly taught the
“miraculous birth” of Jesus that resulted in no injury to the
Blessed Virgin Mary’s physical integrity. St. Augustine stated:
“It is not right that He who came to heal corruption should by
His advent violate integrity.”5 Later, St. Thomas Aquinas would
defend the miraculous and painless 6 nature of Christ’s birth.7 As
light passes through glass without harming it, so too did Jesus
pass through the womb of Mary without the opening of Mary’s
womb and without any harm to the physical virginal seal of the
Virgin, who was pure and the perfect tabernacle of the unborn
Christ.8
Scripture implicitly affi rms Mary’s virgin birthing of Our
Lord in the great prophecy of Isaiah 7:14. The prophecy foretells
that a virgin, beyond conceiving, will also bear a Son as a virgin:
“Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son.” Therefore, it
is not only a virgin’s conception, but also a virgin birth alluded
to in Isaiah 7:14. Also, the papal proclamation of Pope St.
Leo the Great in his famous Tome to Flavian makes clear that
Mary’s physical virginity was protected in the process of the
miraculous birth of Jesus Christ: “Mary brought Him forth, with
her virginity untouched, as with her virginity untouched she
conceived Him.”9
In his Papal Constitution, Cum quorumdam hominum (August
7, 1555), Pope Paul IV admonished all those who deny that the
Blessed Virgin Mary “did not retain her virginity intact before
the birth, in the birth, and perpetually after the birth.”10 The
Catechism of the Council of Trent continued the succession of papal
and conciliar teaching with this clear exposition of how Jesus is
born without any injuring of Our Lady’s maternal virginity and
without any experience of pain:
For in a way wonderful beyond expression or
conception, he is born of his Mother without
any diminution of her maternal virginity. As he
afterwards went forth from the sepulcher while it
59
was closed and sealed, and entered the room in
which his disciples were assembled, although “the
doors were closed” ( Jn. 20:19), or, not to depart
from natural events which we witness every day,
as the rays of the sun penetrate the substance of
glass without breaking or injuring it in the least:
so, but in a more incomprehensible manner, did
Jesus Christ come forth from his mother’s womb
without injury to her maternal virginity....
To Eve it was said: “In pain you shall bring
forth children” (Gen. 3:16). Mary was exempt
from this law, for preserving her virginal integrity
inviolate, she brought forth Jesus the Son of God,
without experiencing, as we have already said,
any sense of pain.11
From the Magisterium, Pope Pius XII in his 1943 encyclical
on the Mystical Body of Jesus testifies to the miraculous birth
of Jesus: “It was she who gave miraculous birth to Christ our
Lord.”12 The Second Vatican Council confirms Mary’s virginity
both before and during Jesus’ birth in these words:
This union of the mother with the Son in the
work of salvation is made manifest from the
time of Christ’s virginal conception...then also
at the birth of our Lord, who did not diminish
his mother’s virginal integrity but sanctified it...
The Catechism of the Catholic Church repeats that statement
after clarifying that “The deepening of faith in the virginal
motherhood led the Church to confess Mary’s real and perpetual
virginity even in the act of giving birth to the Son of God made
man.”13
60
Virginity After the Birth of Jesus
Lastly, we examine Mary’s virginity after the birth of Jesus.
This third aspect of Mary’s complete and perpetual virginity
proclaims that Mary remained a virgin until the end of her
earthly life, having no marital relations after Jesus’ birth, nor
having any other children besides Jesus.
This element of the dogma of Mary’s virginity is deeply
rooted in Church Tradition and was vigorously defended by
the Church Fathers (for example, St. Ephraem, St. Ambrose, St.
Augustine, St. Jerome14 ) whenever early heretical sects denied it.
It was explicitly taught with papal authority by Pope St. Siricius
in 392 A.D.,15 by St. Leo the Great who said: “It was decided by
God’s almighty power that Mary should conceive as a virgin,
give birth as a virgin, and remain a virgin,”16 and, as already
mentioned, Pope Paul IV who rebuked anyone who would deny
that the Blessed Virgin Mary “did not retain her virginity intact
before the birth, in the birth, and perpetually after the birth.”17 The
Fifth General Council at Constantinople (Constantinople II) in
553 A.D. further granted the Mother of Jesus the title, “Perpetual
Virgin.”18
Mary is also honored in the liturgy and in many documents
of the Magisterium under the title of the “ever virgin Mother
of God.” The Second Vatican Council continues this tradition
where the Council refers to Mary as the “glorious ever Virgin
Mary” (Lumen Gentium, No. 52).
An implicit reference to Mary’s virginity after birth can be
found in Mary’s response to the Angel Gabriel: “How will this
be since I know not man?” (Lk 1:34). Many Church Fathers
understood Mary’s response to refer to a vow of perpetual
virginity that she had already made, and in which she had offered
herself as a complete gift to God. Mary’s response of “I know not
man” would be comparable to someone today who responds to
an invitation to a cigarette with the expression, “I do not smoke.”
Not only does the person not desire to smoke now, but he does not
61
smoke as a permanent disposition (inclusive of his intention not
to smoke in the future). In the same way, the Virgin of Nazareth
states, “I know not man,” referring to a permanent disposition of
virginity, rather than just a temporary condition, which is based
upon a permanent vow. Certainly such a vow to God would be
continued on Mary’s part after the miraculous intervention of
God to safeguard her virginity both before the birth of Christ
and during the birth of Christ had been accomplished.19
As with Mary’s virginity before and during the birth of
Christ, the Fathers powerfully defended the truth that Mary
remained forever a virgin. Shining lights of the Church such as
St. Augustine, St. Ambrose, St. Ephraem, St. Jerome, St. John
Chrysostom, and St. Cyril of Alexandria, among many others,
taught the fact of Mary’s perpetual virginity.20 For anyone to deny
this in the early Church was considered serious heresy. In fact,
historically Mary’s perpetual virginity was denied only by those
who also denied the divinity of Christ, including the Ebionites,
Arians, and, more recently, rationalists of all sorts.21
Even the Protestant reformers taught the perpetual virginity
of Mary. Martin Luther stated that “Mary realized she was the
mother of the Son of God, and she did not desire to become the
mother of the son of man, but to remain in this divine gift.” John
Calvin, John Wesley and Ulrich Zwingli all agreed with him.22
Why was it appropriate that Mary should remain virginal
after the birth of Our Lord? Clearly, it is in no way intended to
infer that marital relations between people in sanctifying grace is
not a good and meritorious act. Rather, there are several positive
theological reasons why Mary should have remained and did
remain virginal after the birth of Christ.
St. Thomas Aquinas explains that Jesus as God was the
only-begotten Son of the Father, an only-begotten Son of such
unfathomable dignity as God the Son. When Jesus became
man, he likewise deserved to be an “only-begotten” Son of his
human Mother. The singular nature refers to Christ’s special
dignity as the God-man. Also, the virginal womb of Mary is the
62
shrine of the Holy Spirit, and a human conception following the
miraculous conception by the Holy Spirit would not respect its
sacred and unique seed of precedence. St. Thomas adds that it
would be unthinkable that Mary, after her miraculous virginal
conception and her miraculous virginal birth, would forfeit her
God-protected gift of virginity after the birth of Jesus.23
Mary was to be for all ages the perfect example of Christian
discipleship in a complete gift of self to God, as well as a perfect
model of the Church, which is both a virgin and a mother. Mary’s
virginity would need to be preserved in imitation of the virginity
of Jesus himself, and as a perfect example to later disciples of the
Church that holy virginity is the highest objective vocational gift
of self to God.
But again, Mary’s Perpetual Virginity possesses its greatest
impor tance because it safeguards and respects the unprecedented
and incomparably sacred event of God becoming man, “born of a
woman” (Gal 4:4). Mary, therefore, did not have marital relations
or other children to safeguard the uniqueness of the first Child.
The principal objection to Mary’s Perpetual Virginity is the
scriptural references to the “brethren of the Lord” (cf. Mt 12:46ff,
13:55, Mk3:31ff, etc.) The Greek word for brother, “adelphos,”
is often used in the Bible to mean cousin, close relative, or even
“kinsman,” someone from one’s home town or village. There are,
in fact, several instances in Sacred Scripture where “adelphos,”
or its Hebrew parallel term “ah,” is used, and in a context where
it cannot denote a blood brother relationship. For example, Lot
and Abraham are referred to as “brothers” in Genesis 13:8, but a
few verses earlier it is revealed that their relationship is actually
one of cousins (cf. Gen 12:5). A similar parallel is evident when
Jacob and Laban are called “brothers” (Gen 29:15), but they are
actually uncle and nephew (cf. Gen 29:10). Certainly the one
hundred and twenty “brothers” mentioned in Acts 1:15 did not
all have the same mother.
Moreover, had the Blessed Virgin had other children, Jesus
would not have entrusted her to John at the foot of the cross
63
(cf. Jn 19:26-27)—he would have given her into the care of her
other sons or daughters, according to Jewish custom, and not to
someone outside the family.
The term “brethren” of Jesus in the New Testament would
thereby refer to his cousins, his near relatives, and possibly his
close followers or his disciples, as Christians today still refer to
each other as “brothers and sisters” in the Lord.
Another objection to Mary’s Perpetual Virginity is based on
the reference to Christ as the “first-born” son of Mary (Lk 2:7).
It has been argued that this must mean Mary had other children
after Jesus. The term fi rst-born, however, does not necessarily
mean that other children must have followed the first-born. For
every first child born to parents is a “first-born” child, regardless
of whether other children follow or not. As St. Jerome stated:
“Every only child is a fi rst-born child, but not every fi rst-born
is an only child.”24
Finally, some would argue that if the marriage between Mary
and Joseph was never consummated, then it would not have
been a true marriage or would have been unnatural. However,
the essence of the marriage bond between husband and wife is
their complete and unconditional gift of self and union of heart,
of which the physical union is a concrete sign. If for a good
and holy reason husband and wife should choose to refrain from
relations, either for a time or permanently (under exceptional
circumstances), this would not invalidate a marriage or affect its
true bond, which is rooted not in the physical but in the spiritual
union of the spouses.
There are numerous examples in Scripture where God asks
married couples to renounce relations. In the Old Testament
we have Moses requesting continence from the Israelites in
preparation for the arrival of God (Ex 19:15). The levitical priests
were commanded by God to abstain during the time when they
exercised their duties in the temple, and David and his men were
only allowed to eat of the holy bread if they had been abstaining
from women (1 Sam 21:5). In the New Testament, St. Paul also
64
writes that on occasion abstinence could be helpful in aiding us
in our prayer life (1 Cor 7:5). In all of these examples, we have
present the theme of refraining from the marital act because
of the presence of that which is holy or sacred. Again, there is
nothing wrong and much beautiful in itself with the physical
love of spouses expressed for one another, but these scriptural
examples show that when men and women are near to God
and what he is sanctified, it can also be appropriate for them
to respond by giving of themselves directly and undividedly to
God. If in these cases it was fitting that men and women should
remain abstinent, it can hardly be surprising that present before
the great miracle of the Incarnation, Mary and Joseph chose to
remain permanently virginal as well.25
The Immaculate Conception
The dogma of the Immaculate Conception, which was
solemnly defined by an infallible pronouncement of Bl. Pius IX
in 1854, proclaims that Mary was conceived without the stain of
original sin. Mary’s preservation from all stain of sin or its effects
was a singular grace and privilege of God the Father in view of
the merits of Jesus Christ, the universal Redeemer of humanity.
Before examining the full solemn pronouncement of Bl. Pius
IX (which was issued through an exercise of the papal charism of
infallibility by which the Vicar of Christ is protected from error
by the power of the Holy Spirit), let us first examine the revealed
seeds of this dogma as they are first contained in Scripture and
Tradition.
From Sacred Scripture we have two principal passages that
present the implicit seed of Mary’s Immaculate Conception. In
Genesis 3:15, after Adam and Eve commit the original sin, God
addresses Satan, who is represented by the serpent: “I will put
enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and
her seed; she shall crush your head, and you shall lie in wait for
her heel.” Since the “seed” of the woman is Jesus Christ, who is
65
to crush Satan victoriously in the Redemption, then the woman
must in fact refer to Mary, Mother of the Redeemer, from whom
the seed of victory comes.
The word “enmity,” which is rich in meaning in this passage,
signifies a complete and radical opposition. The enmity God
established between the “seed” of the woman, which is Jesus,
and the “seed” of the serpent, which is sin and all evil angels
and humans, is an absolute opposition, because there is absolute
enmity between Jesus and all evil.
We see the identical God-given opposition or enmity
established by God between the woman, Mary, and the serpent,
Satan. Mary is given the same absolute and perpetual opposition
to Satan as Jesus possesses in relation to sin. It is for this reason
that Mary could not have received a fallen nature as a result
of original sin. Any participation in the effects of original sin
would place the Mother of Jesus in at least partial participation
with Satan and sin, thereby destroying the complete God-given
enmity as revealed in Genesis 3:15.
God reveals in this Genesis passage that the woman who will
give birth to the seed of victory in the future will be in total
separation from Satan and sin. Since original sin and its effects
constitute a form of union with Satan and his seed, this passage
prophesies the future woman free from sin and “immaculate”
(sine macula, “without stain”).
The New Testament inspired seed for the Immaculate
Conception is revealed in the words of the Angel Gabriel, “Hail,
full of grace, the Lord is with you” (Lk 1:28). In the angelic
greeting, Mary’s name is nowhere used. Rather, the title “full
of grace” is used as a substitute for Mary’s name by the angelic
messenger of God. These words refer to a fullness of grace, a
plenitude of grace that is part of Mary’s very nature. So much is
Mary’s very being full of grace that this title serves to identify
Mary in the place of her own name, which, biblically, always
expresses the person.
66
It is also true that no person with a fallen nature could possess
a fullness of grace, a perfection of grace appropriate only for the
woman who was to give God the Son an identical, immaculate
human nature. Mary was conceived in the plan of God to be the
woman who would give her own immaculate nature to God
when God became man. Certainly we can see the appropriateness
of God receiving a human nature from a human mother, and
receiving an immaculate nature from a truly immaculate
mother.
The Greek text of Luke 1:28 manifests an additional
support for Mary’s Immaculate Conception. The Greek word
“kecharitomene,” is a perfect participle, which in Greek denotes an
action completed in the past which bears a relevance to the present.
We translate Luke 1:28 most accurately, “Hail (or “rejoice”), you
who have been perfected in grace” (or “Hail, you who have been
fully graced”), which refers to an action of profound or perfecting
grace, which has taken place in the past, but which remains
relevant to the present, i.e., the Immaculate Conception. Note
that this part of the angel’s greeting comes before any mention of
the invitation to become the Mother of Jesus, and therefore the
angelic reference to her perfection of grace is not due directly to
her future “yes” to be the Mother of the Savior, but to an action
of perfecting grace completed in the past.26
Patristic Development of the Immaculate Conception
These biblical seeds of the Immaculate Conception blossomed
gradually but steadily in the Tradition of the Church. The early
Church Fathers refer to Mary under such titles as “all holy,” “all
pure,” “most innocent,” “a miracle of grace,” “purer than the
angels,” “altogether without sin,” and do so within the first three
centuries of the Church.27 As the word “immaculate” signifies
“without sin,” these titles used for Mary by the early Fathers, such
as “altogether without sin,” contain the essential understanding
of her immaculate nature.28
67
Moreover, the early Fathers of the Church also compared the
Mother of God’s sinless state as being identical to Eve’s spiritual
state before her participation in original sin. Mary, the New Eve
was acknowledged to be in the same state of original grace and
justice that Eve had initially experienced when she was created
by God. Since Eve was obviously conceived in grace, without
the fallen nature that we receive due to original sin, this parallel
made by the Church Fathers illustrates their grasp of Mary’s
nature.
For example, St. Ephraem (d.373) writes: “Those two innocent...
women, Mary and Eve, had been [created] utterly equal, but
afterwards one became the cause of our death, the other the cause
of our life.” St. Ephraem also refers to Mary’s sinlessness in this
address to Our Lord: “You and your Mother are the only ones who
are immune from all stain; for there is no spot in Thee, O Lord, nor
any taint in Your Mother.”29
References to Mary’s Immaculate Conception became more
and more explicit and developed throughout the first millennium
of Christianity. To quote a few examples:
•
•
•
•
St. Ambrose (d.397) refers to the Blessed Virgin as
“free from all stain of sin.”30
St. Severus, Bishop of Antioch (d.538) states: “She
[Mary]...formed part of the human race, and was of
the same essence as we, although she was pure from
all taint and immaculate.”31
St. Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem (d.638), refers
to Mary’s pre-purif ication in this address to the
Virgin: “You have found the grace which no one
has received.... No one has been pre-purified besides
you.”32
St. Andrew of Crete (d.740) tells us that the Redeemer
chose “in all nature this pure and entirely Immaculate
Virgin.”33
68
•
Theognostes of Constantinople (c.885) makes explicit
reference to Mary’s sanctification as taking place at
the moment of conception: “It was fitting indeed that
she who from the beginning had been conceived by
a sanctifying action...should also have a holy death...
holy, the beginning...holy, the end, holy her whole
existence.”34
The patristic testimony to the gradually explicit understanding
of the Immaculate Conception assists in correcting the
misunderstanding that the dogma of the Immaculate Conception
began with the infallible declaration of Bl. Pius IX in 1854. The
patristic references to the Immaculate Conception within the first
millennium of the Church offer historical witness to the maturing
understanding of this dogmatic truth present in the Church’s living
Tradition.
As the doctrine continued to mature at the beginning of
the second millennium, major theological controversies arose
concerning the doctrine, particularly in the West, not due to
any desire to prevent this honor from being given to the Mother
of Jesus, but rather because it appeared to oppose other theories
maintained at that time, but later proven to be incorrect.
For example, St. Bernard of Clairvaux thought the doctrine of
the Immaculate Conception violated the manner in which original
sin was transmitted, in St. Bernard’s view, from the infected
body of the parents to the soul of the child. Later theologians,
like the Franciscan Bl. John Duns Scotus (d.1308) would clarify
that original sin is not transmitted from the infected body of the
parents to the soul of the child, but rather from an absence of
sanctifying grace in the soul at conception as a result of original
sin. Other theologians were concerned about the universality
of the Redemption of Jesus Christ, objecting: “if Mary was
immaculately conceived, then she did not need to be saved by Jesus
Christ.”35 While some of these objections continued for centuries,
the Papal Magisterium gradually responded and corrected these
69
misconceptions, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit and
with the assistance of theological clarifications of other great
Mariologists, such as Bl. John Duns Scotus.
Papal Definition of the Immaculate Conception
By the beginning of the nineteenth century, the Magisterium
had settled all principal objections, and petitions began flowing
into the Vatican from cardinals, bishops, priests, laity, and various
heads of state requesting the papal definition of the Immaculate
Conception. After consulting with the bishops of the world and
establishing a theological commission to study the question, Bl.
Pius IX decided to proclaim the doctrine as a solemn dogma on
December 8, 1854.
The papal document Ineffabilis Deus in 1854 proclaims as
follows:
We declare, pronounce and define that the doctrine
which holds that the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, at
the first instant of her conception, was preserved
immune from all stain of sin, by a singular grace
and privilege of the Omnipotent God, in view of
the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human
race, was revealed by God and must be firmly and
constantly believed by all the faithful.
The charism of papal infallibility is that gift of the Holy
Spirit which protects the pope in his office as successor of St.
Peter and Vicar of Christ on earth from error regarding a fi nal
pronouncement on faith and morals. When speaking ex cathedra
(“from the chair,” or in his official capacity as head of the Church
on earth), the Holy Spirit protects the pope from any error in
safeguarding the deposit of faith and morals entrusted to the
Church.36
70
In this concise ex cathedra definition, Bl. Pope Pius IX summarizes several foundational elements regarding the Mother of God’s
Immacu late Conception. First, it states that Mary, from the
moment her soul was created and infused into her body (which
is known as “passive conception”), was preserved from the effects
of original sin and, thereby, entered human existence in the state
of sanctifying grace.
Due to the sin of our first human parents, all human beings
are conceived in a deprived state without the sanctifying grace
in their souls that God had originally intended. Hence, there is
the need for sacramental Baptism which restores the life of grace
in the soul. Belief in Mary’s Immaculate Conception is most
reasonable, if we remember that it was God’s original intention
that all mankind be conceived in sanctifying grace and begin
their existence in the family of God. It was only as a result of
original sin that we are now conceived in a state deprived of
sanctifying grace. Mary, rather than being the exception, fulfi lls
in a real sense the original intention of what God wanted for all
his human children: to be members of his family from the first
moment of their existence.
Bl. Pius IX confi rms that this preservation from original
sin for the Blessed Virgin Mary was nonetheless “a singular
privilege.” The def inition testif ies that the Immaculate
Conception was a unique privilege given by the all-powerful
God to Mary alone. This free gift from God prepared Mary to
be the stainless Mother of God-made-man. It fittingly allowed
Mary to give Jesus an immaculate human nature, identical to
her own, which respects the law of motherhood. For we know
that God the Son could not be united to a stained fallen nature
when he became man. Moreover, Mary would not suffer any of
the effects of original sin, and therefore would retain the three
major sets of gifts granted by God to Adam and Eve: the natural
gift of a human body, soul, intellect, and will; the principal
preternatural gifts of a certain infused knowledge regarding
the providence of God, a perfect harmony between reason and
71
the emotions (which the scholastics called “integrity”), and the
natural immortality of the body; and the supernatural gift of
sanctifying grace in original justice.37
Mary’s Preservative Redemption
A critical element of the papal definition states that this unique
gift to Mary was granted “in view of the merits of Jesus Christ,
the Savior of the human race.” Mary received sanctifying grace at
conception through an application of the saving graces that Jesus
merited for all humanity on the Cross. Mary was redeemed by
Jesus Christ as every human being must be.
Once again, it was the question of the universal Redemption
of Jesus Christ that led several noted theologians during the
scholastic period of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries to have
diff iculties in understanding and accepting the Immaculate
Conception. Many theologians viewed Mary’s gift of sanctifying
grace at conception as running contrary to Scripture passages,
such as Romans 5, which refer to Christ’s need to redeem all
humanity because of original sin and its effects. It was the
insightful contribution of Blessed Duns Scotus (d.1308) who
solved this theological misunderstanding with the principle of
what is called “Preservative Redemption.”
Preservative Redemption explains that Mary’s preservation
from original sin was an application by God of the saving graces
merited by Jesus Christ on Calvary. Mary was redeemed at the
moment of her conception through sanctifying grace by an
application of Jesus’ merits on Calvary. God, being out of time,
has the power to apply the graces of Redemption to individuals in
different times of history and did so to Mary at the fi rst moment
of her existence.
That the Blessed Virgin’s soul was preserved from original
sin at the moment of conception does not mean that Mary had
no need of the Redemption of Jesus; rather, Mary owed more to
the Redemption of Jesus than anyone else. In fact, Mary received
72
from her Son a higher form of redemption. All other human beings
are redeemed after they have received a fallen nature, through
sacramental Baptism. Mary, on the contrary, was redeemed by
the grace of Jesus at her conception, the grace which prevented
Mary from ever receiving a fallen nature. Hence, the grace of
Jesus redeemed Mary at conception before her nature was in
any way affected by sin. Thus, we rightly say that Mary owed
more to Christ than anyone else. Through the graces of Jesus at
Calvary, Mary never received a fallen nature but was sanctified
and thereby redeemed from the first instance of her existence.
This theological contribution by Blessed Duns Scotus helped
many a theologian to see the profound complementarity between
the universal Redemption of Jesus Christ and the Immacu late
Conception of his Mother. In short, Mary needed to be saved, and
was saved in an exalted way by her Son.38
The splendor of Mary’s Immaculate Conception is echoed
in these words of the Second Vatican Council:
It is no wonder then that it was customary for
the Fathers to refer to the Mother of God as all
holy and free from every stain of sin, as though
fashioned by the Holy Spirit and formed as a
new creature. Enriched from the fi rst instant of
her conception with the splendor of an entirely
unique holiness, the virgin of Nazareth is hailed
by the heralding angel, by divine command, as
“full of grace” (cf. Lk 1:28) (Lumen Gentium, No.
56).
The Assumption of Mary
The fourth Marian dogma is the Assumption of Our Lady. The
dogma of Mary’s Assumption, like her Immaculate Conception,
has the added certainty of an infallible papal statement. Pope Pius
XII in 1950 defined the Assumption of Mary in the following ex
73
cathedra statement: “The Immaculate Mother of God, the ever
Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was
assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.”39
What evidence is present in the sources of divine revelation
for the dogma of Mary’s glorious Assumption into heaven? Pope
Pius XII, in his papal document, declares the Assumption a
dogma “revealed by God” and refers to several sources.
The Magisterium of the Church
The dogma of Mary’s Assumption received the unanimous
consensus from the Magisterium of the Church. In 1946,
Pope Pius XII petitioned the bishops of the world asking them
whether the Assumption of Mary could be defined and whether
they favored such a def inition. Out of 1232 bishops, 1210
enthusiastically answered yes to both questions (over ninety-eight
percent), which manifested an extraordinary consensus amidst
the college of bishops.
Pope Pius XII, therefore, in the service of the bishops and of
the common faithful, used the charism of infallibility to defi ne
solemnly and confirm this universally accepted doctrine. In
fact, after the papal defi nition of the Immaculate Conception
in 1854, the Vatican received millions of petitions from bishops,
priests, religious, and faithful alike the world over asking for the
definition of the Assumption of Mary.
The Assumption in Scripture
An implicit reference to the dogma of Mary’s Assumption
is found in Genesis 3:15. As the papal document of Pius XII
explains, Genesis 3:15 foreshadows Mary as intimately sharing
in the same absolute victory of her Son over Satan: “I will put
enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and
her seed...” (Gen 3:15).
74
According to St. Paul (cf. Rom 5-8; Heb 2), the consequences
of Satan’s seed, evil, are twofold: sin and death (which specifically
refers to bodily corruption). Therefore, the Mother of Jesus, who
shared in her Son’s victory over Satan and his seed, would also
have to be saved from the two consequences of sin and death
(bodily corruption). She did triumph over sin in her Immaculate
Conception, and triumphed over death (corruption of the body)
in her glorious Assumption at the end of her earthly life.
It is worthy of note that many bishops from around the world
sent to Pius XII the same scriptural support of Genesis 3:15 for
Mary’s Assumption previous to the solemn def inition, thus
offering episcopal confirmation that Genesis 3:15 is the primary
doctrinal seed in Scripture for Mary’s Assumption.40
Other secondary scriptural support for the Assumption of
Mary include Luke 1:28, “Hail, full of grace,” since her bodily
assumption is a natural effect of being “full of grace”; Revelation
12:1, where Mary’s coronation implies her preceding bodily
assumption; 1 Corinthians 15:23 and Matthew 27:52-53 which
support the possibility of a bodily assumption, and Psalm 132:8,
which prophesies: “Arise, O Lord, into your resting place: you
and the ark which you have sanctified.”
A significant scriptural support for the Assumption would be
Revelation 11:19, where St. John describes a vision of the Ark
of the Covenant unveiled in heaven: “Then God’s temple in
heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within
his temple; and there were flashes of lightning, loud noises, peals
of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.” Since the Ark of the
Covenant is the premier type of Mary in the Old Testament, and
since the vision immediately following it is of a “Woman clothed
with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a
crown of twelve stars” (Rev 12:1), there can be little question
of the Marian reference present and of the underlying theme of
Mary’s Assumption into heaven.
75
The Assumption in Tradition
The dogma of Mary’s Assumption is also present in Sacred
Tradition, as the early Christians gradually unraveled the
implicitly revealed reference to Mary’s Assumption. One of the
earlier patristic testimonies is by St. Gregory of Tours (d.593):
“The Lord com manded the holy body [of Mary] to be borne
on a cloud to Paradise where, reunited to its soul and exalting
with the elect, it enjoys the everlasting bliss of eternity.”41 There
are yet earlier references to Our Lady’s Assumption by the early
Christian community which appears to date back to the second
century.42
The feast of the “Dormitio,” which celebrated the death,
resurrection, and Assumption of Our Lady, was widely established
in the East by the fourth century.43
From the seventh century onwards, numerous Church Fathers preached and taught the doctrine of the Assumption (St.
Germain of Constantinople, d.733; St. Andrew of Crete d.740;
St. John Damascene, d.749, etc.). During the sixth century, the
liturgical feasts dedicated to the Assumption are established in
Syria and in the Alexandrian church in Egypt. Western liturgical
feasts dedicated to Mary’s Assumption take place in Gaul (modern
day France) in the seventh century; and by the eighth century
was celebrated in Rome. From the thirteenth century on, the
doctrine of Mary’s Assumption was taught with near unanimity
by Church writers and theologians in both the East and West.44
Relation to Other Marian Dogmas
Pius XII identif ies the close connection between the
Assumption and other Marian-defi ned dogmas, in particular,
the Motherhood of God and the Im maculate Conception. In
relation to the Dogma of the Motherhood of God, Pope Pius
XII states that it is fitting that Jesus would honor his Mother as
only a divine Son could. It is true that no one obeys the fourth
76
commandment of honoring father and mother better than Jesus,
who is Son of the Father and Son of Mary. It is thereby reasonable
that Jesus would uniquely honor his Mother, first, by preserving
her from the corruption of the grave, and secondly, by granting
her a glorification of the body in Heaven before the general
resurrection of the body for all other saints on the last day.45
Even more evident is the essential connection between the
Assumption and Mary’s Immaculate Conception. Simply put,
Mary’s Assumption is the natural effect of her Immaculate
Conception. The Assumption is the logical effect of being
preserved from original sin, since corruption of the body is an
effect of original sin (cf. Rom 5-8; Heb 2). Had Adam and
Eve not sinned, it is possible that they, too, at the end of their
earthly life could have been assumed into Heaven without the
corruption of their bodies. Corruption of the body is a result of
original sin. Therefore, since the Mother of God was preserved
from original sin in her Immaculate Conception, and since she
sustained her fullness of grace given by God, Our Lady could
not have experienced the fruit of original sin in the corruption
of the body at the end of her earthly life.
The dogmas of the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption are interiorly and logically connected, as Pius XII
explains in the papal document:
These two privileges (i.e., the Assumption and the
Immaculate Conception) are most closely bound
to one another. Indeed, Christ overcame sin
and death by His own death, and the man who,
through baptism, is supernaturally regenerated,
has conquered sin and death through the same
Christ. However, as a general rule, God does not
wish to grant to the just the full effect of their
victory over death until the end of time shall have
come. And so it is that the bodies of even the just
are corrupted after death, and that only on the last
77
day will they be joined, each to his own glorified
soul. Nevertheless, God has willed that the Blessed
Virgin Mary should be exempted from this
general law. By an entirely unique privilege she
completely overcame sin through her Immaculate
Conception, and therefore was not subject to that
law of remaining in the corruption of the grave,
nor did she have to wait until the end of time for
the redemption of her body.46
The question may then be asked: Did Mary die? Human death
may be defined as a separation of soul and body at the end of earthly
life. The Church has never defined whether or not at the end of
Mary’s earthly life she experienced some temporary separation
of soul and body before her Assumption into Heaven. Such a
temporary separation of soul and body, as long as it did not include
any material corruption of the body (the effect of sin), could have
been experienced by the Mother of Jesus in virtue of her perfect
discipleship, that is, in imitation of the temporary separation of soul
and body experienced by the Lord. Pius XII purposely avoided any
direct statement regarding Mary’s death by using the more general
expression “at the end of her earthly life.”
The majority of theologians hold that Mary did experience
some type of temporary death so as to enter Heaven in the
manner which most closely resembled that of her Son. What
is certain is that Mary could not experience the corruption of the
body, the “material death” that comes as a result of original sin.
Recent papal allocutions by Pope John Paul II tend to support
the position of Mary’s death, which more closely coincides with
the Eastern tradition of Our Lady’s Dormition.47
The words of Vatican II well attest to the unique event of
Mary’s glorious Assumption as a proper earthly end to the one
who, in all her dogmas, reflects a person of perfect obedience
to God’s will and of intimate and singular union with her Son,
Our Lord:
78
Finally the Immaculate Virgin preserved from
all stain of original sin, was taken up body and
soul into heavenly glory, when her earthly life
was over, and exalted by the Lord as Queen
over all things, that she might be the more fully
conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords (cf. Rev
19:16) and conqueror of sin and death (Lumen
Gentium, No. 59).
The Catechism of the Catholic Church underscores how Our
Lady’s Assumption also serves as an “eschatological sign” for the
Church.48
Pope Benedict XVI applies the dogma of Mary’s Assumption
to her role as Spiritual Mother of all humanity when he says:
Mary was taken up body and soul into Heaven:
there is even room in God for the body. Heaven
is no longer a very remote sphere unknown to us.
We have a mother in Heaven. And the Mother
of God, the Mother of the Son of God, is our
Mother. He himself has said so. He made her our
Mother when he said to the disciple and to all of
us: “Behold, your Mother!” We have a Mother in
Heaven. Heaven is open, Heaven has a heart.49
79
Notes
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Council of Ephesus, DS 113.
Fourth Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon, 451, DS 148; Ludwig Ott
Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, Tan, 1974, p. 144.
Cf. Gerald van Ackeren, S.J., “Mary’s Divine Motherhood” in Carol,
ed., Mariology, Vol. II, Bruce, 1957; Juniper Carol, O.F.M., Fundamentals
of Mariology, New York, Benzinger Bros., 1957, p. 35-40.
DS 256.
St. Augustine, Serm. 189, No.2; PL 38, 1005.
Furthermore, it follows that Mary’s birth of Jesus would be a painless
experience, since pain in childbirth is a punitive effect of original sin
(cf. Gen 3:15). Mary, being free from the penalty of original sin due to
her Immaculate Conception, would likewise be free from the penalty
of a painful process of childbirth.
St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, III, Q. 28, a. 2.
Cf. Carol, Fundamentals, p, 147; Carol, “Mary’s Virginity in Partu,”
Homiletic and Pastoral Review, 54, 1954.
Pope St. Leo, Enchiridion Patristicum (EP) 2182.
DS 1880; Jacques Dupuis, ed., The Christian Faith in the Doctrinal Documents
of the Catholic Church, sixth revised and enlarged edition, Alba House, 1998,
No. 707.
Robert I. Bradley, S.J. and Eugene Kevane, eds., The Roman Catechism, St.
Paul Editions, 1985, 49-50.
Pius XII, Encyclical Mystici Corporis, June 29, 1943, No. 110; Acta
Apostolicae Sedis (AAS)35, 1943.
Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 499.
Cf. St. Ephraem, Explanatio evangelii concordantis, cap. 2, No. 6, cap. 5,
No. 7, cap. 2, No. 11; Burghart, “Mary in Eastern Patristic Thought,”
Mariology, II, pp. 114-115; St. Ambrose, De inst. Virg et S. Mariae virginitate
perpetua; St. Jerome, De perpetua virginitate B. Mariae adv. Helvidium; St.
Augustine, De haeresibus 56, 84; Ott, Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, p.
207.
DS 91; cf. Ott, Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, p. 206.
Pope St. Leo, Sermo 22, 2; PL 54, 195-196.
DS 1880; Dupuis, The Christian Faith in the Doctrinal Documents of the Catholic
Church No. 707.
DS 214, 218, 227; cf. Ott, Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, p. 206.
Cf. Collins, S.J., “Our Lady’s Vow of Virginity,” Catholic Biblical Quarterly,
5, 1943.
Cf. Arthur B. Calkins, “The Virginitas in Partu,” Fellowship of Catholic
Scholars Quarterly, Vol. 26, No. 1 (Winter 2003) 10-13.
80
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
Cf. Ott, Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, pp. 204.
Martin Luther, Wiemar edition of Martin Luther’s Works, trans. William
J. Cole, 11, p. 320; John Calvin, cf. Bernard Leeming, “Protestants and
Our Lady,” Marian Library Studies, January 1967, p. 9; John Wesley, Letter
to a Roman Catholic; Ulrich Zwingli, Zwingli Opera, Corpus Reformatorum,
Vol. 1, 424.
St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica III, Q. 28, a. 3.
De perpetua virginitate B. Mariae, No. 10; PL 23:192B.
Cf. J. Evert, “Mary’s Perpetual Virginity,” www.motherofallpeoples.
com.
Cf. Carol, Fundamentals, p. 90.
Cf. Bl. Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus.
Ibid.
St. Ephraem, Sermones exegetici, opera omnia syriace et latine, 2, Rome, 1740,
327.
St. Ambrose, Exposito in Psalm 118, Sermon 22, No. 30, PL 15, 1599.
St. Severus, Hom., cathedralis, 67, PO, 8, 350.
St. Sophronius, Oral in Deiparae Annunt., 25, PG 87, 3246-3247.
St. Andrew, Hom. 1 in Nativ. Deiparae, PG 97, 913-914.
Theognostes, Hom. in Dorm. Deiparae, PO, Graffi n-Nau, 16, 467.
The other principal objection to the Immaculate Conception in the
scholastic age was based on the misunderstood notion of how original
sin was transmitted. Since they erroneously held that original sin was
transmitted from an infected body to the soul once the soul was created
and infused, then Mary would have contracted original sin from the
fallen nature of St. Anne, her mother. It was Bl. Duns Scotus who
correctly clarified that original sin consisted rather in the absence of
sanctifying grace in the soul at conception, a deprivation caused by the
sin of Adam and Eve. Hence, Mary, by the merits of Jesus Christ, was
granted that gift of sanctifying grace in her soul at conception.
Cf. Mt 16:18; Jn 21:15-17; Lk 22:32; cf. also Lumen Gentium, No. 25,
and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 891.
Cf. St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, I, Q. 94-101.
Cf. Burghart, S.J., “Mary in Eastern Patristic Thought,” Mariology, II;
Aidan Carr, O.F.M.Conv., “Mary’s Immaculate Conception,” Mariology,
Vol. I; Michael O’Carroll C.S.Sp., “Immaculate Conception,” Theotokos:
A Theological Encyclopedia of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Delaware, Michael
Glazier, Inc., 1983; Carol, Fundamentals, p. 90-115.
Pius XII, Apostolic Constitution Munifi centissimus Deus, November 1,
1950; AAS 42, 1950.
St. Gregory of Tours, Libri miraculorum, lib I, cap. 4; PL 71, 708.
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
81
Contemporary scholarship is tending to antedate f irst references to
Mary’s Assumption to the second century, in light of its appearance in
Transitus Mariae, which fi nds its original manuscripts dating back to the
second century (cf. Du Manoir, Marie, Vol. VI). Although early Christian
apocryphal writings are certainly not to be considered as inspired texts,
nonetheless in some cases they can reflect the general beliefs of the early
Christian community.
Cf. Lawrence Everett, C.ss.r., “Mary’s Death and Bodily Assumption,”
Mariology, II, p. 479.
Cf. Pius XII, Munifi centissimus Deus.
Ibid., Nos. 4, 5.
Cf. John Paul II, Wednesday Audience of June 25, 1997; L’Osservatore
Romano, English edition, July 2, 1997, p. 11.
Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 972.
John Paul II, Angelus Address, Castel Gandolfo, September 11, 2005.
82
Chapter Six
M OTH E R OF A LL P EOPLE S
What do the dogmas that God has revealed about the Blessed
Virgin Mary have to do with me personally? How do these
revealed truths about the Mother of Jesus affect my own spiritual
life? How can it be said that the Mother of Jesus is the mother of
every person on earth?
It is in answer to these questions that we now explore
Mary’s God-given role as Spiritual Mother of all humanity. A
full understanding of Mary’s Spiritual Maternity provides the
only adequate foundation for a proper Christian response to the
Mother of the Lord.
An authentic Christian response to the Lord’s Mother
refers to a response of both “head” and “heart”; a response
both theologically accurate and spiritually generous; a response
both personal and ecclesial. Mary’s role as Spiritual Mother and
Mediatrix can rightly be called the bridge between authentic
Marian doctrine and devotion.
Let us fi rst look at the basic understanding of the spiritual
motherhood of Mary, and then continue to examine its most
complete expression under its three principal aspects and roles as
Co-redemptrix, Mediatrix of all graces and Advocate.
83
84
Spiritual Motherhood
The Blessed Virgin began her mission as Spiritual Mother
of humanity with her “fiat” at the Annunciation. Her “let it be
done” (Lk 1:38), leads to her becoming the Mother of Jesus, who
is the Head of the Mystical Body (which is the Church), and also
mysteriously begins her spiritual motherhood in relation to the
rest of the Body of Christ which is mystically connected to Jesus
the Head. St. Augustine explained Mary’s spiritual maternity
based on the mystical union between Christ and the faithful. As
physical Mother of Christ, the Head, Mary in a spiritual manner
is Mother also of the faithful that make up the Body of Christ.1
Along with Mary’s yes to being the Mother of the Savior (and
his Mystical Body) at the Annunciation, the scriptural basis for
Mary’s spiritual motherhood of all humanity is made manifest
in John 19:26-27. Here Mary is on Calvary at the foot of the
Cross with her crucified Son and John, the beloved disciple. As
the Gospel of John reads: “When Jesus saw his mother, and the
disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother,
‘Woman, behold, your son.’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Behold,
your mother’” ( Jn 19:26-27).
John, the “beloved disciple,” is a symbol of all humanity
and, in a special way, of every person who likewise seeks to be a
“beloved disciple” of Jesus. That John is symbolic of all humanity
and, in a special way, of all the faithful, has been confirmed
by several popes, not to mention an endless list of theologians
and spiritual writers. For example, Pope Leo XIII writes: “Now
in John, according to the constant mind of the Church, Christ
designated the whole human race, particularly those who were
joined with him in faith.”2
Pope John Paul II discussed Mary’s motherhood as a personal
gift which Christ gives to John, and beyond John to every
individual:
Mother of A ll Peoples
85
The Mother of Christ, who stands at the very
center of this myster y—a myster y which
embraces each individual and all humanity—is
given as mother to every single individual and
all humanity. The man at the foot of the Cross is
John, “the disciple whom he [Jesus] loved.” But it
is not he alone. Following tradition, the Council
[Vatican II] does not hesitate to call Mary “the
Mother of Christ and mother of mankind....” “Indeed
she is ‘clearly the mother of the members of
Christ…since she cooperated out of love so that
there might be born in the Church the faithful.’”
...Mary’s motherhood, which became man’s
inheritance, is a gift: a gift which Christ himself
makes personally to every individual.3
Note that the words of Christ, rather than proposing a
suggestion, state a theological fact. Our Lord says: “Behold,
your mother.” He does not passively invite us to accept Mary
as Mother; rather, he states the theological fact that Mary is the
newly God-given Mother of each beloved disciple. Our remaining
question then should not so much be, “Is Mary our Mother?” but
more appropriately, “How do we properly behold his Mother,
who is now our Mother?”
Spiritual Motherhood in Tradition
The Fathers of the Church recognized Mary’s role as Spiritual
Mother as it was essentially contained in her example and role
as the “New Eve.” Mary was the new “Mother of the living”
who participated with Jesus, the New Adam, in regaining the
life of grace for the human family. Since the name “Eve” means
“mother of the living,” then Mary, as the New Eve, is the “new
Mother of the living” in the order of grace. Again, as St. Jerome
summed it up, “Death through Eve, life through Mary.”
86
Further, the prayers of petition offered in the early Church to
the Mother of God for spiritual and physical protection manifest
an understanding of Mary’s ability to intercede for her spiritual
children. We see this son or daughter-like prayer for the special
protection of their Spiritual Mother in the Sub Tuum: “We fly to
your patronage, O holy Mother of God. Despise not our petitions
in our necessities, but deliver us from all dangers, O ever glorious
and blessed Virgin.”
Historically, the voice of the Magisterium has been clear and
consistent regarding the truth of Mary’s spiritual motherhood.
The first pope to refer to Mary as Spiritual Mother, particularly as
“Mother of Grace,” was pope Sixtus IV in 1477 (in the Apostolic
Constitution Cum praecelsa). Since Pope Sixtus IV, no less than
twenty-nine subsequent popes have referred to Mary as Spiritual
Mother with an always increasing specificity and clarity.4
Vatican II professed Mary’s spiritual motherhood when it
refers to Our Lady as our “mother in the order of grace”: “Thus,
in a wholly singular way she cooperated by her obedience, faith,
hope and burning charity in the work of the Savior in restoring
supernatural life to souls. For this reason she is a mother to us in
the order of grace” (Lumen Gentium, No. 61).
Theology of Mary as Spiritual Mother
How do we explain theologically Mary’s role as Spiritual
Mother? Once again, her spiritual motherhood is intimately
related to the doctrine of the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ. In the
rich doctrine of the Mystical Body according to St. Paul (cf. Col
1:18, Eph 4:15), Christ is the Head of the Body, and the Church
is the Body of Christ. Mary, then, in conceiving Jesus, the Head
of the Mystical Body, also conceived all the faithful since we all
are members of that same Body. In giving birth to Jesus the Head,
Mary also gives birth to the Body, the Church. Therefore, Mary,
in giving physical birth to Jesus, made it possible for his members
87
to receive spiritual life through Jesus. It is firstly for this reason
that Mary is called our true “Spiritual Mother.”
She is not our physical Mother, nor is the title a mere figure
of speech. Mary, in giving birth to Jesus, truly communicated to
us the supernatural life of grace that allows us to become children
of God. As explained by Pope St. Pius X in his famous Marian
encyclical, Ad diem illum:
Is not Mary the Mother of Christ? She is therefore
our Mother also.... He [ Jesus] acquired a body
composed like that of other men, but as Savior of
our race, He had a kind of spiritual and mystical
body, which is the society of those who believe
in Christ.... Consequently, Mary, bearing in her
own womb the Savior, may be said to have borne
also those whose life was contained in the life of
the Savior. All of us, therefore...have come forth
from the womb of Mary as a body united to its
head. Hence, in a spiritual and mystical sense, we
are called children of Mary, and she is the Mother
of us all.5
Nevertheless, Mary’s spiritual motherhood to us in grace
does not stop only at the birth of the Mystical Body. A true
mother both “natures” and “nurtures” her children. A true
mother gives birth, but also nourishes and forms her children.
Spiritually, then, Mary not only gave birth to the Body of Christ,
but also continually intercedes in obtaining graces for her spiritual
children, leading them to her Son and to eternal salvation. Mary
does so, not only in virtue of conceiving the Mystical Body of
Jesus at the Annunciation (Lk 1:26), but also by sharing in the
sufferings of her crucified Son on Calvary ( Jn 19:26) where she
is defi nitively given as Spiritual Mother to all beloved disciples
and to humanity in general. During medieval times, the Virgin
was also referred to as the “neck” of the Mystical Body of Christ,
88
for it is Mary that connects the Head and Body in the mystical
order of grace.
Hence, Mary became our Spiritual Mother initially at the
Annunciation, but her motherhood was perfected on Calvary,
participating in the spiritual regeneration or rebirth of the human
family. The exercise of her motherhood continues in her constant
intercession from Heaven in leading her earthly children to their
heavenly home.
As the Second Vatican Council profoundly summarizes:
This motherhood of Mary in the order of grace
continues uninterruptedly from the consent
which she loyally gave at the Annunciation and
which she sustained without wavering beneath
the cross until the eternal fulfi llment of all the
elect. Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside
this saving office but by her manifold intercession
continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation.
By her maternal charity, she cares for the brethren
of her Son, who still journey on earth surrounded
by dangers and difficulties, until they are led into
their blessed home (Lumen Gentium, No. 62).
This is the sound theological basis that led Pope Paul VI
during the Second Vatican Council to proclaim Mary as “Mother
of the Church.” For Mary is the Christ-designated Spiritual
Mother of the members of the Mystical Body of Jesus, which is
the Church.
Maternal Mediation
A deeper and more theologically precise manner of speaking
of Mary’s role as Spiritual Mother is contained in the term
“maternal mediation,” so often used by Pope John Paul II.6
89
Let us begin by examining the understanding of mediation
and the role of a “mediator” in general, and then see to what
degree the Mother of Jesus participates in the “one mediation”
of Jesus Christ (cf. 1 Tim 2:5).
A mediator, in general, is a person who intervenes between
two other persons for the goal of uniting the two parties. The
task of the mediator is not to distance further, but to reconcile,
to bring together the two parties in question.
In Christian revelation, we know that there is only one
primary and divine mediator between God and man: the person
of Jesus Christ. As St. Paul says: “For there is one God and there
is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus”
(1 Tim 2:5). Yet the perfect mediation of Jesus Christ does not
prevent (but in fact provides for) other human mediators who
are subordinate and secondary to Jesus. Jesus’ perfect mediation
allows for other creatures, both angelic and human, to participate
in the one perfect and divine mediation of Our Lord. In fact,
in 1 Timothy 2:1-4, ( just four verses before the passage from
1 Timothy 2:5 just quoted) St. Paul specifically asks for this
type of subordinate human mediation by petitioning that
“supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made
for all men, for kings and all who are in high positions…” and
states that fulfi lling this subordinate mediation is “good, and
it is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all
men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
Supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings made for
others are all obvious forms of mediation between God and
man.
We have several examples of secondary mediation on the
part of creatures in the Old Testament, mediators that were
appointed by Almighty God himself. The Old Testament
prophets who were inspired by God mediated between Yahweh
and the oftentimes disobedient people of Israel (precisely for the
purpose of reconciling Yahweh and Israel). The patriarchs, such
as Abraham and Moses, were instituted by God to be mediators
90
of the covenant between God and the chosen people of the Old
Testament. With the scriptural examples of the prophets and the
patriarchs, the intrinsic nature of a human being acting in a role
of subordinate mediator cannot be rejected by those who accept
the Bible as the Revelation of God.
In both Old and New Testaments, the glorious mediation
of the angels f ills the pages of Sacred Scripture as God’s
special messengers and intercessors, from the Book of Tobit to
the mediation of the Angel Gabriel on behalf of God at the
Annunciation (cf. Lk 1:26). St. Thomas Aquinas called the angels
“God’s secondary causes” since God has designated so much
of the operation of the spiritual and material universe to the
subordinate mediation of his angels.7 Some have objected that
after the Incarnation of Christ, the One Mediator, all subordinate
mediation by creatures comes to a necessary end. But this position
is in contradiction with Scripture and Apostolic Tradition, which
testifies to the continued secondary mediation of the angels in
the New Testament; the mediation directly instituted by Jesus to
the Apostles to baptize, celebrate the Eucharist, and forgive sins
(cf. Mt 28:19; Lk 22:19); and the revelation of the supernatural
power of the intercessory prayers of the saints, which “rises like
incense” before the throne of God (cf. Rev 5:8).
That the one mediation of Jesus Christ is unique, but at the
same time allows for the subordinate and secondary mediation
of others, is here summarized by St. Thomas Aquinas: “Christ
alone is the perfect mediator between God and man...but there
is nothing to prevent others in a certain way from being called
mediators between God and man in so far as they, by preparing
or serving, cooperate in uniting men to God.”8
Vatican II voices the same truth in these words:
No creature could ever be counted along with
the Incarnate Word and Redeemer; but just as the
priesthood of Christ is shared in various ways both
by his ministers and the faithful, and as the one
91
goodness of God is radiated in different ways among
his creatures, so also the unique mediation of the
Redeemer does not exclude but rather gives rise to a
manifold cooperation which is but a sharing in this
one source (Lumen Gentium, No. 62).
John Paul II offers an elucidating commentary on 1 Timothy
2:5, where he clarifies that St. Paul’s teaching seeks only to
prohibit any “parallel” or “rival” mediation, but not the Mother
of Jesus’ subordinate participation in the one mediation of Jesus
Christ:
Mary’s maternal mediation does not obscure the
unique and perfect mediation of Christ….
Far from being an obstacle to the exercise of
Christ’s unique mediation, Mary instead highlights
its fruitfulness and efficacy. “The Blessed Virgin’s
salutary influence on men originates not in any
inner necessity but in the disposition of God. It
flows forth from the superabundance of the merits
of Christ, rests on his mediation, depends entirely
on it and draws all its power from it” (Lumen
gentium, No. 60)…
In proclaiming Christ the one mediator (cf. 1
Tm 2:5-6), the text of St Paul’s Letter to Timothy
excludes any other parallel mediation, but not
subordinate mediation. In fact, before emphasizing
the one exclusive mediation of Christ, the author
urges “that supplications prayers, intercessions and
thanksgivings be made for all men” (2:1). Are not
prayers a form of mediation? Indeed, according to
St Paul, the unique mediation of Christ is meant
to encourage other dependent, ministerial forms
of mediation. By proclaiming the uniqueness of
Christ’s mediation, the Apostle intends only to
92
exclude any autonomous or rival mediation, and
not other forms compatible with the infinite value
of the Savior’s work….
Th is desi re to br i ng about va r ious
participations in the one mediation of Christ
reveals the gratuitous love of God who wants to
share what he possesses.
In truth, what is Mary’s maternal mediation
if not the Father’s gift to humanity? This is why
the Council concludes: “The Church does not
hesitate to profess this subordinate role of Mary,
which it constantly experiences and recommends
to the heartfelt attention of the faithful” (Lumen
gentium, No. 62).9
Hence, even we, in offering a prayer or fasting for a family
member or friend, are acting as secondary mediators between God
and humanity in the order of spiritual intercession which, rather than
detracting from the one mediation of Jesus, in fact manifests and
exercises the power of our one Divine Mediator to the Father.
The term “mediatrix,” therefore, refers to Our Lady’s role
as a secondary and subordinate participant in the one mediation
of Jesus Christ, who acts with the same intention as her Divine
Son, the one Mediator: to redeem and reconcile humanity with
God. Mary participates in the one mediation of Jesus Christ like
no other creature, and hence, she exclusively bears the role of
“Mediatrix” with and under Jesus Christ in the historic mission
of human salvation.
When we say that Mary shares in a secondary and subordinate
way in the mediation of Jesus Christ, it also must be pointed
out that Mary uniquely shares, like no other creature, in the one
mediation of Jesus Christ. Just as in the categories of devotion
we attribute to Mary the category of hyperdulia, which extends
beyond the dulia that is rightly paid to saints and angels, so too
in the category of subordinate mediation it must be specified that
93
Our Lady’s mediation is unique and unparalleled, a “hyperdulia”
of subordinate mediation because she alone is the Mother of
the Savior, and she alone participated in his objective work of
Redemption.
The Second Vatican Council acknowledges the title and
role of Mediatrix, while always protecting the divine primacy
of Christ the one Mediator:
Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the
Church under the titles of Advocate, Helper,
Benefactress, and Mediatrix. This, however,
is so understood that it neither takes away
anything from nor adds anything to the dignity
and efficacy of Christ the one Mediator (Lumen
Gentium, No. 62.).
In his 1987 Marian encyclical Redemptoris Mater (Mother of
the Redeemer), John Paul II devoted an entire chapter to Mary’s
“maternal mediation,” and in this passage he explains Mary’s
unique and exalted sharing in the one mediation of Jesus:
Mary entered, in a way all her own, into the one
mediation “between God and men” which is the
mediation of the man Christ Jesus… we must say that
through this fullness of grace and supernatural life
she was especially predisposed to cooperation with
Christ, the one Mediator of human salvation. And
such cooperation is precisely this mediation subordinated
to the mediation of Christ.
In Ma r y’s ca se we have a specia l a nd
exceptional mediation...10
In this same chapter he also articulates how Mary’s role as
secondary mediator takes on a universal dimension:
94
After her Son’s departure, her motherhood
remains in the Church as maternal mediation:
interceding for all her children, the Mother
cooperates in the saving work of her Son, the
Redeemer of the world. In fact the Council
[Vatican II] teaches that the “motherhood of
Mary in the order of grace…will last without
interruption until the eternal fulfi llment of all the
elect.” With the redeeming death of her Son, the
maternal mediation of the handmaid of the Lord
took on a universal dimension, for the work of
Redemption embraces the whole of humanity....
Mary’s cooperation shares, in its subordi nate
character, in the universality of the mediation of the
Redeemer, the one Mediator.11
Mary’s role of Maternal Mediation with and under Jesus
Christ, the one Mediator, has three fundamental aspects in the
order of grace. First, Mary uniquely participated with Jesus Christ
in reconciling God and man through the Redemption. For this
mediatorial role she has been called “Co-redemptrix” (meaning
a secondary and subordinate par ticipator in Jesus’ Redemption
of the world).
Secondly, Mary gave birth to Jesus, source of all grace, and
she distributes all the graces merited by Jesus on Calvary to the
human family. This role of Mary as the person responsible for the
distribution of graces is referred to as “Mediatrix of all graces.”
Thirdly, her role of bringing the petitions and needs of the
human family to the throne of Christ the King is her role as
maternal “Advocate.”
Co-redemptrix
The title, “Co-redemptrix,” refers to Mar y’s unique
participation with and under her Divine Son Jesus Christ, in the
95
historic Redemption of humanity. The prefix, “Co,” comes from
the Latin “cum,” which means “with.” The title of Coredemptrix
applied to the Mother of Jesus never places Mary on a level of equality
with Jesus Christ, the divine Lord of all, in the saving process of humanity’s
Redemption. Rather, it denotes Mary’s singular and unique sharing
with her Son in the saving work of Redemption for the human
family. The Mother of Jesus participates in the redemptive work
of her Savior Son, who alone could reconcile humanity with the Father
in his glorious divinity and humanity.
When the Church calls Mary the “Co-redemptrix,” she means
that Mary uniquely participated in the Redemption of humanity
with her Son Jesus Christ, although in a completely subordinate
and dependent manner to that of her Son. The Blessed Virgin
participated in Jesus’ reconciliation of the human family with
God like no other created person. At the Annunciation (cf. Lk
1:26ff ), Mary’s freely given “yes” to the angel’s invitation (cf. Lk
1:38) effectively brings to the human family its Redeemer. By
virtue of her free and active cooperation in God becoming man
to save us, Mary already merits the title of “Co-redemptrix.”
Hebrews 10:10 tells us that we are “sanctified by the offering
of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all.” But from whom did the
Redeemer receive his body, the very instrument of Redemption?
He received his body from Mary, who therefore played an
intimate role in the redeeming of the human race, far beyond
any other creature.
Church Fathers recog nized the Incar nation as “the
Redemption anticipated and begun.” Since Mary interiorly
participated in God becoming man, and since God became man
to save us in the historical order, which included original sin, then
Mary intimately participates in Redemption through her interior
participation in the Incarnation.12 Although Mary’s participation
in the Incarnation justifies on its own her title of Co-redemptrix,
her coredemptive role has only historically begun.
At the event of the Presentation of the Lord (cf. Lk 2:22ff ),
the prophet Simeon prophesies of Mary’s union with her messianic
96
Son, a sign of contradiction for the world, that “a sword shall
pierce through your own soul, too” (Lk 2:25). The Mother will
suffer in union with her Son, who will be offered at Calvary
for the sins of the world. As the Son’s side will be pierced (cf. Jn
19:34), so too will the Mother’s heart be pierced in a mission of
Redemption and Coredemption.
Mary uniquely participated in the sacrifice of Jesus on Calvary
and in the acquisition of the graces of Redemption for humanity
(theologically referred to as “objective redemption”). Mary
offered her Son and her mater nal rights in relation to her Son to
the Heavenly Father in perfect obedience to God’s will and in
atonement for the sins of the world. Mary’s offering of her own
Son on Calvary, along with her own motherly compassion, rights,
and suffering, offered in union with her Son for the salvation of
the human family, merited more graces than any other created
person.13 As Pope Pius XII confi rmed in his encyclical On the
Mystical Body, Mary “offered Him on Golgotha to the Eternal
Father, together with the holocaust of her maternal rights and her
motherly love, like a New Eve for all children of Adam.”14
Mary offered Jesus to the Father (as she had done by way of
foreshadowing in the Presentation of the Temple), and with Jesus,
her own suffering by sharing in the experience of the passion
and death of Our Lord in atonement for our sins. It is in this
sense that the Church says Mary is the Co-redemptrix with the
Redeemer.
Again it must be stated that Mary’s participation in the
Redemption of the human family was completely and in every
way secondary and dependent to the sacrifice of Jesus the Savior.
Hence, the title Co-redemptrix should never be interpreted as
Mary having an equal role in the salvation of the world with
Jesus. At the same time, her truly meritorious act of giving flesh
to the Redeemer and of participating uniquely in Jesus’ painful
sacrifice rightly merits for her the Co-redemptrix title.
The doctrine of Marian Coredemption is contained within
the patristic concept of the New Eve. As Eve uniquely cooperated
97
with Adam in the fall of the human race, so Mary, the New Eve,
uniquely cooperated with Jesus Christ, the New Adam, in the
restoration of graces for the human race.15 St. Jerome’s formula,
“Death through Eve, Life through Mary” conveys Our Lady’s
unique role in salvation. St. Irenaeus highlights the Virgin’s
coredemptive role in his famous teaching; that Mary became
“the cause of salvation for herself and the whole human race.”16
Papal Teaching
The Papal Magisterium has consistently taught the doctrine
of Marian Coredemption and has repeatedly used the Coredemptrix title in reference to Our Lady. Let us cite a few papal
examples:
• Pope Benedict XV (1914-1922) states specifically that, together
with Christ, Mary “redeemed the human race”: “To such extent
did she [Mary] suffer and almost die with her suffering and dying
Son, and to such extent did she surrender her maternal rights
over her Son for man’s salvation...that we may rightly say that she
together with Christ redeemed the human race.”17
• Pope Pius XI (1922-1939) referred to Mary under the title
of Co-redemptrix three times in various papal documents. In one
papal statement Pope Pius addressed Mary in these words, “O
Mother of piety and mercy who, when thy most beloved Son was
accomplishing the Redemption of the human race on the altar of
the cross, did stand there both suffering with Him, and as a Coredemptrix; preserve in us the precious fruit of this Redemption
and of thy compassion.”18
• Pope Pius XII (1939-1958) used the title “Loving Associate
of the Redeemer” to describe Our Lady’s coredemptive role and
gave the following explanation:
For having been associated with the King
of Martyrs in the ineffable work of human
98
redemption, as Mother and cooperatrix, she
remains forever associated with Him, with an
almost unlimited power, in the distribution of
graces which flow from the Redemption.19
• The Second Vatican Council explicitly teaches the doctrine of
Marian Coredemption, describing Mary’s suffering and offering
in union with the Redeemer:
Thus the Blessed Virg in advanced in her
pilgrimage of faith, and faithfully persevered in
her union with her Son unto the cross, where she
stood, in keeping with the divine plan, enduring
with her only begotten Son the intensity of his
suffering, associated herself with his sacrifice in
her mother’s heart, and lovingly consenting to the
immolation of this victim which was born of her
• John Paul II (1978-2005) has been referred to as the “Pope of
the Co-redemptrix,” for no other pontiff has done more to expand
the Church’s awareness of Marian Coredemption.20 Not only did
John Paul II refer to the Blessed Virgin as the Co-redemptrix
on six occasions in papal addresses,21 but he also expanded the
Church’s understanding of Marian Coredemption beyond any
other pope. For example, in his 1987 Marian encyclical John
Paul II describes Our Lady’s coredemptive suffering with Jesus as
“perhaps the deepest ‘kenosis’ of faith in human history”:
How great, how heroic then is the obedience of faith
shown by Mary in the face of God’s “unsearchable
judgments”! How completely she “abandons
herself to God” without reserve, “offering the full
consent of the intellect and will” to him whose
“ways are inscrutable” (cf. Rom 11:33)!…
99
Through this faith Mary is perfectly united with
Christ in his self-emptying.... At the foot of the Cross
Mary shares through faith in the shocking mystery
of this self-emptying. This is perhaps the deepest
“kenosis” of faith in human history. Through faith
the Mother shares in the death of her Son, in his
redeeming death...22
• In a 1985 papal homily, John Paul II not only uses the title
Co-redemptrix but also provides a profound theological context
of her “spiritual crucifixion” for the proper understanding of Our
Lady’s coredemptive role. We here present only a brief excerpt
of John Paul II’s homily:
Crucified spiritually with her crucified Son (cf.
Gal 2:20), she contemplated with heroic love the
death of her God, she “lovingly consented to the
immolation of this Victim which she herself had
brought forth” (Lumen Gentium, No. 58)...as she
was in a special way close to the Cross of her Son,
she also had to have a privileged experience of his
Resurrection. In fact, Mary’s role as co-redemptrix
did not cease with the glorification of her Son.23
• Pope Benedict XVI has continued papal teaching and
testimony of Mary’s unique share in the Redemption:
In her immaculate soul, [Mary] herself was to be
pierced by the sword of sorrow, thus showing that
her role in the history of salvation did not end in
the mystery of the Incarnation but was completed
in loving and sorrowful participation in the death
and Resurrection of her Son.24
10 0
The Witness of the Saints
The mind of a saint is supernaturally disposed to the truth. It
is therefore particularly valuable to see the witness of the saints
and mystics to Mary Co-redemptrix.
St. Bridget of Sweden (d.1373) was told in a vision by the
Mother of Sorrows herself: “My son and I redeemed the world as
with one heart.”25 Jesus confi rmed the same truth to St. Bridget
in his own words: “My Mother and I saved man as with one Heart
only, I by suffering in My Heart and My Flesh, she by the sorrow and
love of her Heart.”26
St. Catherine of Siena (d.1380) called the Blessed Mother
the “Redemptrix of the human race”: “O Mary… bearer of the
light… Mary, Germinatrix of the fruit, Mary, Redemptrix of the
human race because, by providing your flesh in the Word, you
redeemed the world. Christ redeemed with His passion and you
with your sorrow of body and mind.”27
Venerable Mary of Agreda (d.1665), the renowned Spanish
mystic of the seventeenth century also calls Our Lady the
“Redemptrix”:
Just as she cooperated with the passion and gave
her Son to take part in the human lineage, so the
same Lord made her participant of the dignity of
Redemptrix, having given her the merits and the
fruits of Redemption so that she can distribute
them and with one hand communicate all this to
those redeemed.28
St. John Eudes (d.1680), that passionate preacher of devotion
to the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts of Jesus and Mary, called
the Mother of God the “Co-redemptrix with Christ”: “All the
Fathers of the Church say clearly that she is Co-redemptrix with
Christ in the work of our salvation.”29
101
The famous English convert, Ven. Cardinal John Henry
Newman (d.1890), one of the most quoted theological sources
at the Second Vatican Council, defended the title of Mary
Co-redemptrix in his dialogue with the Anglican clergyman
Pusey:
When they found you with the Fathers calling her
Mother of God, Second Eve, and Mother of all
Living, the Mother of Life, the Morning Star, the
Mystical New Heaven, the Sceptre of Orthodoxy,
the All-undefiled Mother of Holiness, and the like,
they would have deemed it a poor compensation
for such language, that you protested against her
being called a Co-redemptrix….30
St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe (d.1941), the Polish martyrsaint who offered his life in exchange for another prisoner at
Auschwitz, offers exceptional tribute to the Co-redemptrix as
the one predestined with Christ to restore grace to mankind:
“From that moment [of the Fall] God promised a Redeemer and
a Co-redemptrix saying: ‘I will place enmities between thee
and the Woman, and thy seed and her Seed; She shall crush thy
head.’”31
The acclaimed philosopher, convert and cloistered Carmelite
nun, St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (d.1942), born Edith Stein,
in her theological treatise, Scientia Crucis, said: “Mary leaves
the natural order and is placed as Co-redemptrix alongside the
Redeemer.”32
St. Padre Pio (d.1968) writes in one of his letters: “Now I
seem to be penetrating what was the martyrdom of our most
beloved Mother…. Oh, if all people would but penetrate this
martyrdom! Who could succeed in suffering with this, yes, our
dear Coredemptrix? Who would refuse her the good title of
Queen of Martyrs?”33
10 2
Opus Dei Founder, St. Josemaría Escrivá (d.1975), vigorously
defends our Lady as the Co-redemptrix in this passage where
he applauds the papal usage of the Co-redemptrix title and its
doctrine: “The Supreme Pontiffs have rightly called Mary ‘Coredemptrix’…. one can rightly say that she redeemed the human
race together with Christ.”34
The renowned servant of the poor, Bl. Mother Teresa (d.1997),
put it succinctly: “Of course, Mary is the Co-redemptrix. She
gave Jesus his body, and the body of Jesus is what saved us.”35
Mediatrix of All Graces
The term, “Mediatrix,” can refer either to the general category
of Mary’s Maternal Mediation with Christ the one Mediator (as
already discussed) or to her specific role in the distribution of
the graces acquired by Jesus, the New Adam, and secondarily by
Mary, the New Eve, at Calvary. Here we will look at the latter
doctrine of Mary as the dispenser or Mediatrix of all graces of
human redemption.
Mary’s role as dispenser or Mediatrix of the graces of
the Redemption follows appropriately from her role as Coredemptrix. It is important to see that Our Lady dispenses the
graces of Jesus because of her special participation in acquiring
the graces of Redemption with and under her divine Son.
Mary uniquely participated in the acquisition of the graces
of Redemption by Jesus Christ (objective redemption) and,
therefore, the Mother of Jesus, above all creatures, f ittingly
participates in the distribution of these graces of Redemption to
the human family (theologically called “subjective redemption”).
By distributing sanctifying grace, Mary is able to fulfi ll her role
as Spiritual Mother, since she spiritually nourishes the faithful
of Christ’s body in the order of grace. Mary’s God-given ability
to distribute the graces of Redemption by her intercession is an
essential element and full flowering of her role as Spiritual Mother.
103
For true motherhood goes beyond the birthing of children to
include their nourishing, growth, and proper formation.
The New Testament reveals Mary as the Mediatrix of all
graces for us. With the Virgin’s free and active cooperation in the
Incarnation (cf. Lk 1:28-38), she mediates to us Jesus Christ, who
is himself the Source and the Author of all sanctifying grace. At
the Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth, two events of grace take place
because Mary physically mediates the presence of the unborn
Christ to Elizabeth and the unborn John: Elizabeth is fi lled with
the Holy Spirit at Mary’s greeting, and the unborn Baptist is
sanctified in the womb (cf. Lk 1:41).36
The Wedding of Cana is an obvious and explicit scriptural
revelation of the role of Mary as the Mediatrix of grace. Mary’s
personal mediation to Jesus on behalf of the wedding couple,
“They have no wine…do whatever he tells you” ( Jn 2:3-5),
directly leads to an extraordinary release of grace: Jesus’ fi rst
public miracle and the beginning of the public ministry of the
Christ, a ministry that will end in Calvary and the acquisition of
all redemptive graces.
In his commentary on the Wedding of Cana ( Jn 2), John
Paul explained Mary’s actions as Mediatrix in uniting humanity
with her Son:
Thus there is a mediation: Mary places herself
between her Son and mankind in the reality
of their wants, needs, and sufferings. She puts
herself “in the middle,” that is to say she acts as a
mediatrix not as an outsider, but in her position as
mother. She knows that as such she can point out
to her Son the needs of mankind, and in fact, she
“has the right” to do so.... The Mother of Christ
presents herself as the spokeswoman of her Son’s will,
pointing out those things which must be done
so that the salvific power of the Messiah may be
manifested.37
10 4
On Calvary, Mary is given as the Spiritual Mother to all
“beloved disciples,” represented by John, and to all humanity.
As John Paul II explained, “Mediatrix” is implicit in the title
Mother:
We recall that Mary’s mediation is essentially
defined by her divine motherhood. Recognition
of her role as mediatrix is moreover implicit in
the expression “our Mother,” which presents
the doctrine of Marian mediation by putting
the accent on her motherhood. Lastly, the title
“Mother in the order of grace” explains that
the Blessed Virgin co-operates with Christ in
humanity’s spiritual rebirth.38
Intrinsic to her role as Spiritual Mother is her function as
Mediatrix of graces, in which she nurtures and nourishes her
spiritual children in the order of grace.
This role of Mar y as “Mediatrix,” or secondar y and
subordinate mediator with Jesus, also has a strong foundation in
the apostolic tradition as manifested, for example, in this fourth
century profession by St. Ephraem (d.373): “After the Mediator,
you [Mary] are the Mediatrix of the whole world.”39
In sum, the Mother of Jesus mediates all the graces of Jesus
to the human family in two regards. First, Mary mediated all
graces to humanity by giving birth to Jesus and by bringing the
source and author of all graces to the world (theologically referred
to as “remote mediation”). Secondly, Mary mediates all graces
by distributing the graces merited on Calvary to the human
family by her intercession (theologically called “proximate” or
“immediate” mediation).
Notice the divine consistency in Mary’s role in the order
of grace as designated by God’s perfect will. First of all, Mary
is conceived in sanctifying grace from the fi rst instant of her
existence by a unique act of God’s will. Then Mary gives birth
10 5
to the source of all graces in Jesus Christ. With this birth of the
Head of Grace, she also gives spiritual birth to the Body mystically
united with the Head in grace. Furthermore, she participates
with her Son in meriting the grace that redeems the world on
Calvary. Finally, from Heaven, Mary distributes the graces of the
Redemption to grant to each open heart of the human family the
saving supernatural life of Our Lord. As Vatican II ascribes to her,
Mary is truly “a Mother to us in the order of grace.”40
When the Church says that the Mother of Jesus is Mediatrix
of all graces, she means that all the graces of Redemption granted
by God to fallen humanity reach us through the intercession of
Mary. To receive all graces through Mary is simply to continue
the perfect plan of God which began with his gift of Jesus Christ,
the source of all graces, who likewise came to us through Mary.
The Mother of Jesus, subordinate and perfectly conformed to
the will of her Son, distributes the graces of Redemption to the
human family at least by her willed intercession (theologically
referred to as a “secondary moral cause”).
Does this mean that the graces of Jesus will not be distributed
unless we pray directly to the Blessed Virgin? No. It does,
however, express the truth that whether we call directly upon the
name of Mary or not, we nonetheless receive all graces through
her actual and personally willed intercession.
This is analogous to the authentic Catholic understanding
of Baptism “of desire” (Catechism of Trent). A person who is not
Christian can attain eternal life under specific conditions of charity
and contrition through Jesus, the one Redeemer and Mediator
to the Father, without actually knowing during his earthly life
that it is through the mediation of Jesus. In a similar way, all
who receive the graces of Jesus Christ do so through Mary, even
if they lack knowledge of the Blessed Virgin’s intercession (the
difference between “knowledge” and “causality”).
At the same time, we must remember how pleasing it is to
God when the human family does affi rm his manifest will by
directly invoking his appointed distributor of graces by name. It
10 6
is our human way of saying yes to God’s order of things, which
includes Mary as the distributor of graces.
Papal Teaching on Mediatrix of All Graces
The unanimous voices of the popes of the last two centuries
on this pivotal Marian doctrine of Mediatrix of all graces
manifest nothing short of incontestable consistency and cer tainty
regarding the truth of this doctrine. As we consider some of
the more important papal pronouncements and explanations on
this doctrine, note particularly the consistent papal teaching that
this Marian role includes the mediation of each and every grace of
Redemption.
• Pope Pius VII (1800-1823) referred to Mar y as the
“Dispensatrix of all graces.”41
• Bl. Pope Pius IX (1846-1878), the Marian pope who defined
Mary’s Immaculate Conception, wrote: “...God has committed
to Mary the treasury of all good things, in order that everyone
may know that through her are obtained every hope, every grace,
and all salvation.”42
• Pope Leo XIII (1878-1903) frequently referred to Mary’s role
as “Dispenser of all heavenly graces” and boldly professed these
words about Mary’s role as Mediatrix of all graces:
With equal truth can it be affirmed that, by the
will of God, nothing of the immense treasure of
every grace which the Lord has accumulated,
comes to us except through Mary.... How great
are the wisdom and mercy revealed in this design
of God.... Mary is our glorious intermediary;
she is the powerful Mother of the omnipotent
God.... This design of such dear mercy realized
by God in Mary and confirmed by the testament
of Christ ( Jn 19:26-27) was understood from the
beginning and accepted with the utmost joy by
10 7
the holy Apostles and earliest believers. It was also
the belief and teachings of the venerable Fathers
of the Church. All the Christian peoples of every
age accepted it unanimously.... There is no other
reason for this than divine faith.43
This papal instruction of Leo XIII not only articulated the
truth that all graces of God come to us through Mary, but also
that this belief has been the universal belief of the Church from
the apostolic days to our present day. This reality, he said, can
only be explained through God’s revelation in “divine faith.”
• Pope St. Pius X (1903-1914) continued the papal consistency
by calling Mary “the dispenser of all gifts,” and he discusses
theologically how Jesus is the source of all graces, and Mary is
the channel of all graces:
By this union of will and suffering between
Christ and Mary, “she merited to become in a
most worthy manner the Reparatrix of the lost
world” and consequently, the Dispensatrix of
all gifts which Jesus acquired for us through His
death and blood. Indeed, we do not deny that
the distribution of these gifts belongs by strict
and proper right to Christ.... Yet... it was granted
to the august Virgin to be together “with her
only-begotten Son the most powerful Mediatrix
and conciliatrix of the whole world.” So Christ
is the source.… Mary, however, as St. Bernard
justly remarks, is the channel, or she is the neck
by which the Body is united to the Head and
the Head sends power and strength through the
Body… “For she is the neck of our Head, through
which all spiritual gifts are communicated to His
Body.”44
10 8
• Pope Benedict XV (1914-1922) strongly encouraged the
spread of the liturgical celebration of the Mediatrix of all graces
doctrine by granting the special liturgical feast of “Mediatrix of all
graces” to any bishop who desired to celebrate it in his diocese.45
Benedict XV also continued the unbroken papal consensus on the
Marian doctrine in various papal statements. In one statement,
after affi rming that Mary redeemed the world together with
Christ, he immediately added: “It is for this reason that all the
graces contained in the treasury of the Redemption are given to
us through the hands of the same sorrowful Virgin.”46
During part of the canonization process of St. Joan of Arc in
1926 (referring to a miracle through the intercession of Joan of
Arc that took place at Lourdes), Benedict XV explained that the
favors received through the intercession of the saints also come
through the mediation of Mary:
If in ever y miracle we must recognize the
mediation of Mary, through whom, according to
God’s will, every grace and blessing comes to us,
it must be admitted that in the case of one of these
miracles [referring to Joan of Arc] the mediation
of the Blessed Virgin manifested itself in a very
special way. We believe that God so disposed the
matter in order to remind the faithful that the
remembrance of Mary must never be excluded,
even when it may seem that a miracle is to be
attributed to the intercession or the mediation of
one of the blessed or one of the saints.47
• Pope Pius XI (1922-1939) several times continued the papal
uniformity by making such statements about Mary as: “We have
nothing more at heart than to promote more and more the piety
of the Christian people toward the Virgin treasurer of all graces
at the side of God”48 and also: “Confiding in her intercession
with Jesus, the one Mediator of God and man (1 Tim 2:5), who
10 9
wished to associate his own Mother with himself as the advocate
of sinners, as the dispenser and mediatrix of graces…”49
• Pope Pius XII (1939-1958), continued the papal unanimity:
“So great was his [St. Bernard’s] confidence in her most powerful
intercession, that he did not hesitate to write: ‘It is the will of God
that we should have nothing which has not passed through the
hands of Mary’”50 and also: “She teaches us all virtues; she gives
us her Son and with him all the help we need, for ‘God wished
us to have everything through Mary.’”51
• The Second Vatican Council, once again, (under the pontificates
of Bl. John XXIII and Paul VI) referred to the Mother of God’s
authentic title as “Mediatrix” and her role as intercessor of the
graces for eternal salvation: “Taken up to heaven she did not lay
aside this saving office but by her manifold intercession continues
to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation....Therefore the Blessed
Virgin is invoked in the Church under the title...Mediatrix.”52
Pope John Paul II has referred to Our Lady as the “Mediatrix
of all graces” on at least six different occasions during his
pontificate,53 for example, on the occasion of a visit to the shrine
dedicated to Our Lady in Benevento, Italy, on July 2, 1990, he
made this reflection:
With loving intuition from ancient times you
have been able to grasp the mystery of Mary, as
Mediatrix of all graces, because she is the Mother
of the very Author of Grace, Jesus Christ. That is
why the people of Benevento throughout the ages
have turned and continue to turn to her, invoking
her not only as “Our Lady of Graces,” but often
also as “Our Lady of Grace.”54
Pope John Paul II used the title, “Mediatrix of Mercy” in
reference to the Blessed Virgin at the second coming of her
Son:
110
She also has that specifically maternal role of
mediatrix of mercy at his final coming, when all
those who belong to Christ “shall be made alive,”
when “the last enemy to be destroyed is death”
(1 Cor 15:26).55
What is the importance of this survey of two centuries of
papal statements on the doctrine of Mediatrix of all graces? It
is precisely the conformity and the unanimity of the popes of
over the last two hundred years that brings clarity of this role
as an official doctrine of the Catholic Church. The pontiffs of
the last two centuries, both in the official Church documents
and in papal addresses, have assertively taught this Marian truth
with a continuity and specificity that, as Pope Leo XIII said
referring to its universal acceptance since apostolic times, seems
to be explainable by “no other reason...than divine faith.”
Theological Conclusions on Mediatrix
Although this Marian doctrine of Mary as Mediatrix of all
graces is not yet formally defi ned, its unquestionable presence
in the papal teachings of the ordinary Magisterium bear several
signif icant theological conclusions as have been previously
formulated by some of the twentieth century’s most respected
Mariologists.56
First, the doctrine of Mary as Mediatrix of all graces,
along with its prior foundational and sustaining role of Coredemptrix, should be received by the Christian faithful with
a “loyal submission of the will and intellect,” which “must be
given, in a special way, to the authentic teaching authority of the
Roman Pontiff, even when he does not speak ex cathedra” (Lumen
Gentium, No. 25). By its consistent place in the teachings of the
ordinary Magisterium, the Marian doctrines of Co-redemptrix
and Mediatrix of all graces call believers to a religious assent of
mind and heart to the manifest mind of the popes.
111
Secondly, in light of the fact that the doctrine of Mary as
Mediatrix of all graces has been universally taught in the Church
by popes of the last two hundred years and by the bishops in
union with them (the ordinary Magisterium), and in virtue of
this universal teaching of the Church, it has been the opinion
of certain modern Mariologists that the doctrine of Mediatrix
of all graces already possesses the nature of a defi ned doctrine
of faith (theologically, this can be referred to as de fide divina ex
ordinario magisterio).57 In short, the Marian roles of Co-redemptrix
and Mediatrix of all graces represent essential Catholic teaching
through the order of the ordinary Magisterium. This charism
of the universal teaching authority of all bishops who, when
in union with the pope, can exercise the ecclesial element of
infallibility, is discussed in Vatican II’s Constitution on the Church
Models of Mary as Mediatrix
There are also several different, though complementary,
models and concepts of Mary as Mediatrix of all graces.
St. Maximilian Kolbe saw Mary’s profoundly intimate
relationship with the Holy Spirit, her Divine Spouse, as central
to her role as Mediatrix. When the Holy Spirit, the “Uncreated
Immaculate Conception of God,” as Kolbe refers to him, works
to sanctify the world, he does so in profound union with and
through Mary, the human and created Immaculate Conception.
God’s grace, therefore, flows from the Father, through the Son
in the Holy Spirit and through the intercession of Mary.58
In terms of a more ecclesial (or church) model, St. Ambrose
and Vatican II stressed the Blessed Virgin’s image as “Model of the
Church.”59 One could say that since all the graces of Redemption
are obtained and distributed through the Church, and Mary is
the perfect model of the Church, then Mary likewise would
appropriately be Co-redemptrix and Mediatrix of graces par
excellence as pre-eminent image of the Church.
11 2
Other prominent Mariologists 60 have proposed the position
of Mary being called a secondary “instrumental” (or physical)
cause in the distribution of graces. This position would hold
that after Jesus, Mary not only willed the distribution of grace
by her intercession, but also had a direct instrumental cause on
the distribution of grace based on a true jurisdiction over graces
granted her by God.
The expression “moral cause,” refers to an inf luence of
an agent over the free will of another, for example, Mary’s
intercessory prayer moves Jesus to grant the gift of grace. This
is more of a condition than a direct cause in the strict sense,
because it is Mary’s willed intercession that indirectly leads to
Jesus conferring grace, but Mary does not directly cause the
release of grace. An instrumental (or physical) cause is one which
has a real direct and immediate (proximate) influence on the
effect. The word “physical” is not used in the sense of a material
or corporeal effect, but rather as a direct and efficient cause on
the effect in question. This leads us to the question, does Jesus
grant every grace of the Redemption for the sake of Mary, in
light of her intercessory prayers and her merits (moral cause); or
is Mary a direct proximate cause of the distribution of the graces
of Redemption, based on a certain jurisdiction of graces granted
her by her divine Son?
Although the terms “moral” and “physical” instrumentality
represent a neo-Thomistic terminology (a system derived from
the works of St. Thomas Aquinas), the Franciscan-Scotus school
also supports Mary’s “immediate” mediation in the order of
grace. The rich Scotistic school of Mariology also clearly teaches
that Mary’s mediation has an immediate impact on the souls of
all to be saved, as a result of Mary being the “Mediatrix with
the Mediator.” Thus her mediation transcends that of all other
saints.
Although it is clear in papal teachings that Mary at least
exercises a secondary moral cause in the distribution of all the
graces of Redemption in virtue of her intercession, it is also a
113
tenable position that Mary does influence a direct, immediate
effect on the distribution of graces (although wholly dependent
on Jesus Christ as the principal cause of grace).
The great St. Louis Marie de Montfort clearly teaches
Mary’s instrumental causality in the distribution of graces
when he teaches “God the Father communicated to Mary his
fullness…to produce his son and all the members of his Mystical
Body…. 61 [Christ] has made her the treasurer of all that his
Father gave him for his inheritance. It is by her that he applies
his merits to his members and that he communicates his virtues
and distributes his graces. She is his mysterious canal; she is his
aqueduct through which he makes his mercies flow gently and
abundantly.”62
As one contemporary author explains: “Once it is granted that
the angels and the saints are frequently physical secondary causes
of miracles, it seems quite natural to postulate the same power for
the Mother of God and in a higher degree.”63 Another explanation
of Mary’s physical instrumentality in regards to the sacraments is
as follows: “Grace begins in the Divine Nature [of Christ], passes
through the sacred humanity of Christ (a physical instrument),
passes through Mary (also a physical instrument), and fi nally
passes through the sacrament (also a physical instrument).”64
There are also several images of Mary as Mediatrix from the
realm of authentic Marian private revelation. The Miraculous
Medal apparitions (1830), Lourdes (1854), Fatima (1917), and
several other contemporary Marian apparitions, all portray Mary
as distributing the graces of God from the opened palms of her
immaculate hands. Although not in the realm of public revelation,
authentic Marian private revelation seems to confirm symbolically
the possibility of Mary’s physical distribution of graces.
A more domestic model of Mary as Mediatrix of all graces is
the image of Mary as “Nursing Mother.” As she physically did
with her first Child, Mary spiritually takes all humanity to her
breast to nourish them with the spiritual milk of supernatural
grace.
11 4
Regardless of the diversity of these images and concepts
regarding Mary’s role as Mediatrix of all graces, all authentic
images of Mary in this regard will convey the truth that Mary
distributes the graces of Jesus in obedience to the Father, in the
service of the Son, and in union with the Holy Spirit. As St.
Bernard of Clairvaux, traditionally referred to as the “Doctor of
Marian Mediation,” explains:
This is the will of Him who wanted us to have
everything through Mary.... God has placed in
Mary the plenitude of every good, in order to have
us understand that if there is any trace of hope in
us, any trace of grace, any trace of salvation, it
flows from her.... God could have dispensed His
graces according to His good pleasure without
making use of this channel [Mary], but it was His
wish to provide this means whereby grace would
reach you.65
Responses to certain theological objections to the Mediatrix
of all grace doctrine appear in Chapter Ten, Responding to Ten
Common Objections.
Advocate
The third aspect of Our Lady’s spiritual motherhood and her
mediation at the service of God and man is her role as Advocate
for the human family. As her role as Co-redemptrix participated
in the acquisition of grace with Jesus, and her role as Mediatrix
of all graces participates in the distribution of grace from Jesus
to humanity, Our Lady’s role as Advocate presents by way of her
universal intercession the petitioned needs of the human family
before the throne of Christ the King.
The term, “advocate,” is derived from the Latin term,
“advocare,” which means to “speak on behalf of another.” This
115
is precisely Mary’s motherly role as Advocate, to speak as our
principal and most powerful intercessor to her divine Son on
behalf of the human race. The title of Advocate for the Mother
of God is one of her most ancient titles, dating back to the second
century with St. Irenaeus, who called Mary the “Advocate” for
Eve, the first Mother of the living.66
In the Old Testament, Our Lady’s role as Advocate is
foreshadowed in the office of the “Queen Mother.” As stated
earlier, the Queen Mother tradition refers to the tradition among
the Davidic kings to appoint their mothers as their queens of
the Kingdom, and who then became the principal advocates for
the people of Israel to their kingly sons (cf. 1 Kings 2:19). The
Queen-Mother was referred to as the “Gebirah” or “Great Lady”
of the Kingdom, who gave the people of the kingdom their
greatest intercession to the King. The Queen Mother, the “Great
Lady” was therefore the principal advocate and intercessor for the
people of the Kingdom.
In the New Testament, with the establishment of Jesus
Christ as the new and eternal King in the universal Kingdom
of God (cf. Lk. 1:32ff.), we also have the establishment of a new
Queen Mother and Advocate, who is Mother of the King. The
Virgin of Nazareth becomes the new “Great Lady” of all nations
contained within the Kingdom of God, and as well becomes the
new Advocate for all the peoples within this universal Kingdom.
It is for this reason that her cousin Elizabeth greets Mary with
the expression, “Mother of my Lord,” which was an ancient
expression for the Queen Mother in the language of the ancient
Semitic courts.67
Moreover, the new Queen Mother in the Kingdom of Christ
the King performs her role as Advocate for the needs of the
people of the kingdom by presenting her Kingly Son with the
needs of the wedding couple at Cana, and thus interceding for the
fi rst public miracle of Christ (cf. Jn. 2:1-10). Mary, Queen and
Advocate is the woman clothed with the sun who is also crowned
with a crown of twelve stars in Revelation 12:1, referring to her
116
Queenly role in the Kingdom which came forth from the twelve
tribes of Israel and which now reigns over the twelve Apostles
and all Christ’s disciples in the new and universal kingdom. She
is subsequently the principal intercessor for all peoples under the
authority of Christ the King, and brings our petitioned needs to
the attention of our Redeemer-King. Our Lady’s Advocacy is as
extensive as the Kingdom of her Son—a universal kingdom and
a universal advocacy for God’s people through their Queen.
The early Church acknowledged Our Lady’s powerful
advocacy as visible once again in the Sub Tuum prayer of the
Christian faithful under persecution: “We fly to your patronage,
O holy Mother of God. Despise not our petitions in our
necessities, but deliver us from all dangers, O ever glorious and
blessed Virgin.”68 Later prayers to our Lady, such as the early
medieval prayer “Hail, Holy Queen,” combine the themes of
Marian queenship and advocacy.69
The Papal Magisterium officially teaches the doctrine of
Mary’s Advocacy for the human family and also ties it with Our
Lady’s Queenship, as evidenced in this statement by Pope St.
Pius X:
O Blessed Mother, our Queen and Advocate...
gather together our prayers and we beseech you
(our hearts one with yours) present them before
God’s throne...that we may reach the portal of
salvation.70
Pope Pius XI encourages the youth of this modern age to
seek out the assistance of Mary, “our daily Mediatrix, our true
Advocate”:
We must of necessity wish that the youth of today,
exposed as they are to many dangers, should make
devotion to Mary the predominant thought of
their whole life. By persevering prayer let us make
117
Mary our daily Mediatrix, our true Advocate. In
this way we may hope that she herself, assumed
into heavenly glory, will be our advocate before
divine goodness and mercy at the hour of our
passing.71
Pius XII explains the task of Mary, Advocate with her Son,
in her intercessory and conciliatory role on behalf of sinners:
Our Advocate, placed between God and the
sinner, takes it upon herself to invoke clemency
of the Judge so as to temper His justice, touch the
heart of the sinner and overcome his obstinacy.72
The Second Vatican Council refers to the Advocate title as
one in which we rightly invoke the intercession of the Virgin
Mother (cf. Lumen Gentium, No. 62), and Pope John Paul invoked
Our Lady’s powerful advocacy in the midst of today’s cosmic
struggle for good and evil in his March 25, 1984, consecration
of the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary:
And therefore, O Mother of individuals and peoples,
you who know all their sufferings and their hopes,
you who have a mother’s awareness of all the
struggles between good and evil, between light
and darkness, which affl ict the modern world,
accept the cry which we, moved by the Holy
Spirit, address directly to your Heart. Embrace,
with the love of the Mother and Handmaid of the
Lord, this human world of ours, which we entrust
and consecrate to you, for we are full of concern
for the earthly and eternal destiny of individuals
and peoples….
118
We have recourse to your protection, holy
Mother of God: despise not our petitions in our
necessities.73
The doctrinal role of Mary as Advocate, along with her
roles of Co-redemptrix and Mediatrix of all graces, manifest the
three principal aspects in which our Spiritual Mother exercises
her maternal love for the Church: as the “Mother Suffering”
(Co-redemptrix); the “Mother Nourishing” (Mediatrix of all
graces), and the “Mother Pleading” (Advocate). Indeed as all
earthly mothers are called to suffer, nourish, and intercede for
their children, so does the Spiritual Mother of all peoples exercise
these same maternal functions for her children on earth.
May all her earthly children open their hearts to the Spiritual
Mother given them as a personal gift by the Crucified Lord
himself (cf. Jn. 19:25-27), and may these three maternal roles
of Co-redemptrix, Mediatrix of all graces and Advocate be
soon recognized solemnly by the papal Magisterium for the
greatest possible appreciation, acceptance, and understanding by
the Church and the world of the Immaculate Mother of God,
given to us to be our own, and to enable her to most fully exercise
these roles on our behalf, based upon the Church’s free and full
acceptance of these roles.
Mary’s Queenship
Another aspect of Mary’s spiritual motherhood in close
relation to her role as Advocate is the Queenship of Mary.
Queenship can be understood in one of two ways. A queen can
be a “female king” or independent ruler of a kingdom, or she
can be the mother or spouse of the king. It is only in the second
relative sense that Mary is rightly understood as Queen, as true
Mother of Christ the “King,” whose kingdom is the Mystical
Body.
119
Mary is thereby Queen in the Kingdom of God. As Mother of
Christ the King, she intercedes for the members of the Kingdom
of God. This “Queen Mother” guides and rules the members of
her Son’s kingdom in complete subordination and submission to
Christ the King in the law and order of sanctifying grace.
Mary’s Queenship is referred to in Revelation 12:1, where
the Mother of God is portrayed with the moon under her feet
and wearing a crown of twelve stars, and as Mother of her Son,
the King who will rule all nations, she is taken up to his throne
(cf. Rev 12:5).
Mary and the Church
The Mariology of the Second Vatican Council contributed
to a new appreciation of the relationship between the Blessed
Virgin and the Church. The Council refers to Mary as “model”
and “type” of the Church (cf. Lumen Gentium, Nos. 53, 63),
whereby we recognize that the Mother of Jesus is the perfect
example of what all members of the Church should strive for in
being disciples of the Lord as members of the People of God.
Following the Second Vatican Council, the categories of what
was referred to as “Christo-typical” Mariology and “Ecclesio-typical”
Mariology became more pronounced. Christo-typical (or “Christcentered”) Mariology focuses upon the roles and prerogatives of
the Blessed Virgin Mary in relation to her divine Son, Jesus Christ.
Ecclesio-typical (or “Church-centered”) Mariology emphasizes
Mary in relation to the Body of Christ, the Church.
While both Christo-typical and Ecclesio-typical Mariology
are necessary for appreciating the full revelation and mystery of
the Mother of the Lord, there is, and always will be, an important
and necessary primacy of Christo-typical Mariology, that is
understanding in the fi rst place the unique prerogatives of the
Immaculate Mother of God in her unparalleled union with her
divine Son, the Redeemer, in the work of salvation. Mary cannot
be simply relegated to a position of primacy within the Church,
12 0
but must also be seen as preceding the Church, indeed as the
“Mother of the Church,” as pronounced by Paul VI at the close of
the Second Vatican Council.74 It was Mary alone who participated
with Jesus in the historic and objective act of Redemption, which
made the “birth” of the Church possible. By giving birth to Jesus,
Mary becomes the Mother of the Head of the Mystical Body and
the Mother of all those mystically united to the Head through the
graces of baptism. The Church did not give birth to Christ—only
Mary, the pre-redeemed virgin, gave birth to Christ. For this
reason Mary must be seen as “Mother of the Church” and not
simply as “First Daughter of the Church.”
In virtue of the Virgin of Nazareth’s unique role as Mother
of God, as the Immaculate Conception, and as a coredemptive
partner with Jesus Christ, her relationship with the Church must
always be considered one of priority, primacy and motherhood.
The renowned Swiss ecclesiologist, Cardinal Charles Journet,
explained Mary’s relationship to the Church in this way:
When we say that Mary is the supreme realization of
the Church, we mean that Mary is, in the Church,
more a Mother than the Church, more a Bride than
the Church, more a Virgin than the Church. We
mean that she is Mother, Bride, Virgin, prior to the
Church and for the Church; that it is in her, above
all, and by her that the Church is Mother, Bride,
and Virgin. It is by a mysterious excellence that
is diffused from Mary that the Church can truly
be, in her turn, Mother, Bride, and Virgin. In the
order of the grandeurs of sanctity, which are the
supreme grandeurs, Mary is, around Christ, the
first wave, as it were, of the Church, the genetrix of
all others, until the end of time.75
Since Mary’s yes at the Annunciation and Calvary allows
for the spiritual birth of the Church to take place (cf. Lk 1:38;
1 21
Jn 19:25-27; Rev 12:1), then we must always recognize that the
Mother of the Lord precedes the Church so as to cooperate in its
coming into existence, both by giving birth to the Redeemer and
by cooperating with the Redeemer at Calvary in the Church’s
mystical birth. As Cardinal Journet further expounds:
The personal co-redemptive mediation of the
Virgin is higher than that of the entire Church.
It extends to all men of all time; it is prior to
and contains all co-redemptive mediation, even
that of the Church. In Mary the Church gets to
the point toward which she was tending without
being able to attain it by herself. In Mary the
Church is fully the Church. In Mary the Church
becomes co-redemptrix of all of whom Christ is
the one Redeemer, namely, of all men, whether
they know it or not. Just as the sun carries the earth,
which carries the moon, though all the weight
of the earth and the moon weigh ultimately on
the sun, so the redemptive mediation of Christ
bears the universal co-redemption of the Virgin,
who in turn bears the collective co-redemptive
mediation of the Church and the particular coredemptive mediation of Christians; for, there are
some souls that carry others, as a planet its moons.
The total weight of salvation weighs ultimately on
that moment of Christ’s life when he entered into
his agony and died on the Cross.76
In sum, Mary is rightly referred to as “Mother of the Church”
and, at the same time, as the perfect member and example of
being a disciple of the Lord, an Immaculate Marian example
which calls for our imitation of her virtues in seeking to become
worthy members of the People of God (cf. Lumen Gentium, Nos.
64-65).
122
Notes
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
Cf. St. Augustine, De S. Virginitate 6, 6.
Leo XIII, Encyclical Adiutricem populi, September 5, 1895, No. 6; ASS
28, 1895-1896.
John Paul II, Redemptoris Mater, Nos. 23, 45.
St. Pius X, Ad diem illum, No. 10.
Cf. for example, Chapter III of Redemptoris Mater, entitled “Maternal
Mediation.”
Cf. St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, I, Q. 50-62.
Ibid., III, Q. 26 art. 1.
John Paul II, Wednesday Audience of October 1, 1997; L’Osservatore
Romano, English edition, October 8, 1997, p. 11.
John Paul II, Redemptoris Mater, No. 39.
Ibid., No. 40.
Cf. Mark Miravalle, “With Jesus”: The Story of Mary Co-redemptrix,
Queenship, 2003, Ch. III.
Cf. Carol, “Our Lady’s Co-Redemption,” Mariology, II, p. 337; cf. Carol,
De Corredemptione B. V. Mariae disquisitio positiva, Cività Vaticana, 1950.
Pius XII, Mystici Corporis, No. 110.
Cf. St. Irenaeus, Adversus Haereses.
Ibid., I, 3, c. 22, No. 4; PG 7, 958-959.
Benedict XV, Apostolic Letter, Inter Sodalicia, March 22, 1918; AAS 10,
1918, 182.
Pius XI, solemn close of 1935 Jubilee Year of Redemption, L’Osservatore
Romano, April 29, 1935.
Pius XII, radio broadcast to pilgrims at Fatima, May 13, 1946, AAS
38, 1946, p. 266; cf. also Cf. Munifi centissimus Deus; Mystici Corporis;
Encyclical Ad caeli Reginam, October 11, 1954; AAS 46, 1954.
Cf. Miravalle, “With Jesus,” Ch. XIII.
September 8, 1982, Feast of the Birth of Mary, during a papal address to
the sick; Insegnamenti di Giovanni Paolo II, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1978-,
V/3, 1982, 404; November 4, 1984, Feast of St. Charles Borromeo, during
a General Audience; L’Osservatore Romano, English edition, November
12, 1984, p. 1; During an allocution at the Sanctuary of Our Lady
of Alborada in Guayaquil, Ecuador, on January 31, 1985; L’Osservatore
Romano Supplement of Feb. 2, 1985 and in English L’Osservatore Romano,
March 11, 1985, p. 7; On Palm Sunday, March 31, 1985 during World
Youth Day; L’Osservatore Romano, English edition, April 9, 1985, p. 12;
To volunteers for the sick at Lourdes, March 24, 1990; Inseg., XIII/1,
1990, 743:1; On October 6, 1991, commemorating the sixth centenary of
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
1 23
the canonization of St. Bridget of Sweden; L’Osservatore Romano, English
edition, October 14, 1991, p. 4.
John Paul II, allocution at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Alborada in
Guayaquil, Jan. 31, 1985, L’Osservatore Romano Supplement of Feb. 2, 1985
and in English L’Osservatore Romano, March 11, 1985, p. 7.
Benedict XVI, homily on the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, given
during the Mass for Religious on the World Day of Consecrated Life,
February 2, 2006.
St. Bridget, Revelationes, L. I, c. 35.
Ibid., IX, c. 3.
St. Catherine of Siena, Oratio XI, delivered in Rome on the day of the
Annunciation, 1379 in Opere, ed. Gigli, t. IV, p. 352.
Ven. Mary of Agreda, Mystical City of God, ed. Amberes, H. and C.
Verdussen, 1696, P. I, L. I, c. 18, No. 274, p. 86b.
St. John Eudes, The Priest, His Dignity and Obligations, P. J, Kenedy &
Sons, 1947, pp. 134-135.
Ven. John Henry Cardinal Newman, Certain Diffi culties Felt by Anglicans
in Catholic Teaching vol. 2, In a Letter Addressed to the Rev. E. B. Pusey,
D.D., On Occasion of His Eirenicon of 1864, Longman’s, Green and Co.,
1891, vol. 2, p. 78.
St. Maximilian Kolbe, Scritti, Rome, 1997, No. 1069. Also cf. L.
Iammorrone, “Il mistero di Maria Corredentrice in san Massimiliano
Kolbe,” Maria Corredentrice, vol. 2, pp. 219-256; H. M. Manteau-Bonamy,
O.P., Immaculate Conception and Holy Spirit: The Marian Teachings of Fr.
Kolbe, Wisconsin: Prow-Franciscan Marytown Press, 1977, pp. 98102.
Cf. Sr. M. F. Perella, “Edith Stein. Ebrea, carmelitana, martire,” Palestra
del Clero, 1999, vol. 78, p. 695.
St. Padre Pio, Epistolario, San Giovanni Rotondo, 1992, vol. 3, p. 384; cf.
also these works on Padre Pio: Castello, Manelli, FI, La “dolce Signora”
di Padre Pio, Cinisello Balsamo, Italy, 1999; Manelli, FI, “Maria SS.ma
Corredentrice nella vita e negli scritti di Padre Pio da Pietrelcina,” Maria
Corredentrice, Frigento, vol. 2, 1999, pp. 277-294; M. Da Pobladura, Alla
scuola spirituale di Padre Pio da Pietrelcina, San Giovanni Rotondo, 1978;
F. Da Riese, P. Pio da Pietrelcina crocifi sso senza croce, Foggia, 1991.
St. Josemaría Escrivá, Amici di Dio. Omelie, Milan, 1978, p. 318; also cf.
Miotto, “La voce dei Santi e la ‘Corredentrice,’” p. 215; F. Delelaux,
“Nel dolore invocare e imitare Maria Corredentrice,” Eco del Santuario
dell’Addolorata, Castelpetroso, 1995, No. 3, pp. 6-8, No. 4, pp. 3-5.
Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, Personal Interview with the author, Calcutta,
August 14, 1993.
124
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
Cf. St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, III, Q. 27, a. 6.
John Paul II, Wednesday Audience of October 1, 1997; L’Osservatore
Romano, English edition, October 8, 1997, p. 11.
St. Ephraem, Oratio IV, Ad Deiparam.
Pius VII, Ampliatio privilegiorum ecclesiae B. V. Virginis ab angelo salutatae, in
Fratrum Ordinis Servorum B.V.M. Florentiae, 1806; Armand J. Robichaud,
S.M., “Mary, Dispensatrix of All Graces,” Mariology, II, p. 429.
Pius IX, Encyclical Ubi primum, February 2, 1849.
Leo XIII, Encyclical Octobri mense, September 22, 1891; ASS 24.
St. Pius X, Ad diem illum, Nos. 12, 13.
Cf. La Vie Diocèsaine, Vol. 10, 1921, pp. 96-106, Rescript of the Sacred
Congregation of Rites, January 12, 1921.
Benedict XV, Inter Sodalicia.
Benedict XV, in E. Druwé, Actes de Benoit XV, Vol. 2, 1926.
Pius XI, Apostolic Letter, Cognitum sane, January 14, 1926; AAS 18.
Pius XI, Encyclical Miserentissimus Redemptor, May 8, 1928; AAS 20,
1928.
Pius XII, Encyclical Doctor Mellifluus, May 24, 1953, No. 30; AAS 45,
1953.
Pius XII, Encyclical Mediator Dei, November 20, 1947, No. 169; AAS
38, 1947.
December 1, 1978, address to the General Council, Provincial Superiors
and Directors of the Italian Institutes of the Congregation of St. Joseph
(Giuseppini of St. Leonard Murialdo), No. 3, Inseg I, 1978, 250; August
30, 1980, address to young people at Our Lady’s Shrine on Mount Roio,
No. 3, Inseg III/2, 1980, 495; L’Osservatore Romano, English edition,
648:3; January 17, 1988, Angelus Address, No. 2, Inseg XI/1, 1988, 119;
L’Osservatore Romano, English edition, 1023:5; April 10, 1988, homily for
Octave of Easter in the Roman parish of Mary, Mother of the Redeemer,
No. 7, Inseg XI/1, 1988, 863; L’Osservatore Romano, English edition,
1036:11; July 2, 1990, reflection made at the Shrine of Our Lady of
Graces in Benevento, No. 1, Inseg XIII/2, 1990, 17; L’Osservatore Romano,
English edition, 1148:2; June 28, 1996, address to the General Chapter
of the Mercedarian Sisters of Charity, No. 4, Inseg XIX/1, 1996, 1638;
L’Osservatore Romano, English edition, 1451:5.
July 2, 1990, reflection made at the Shrine of Our Lady of Graces in
Benevento, No. 1, Inseg XIII/2, 1990, 17; L’Osservatore Romano, English
edition, 1148:2
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
1 25
For example, cf. J. Bittremieux, De mediatione universali B.M. Virginis
quoad gratias, Burgis, 1926; Robichaud, S.M., “Mary, Dispensatrix of all
Graces,” Mariology, II, pp. 426-460; Garrigou-LaGrange, O.P., Mother
of Our Savior and the Interior Life, tr. Bernard Kelly, C.S.Sp., Golden
Eagle Book, Dublin, Ireland, 1948, Ch. III, p. 235; Roschini, O.S.V.,
Mariologia, 2nd ed., Rome, F. Ferrari, 1947-1948, Mariologia, Vol. II;
Cardinal Lépicier, O.S.M., Tractatus de B.V.M., Romae, 1926; E. Hugon,
O.P., La causalité instrumentale, Paris, 1929; William Most, Mary in Our
Life, New York: Kenedy and Sons, 1956, p. 38.
Cf. Bittremieux, De mediatione universali; Robichaud, S.M., “Mary,
Dispensatrix of all Graces,” Mariology, II, p. 435.
Cf. Manteau-Bonamy, O.P., Immaculate Conception and Holy Spirit, Ch.
II, III, IV.
Cf. St. Ambrose, Expos. ev. sec. Luc. II, 7; Lumen Gentium, No. 62-65.
Cf. Garrigou-LaGrange, O.P., Mother of Our Savior, p. 235; Robichaud,
S.M., “Mary, Dispensatrix of all Graces,” Mariology, II; Roschini,
Mariologia, Vol. II, Cardinal Lépicier, O.S.M., Tractatus de B.V.M.; E.
Hugon, O.P., La causalité instrumentale, Paris, 1929; William Most, Mary
in Our Life, p. 38.
De Montfort, True Devotion, No. 17.
Hugin, O.P. La causalité instrumentale en theologie, 1907, p. 195.
William Most, Mary in Our Life, p. 38.
St. Bernard, Hom. in nativit. B.V.M., Nos. 7, 6, 3-4.
St. Irenaeus, Adversus Haereses, V, c. 19, 1.
Cf. Edward Sri, Dawn of the Messiah: The Coming of Christ in Scripture,
Servant Books, 2005, pp. 41-42.
Cf. Gerard S. Sloyan, Ph.D., “Marian Prayers,” Mariology, III, pp. 6468.
Cf. O’Carroll, “Salve Regina,” Theotokos, p. 317.
Pope St. Pius X, Virgine sanctissima, papal prayer on the fiftieth anniversary
of the defi nition of the Immaculate Conception, September 8, 1903;
Papal Teachings: Our Lady, Selected and Arranged by the Benedictine Monks
of Solesmes, trans. Daughters of St. Paul, St. Paul Editions, 1961, p. 165.
Pope Pius XI, papal allocution to French pilgrims present for reading
of “de tuto,” Canonization of Blessed Antida Thouret, 15 August 1933,
L’Osservatore Romano, August 15, 1933.
Pope Pius XII, papal allocution at the Canonization of Blessed Louis
Marie Grignon de Montfort, 21 July 1947, AAS 39, 408.
L’Osservatore Romano, English edition, April 2, 1984, pp. 8-10.
Paul VI, discourse at the end of the Second Vatican Council’s third
session, November 21, 1964.
12 6
75
76
Charles Cardinal Journet, Theology of the Church, Ignatius, 2004, p. 98.
Ibid., p. 94.
Chapter Seven
T H E G R E AT E S T
M A R I A N P R AY E R
The Rosary is my favorite prayer, a marvelous prayer.
Marvelous in its simplicity and depth. It can be said that
the Rosary is, in a certain way, a prayer-commentary
on the last chapter of the constitution, Lumen Gentium,
of Vatican II, a chapter which deals with the wonderful
presence of the Mother of God in the mystery of Christ
and the Church. Against the background of the words,
Ave Maria [Hail Mary], there passes before the eyes of
the soul the main episodes of the life of Jesus Christ, and
they put us in living communication with Jesus through,
we could say, His mother’s heart. At the same time, our
heart can enclose in these decades of the Rosary all the
facets that make up the life of the individual, the family,
the nation, the Church and all mankind, particularly of
those who are dear to us. Thus the simple prayer of the
Rosary beats the rhythm of human life.1
Thus spoke the great Marian pontiff, Pope John Paul II, about
his favorite prayer, the Rosary. He described the tremendous
value of the Rosary for the Christian life in this address delivered
within the fi rst weeks of his pontificate.2 The Rosary does in
fact “put us in living communication with Jesus...through his
mother’s heart” and “beats the rhythm of human life.”
127
128
As Pope Leo XIII said in one of his eleven encyclicals written
exclusively on the Rosary: “Among the various methods and
forms of prayer which are devoutly and profitably used in the
Catholic Church, that which is called the Rosary is for many
reasons to be especially recommended.3 The pre-eminence of the
Rosary (after liturgical prayer) is also confi rmed by Pope Pius
XII: “the Rosary, as all know, has pride of place.”4
The Rosary, the greatest Marian prayer, has been championed
by the Church as the most highly recommended prayer form,
second only to the liturgical prayer of the Church which centers
around the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. In his 2002 Apostolic
Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae, John Paul II makes clear that
while the Church’s Liturgy retains a primacy of place, the Rosary
is in no way contrary to the Mass, but actually serves to “sustain
it”:
There are some who think that the centrality
of the Liturgy, rightly stressed by the Second
Vatican Ecumenical Council, necessarily entails
giving lesser importance to the Rosary. Yet, as
Pope Paul VI made clear, not only does this prayer
not confl ict with the Liturgy, it sustains it, since it
serves as an excellent introduction and a faithful
echo of the Liturgy, enabling people to participate
fully and interiorly in it and to reap its fruits in
their daily lives.5
What Is the Rosary?
The Rosary is a beautiful combination of vocal prayer and
meditation that centers upon the greatest Gospel mysteries in
the life of Jesus Christ and secondarily in the life of the Lord’s
Mother. It is an “incarnational” prayer, a prayer consisting of
both vocal and mental prayer that serves to incorporate both
The Greatest Marian Prayer
129
body and soul into spiritual communion with Our Lord and
Our Mother.
The basic structure of the complete Rosary consists in the
praying of twenty sets of ten Hail Marys, referred to as decades,
with an Our Father prayed at the beginning of each decade and a
“Glory Be” at the end of each decade. During the praying of each
decade of ten Hail Marys, one of the central Gospel mysteries of
Jesus Christ is meditated upon. This prayerful pondering of the
life of Jesus imitates the spiritual practice of Mary herself who,
Scripture tells us, interiorly made her own the sacred events in the
life of her Son: “Mary kept all these things, pondering them in
her heart” (Lk 2:19). What possibly passed unnoticed by others,
did not escape the attention of the Mother of Jesus in regards to
salvation history. Mary continually pondered the salvific events
and mysteries of her Son in her Immaculate Heart.
Technically, the term “Rosary” refers now to the full twenty
decades (with the recent inclusion of the “Luminous” mysteries
by John Paul II6 ), with a Gospel mystery associated with each
decade. The twenty mysteries are categorized into four sets of
five mysteries, known as the Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful, and
Glorious Myster ies. In these four sets of mysteries, we prayerfully
meditate upon the great general mysteries of our salvation as
accomplished by Our Lord Jesus Christ: the Incarnation, the
Public Ministry of Jesus, the Redemption, and Eternal Life.
Commonly in the English language, the term “Rosary” refers
to a fourth of the full Rosary, consisting of five decades or one set
of mysteries, whereas expressions such as the “complete Rosary”
or “full Rosary” signify the entire twenty decades. This is not
always the case in other cultures and languages. For example, in
French the term “rosaire” usually designates the complete Rosary
and a different word, “chapelet,” is used to signify one-fourth of
the Rosary.
The Joyful Mysteries, which center upon the event of the
Incarnation of Jesus, consist of: the Annunciation of the Angel
Gabriel to Mary (Lk l:26ff ), the Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth
13 0
(Lk 1:39ff ), the Birth of Jesus (Lk 2:7, Mt 1:25), the Presentation
of the infant Jesus in the Temple (Lk 2:22ff ), and the Finding of
the Child Jesus in the Temple (Lk 2:42ff ).
The new Luminous Mysteries, which center on the key
events of Christ’s public ministry: his Baptism in the Jordan
(Mt 3:13), his fi rst public miracle at the Wedding in Cana ( Jn
2:1), the Proclamation of the Kingdom of God (Mt 4:17), the
Transfiguration of the Lord on Mount Tabor (Lk 9:28), and the
Institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper (Lk 22:19).
The Sorrowful Mysteries, which focus on the Redemption of
Jesus by his Passion and Death, consist of: the Agony of Jesus
in the Garden (Mt 26:36), the Scourging of Jesus at the Pillar
( Jn 19:1), the Crowning of Jesus with Thorns (Mt 27:29), Jesus’
Carrying of the Cross ( Jn 19:17), and the Crucifi xion of Jesus
( Jn 19:18).
The Glorious Mysteries, which center upon the mystery of
Eternal Life through the redemptive victory of Jesus, consist of:
the Resurrection of Jesus (Lk 24:6), the Ascension of Jesus into
Heaven (Mk 16:19), the Descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost
(Acts 2:2ff ), the Assumption of Mary into Heaven (cf. Ps 131:8;
Gen 3:15; Lk 1:28) and the Crowning of Mary as Queen of
Heaven (cf. Rev 12:1).
We see then that the Rosary constitutes a form of prayer-creed
of the central mysteries of salvation history. As one theologian
explains:
The Rosary is a Credo [creed]: not an abstract one,
but one concretized in the life of Jesus who came
down to us from the Father and Who ascended
to bring us back with Himself to the Father. It is
the whole of Christian dogma in all its splendor
and elevation, brought to us that we may fill our
minds with it, that we may relish it and nourish
our souls with it.7
131
The Rosary, then, comprises a beautiful blend of vocal
and meditative prayer that leads the person into the joyful,
luminous, sorrow ful, and glorious events of the life of Jesus our
Redeemer.
Brief History of the Rosary
Traditionally, and in several papal documents, the origin of the
Rosary has been traced back to the person of St. Dominic Guzman
(d.1221), founder of the Dominican Order. St. Dominic had
been sent to southern France to preach against the Albigensian
heresy which was spiritually ravaging the region. The Albigensian
heresy (being a later development of Manichaeism), denied the
infinite goodness of the one God and held that all matter was evil.
Albigensianism attacked both Christian morality and Christian
doctrine as well. This heretical sect followed Manichean dualism
in seeking to solve the problem of evil. They believed in the coexistence of two ultimate principles, a good God who created
spirit and light, and a bad deity who created matter and darkness.
They therefore condemned marriage and procreation as demonic.8
Since matter was mistakenly conceived as evil (and a deity unto
itself ), the Albigensians held that God the Son could not truly
have taken on a material human nature to redeem humanity.
It was, therefore, as a spiritual instrument to battle the moral
and dogmatic errors of Albigensianism (as well as an instrument
against future errors and difficulties) that St. Dominic received,
under the inspiration of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a unique
combination of preaching and prayer that would constitute the
basis of the prayer form later known as the Rosary. One account
of how St. Dominic received from the Blessed Virgin the root
form of the Rosary was explained by the renowned Dominican
theologian, Fr. Reginald Garrigou-LaGrange:
Our Blessed Lady made known to St. Dominic a
kind of preaching till then unknown, which she
13 2
said would be one of the most powerful weapons
against future errors and in future difficulties.
Under her inspiration, St. Dominic went into
the villages of the [Albigensians], gathered the
people, and preached to them the mysteries of
salvation—the Incarnation, the Redemption,
Eternal Life. As Mary had taught him to do, he
distinguished the different kinds of mysteries,
and after each short instruction, he had ten Hail
Marys recited—somewhat as might happen even
today at a Holy Hour. And what the word of the
preacher was unable to do, the sweet prayer of the
Hail Mary did for hearts. As Mary promised, it
proved to be a most fruitful form of preaching.9
Although there are several diverse theories as to precisely what
St. Dominic contributed to the origins of the Rosary, the basic
concept of uniting the praying of Hail Marys with preaching and
meditation on the Gospel mysteries of Jesus Christ can most likely
be attributed to the founder of the Dominican Order through the
specific inspiration of the Blessed Virgin, a supernatural Marian
origin to which, once again, several papal documents refer.10
Although the Rosary devotion is rightfully associated with
St. Dominic, solid contemporary scholarship maintains that
the foundational components of the Rosary date back to the
Apostolic Church. The celebration of a fundamental cycle of
Marian mysteries was already evident in the early fi rst century
Church in Palestine, and especially in Jerusalem.11 The cycles,
evidently pref iguring what were to become known as the
Sorrowful, Joyful and Glorious mysteries, were associated with
three great liturgies: that of the sacred triduum of Holy Week
or Paschal Triduum, that of Epiphany or Christmas, and that of
the Ascension-Pentecost.
These three cycles ref lected Our Lady as 1) Mother of
Mercy (in Greek “Eleusa”), or what the Latins termed the
133
Mater Dolorosa, or Mother of Sorrows; 2) Guide to Christ (in
Greek “Hodighitria”) or in Latin Mater Dei, Mother of God;
and 3) Advocate (in Greek “Paraclitos”) or in Latin Mater
Orans, the Mother Praying. These celebrations were localized
in three “luminous” grottoes (where the lucinaria or vigils were
celebrated): that of Golgotha, of Bethlehem and of Mt. Olivet,
over which Constantine erected the three great Basilicas of
Jerusalem. These three cycles in the celebration of the mystery
of Mary left an impression on all Marian devotion, liturgical and
para-liturgical, throughout the Church since that time.12 They
also set the foundation for what St. Dominic then received as a
supernatural inspiration by Our Lady which constitutes the heart
of the Rosary.
A further element of the development of the Rosary is the
Marian Psalter. In the Marian Psalter one hundred and fifty Hail
Marys were recited by the laity to model the one hundred and
fifty psalms prayed by monks in the Psalter (or “Divine Office”).
The use of beads was incorporated for the counting of the prayers
in an effort to incorporate the laity (the vast majority of whom
were illiterate), into praying the liturgical prayer of the clergy
and religious. This Our Father and Hail Mary-based prayer
form became known as “Our Lady’s Psalter,” or the “Marian
Psalter.”
After this initial inspiration of the Rosary from the Blessed
Virgin to St. Dominic, the structure of the Rosary went through
a period of gradual development from the thirteenth to the
sixteenth century, where the specific Rosary mysteries used by
the faithful appear to have gone through a process of historical
development. At given times in the fourteenth and fifteenth
centuries, up to one hundred and fi fty mysteries were meditated
upon during the reciting of one hundred and fi fty Hail Marys
(in some cases having one specific mystery for each Hail Mary).
Gradually, the number of myster ies was reduced from as many as
one hundred and fi fty down to fi fteen. The first clear historical
example of what is basically the Rosary form used today is found
13 4
in the mid-fifteenth century writings of Alan of Rupe, O.P., also
known as Alan de la Roche, (d.1475).13 Alan of Rupe was a great
Dominican propagator of the Rosary devotion and a significant
historical force in restoring the practice of the Rosary to the
faithful.14
In the 1569 Apostolic Constitution, Consueverunt Romani
Pontifices, Pope St. Pius V, a Dominican pope, officially approved
what is the basic Rosary prayer form of today. By the time of the
1569 official papal approval, the second part of the Hail Mary, an
ecclesial prayer added during this same general historical period
from the thirteenth to the sixteenth century, was also present.
Two years later, before the historic Battle of Lepanto in
1571, when a Muslim Turkish naval fleet threatened the Western
Christian empire and Western civilization, Pope St. Pius V called
upon the Christian world to pray the Rosary to aid the smaller
Christian naval f leet against the massive Muslim f leet. The
miraculous victory of the Christian fleet was directly attributed
by St. Pius V to “Our Lady of Victory” and the powerful effects
of praying the Rosary.
The only substantial change to the Rosary’s fundamental
structure since the sixteenth century occurred in 2002, when
Pope John Paul II introduced the new set of Luminous Mysteries
to the existing Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious Mysteries,15 which
positively adds the key event of Our Lord’s public ministry to
the Rosary’s Gospel Meditations. The addition of the Luminous
Mysteries fi lls in the historical gap in the life of Jesus from his
childhood fi nding in the Temple (last Joyful Mystery) to the
initiation of his Passion with the Agony in the Garden (first
Sorrowful Mystery). As Pope John Paul explains:
I believe, however, that to bring out fully the
Christological depth of the Rosary it would be
suitable to make an addition to the traditional
pattern which, while left to the freedom of
individuals and communities, could broaden it
135
to include the mysteries of Christ’s public ministry
between his Baptism and his Passion. In the course of
those mysteries we contemplate important aspects
of the person of Christ as the definitive revelation
of God. Declared the beloved Son of the Father
at the Baptism in the Jordan, Christ is the one
who announces the coming of the Kingdom,
bears witness to it in his works and proclaims
its demands. It is during the years of his public
ministry that the mystery of Christ is most evidently
a mystery of light: “While I am in the world, I am
the light of the world” ( Jn 9:5).
Consequently, for the Rosary to become more
fully a “compendium of the Gospel,” it is fitting to
add, following reflection on the Incarnation and
the hidden life of Christ (the joyful mysteries) and
before focusing on the sufferings of his Passion
(the sorrowful mysteries) and the triumph of his
Resurrection (the glorious mysteries), a meditation
on certain particularly significant moments in his
public ministry (the mysteries of light).16
What is essential to the structure of the Rosary, as discussed
by Pius V in granting the indulgence for the praying of the
Rosary,17 is the praying of the Our Fathers and the Hail Marys
with vocal prayer (at least the word formation by the lips) while
meditating on the Gospel mysteries. Over time and in diverse
cultures, several prayers have been added to the Rosary by the
faithful. In several countries (including France, parts of Germany
and the United States), the Rosary begins with the Sign of the
Cross, the Apostles’ Creed, an Our Father, three Hail Marys
(oftentimes prayed for an increase in the theological virtues of
faith, hope and charity), and a Glory Be. This is not always the
universal practice, however. In several Spanish speaking countries,
the Rosary ends with these same prayers.
13 6
The praying of the Glory Be to the Holy Trinity at the end
of each decade may have been an effort to imitate the praying of
the psalms of the Divine Office, which end with this same prayer
of Trinitarian praise.
At the end of each decade various additional prayers have also
been recited by the faithful. Presently, the most universal prayer
added to the end of each decade is the one requested by the Virgin
Mary during her 1917 apparitions at Fatima, Portugal. During
her third apparition of July 13, 1917, the Blessed Mother appeared
under the title of “Our Lady of the Rosary” and asked that the
following basic prayer be said at the end of each decade: “O my
Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fi res of hell. Lead all
souls to Heaven, especially those who are most in need of thy
mercy.” Many of the faithful from around the world permanently
incorporated this prayer request from Our Lady of Fatima at the
end of each Rosary decade.
The Salve Regina or “Hail, Holy Queen,” a majestic prayer
to Mary as our Advocate, Queen, and Mother of Mercy, has
been attributed to St. Bernard of Clairvaux (d.1153) or to one
his contemporaries. The Hail Holy Queen is nor mally prayed at
the end of five decades of the Rosary.
We see then that the Rosary is the fruit of a peaceful
combination of both heavenly inspiration and historical human
development as prayed and practiced by the living Church.
Essential Qualities of the Rosary
The Rosary Is Scriptural
The Rosary is by nature a scriptural prayer. Pope Paul VI refers
to the Rosary as “the compendium of the entire Gospel.”18
The twenty mysteries of the Rosary comprise the best
possible summary of the Gospel events of the Lord. They start at
the beginning of the New Testament salvation history with the
Annunciation (Lk 1:26) and recall each central Gospel mystery
137
of Our Lords’ infancy, public ministry, passion, and redemptive
victory, ending with its glorious effects for the Mother of Christ,
that of her Coronation in Heaven (Rev 12:1). The mysteries
of the Rosary provide a sublime but succinct summary of the
greatest Gospel mysteries contained in the New Testament.
Beyond the scriptural nature of the Rosary mysteries, the
specific prayers of the Rosary are also essentially scriptural. The
Our Father is the celestial prayer revealed by Jesus Christ in
answer to the request of the disciples to “teach us how to pray”
(Lk 11:1ff; Mt 6:7ff ). The Our Father is the perfect prayer of
praise and petition revealed by God the Son made man.
The Hail Mary, for centuries called the “Angelic Salutation,”
is also fundamentally a scriptural prayer. The fi rst part of the
Hail Mary is a joining together of two scriptural greetings to
the Blessed Virgin: one to Mary by the Angel Gabriel, “Hail,
full of grace, the Lord is with you” (Lk 1:28); and the second
by her cousin Elizabeth, “blessed are you among women, and
blessed is the fruit of your womb” (Lk 1:42). With the additions
of the names of Jesus and Mary, these two scriptural greetings
to Mary comprised the essence of the Hail Mary for at least the
first twelve centuries.
During the Middle Ages,19 the Church added the second part
of the Hail Mary, the ecclesial prayer to the Mother of God
beseeching her intercession for “us sinners,” “now,” and “at the
hour of our death.” The second portion of the Hail Mary reflects
the humble prayer of sinners for the heavenly aid of the Mother
of God in a manner resembling the ancient Sub Tuum prayer.
Both Marian prayers reflect Mary’s Divine Motherhood and her
extraordinary intercessory power, which are also scripturally
based (cf. Gen 3:15; Lk 1:28; Jn 2:1; Jn 19:26).
By means of both its Gospel mysteries and its scripturally
based prayers, the Rosary is properly understood as an authentic
“compendium of the Gospel.” John Paul II confirms the scriptural
centrality of the Rosary in Rosarium Virginis Mariae:
138
The Rosary, though clearly Marian in character,
is at heart a Christocentric prayer. In the sobriety
of its elements, it has all the depth of the Gospel
message in its entirety, of which it can be said to be
a compendium (Marialis Cultus). It is an echo of
the prayer of Mary, her perennial Magnifi cat for
the work of the redemptive Incarnation which
began in her virginal womb. With the Rosary, the
Christian people sits at the school of Mary and is led
to contemplate the beauty on the face of Christ
and to experience the depths of his love. Through
the Rosary the faithful receive abundant grace, as
though from the very hands of the Mother of the
Redeemer.20
The Rosary Is Christ-Centered
Another essential quality of the Rosar y is that it is a
Christological prayer. By means of the Gospel mysteries and
of the prayers themselves, the focus of the Rosary is centered
first and foremost on the person and life of Jesus Christ and his
Redemption of the human family. As Pope Paul VI explains in
his 1974 Marian document, Marialis Cultus:
As Gospel prayer, centered on the mystery of the
redemptive Incarnation, the Rosary is therefore
a prayer with a clearly christological orientation.
Its most characteristic element, in fact, the litanylike succession of Hail Marys, becomes in itself an
unceasing praise of Christ, who is the ultimate
object both of the angel’s announcement and of
the greeting of the mother of John the Baptist:
“Blessed is the fruit of your womb” (Lk 1:42).21
13 9
The great majority of the twenty Rosary mysteries are
explicitly dedicated to the life of Jesus. As for the last two
mysteries, the Assumption and Coronation of Mary, these
mysteries illustrate the application of the graces of the victorious
Christ to Mary, the fi rst and greatest disciple of the Lord. In
a certain sense, the last two Glorious Mysteries foreshadow
what all faithful disciples of the Lord will receive (although
to a lesser degree than the Immaculate Mother of God). The
Assumption of Mary foreshadows the Resurrection of the Body
which all the faithful await on the last day (cf. Mt 22:29ff;
Lk 14:14; Jn 6:39). The Coronation of Mary foreshadows the
heavenly crown that, as St. Paul tells us, all children of God
can expect upon running the race (cf. 1 Cor 9:24-25; 2 Tim
4:8). The last two mysteries therefore are a type of foretaste
of what all Christians can expect in due measure when they
remain faithful to the fi rst eighteen mysteries of the Lord.
The prayers of the Rosary are likewise Christ-centered,
with Jesus as the source of the Our Father and the ultimate
object of praise of the Hail Mary. As Paul VI pointed out, the
prayerful repetition of the Hail Marys makes up “an unceasing
praise of Christ, who is the ultimate object of both the angel’s
announcement and the greeting of the mother of John the
Baptist.”
Vocal and Meditative Prayer
A third principal quality of the Rosary is its harmonious
blend of vocal prayer and meditation. In one of his numerous
Rosary encyclicals, Pope Leo XIII explained:
[The Rosary] is comprised of two parts, distinct
but inseparable—the meditation on the mysteries
and the recitation of the prayers. It is thus a kind
of prayer that requires not only some raising of
the soul to God but also a particular and explicit
140
attention, so that by reflection upon the things to
be contemplated, impulses and resolutions may
follow for the reformation and sanctification of
life.22
The Rosary, again, is an incarnational prayer that encompasses
both vocal prayer and mental prayer, both head and heart, both
soul and body. The physical use of beads and formation of the
words in vocal prayer are important in this body-soul complement
of the Rosary. As we count the prayers by the physical use of
beads, the soul is freed from the practical distraction of counting
and able to focus upon the prayers and meditations.
Beyond fulfilling this practical need for counting, the physical
involvement of the body, coupled with the physical formation of
the words by the lips (even when sound is not possible), helps to
keep the body at the disposition of the soul, to keep the body
focused and subordinated to the soul’s higher soaring in prayer.
St. Louis Marie de Montfort strongly emphasized the value of
fi ngering the beads while in spiritual conversation with God
during the praying of the Rosary prayer.23
Meditation can, therefore, be considered the “soul” of the
Rosary, while vocal prayer (coupled with the physical use of
beads) can be considered the “body” of the Rosary. As one author
succinctly put it, “the beads are there for the sake of the prayers,
and the prayers are there for the sake of the Mysteries.”24
Christian Meditation
What exactly is meditation? Meditation is the prayerful
pondering of the mind and heart on some supernatural truth or
object. Generally, authentic Christian meditation has at least three
basic elements: consideration, application and resolution.25
Consideration is when the mind intellectually but prayer fully
considers the spiritual subject in question, for example, pondering
prayerfully the event of the Annunciation.
141
Application is when the person in meditative prayer applies
the truths of the spiritual subject, for example, a mystery of the
Rosary, to one’s own spiritual life. It is to answer questions like,
“What does the Annunciation have to do with me and my own
spiritual life? How do I, like the Virgin of Nazareth in answer
to the Angel Gabriel’s message, respond to God’s daily and
oftentimes surprising manifest will?”
Resolution is to make some practical resolve in my own
spiritual life based on the truth and application of the Gospel
mystery. It is to say, for example, I resolve with the help of God’s
grace to be more receptive to God’s daily will and to meet it with
the “fiat” of Mary to the best of my ability.
Although generally there need not be an explicit step by step
use of these elements of meditation as just described, the acts of
consideration, application and resolution are nonetheless organic
parts of authentic Christian meditation and, thereby, parts of the
praying of the Rosary.
Some have perceived the Rosary as a monotonous, even
boring prayer of repetition that incorporates nothing more than
a rather redundant type of vocal prayer. Several popes have
responded specifically to this objection to the Rosary. Pope Pius
XI responded to the issue of monotony with these words:
They are in error who consider this devotion a
boresome formula repeated with monotonous and
sing-sing intonations....
… Both piety and love, although always
breathing forth the same words, do not, however,
repeat the same thing, but they fervently express
something ever new which the loving heart
always sends forth.26
In a similar voice, Pope Pius XII confirmed:
14 2
The recitation of identical formulas, repeated
so many times, rather than rendering the prayer
sterile and bor ing, has on the contrary, the
admirable quality of infusing confidence in him
who prays, and brings to bear a gentle compulsion
on the motherly heart of Mary.27
Even for those who find it challenging to meditate consistently
during the praying of the Rosary, the prayerful repetition of
vocal prayer is not a fruitless practice, since for vocal prayer to
be considered prayer at all, as St. Teresa of Avila points out, it
still must be coupled with some attention and devotion.28 When
meditational prayer is a consistent ingredient in praying the
Rosary, this favored Marian prayer becomes a spiritual open door
into the revealed Gospel mysteries of God, a means of prayer
as unlimited in spiritual depth and efficacy as the mysteries are
themselves.
John Paul II offers this description of this profound
meditational dimension of the Rosary:
The Rosary belongs among the fi nest and most
praiseworthy traditions of Christian contemplation.
Developed in the West, it is a typically meditative
prayer, corresponding in some way to the “prayer
of the heart” or “Jesus prayer” which took root in
the soil of the Christian East.29
This is why the unlimited nature of Gospel meditation in
the Rosary prayer can be a springboard even beyond meditation
to authentic Christian contemplation. In this regard, GarrigouLaGrange calls the Rosary:
...a true school of contemplation. It raises us
gradually above vocal prayer and even above
reasoned out or discursive meditation. Early
1 43
theologians have compared the movement of the
soul in contemplation to the spiral which certain
birds—the swallow, for example—move when
they wish to attain to a great height. The joyful
mysteries lead to the Passion, and the Passion to
the door of Heaven. The Rosary well understood
is, therefore, a very elevated form of prayer which
makes the whole of dogma accessible to all.30
The maxim is therefore true, if correctly understood, that
to “grow bored” of praying the Rosary is to grow bored of
meditating on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The combined effect of vocal prayer and meditation makes
up a powerful and efficacious means of spiritual growth, but also
an effective instrument of physical and emotional tranquility.
One author describes both the spiritual and physical/emotional
peace that comes from this vocal-mental prayer harmony of the
Rosary:
Isn’t it fascinating that scientists are now turning
to meditation in our “hectic” age when so many
of us have thrown it out? We have discarded one
of the most powerful of all forms of meditation,
the Rosary. It is so perfectly designed to fulfi ll
our meditative needs. It is physical—our fi ngers
move over the beads. God has given His children
the gift of the Rosary beads on which to count
His love. Fifteen mysteries spell it out in a way
we can understand. The mind, like a velvet bee
droning over a rose, draws the honey of comfort
from the story of God. The running rhythm
and the repetition, Hail Mary, Holy Mary,
steady the mind and settle the heart on God’s
work in His powerful mysteries. With Mary’s
glance, through the eyes of the heart, we view it
14 4
afresh. One of the therapies for soldiers who had
survived the stresses of World War I was, of all
occupations, knitting! It was recognized that the
nervous energy of the body passes out through
the fingers.... Our worries, tensions, joys and
pains are surrendered to God with the Rosary
as the rhythmic repetition of the Our Father and
the Hail Mary focuses our hearts in peace on the
central mysteries of Christ’s life, death and glory
which alone offer direction and meaning to our
lives.31
Hence the emotional life as well greatly benefits from the
holistic prayer of the Rosary.
Fruits of Praying the Rosary
The inestimable spiritual benefits of praying the Rosary daily
are such that they can in no way be comprehensively treated or
categorized. At best, we can see indications of the tremendous
greatness of this Marian prayer by taking a glimpse of the
responses to the Rosary by popes, saints, and even the Mother
of God herself in her apparitions to the modern world.
The popes have been nothing short of superlative in their
praises of the Rosary and its spiritual benefit. The vicars of Christ
consistently place the Rosary second only to the Mass and the
liturgical prayer of the Church as the most highly recommended
prayer form. When one considers the ubiquitous forms of diverse
prayer within the universal Church of Christ for the last two
thousand years, the popes’ placing of the Rosary second only to
the liturgy bespeaks its sublime spiritual value.
Many Roman pontiffs have exhorted the Christian faithful to
pray daily and frequently the Rosary by embellishing the prayer
with generous Church indulgences.
1 45
A Church indulgence is a partial or complete pardon for the
remaining atonement needed for sin after the guilt and the eternal
punishment for sin has been forgiven. If atonement is not made for
sin in this life, “temporal punishment” for sin must be expiated in
Purgatory (cf. 2 Mac 12:42-46; Mt 12:32; 1 Cor 3:15).32
Apart from the negative association that indulgences received
in a time of disciplinary abuse during the fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries, Church indulgences remain an extremely valuable
spiritual gift of the Church, and the popes have been particularly
generous in endowing the praying of the Rosary with Church
indulgences.
The Church’s Magisterium has granted plenary indulgences
(full remission of temporal punishment due to sin) under the
appropriate conditions for the praying of the Rosary. A plenary
indulgence may be gained by praying the Rosary (five decades
said continuously, with meditation on the mysteries) in any of the
following manners: 1) praying the Rosary together as a family; 2)
when members of a religious community or pious association pray
the Rosary together; 3) praying the Rosary in a church or public
oratory. All acts for plenary indulgences must also include Holy
Communion, Confession, prayers for the intentions of the pope,
and a complete detachment from sin.33
The Family Rosary
The Magisterium has also strongly praised the profound
spiritual effects of praying the Family Rosary. Since the Family
Rosary is endowed with particularly rich indulgences and most
highly recommended, the popes have tried to lead Christian
families to the spiritual graces and protection received when
the family prays the Rosary together daily. As Pope John Paul
II (quoting Pope Paul VI) says in his 1981 document on the
Christian family:
146
While respecting the freedom of the children
of God, the Church always proposed certain
practices of piety to the faithful with particular
solicitude and insistence. Among these should be
mentioned the recitation of the Rosary: “We now
desire, as a continuation of our predecessors, to
recommend strongly the recitation of the Family
Rosary.... There is no doubt that...the Rosary
should be considered as one of the best and most
efficacious prayers in common that the Christian
family is invited to recite. We like to think, and
sincerely hope, that when the family gathering
becomes a time of prayer, the Rosary is a frequent
and favored manner of praying.”34
John Paul’s 2002 Rosary document contains the plea to
families to make the Family Rosary a daily event, with the
assurance of these extraordinary effects for today’s family:
The family that prays together stays together. The Holy
Rosary, by age-old tradition, has shown itself
particularly effective as a prayer which brings
the family together. Individual family members,
in turning their eyes towards Jesus, also regain
the ability to look one another in the eye, to
communicate, to show solidarity, to forgive one
another and to see their covenant of love renewed
in the Spirit of God…. It could be objected that
the Rosary seems hardly suited to the taste of
children and young people of today. But perhaps
the objection is directed to an impoverished
method of praying it. Furthermore, without
prejudice to the Rosary’s basic structure, there
is nothing to stop children and young people
from praying it—either within the family or in
1 47
groups—with appropriate symbolic and practical
aids to understanding and appreciation. Why not
try it?35
The special means of spiritual protection and spiritual grace
received from the daily praying of the Family Rosary should not
be underestimated. This daily practice performed by the family
as the Ecclesia Domestica, or Domestic Church, is of tremendous
spiritual efficacy and is strongly encouraged by the universal
Church.
Further, the testimony by the saints over the last half
millennium has provided enthusiastic praise of the efficacy of
praying the daily Rosary. Saints of the spiritual stature of St.
Teresa of Avila, doctor of the Church on Prayer, St. Francis
de Sales, St. Louis Marie de Montfort, St. Alphonsus Liguori,
St. Don Bosco, St. Bernadette, and many more, have not only
extolled the ineffable graces received in praying the Rosary daily,
but have also identified the Rosary as their favorite prayer.
The Rosary Call in Marian Apparitions
A primary source bespeaking the great spiritual value of the
Rosary, particularly in our present age, is the testimony of the
Blessed Virgin herself through her apparitions to the modern
world.
At Lourdes, France in 1858, Mary invited the world to pray
the Rosary by her own example. In the first Marian apparition to
Bernadette Soubirous on February 11, 1858, the visionary reported
that the Blessed Virgin was offering the world the example of
praying the Rosary: “The Lady dressed in white...ran the beads
of hers through her fingers.” Bernadette prepared for each of the
seventeen following apparitions of Mary by praying the Rosary,
a practice also adopted by the surrounding crowds.36
At Fatima, Portugal in 1917, Mar y appeared to three
Portuguese children under the title of Our Lady of the Rosary,
148
to make clear the crucial importance of this prayer for the
contemporary world quest for salvation and peace. Our Lady of
the Rosary explicitly exhorted the world to the daily praying of
the Rosary in order to obtain peace for the world and the end
of World War I: “Pray the Rosary every day in order to obtain
peace in the world and the end of the war” (May 13, 1917). In
her last Fatima apparition in 1917, Our Lady of Fatima called
the human family to continue always the practice of praying the
Rosary daily: “I am the Lady of the Rosary. Always continue to
pray the Rosary every day” (October 13, 1917).37
More recently, in several reported contemporary apparitions
of Mary, the emphatic Marian call for daily Rosary, and even
for the full twenty decade daily Rosary, for the conversion of the
world has reached an historical climax.
In the reported apparitions of the Queen of Peace at Medjugorje,
Bosnia-Herzegovina (presently under Church investigation), the
Virgin Mary has requested the daily praying of the fifteen decade
Rosary for both spiritual and global peace. Her reported message
of August 8, 1985 underscores the spiritual power and protection
of the Rosary against Satan, Our Lady’s ancient adversary (cf.
Gen 3:15):
Dear children, today I call you to pray against
Satan in a special way. Satan wants to work more,
now that you know he is active. Dear children,
put on your armour against Satan: with Rosaries
in your hands, you will conquer.38
And on June 25, 1985 from the Queen of Peace:
I invite you to call on everyone to pray the
Rosary. With the Rosary you shall overcome all
the adversities which Satan is trying to infl ict on
the Catholic Church.39
149
Protestant Christians and the Rosary
A final indication of the efficacy and value of the Rosary can
be seen today in the new openness by many Protestant Christians,
probably as never before since the Reformation, to the praying
of the Rosary. As summarized by one author:
Protestants are now coming to recognize the
value of the Rosary as instanced by a number
of favorable writings, the formation of Rosary
circles in Anglican churches and the active
propagation of the Rosary by the Anglican Shrine
of Our Lady of Walsingham. A German Lutheran
minister, Richard Baumann, stated in the early
1970s: “In saying the Rosary, truth sinks into the
subconscious like a slow and heavy downpour.
The hammered sentences of the Gospel receive an
indelible validity for precisely the little ones, the
least, to whom belongs the Kingdom of Heaven....
The Rosary is a long and persevering gaze, a
meditation, a quieting of the spirit in praise of
God, the value of which we Protestants are
learning more and more.” A Methodist minister,
J. Neville Ward, praises the Rosary as a strong
support to prayer and meditation in his book Five
for Sorrow, Ten for Joy and admits that Protestants
have lost much in their neglect of this prayer.40
(Note: A practical guide on How to Pray the Rosary can be
found in the Appendix.)
In sum, the Church’s Magisterium, the writings of the saints,
and even the realm of Marian private revelation have singled out
the Rosary as the greatest Marian prayer in history, a supernatural
prayer which sanctifies, protects, and saves. We conclude with this
moving passage by Bl. Bartolo Longo, modern “Apostle of the
15 0
Rosary,” with which John Paul II likewise ended his monumental
Rosarium Virginis Mariae:
O Blessed Rosary of Mary, sweet chain which
unites us to God, bond of love which unites us to
the angels, tower of salvation against the assaults
of Hell, safe port in our universal shipwreck, we
will never abandon you. You will be our comfort
in the hour of death: yours our fi nal kiss as life
ebbs away. And the last word from our lips will
be your sweet name, O Queen of the Rosary of
Pompei, O dearest Mother, O Refuge of Sinners,
O Sovereign Consoler of the Affl icted. May you
be everywhere blessed, today and always, on earth
and in heaven.41
151
Notes
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
John Paul II, angelus message, October 29, 1978, L’Osservatore Romano.
Ibid.
Cf. Leo XIII, Apostolic Letter Salutaris ille, December 24, 1883.
Pius XII, Mediator Dei, No. 174.
John Paul II, Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae, October 16, 2002,
No. 4.
Cf. Ibid., No. 21.
R. Garrigou-LaGrange, O.P., Mother of Our Savior, p. 293.
Cf. John Hardon, S.J., “Albigensianism,” Colliers Encyclopedia, 1994, Vol.
1, pp. 495-496.
R. Garrigou-LaGrange, O.P., Mother of Our Savior, p. 297.
Cf. Leo XIII, Octobri mense, No. 8; Pius XI, Encyclical Ingravescentibus
malis, September 29, 1937, No. 12; AAS 29, 1937; George Shea, “The
Dominican Rosary,” Mariology, III. For diverse opinions, cf. O’Carroll,
“Rosary,” Theotokos.
Cf. Emmanuele Testa, O.F.M., Maria Terra Vergine, Vol. II: Il Culto
mariano palestinese, Jerusalem, Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, 1984.
Ibid.
Cf. A. Walz, O.P., Compendium Historiae Ordinis Praedicatorum, ed. 2,
Romae, 1948.
Cf. Shea, “The Dominican Rosary,” Mariology, III.
Cf. John Paul II, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, No. 19.
Ibid.
Cf. St. Pius V, Apostolic Constitution Consueverunt Romani Pontifi ces,
1569.
Paul VI, Apostolic Exhortation Marialis Cultus, February 2, 1974, No.
42.
In the thirteenth century, St. Thomas Aquinas wrote a commentary on the
Hail Mary that consisted of a treatment of what we today consider to be
only the first part of the prayer, concluding with the name, “Jesus.”
John Paul II, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, No. 1.
Paul VI, Marialis Cultus, No. 46.
Leo XIII, Encyclical Iucunda semper, September 8, 1894, No. 7; ASS 27,
1894-1895.
Cf. St. Louis Marie de Montfort, Secret of the Rosary, Ch. 1-3.
Maisie Ward, The Splendor of the Rosary, 1945, p. 11-12.
Cf. Blessed Louis of Granada, O.P., Summa of the Christian Life, Vol. I.
Pius XI, Encyclical Ingravescentibus malis, Nos. 12, 13.
Pius XII, Encyclical Ingruentium malorum, September 15, 1951, No. 9;
AAS 43, 1951.
15 2
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
Teresa of Avila, Interior Castle, First Mansion.
Garrigou-LaGrange, O.P., Mother of Our Savior, p. 294.
Rev. Gerard McGinnity, Celebrating with Mary, Dublin, Veritas, 1987, p.
28.
Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, Nos., 1031-1032, 1471-1479.
Handbook of Indulgences: Norms and Grants, 1985 English edition, 1988,
No. 48.
John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris Consortio, November 22,
1981, No. 61.
John Paul II, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, Nos. 41, 42.
René Laurentin, Lourdes, Documents Authentiques as translated in Alan
Heame, The Happenings at Lourdes, London: Catholic Book Club, 1968,
pp. 82-131.
Sr. Lucia, Fatima in Lucia’s Own Words: Sister Lucia’s Memoirs, Fourth
Memoir.
Miravalle, The Message of Medjugorje: The Marian Message to the Modern World,
University Press of America, 1986, Ch. I.
Ibid.
McGinnity, Celebrating with Mary, p. 30.
Bl. Bartolo Longo, Supplication to the Queen of the Holy Rosary, 1883.
Chapter Eight
C ONSECR ATION TO
J E SUS T H ROUGH M A RY
This devotion consists then in giving ourselves entirely to the
Blessed Virgin, in order to belong entirely to Jesus through her.
St. Louis Marie Grignon de Montfort
True Devotion to Mary, No. 121.
These words by St. Louis de Montfort, the great promulgator
of Marian consecration, well sum up the means and the goal of
consecration to Jesus through Mary. Far from being simply an
added or isolated Marian piety, consecration to Jesus through
Mary represents a crowning of Marian devotion, a new and
dynamic Marian dimension of the Christian life that has been
enthusi astically encouraged by the Church through both
invitation and example.
What Is Marian Consecration?
Marian consecration is fundamentally a promise of love and a
gift of self that gives all that the Christian is and does completely
and directly to the Mother of the Lord, which thereby allows
her to unite us to her Divine Son in ways simply not possible
without her powerful maternal intercession. Consecration to
Jesus through Mary is to give oneself entirely to Mary in a self153
15 4
donation of love that enables the Mediatrix of all graces to use
her full intercessory power to keep a person faithful to his or her
baptismal promises to Jesus Christ.
Brief History of Marian Consecration
Consecration to Mary has a long and rich tradition in the
Church. An early patristic understanding of this gift of self to
the Mother of Jesus was seen in the form of referring to oneself
as a servus Mariae, or a “servant” or “slave,” to the Mother of
God. The expression, “slave of Mary” was also modeled in a
secondary sense after the scriptural expression used by St. Paul
of being a “slave of Jesus Christ” (cf. Rom 1:1; Phil 1:1; etc.),
which likewise is meant as a complete fi lial (a son or daughterlike) gift of self.
Although more foreign to contemporary usage, the term
“servant” or “slave” was not understood in a depersonalizing
or degrading sense. Rather, it was a succinct expression used by
several Church Fathers and doctors to indicate a fully voluntary
and whole-hearted dependence on the Mother of Christ.
The Christian practice of becoming a “slave of Mary” dates
back at least to the fi fth century as contained in various African
sermons.1 For example, the great Eastern doctor of the Church
St. John Damascene (d.749), referred to himself as a “slave of
the Mother of God” and authored the following prayer form of
Marian consecration in the eighth century:
O Lady, before you we take our stand. Lady, I call
you Virgin Mother of God and to your hope, as to
the sure and strongest anchor we bind ourselves;
to you we consecrate our mind, our soul, our
body, all that we are….2
Consecration to Jesus Through Mary
155
The western saint, St. Ildefonsus of Toledo (d.669), described
why being a “servant of the Handmaid of the Lord” leads back
to the Lord himself:
Therefore I am your servant, because your Son
is my Lord. Therefore you are my Lady because
you are the handmaid of my Lord. Therefore I am
the servant of the handmaid of my Lord, because
you, my Lady, have become the Mother of my
Lord….3
The practice of referring to oneself as a “slave of Mary”
or “servant of Mary” was a devotion exercised in Ireland by
the ninth century, and was given official Church approval as
manifested by the ecclesiastical approval of the community
of the “Servites of Mary,” a religious order in the thirteenth
century. Several popes likewise proclaimed themselves “slave
of the Mother of God,” including Pope John VII (d.707), Pope
Nicholas IV (d.1292) and Pope Paul V (d.1621).4
The great scholastic theologian-saints, St. Anselm of Canterbury
(d.1109) and St. Bernard of Clairvaux (d.1153), personally
identified themselves as slaves of the Mother of God, and St.
Bernard added these words regarding the practice of giving all to
the Mother of Christ:
Whatever you are about to offer, remember to
commend it to Mary, so that through the same
channel whence grace flowed, it may return to
the giver of grace.5
By the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, consecration to
Our Lady under its various forms had spread throughout all
of Catholic Europe.6 Note that in these early forms of Marian
consecration, it was for the ultimate purpose of a more profound,
15 6
intimate union with Christ that led Christians to give themselves
entirely as slaves to the Mother of the Lord.
St. Louis Marie de Montfort
Even with this solid Church tradition of giving oneself to
Jesus through Mary, Marian consecration reached new heights
of understanding, practice, and promulgation through the tireless
work of arguably its greatest advocate, St. Louis Marie Grignon
de Montfort (1673-1716). St. Louis Marie was an indefatigable
preacher of “Total Consecration to Jesus through Mar y”
throughout the regions of France and beyond. For his ceaseless
preaching and retreats on Marian consecration, de Montfort,
who walked the 1,000 mile trip to Rome to submit his work for
papal approval, was named by Pope Clement XI as “Apostolic
Missionary.”7 De Montfort later wrote down the substance of
his inspired preachings and sermons in the book, now known
as True Devotion to Mary (a manuscript which for well over one
hundred years after his death was locked up in a trunk, only to
be discovered in 1842 by a French de Montfortian priest).
The heart of de Montfort’s classic work on True Devotion to
Mary consists of an act of formal consecration to the Immaculate
Mother, so that through her intercession the Christian may be
completely and totally consecrated to Jesus Christ and more
faithful than ever before to his baptismal promises to the Lord.
As St. Louis explains:
All our perfection consists in being conformed,
united and consecrated to Jesus Christ; and
therefore the most perfect of all devotions is,
without any doubt, that which the most perfectly
conforms, unites, and consecrates us to Jesus
Christ. Now, Mary being the most conformed
of all creatures to Jesus Christ, it follows that, of
all devotions, that which most consecrates and
15 7
conforms the soul to Our Lord is devotion to
His Holy Mother, and that the more a soul is
consecrated to Mary, the more it is consecrated
to Jesus.
Hence it comes to pass that the most perfect
consecration to Jesus Christ is nothing else than a
perfect and entire consecration of ourselves to the
Blessed Virgin and this is the devotion I teach; or,
in other words, a perfect renewal of the vows and
promises of holy Baptism.8
Total consecration to the Mother thereby allows the one who
is most conformed to Jesus Christ and who is also Mediatrix of
all graces to intercede for the Christian that they may be most
interiorly united with Our Lord and be as faithful as possible to
the baptismal promises of the Christian faith.
Marian consecration is not simply an added devotion
or prayer, but rather, a new Marian way of life, a crowning
of devotion to Our Lady that invites her and her powerful
intercession into every aspect of the Christian’s life. St. Louis de
Montfort was the one who explained thoroughly the spiritual
method “to Jesus through Mary” and shaped it into a defi nite
mode of spiritual life. He does not propose some special or
“extra prayers,” but rather, a devotion which essentially consists
of one single act which, under various formulas and conditions,
we apply to our whole life, both interior and exterior. This
devotion leads to a permanent disposition of living and acting
habitually in dependence on our Blessed Mother; it embraces
one’s entire life, not just one’s prayer times or specif ically
religious acts.9
The Dominican Theologian, Fr. Garrigou-LaGrange,
described the various stages of Marian devotion and designated
consecration to Mary as the “highest degree” of authentic Marian
devotion:
158
Like the other Christian virtues, true devotion
[to Mary] grows in us with charity, advancing
from the stage of the beginner to that of the
more proficient, and continuing up to the stage
of the perfect. The first degree or stage is to pray
devoutly to Mary from time to time, for example,
by saying the Angelus when the bells ring. The
second degree is one of more perfect sentiments
of veneration, confidence and love; it may be
manifest by the daily recitation of the Rosary—
five decades or all fi fteen. In the third degree,
the soul gives itself fully to Our Lady by an act
of consecration so as to belong altogether to Jesus
through her...this act of consecration consists in
prom ising Mary to have constant fi lial recourse
to her and to live in habitual dependence on her,
so as to attain to a more intimate union with our
Blessed Lord and through Him with the Blessed
Trinity present in our souls.10
Let us examine the heart of the actual prayer of Marian
consecration written by St. Louis Marie and still in very popular
usage throughout the world today (the consecration prayer in its
entirety can be found in the Appendix):
I, (name), a faithless sinner, renew and ratify
today in your hands the vows of my Baptism; I
renounce forever Satan, his pomps and works; and
I give myself entirely to Jesus Christ, the Incarnate
Wisdom, to carry my cross after Him all the days
of my life, and to be more faithful to Him than I
have ever been before.
In the presence of all the heavenly court, I
choose you this day for my Mother and Queen.
I deliver and consecrate to you, as your slave,
15 9
my body and soul, my goods, both interior
and exterior, and even the value of all my good
actions, past, present, and future; leaving to you
the entire and full right of disposing of me, and all
that belongs to me, without exception, according
to your good pleasure, for the greater glory of
God, in time and eternity.11
The consecration begins with a strong Christological focus,
encapsulated in a renewal of the quintessential Christian vows
to Jesus Christ, the vows of sacramental Baptism. The Christian
renounces Satan and gives himself entirely to Jesus Christ in
order to carry his cross like never before and to ever increase in
fidelity to the Lord Jesus.
The prayer goes on to consecrate the person to the Blessed
Virgin as Spiritual Mother and Queen, giving to Our Lady all
that the person is and does to be used within the Mystical Body
of the Church for God’s greater glory. It is a self-donation, as St.
Louis Marie explains, of “all that we are in the order of nature
and in the order of grace and all that may become ours in the
future in the orders of nature, grace, and glory.” The spiritual
effect of this Marian consecration allows for the Mother of the
Mystical Body to distribute a person’s offerings and merits so as
to benefit best the Body of Christ and all humanity (inclusive
of effecting a release of grace for the conversion and entrance of
new members into the Church). The distribution of our spiritual
goods is no longer restricted to our very limited knowledge
of the needs of those we know, but is now extended to their
universal distribution based on Our Lady’s universal knowledge
of the need for the Church and the world. As Garrigou-LaGrange
confi rms:
In this practice of complete dependence on Mary,
there may be included—and St. Louis Marie de
Montfort invites us to it—the resignation into
16 0
Mary’s hands of everything in our good works
that is communicable to other souls, so that she
may make use of it in accordance with the will of
her Divine Son and for His glory.
… Consecration to Our Lady is a practical
form of recognition of her universal mediation
and a guarantee of her special protection. It helps
us to have continual child like recourse to her and
to contemplate and imitate her virtues and her
perfect union with Christ12
It should also be noted that although consecration to the
Mother of God represents the crowning of Marian devotion, it
should in no sense be considered either as a sign of or reward
for spiritual perfection, having as a pre-requisite the imperative
for an advanced devotion to Christ’s Mother. Rather, it is a
means of Christian perfection and for a deeper Marian love and
abandonment, which calls for a prudent spiritual preparation,
as all gifts of ourselves call for. Marian consecration is
unquestionably inferior to the reception of Holy Eucharist,
and yet even young children properly and rightfully partake
of the Bread of Life at the Sacrifice of the Mass, based upon
appropriate spiritual preparation. So too should be the case for
total consecration to Jesus through Mary.
Theological Foundations
The theological foundations for an act of consecration to Jesus
through Mary lie in the Marian doctrines of Spiritual Maternity
and Mediatrix of all graces. De Montfort explains:
The Most High has made her sole treasurer of His
treasures and the sole dispenser of His graces to
enable, to exalt, and to enrich who she wishes....
It was through her that Jesus Christ came to us,
161
and it is through her that we must go to Him. If
we fear to go directly to Jesus Christ, our God,
whether because of His Inf inite greatness or
because of our vileness or because of our sins,
let us boldly implore the aid and intercession of
Mary, our Mother. She is good, she is tender, she
has nothing in her austere and forbidding, nothing
too sublime and too brilliant. In seeing her, we
see our pure nature. She is not the sun, which
by the brightness of its rays blinds us because of
our weakness; but she is fair and gentle as the
moon (Cant 6:9), which receives the light of the
sun, and tempers it to make it more suitable to
our capacity. She is so charitable that she repels
none of those who ask her intercession, no matter
how great of sinners they have been; for, as the
saints say, never has it been heard since the world
was the world that anyone has confidently and
perseveringly had recourse to our Blessed Lady
and yet has been repelled.13
Why is Marian consecration so eff icacious in bringing
an abundance of new graces to the Christian soul? Marian
consecration grants our Blessed Mother the freedom to use
her full power of intercession in the sanctification and spiritual
protection of her earthly children. In imitation of the Heavenly
Father, she always must respect our free will. In a certain sense,
Our Lady can only intercede on behalf of the Christian to
the extent that each adult person freely allows her to do so.
When a person then consecrates himself or herself to Mary,
this free and total gift of self to Mary allows her to use her
full God-given power of intercession to sanctify the person in
the graces of Jesus Christ and moreover to provide him or her
with spiritual protection from the pomps and works of Satan.
Marian consecration completely opens the door of our heart to
16 2
the powerful means of union with Christ given to our Mother
and Advocate of the Church.
We again recall the words of the Second Vatican Council
that Mary’s God-given task of mediation never diminishes or
overshadows the task of Jesus Christ the one Mediator, but rather
shows his power and fosters intimate union with him:
Mary’s function as mother of men in no way
obscures or diminishes this unique mediation
of Christ, but rather shows its power. But the
Blessed Virgin’s salutar y inf lu ence on men
originates not in any inner necessity but in the
disposition of God. It flows forth from the superabundance of the merits of Christ, rests on his
mediation, depends entirely upon it and draws all
its power from it. It does not hinder in any way
the immediate union of the faithful with Christ
but on the contrary fosters it (Lumen Gentium,
No. 60).
St. Maximilian Kolbe’s “Consecration to the Immaculata”
A contempora r y Ma r ia n apost le who promu lg ated
Marian consecration worldwide is the great Franciscan saint
and Auschwitz hero, St. Maximilian Kolbe. St. Maximilian
presents a sublime Mariology that centers around Our Lady as
the “Immaculata,” based on her self-revelation at Lourdes, “I
am the Immaculate Conception.” St. Maximilian tells us that
Mary is Immaculate by her very essence, and therefore becomes
the perfect human instrument of the Holy Spirit, whom Kolbe
refers to as the “Uncreated Immaculate Conception” (a divine
and perfect example of all conceptions, proceeding from the
perfection of divine love between the Father and the Son).14
St. Maximilian points out the profound, sublime union
between Mary, the human Immaculate Conception and the Holy
163
Spirit, the divine, uncreated Immaculate Conception, in the
mediation of all graces to the human family. Kolbe writes:
The union between the Immaculata and the Holy
Spirit is so inexpressible, yet so perfect, that the
Holy Spirit acts only by the Most Blessed Virgin
His Spouse. This is why she is the Mediatrix of all
grace given by the Holy Spirit. And since every
grace is a gift of God the Father through the Son
and by the Holy Spirit, it follows that there is no
grace which Mary cannot dispose of as her own,
which is not given to her for this purpose.15
Because of Mary’s intimate union with the Holy Spirit in
the sanctification of humanity, Kolbe sees consecration to the
Immaculata as the greatest means by which the human family can
be “reconquered” for the Kingdom of God: “The Immaculata
must conquer the whole world for herself, and each individual
soul as well, so that she can bring all back to God.”16
Kolbe, much like de Montfort, desired every person to renew
their baptismal promises by making a total consecration to the
Immaculata. As Kolbe preached on Easter Sunday of 1937:
We were born again in Baptism, which washed
away our sins...How can we dispose ourselves so
as to receive the greatest possible influx of grace?
Let us consecrate ourselves to the Immaculata. Let
her prepare us herself. Let her receive her Son in
us. This is the most perfect means, the one Jesus
prefers, and the one that will afford us the most
abundant fruits of grace.17
We see both with St. Louis Marie de Montfort and St.
Maximilian Kolbe, arguably the two greatest apostles of Marian
Consecration, that the final goal of Marian consecration is always
16 4
ultimately directed towards a greater fidelity and love offered to
our divine Lord and Redeemer in a renewal of our foundational
baptismal vows to Jesus through Mary.
Marian Consecration in Modern Papal Teaching
The popes of the nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-fi rst
centuries, have enthusiastically encouraged consecration to Mary,
Mother of the Lord, both by word and example. Repeated papal
encouragement has been directed to St. Louis Marie de Montfort’s
classic work, True Devotion to Mary. A nearly unprecedented
support for an individual spiritual writing has been granted by
the popes of the last one hundred fi fty years in the forms of
praises and indulgences encouraging the faithful to read True
Devotion to Mary, and to make the act of total consecration to
Jesus through Mary. For example:
• Bl. Pope Pius IX declared True Devotion to Mary to be free
from all doctrinal error and referred to de Montfort’s devotion
to Mary as the best and most acceptable form of devotion to the
Blessed Virgin.18
• Pope Leo XIII encouraged all faithful to make de Montfort’s
act of consecration by granting a Church indulgence for those
who would do so. Pope Leo XIII also beatified de Montfort in
1888.19
• Pope St. Pius X manifested an exceptional appreciation of
the writings of the French Marian apostle and made several
efforts to encourage the faithful to read and to practice the
Marian spirituality of True Devotion. St. Pius X declared his
dependence on de Montfort’s writing in the composition of his
own Marian encyclical, Ad diem illum and granted a plenary
indulgence in perpetuum (in perpetuity) for those who recite de
Montfort’s formula of Marian consecration. He further granted
an apostolic blessing to anyone who merely read True Devotion, so
much did this Holy Father desire the Catholic world to receive
and practice total consecration to Mary.20
165
• Pope Benedict XV declared the practice of making the
consecration to Mary and its corresponding devotion to be “of
great unction and high authority.”21
• Pope Pius XI spoke personally of de Montfort’s True Devotion:
“I have practiced this devotion ever since my youth.”22
• Pope Pius XII canonized de Montfort in 1947 and declared
his Marian spirituality to be “consuming, solid and right.”23 He
referred to de Montfort as the guide “who leads you to Mary
and from Mary to Jesus...he is incontestably one of those who
has worked the most ardently and the most efficaciously to make
Mary loved and served.”24
• Pope John Paul II, more than of his any papal predecessors,
summoned the Church to make and practice Total Consecration
according to de Montfort’s spirituality. So central was the spirit
of Marian consecration to this Vicar of Christ that his very papal
motto, “Totus Tuus” (“Entirely Yours”) was directed specifically
to Our Lady and was taken from de Montfort’s short form prayer
of Marian consecration.
In his 1987 Marian encyclical Redemptoris Mater, Pope John
Paul II discussed the characteristics of “authentic Marian spirituality and devotion” and singled out amidst the rich history in the
Church of Marian spirituality the writings of St. Louis Marie
de Montfort:
I would like to recall, among the many witnesses
and teachers of this spirituality, the figure of Saint
Louis Marie Grignon de Montfort, who proposes
consecration to Christ through the hands of
Mary, as an effective means for Christians to live
faithfully their baptismal commitments. I am
pleased to note that in our own time too new
manifestations of this spirituality and devotion are
not lacking.25
16 6
On a more personal note, John Paul II said the following
words about True Devotion in an address to the de Montfort
Fathers:
The reading of this book [True Devotion] was a
decisive turning point in my life. I say “turning
point,” but in fact it was a long inner journey....
This “perfect devotion” is indispensable to anyone
who means to give himself without reserve to
Christ and to the work of Redemption.26
Further, Pope John Paul II offered a rich theology for personal
Marian consecration, again in Redemptoris Mater. Here the pope
discussed what he calls a “fi lial entrustment to the Mother of
Christ.” For his theology of Marian consecration or entrustment,
John Paul returned to the foot of the Cross ( Jn 19:26).
It is at Calvary that Jesus gave Mary as Spiritual Mother to
John and beyond John, to every “beloved disciple.” As the pope
stated: “Mary’s motherhood, which becomes man’s inheritance,
is a gift: a gift which Christ himself makes personally to every
individual.”27
How then does John, the beloved disciple, respond to this
gift of Mary’s motherhood? The Gospel records John’s response:
“And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home”
( Jn 19:27). John, then, becomes an example of how every
“beloved disciple” of the Lord should respond to Jesus’ gift of
Mary’s spiritual motherhood, a gift offered directly from the
Cross: to take Mary into our own homes.
The specific way Christians should take Mary “into their
homes” is by consecrating or entrusting themselves, by offering
themselves as spiritual sons and daughters to their Christ-given
Mother:
The Marian dimension of the life of a disciple
of Christ is expressed in a special way precisely
16 7
through this fi lial entrusting to the Mother of
Christ.... Entrusting himself to Mary in a fi lial
manner, the Christian, like the Apostle John,
“welcomes” the Mother of Christ “into his own
home...”28
Pope John Paul II goes on to explain that the word “home”
refers to the spiritual life, the inner life of the believer. This son
or daughter-like act of Marian entrusting invites the Mother
of Jesus into the spiritual life of the Christian, allowing Mary
to exercise her unifying power of grace between the faithful
and her divine Son. As the pope describes, the Christian who
entrusts himself to Mary:
...brings her [Mary] into everything that makes
up his inner life, that is to say into his human
and Christian “I”: he “took her to his own home.”
Thus the Christian seeks to be taken into that
“maternal charity” with which the Redeemer’s
Mother “cares for the brethren of her Son,” “in
whose birth and development she cooperates” in
the measure of the gift proper to each through the
power of Christ’s Spirit.29
And in his 2002 document, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, the
Totus Tuus Pontiff elucidates the fruitful spiritual link between
the Rosary and Marian Consecration:
In this process of being conformed to Christ in
the Rosary, we entrust ourselves in a special way
to the maternal care of the Blessed Virgin….
she continually brings to birth children for the
mystical Body of her Son. She does so through
her intercession, imploring upon them the
inexhaustible outpouring of the Spirit…
16 8
The Rosary mystically transports us to Mary’s
side as she is busy watching over the human
growth of Christ in the home of Nazareth. This
enables her to train us and to mold us with the
same care, until Christ is “fully formed” in us
(cf. Gal 4:19)… This is the luminous principle
expressed by the Second Vatican Council which
I have so powerfully experienced in my own life
and have made the basis of my episcopal motto:
Totus Tuus. The motto is of course inspired by
the teaching of Saint Louis Marie Grignon de
Montfort, who explained in the following words
Mary’s role in the process of our configuration
to Christ: “Our entire perfection consists in being
conformed, united and consecrated to Jesus Christ. Hence
the most perfect of all devotions is undoubtedly
that which conforms, unites and consecrates us
most perfectly to Jesus Christ. Now, since Mary
is of all creatures the one most conformed to Jesus
Christ, it follows that among all devotions that
which most consecrates and conforms a soul to
our Lord is devotion to Mary, his Holy Mother,
and that the more a soul is consecrated to her the
more will it be consecrated to Jesus Christ” (De
Montfort, True Devotion). Never as in the Rosary
do the life of Jesus and that of Mary appear so
deeply joined. Mary lives only in Christ and for
Christ! 30
World Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Beyond the specific call for personal Marian consecration,
recent popes as the spiritual fathers of all peoples, have also sought
to consecrate the entire human family to the maternal care and
protection of the Mother of God. This effort by several pontiffs
16 9
has been undertaken in response to a request of Our Lady herself
during the 1917 Marian apparitions at Fatima.
During the third Fatima apparition of July 13, 1917, the
Blessed Virgin asked the Holy Father to consecrate Russia to her
Immaculate Heart as a remedy for the errors that Russia would
spread throughout the world which would cause various wars,
suffering for the Holy Father and persecutions of the Church,
and even the annihilation of nations:
...I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia
to my Immaculate Heart, and the Communion
of Reparation on First Saturdays. If my requests
are heeded, Russia will be converted and
there will be peace; if not, she will spread her
errors throughout the world, causing wars and
persecutions of the Church. The good will be
martyred, the Holy Father will have much to
suffer, various nations will be annihilated. In the
end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The
Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, and
she will be converted, and a period of peace will
be granted to the world.31
The term “Immaculate Heart of Mary” refers to the maternal
heart of Mary from which, in part, the incarnate physical heart
of Jesus was formed. Beyond just the material aspect, the heart
of Mary formally symbolizes the very person of Mary and all
the grace, sanctity, and love that flows from the Mother of Jesus
to the human family. Scripturally, the word “heart” bespeaks
the whole person. As Mary is always that pure channel of grace,
which flows from Jesus and to Jesus, her Immaculate Heart is
the perfect channel to Christ’s most Sacred Heart, source and
symbol of the infinite love of God for humanity.
Several popes have sought in varying degrees to comply with
the request of Our Lady of Fatima to consecrate Russia to the
17 0
Immaculate Heart of Mary. On October 31, 1942 Pope Pius XII,
during a radio broadcast to pilgrims at Fatima, consecrated the
entire world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in the midst of
the global confl ict of World War II:
To you and to your Immaculate Heart in this
tragic hour of human history, we commit, we
entrust, we consecrate not only holy Church, the
mystical body of your Jesus, which suffers and
bleeds in so many places, and is affl icted in so
many ways, but also the entire world torn by
violent discord, scorched in a fire of hate, victim
of its own iniquities.32
On December 8th, 1942, Pope Pius XII repeated the
consecration and made an allusion to Russia in the text. In his
1952 apostolic letter Sacro vergente anno, Pius XII dedicated and
consecrated “all the peoples of Russia to the same Immaculate
Heart.”33
Sr. Lucia, the primary Fatima visionary, specified after the
initial papal attempts to comply with the Fatima request that
Our Lady desired a “collegial consecration” of Russia to her
Immaculate Heart, that is, a consecration by the pope that would
be joined in by the college of bishops throughout the world.34
Pope Paul VI, after proclaiming Mary as “Mother of the
Church” at the Second Vatican Council, proceeded to entrust
the human race to the Immaculate Heart of Mary: “We also
entrust the whole human race for its protection, its difficulties
and anxieties, its legitimate aspirations and ardent hopes to the
guardianship of the heavenly Mother.”35 Moreover, on the fiftieth
anniversary of Fatima, May 13, 1967, Pope Paul VI visited Fatima
and issued the Marian exhortation, Signum Magnum (A Great
Sign), in which he exhorted the “sons of the Church” to renew
their consecrations to the Immacu late Heart of Mary:
17 1
We exhort all the sons of the Church to renew
personally their consecration to the Immaculate
Heart of the Mother of the Church and to bring
alive this most noble act of veneration through
a life ever more consonant with the divine will
and in a spirit of fi lial service to, and of devout
imitation of, their heavenly Queen.36
On May 13, 1981, the Fatima anniversary, Pope John Paul II
was shot in St. Peter’s square in fulfi llment in part of the July 13,
1917 Fatima prophecy that, “the Holy Father will have much to
suffer.” John Paul II attributed his miraculous preservation from
death to the direct intercession of Our Lady of Fatima, 37 and
commenced preparation for the requested collegial consecration
to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
On March 25, 1984, Pope John Paul II, after having invited all
bishops of the world to join him, consecrated the world, inclusive
of Russia, to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in fulfi llment of
Our Lady’s request. The inspired prayer of consecration entrusted
the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and petitioned Mary
to intercede in delivering the world from the multi-form evils
that presently threaten its spiritual and physical well-being.38 John
Paul II’s consecration of the world to the Immaculate Heart
of Mary in 1984 in union with many bishops throughout the
world did satisfy the Fatima request of 1917, as has been confi rmed
on several occasions both by Pope John Paul II and also by
the Fatima visionary, Sr. Lucia.39 Many contemporaries rightly
associate the remarkable and relatively bloodless fall of Eastern
European communism in recent times to the papal consecration
of the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary by Pope John
Paul II.
While some have questioned whether or not the Fatima
request was actually satisfied since Russia was not explicitly
named in the consecration, Sr. Lucia, the recognized authority
on its fulfi llment after John Paul II, has defended and explained
17 2
the satisfaction of Our Lady’s request, since by consecrating
“the world” John Paul II specifically intended Russia, which
constitutes the essential interior element for the consecration and
its satisfactory fulfi llment.40
Marian Consecration and the Brown Scapular
Before concluding our discussion on Marian consecration,
brief reference should be made to the traditional Brown
Scapular devotion as a form of Marian devotion with significant
theological and spiritual complementarity to consecration to
Mary. The Brown Scapular (scapula, Latin for shoulder) consists
of two small pieces of cloth connected by strings and worn over
the shoulders as a symbol of protection of and devotion to the
Blessed Virgin.
The Brown Scapular devotion originated in an apparition
of the Blessed Virgin Mary to St. Simon Stock (c. 1165-1265),
the thirteenth century Prior General of the Carmelite Order. A
contemporaneous Carmelite account records the event:
The Blessed Virgin appeared to him [St. Simon
Stock] with a multitude of angels, holding in her
blessed hands the Scapular of the Order. She said:
“This will be for you and for all Carmelites the
privilege, that he who dies in this will not suffer
eternal fi re” that is, he who dies in this will be
saved.41
The wearing of the Brown Scapular (“brown” to designate
association with the brown habit of the Carmelites) offers the
“scapular promise” that those who faithfully wear it will not
suffer the eternal damnation of Hell and, through the intercession
of the Mother of God, will attain the graces of final perseverance
unto Heaven.
173
The theological foundation for the Scapular devotion is
essentially the same as that of Marian consecration, namely,
Our Lady’s roles as “mother to us in the order of grace” (Lumen
Gentium, No. 61) and Mediatrix of all graces, which grants her
the ability to intercede for what Vatican II refers to as the “gifts
of eternal salvation” (Lumen Gentium, No. 62).
As Spiritual Mother and Mediatrix of all graces, Mary
can dispense the graces necessary for salvation to those who
faithfully wear the Scapular as an external symbol of their internal
devotion and dependence on the Mother of Jesus. In recognizing
the authentic value of Scapular devotion, we must dismiss
immediately any aspect of formalism, that is, an exterior act that
is not accompanied by the necessary and corresponding interior
disposition of the will. The external wearing of the Scapular
should be a reflection of a person’s internal intentions of mind
and heart to serve God, to love Our Lady, and to be true to the
responsibilities of the Church and to one’s state in life, at least
by way of an openness of heart to the extent one knows of these
Christian calls of life. As one Carmelite author points out:
As a sign of consecration to Mary, the Scapular is
a reminder of the spiritual prerogatives enjoyed by
her in the economy of the redemption, and it is
a pledge that her role be activated in favor of the
wearer of the Scapular. In relation to its wearer,
the Scapular is a sign that one has resolved to
dedicate himself to the service of Christ and Mary
according to his station in life... the Scapular does
not provide an escape from the ordinary duties
of Christianity, but is rather an incentive to
undertake them with fervor and exactitude in
the knowledge that one thus prepares himself to
arrive at the final goal of the Christian life, union
with God in eternity.42
174
At the same time, the extraordinary spiritual efficacy of the
Scapular devotion should not be underestimated in its ability to
allow our motherly Queen and Advocate to intercede for the
graces of final perseverance in situations that may appear hopeless
from an external, human perspective. Pope Pius XII testifies to
the powerful spiritual effects of wearing the Scapular in perplexing
human circumstances:
How many souls even in circumstances which,
humanly speaking, were beyond hope, have owed
their fi nal conversion and their eternal salvation
to the Scapular which they were wearing! How
many more, thanks to it, have experienced the
motherly protection of Mary in dangers of body
and soul.43
A balance in an authentic Scapular devotion is achieved by
avoiding expressions of formalism, and at the same time, by
exercising Christian hope in the Marian promise given with
wearing the Brown Scapular.
Included in the Scapular devotion is the belief that Our
Lady’s intercessory power may be expected by the departed
souls in Purgatory in a special way for all those who had worn
the Scapular in faith during their earthly sojourn (along with
the further conditions of having practiced chastity according
to one’s state in life and prayers designated by one’s confessor
for this intention).44 This extended spiritual benefit of Scapular
devotion, called the “Sabbatine privilege,” is traditionally traced
back to a Marian inspiration given to Pope John XXII in 1322.
Pope John XXII reportedly promulgated a papal bull stating
that the faithful wearer of the Scapular who also fulfills the
above mentioned conditions would be released from Purgatory
on the fi rst Saturday after death (hence the name, “Sabbatine”
privilege).
175
Apart from questions surrounding the historical origins of
the Sabbatine privilege, several subsequent papal documents
have con fi rmed the legitimacy of this Marian privilege on her
designated day of Saturday to intercede in an accentuated way
for the holy souls in Purgatory who faithfully wore the Scapular
during their earthly life.45
The Scapular, then, is an external symbol of Marian devotion
and dependency, of a perpetual physical expression of Marian love
and devotion that acknowledges her intercessory role throughout
this life and also in relation to the purification of Purgatory that
prepares the Christian for eternal life with God. Ideally and
when fully understood, the Scapular can become a physical sign
of the complete gift of self that takes place in authentic Marian
consecration.
The spiritual benefit of Scapular devotion, while avoiding
any formalistic misconception of its fruits, is well summarized
by Pope Pius XII in a 1950 apostolic letter:
We are not concerned here with a light or passing
matter, but with the obtaining of eternal life itself
which is the substance of the promise of the most
Blessed Virgin which has been handed down to
us.... But not for this reason may they who wear
the Scapular think they can gain eternal salvation
while remaining slothful and neg ligent of spirit,
for the Apostle warns us: “In fear and trembling
shall you work out your salvation” (Phil 2:12).46
In sum, the interior nature and spirit of Marian consecration
is well synthesized in the de Montfortian formula: “to do all our
actions through Mary, with Mary, in Mary, and for Mary: so
that we may do them all the more perfectly through Jesus, with
Jesus, in Jesus, and for Jesus.”47 As St. Louis Marie describes,
doing all for Mary does not mean “that we take her for the last
end of our services, for that is Jesus Christ alone; but we take
17 6
her for our proximate end, our mysterious means, and our easy
way to go to Him...”48
We conclude with this succinct prayer of Marian consecration
written by Pope John Paul II during the 1983 Holy Year of
Redemption to be used by Christian families in giving themselves
completely to Jesus through Mary:
Most Holy Virgin, Mother of God and of the
Church, to your Immaculate Heart we today
consecrate our family. With your help, we entrust
and consecrate ourselves to the Divine Heart of
Jesus in order to be with you and with Him in the
Holy Spirit, completely and always entrusted and
consecrated to the will of the heavenly Father.
Amen.49
17 7
Notes
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
Cf. O’Carroll, “Consecration,” Theotokos.
St. John Damascene, Hom. I in dorm., in PG, 96, 720A.
St. Ildefonsus of Toledo, De virginitate sanctae Mariae, ed., V.G. Blance,
Madrid, 1937. Cf. O’Carroll, “Consecration,” Theotokos, p. 109.
Cf. Patrick J Gaffney, S.M.M., “The Holy Slavery of Love,” Mariology,
III, p. 145.
St. Bernard of Clairvaux, In Assumptione B.V.M., Sermo IV, in PL 183,
428.
Cf. O’Carroll, “Consecration,” Theotokos, p. 107.
Cf. O’Carroll, “St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort,” Theotokos.
De Montfort, True Devotion, II, Ch I. No. 120.
Cf. de Montfort, True Devotion to Mary, Tan, 1985, Introduction; cf. also
Garrigou-LaGrange, O.P., The Mother of Our Savior and Our Interior Life,
Tan, 1993, p. 256ff.
Garrigou-LaGrange, O.P., The Mother of Our Savior, Ch. 6.
De Montfort, True Devotion, Supplement, Act of Consecration.
Garrigou-LaGrange, O.P., Mother of Our Savior, Golden Eagle Book,
Dublin, Ireland, 1948, p. 300.
De Montfort, True Devotion, I, I, 44; I, II, 85.
Cf. Manteau-Bonamy, O.P., Immaculate Conception and the Holy Spirit,
Ch. I.
St. Maximilian Kolbe, Letter to Fr. Mikolajczyk of July 28, 1935;
Manteau-Bonamy, O.P., Immaculate Conception and the Holy Spirit, p.
99.
St. Maximilian Kolbe; Manteau-Bonamy, O.P., Immaculate Conception
and the Holy Spirit, p. 108.
Ibid.
Cf. In 1853 the Holy See declared that the works of St. Louis Marie de
Montfort were free from error. They had been very carefully examined
because St. Louis was being considered for beatification. Cf. Positio super
scriptis beatifi cationis et canonizationis Ven. Servi Ludovici Mariae Grignon de
Montfort, Rome, 1853, p. 30; Gaffney, S.M.M., “The Holy Slavery of
Love,” Mariology, III, p. 159; cf. also de Montfort, True Devotion to Mary,
Tan, 1985, p. v.
Cf. de Montfort, True Devotion to Mary, Tan, 1985, p. v.
Cf. Enchiridion Indulgentiarum, preces et opera, Civitas Vaticana, 1950, No.
96; Gaffney, S.M.M., “The Holy Slavery of Love,” Mariology, III, p.
160.
Benedict XV, letter to the Superior General of the Montfort Fathers on
the occasion of the second centenary of the death of their founder; AAS,
17 8
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
Vol. 8, 1916, p. 172; Gaffney, S.M.M., “The Holy Slavery of Love,”
Mariology, III, p. 160.
Cf. de Montfort, True Devotion to Mary, Tan, 1985, p. v.
Pius XII, homily on the day of the canonization of St. Louis Marie de
Montfort; AAS 39, 1947, p. 331; Gaffney, S.M.M., “The Holy Slavery
of Love,” Mariology, III, p. 160.
Pius XII, address to pilgrims in Rome for the canonization of St. Louis
Marie de Montfort; AAS 39, 1947, p. 410-411; Gaffney, S.M.M., “The
Holy Slavery of Love,” Mariology, III, p. 160.
Cf. de Montfort, True Devotion to Mary, Tan, 1985, p. vi.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Sr. Lucia, Memoirs, Fourth Memoir.
Pius XII, radio broadcast to pilgrims at Fatima, October 31, 1942; AAS
34, 1942, p. 251-252.
Pius XII, Apostolic Letter Sacro vergente anno, July 7, 1952; AAS 44, 1952,
p. 343.
Cf. letter of August 29, 1989 by Sr. Lucia, in Fr. Robert J. Fox, Documents
on Fatima & the Memoirs of Sister Lucia, Fatima Family Apostolate, 2002,
p. 122.
Paul VI, entrustment of humanity to the Immaculate Heart of Mary;
AAS 56, 1964, p. 1017.
Paul VI, Apostolic Exhortation Signum Magnum, May 13, 1967, No. 8;
AAS 59, 1967, p. 475; for summary of papal consecration, cf. O’Carroll,
“Consecration,” Theotokos.
Pope John Paul II, meditation with the Italian Bishops from the
Policlinico Gemelli, May 13, 1994, Inseg., vol XVII/1, 1994, p. 1061.
Author was present at consecration ceremony and translated the
consecration prayer from the original Italian.
Cf. letter of August 29, 1989 by Sr. Lucia in Fr. Robert J. Fox, Documents
on Fatima & the Memoirs of Sister Lucia, Fatima Family Apostolate, 2002,
p. 122; cf. John Haffert, God’s Final Effort, The 101 Foundation, 1999,
p. 6.
Cf. John Paul II, allocution at the Church of the Gesù in Rome,
December 31, 1984.
P.M. Xiberta, O. Carm., De Visione Sancti Simonis Stock, Rome, 1950;
cf. Christian Ceroke, O. Carm., “The Scapular Devotion,” Mariology,
III, p. 129.
Ceroke, O. Carm, “The Scapular Devotion,” Mariology, III, p. 137.
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
17 9
Pope Pius XII, Discourses and Radio Broadcasts, Vol. 12, 1950-51, p. 165.
Ceroke, O. Carm, “The Scapular Devotion,” Mariology, III.
Cf. Ibid.
Pius XII, Apostolic Letter Neminem profecto latet, February 11, 1950; AAS
Vol. 42, 1950, p. 390-391.
John Paul II issued this prayer on December 8, 1983 during the 198384 Holy Year of Redemption; it has been translated from the Italian by
Lysbeth Miravalle.
18 0
Chapter Nine
M A RY IN P R I VAT E
R EV E LATION
We exhort you to listen with simplicity of heart and honesty of
mind to the salutary warnings of the Mother of God....
Bl. Pope John XXIII, February 18, 1959
Closing of the Marian Year
Contemporary humanity fi nds itself at the climax of what
has been called the “Age of Mary.” The last two centuries have
received more Church-approved Marian apparitions than any
other time in the history of the Church. These Marian apparitions
convey the urgent call of a Mother’s heart for humanity to return
to the Gospel of Jesus Christ; to become more generous in prayer
and penance in reparation and for the conversion of sinners; and
to offset through prayer and sacrifice any conditioned purification
that may face contemporary humanity due to its rejection of God,
his law, and his love.
181
182
Nature and Purpose of Private Revelation
Public revelation (Latin, revelare, “to unveil”) consists of God’s
manifestation of divine truths for humanity’s salvation, the
revelation of which ends with the death of St. John, the last
Apostle. These divine truths are transmitted through Scripture
and Apostolic Tradition, which is then safeguarded by the
Magisterium of the Church and comprise the deposit of faith
entrusted to the Church.
Private revelation constitutes a revelation given by God to an
individual for the spiritual benefit of the person, a specific group
or the entire Church. In contrast to public revelation, private
revelation has as its God-intended purpose not the revelation
of new doctrine, but rather to encourage and lead the faithful
to a more committed living of the Gospel in conformity with
the revealed truths of Christian public revelation, as well as the
proper development and understanding of Christian doctrine.
Bl. Pope John XXIII refers to this purpose of authentic private
revelation in his 1959 address at the close of the Marian year:
The Roma n pont i f f s...i f they have been
constituted the guardians and interpreters of the
Divine Revelation contained in Scripture and
Tradition, also have the duty, when after mature
examination, they deem it necessary for the
common good of bringing to the attention of the
faithful those supernatural lights which it pleases
God to dispense freely to certain privileged souls,
not for the purpose of presenting new doctrines, but rather
to guide us in our conduct.1
The specific function of private revelation then is to urge
humanity to begin or return to lives committed to the most
challenging Gospel calls of generous prayer, fasting, conversion,
penance, sacrifice, and overall Christian holiness. Authentic
Mary in Private Revelation
183
private revelation can also serve the Church’s development of
doctrine, by highlighting certain doctrinal elements already
contained in Scripture and Tradition in order that they be more
greatly emphasized in a given period of Church history. For
example, the Divine Mercy private revelations to St. Faustina
Kowalska has led the Church to accentuate even more profoundly
the scriptural and traditional teaching of God’s infinite mercy for
our present day.
Between the Old Testament revelation to the people of Israel
and the full revelation of God’s Word in the person of Jesus Christ
given to the Apostles, God revealed all that was necessary for the
salvation of humanity, and therefore there would be no need for
new doctrinal additions through private revelation. However, the
challenge to live wholeheartedly the Gospel messages of continual
faith, hope, prayer, penance, conversion, and Christian love will
always remain. The value of authentic private revelation, then,
is to encourage the faithful to incorporate into their lives the
challenging aspects of the Gospel message or, in the words of
Bl. John XXIII, to “guide us in our conduct” and understand
and incorporate more deeply into our lives the doctrinal truths
revealed by the Lord Jesus.
Theology of Private Revelation
Theologically, private revelation is associated with the gift of
prophecy (cf. 1 Cor 12:10; Rom 12:6; Eph 4:11), whereby God
grants the bearer a special revelation in order to encourage the
faithful to seek a more dedicated adherence to the Gospel. The
reality of authentic private revelation as a result of the outpouring
of the Holy Spirit is scripturally verified in the prophecy of Joel:
“And it shall come to pass after this, that I will pour out my Spirit
upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy;
your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall
see visions” ( Joel 2:31). Accounts of prophecy are recorded in
Scripture itself, for example the four daughters of Philip whom
18 4
Scripture says prophesied, and Agabus, a prophet from Judea,
who prophesied of St. Paul’s impending arrest in Jerusalem (cf.
Acts 21:9-10).
Throughout Church history, numerous private revelations
have been reported and approved as authentic by the Church. For
example, private revelations were reported in Saragossa, Spain to
St. James the Apostle in (40 A.D.); 2 in the early Christian text,
the Didache (approximately 60-120 A.D.); 3 Pastor Hermas’ The
Shepherd (second century),4 to St. Gertrude (d.1301),5 St. Bridget
of Sweden (d.1373), 6 St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (d.1690),7
not to mention Guadalupe and the number of the approved
Marian apparitions of the nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first
centuries.
St. Thomas Aquinas rightly taught that the revelation of
new doctrine ended with the death of John the Apostle, but that
private revelation will always be present in the Church in the
Holy Spirit’s guidance of human acts toward God:
At all times there have not been lacking persons
having the spirit of prophecy, not indeed for the
declaration of any new doctrine of faith, but for
the direction of human acts.8
These special revelations granted by God are referred to as
“private,” not because they were necessarily to be limited to
the knowledge of a few individuals, since their general purpose
is for the upbuilding of the Church, which is sometimes local
and sometimes universal, but to distinguish them from the
public or official deposit of faith entrusted to and safeguarded
by the Church. Among private revelations, theologians usually
distinguish between three general kinds of visions: 1) “corporeal
visions,” or visions with a bodily appearance which are perceived
by the external senses and are usually referred to as “apparitions”;
2) imaginative visions which are perceived by the internal sense
of the imagination, either during waking hours or during sleep;
185
and 3) intellectual visions which are directly perceived by the
mind. Some visions can exhibit several of these characteristics
at the same time. Locutions are words spoken by a supernatural
source that can be received corporally, intellectually, or by the
imagination. Both visions and locutions can come from a divine
Person of the Trinity, the Blessed Virgin Mary, angels, saints,
or even from souls in Purgatory.9
Response of the Church to Private Revelation
How does the Church respond to the domain of private
revelation? The Church obviously acknowledges the existence
of authentic private revelation by her history, but at the same time
exercises a proper balance in its regard. Technically, the Church
does not need private revelation in light of the Gospel, but she
has always remained open to its possibility for the great fruits of
encouraging the faithful to live the Gospel to its fullness.
The Church, in her wisdom, avoids the presumption of being
closed to any additional graces which Christ wishes to bestow
on the Church in any given historical period. At the same time,
the Church does not want to risk the loss of confidence in her
office as guardian of public revelation through any premature
or hasty approval of a particular private revelation that may not
be of supernatural origin. Consequently, the Church is, to use
the expression, “open, but cautious” to the realm of private
revelation.
Criteria for Evaluation of Reported Apparitions
What norms or criteria does the Church use in evaluating
a reported private revelation? The general criteria used by the
Church can be summarized in three categories: 1) message
content; 2) ecstasy and other concurring phenomena; 3) spiritual
fruits.10
18 6
Any message content reportedly revealed in a private
revelation must be examined in light of the public revelation
contained in Scripture and Tradition as safeguarded by the
Church. If any reported message conveys a substantial doctrinal
or moral error against Church teaching, the reported revelations
are deemed to be false. The Holy Spirit, the same divine source
of inspiration for public revelation and authentic private revelation
alike, cannot contradict himself. Since private revelation is at the
service of public revelation, then the “guidance of conduct” given
by private revelation must correspond to the “revealed doctrine”
of public revelation.
It is also noteworthy that even in the case of an authentic
private revelation, it often happens that some minor error in
the receiving or the transmitting of the revelation may occur
because of the ever-present human nature of the visionary.
Several authentic private revelations that have received official
Church approval have also had some secondary elements of
human error, even when the visionary has been a canonized
saint.11
Secondly, the nature of the ecstasy experienced by the
“visionary,” or recipient of the reported revelation, is another
principal factor in the process of Church investigation. Oftentimes,
the visionary or recipient of a major private revelation experiences
a state of ecstasy whereby the person is at least partially removed
from an ordinar y time and space experience during the
supernatural revelation and brought into the temporal-spatial
experience of the giver of the revelation, whether it be Jesus or
Mary, a saint, etc. The visionary is brought into an ecstatic state
where his or her external senses are suspended in part, and that
at least partially transcends his normal sense experience.
A medieval means of testing the authenticity of a reported
visionary during ecstasy was injecting a large needle into the arm
of the alleged visionary to test the legitimacy of his or her ecstatic
state. The much improved modern means of medical-scientific
testing during a reported ecstasy (which includes EKG, EEC, and
18 7
other technological data) has been a great help to the Church in
empirically evaluating a legitimate state of ecstasy.12
Other phenomena related to private revelation and worthy of
examination include reported physical signs, such as solar miracles
(as exemplified at Fatima), or miraculous springs (as at Lourdes),
which cannot be explained by natural means, but only by the
direct intervention of God.
Thirdly, the spiritual fruits constitute a major criterion
for determining the authenticity of a private revelation. This
cornerstone criterion is based on the teachings of Christ that,
“the tree is known by its fruit” (Mt 12:33). One of the best
indications for the authenticity of a reported private revelation is
when the resulting devotion manifests true and ongoing Christian
conversion, such as a return to the prayer and sacramental life of
the Church, for example, Sacramental Confession, the Mass, the
Rosary, a life of Christian charity, etc.
Although it is possible for some spiritual fruits to result
temporarily from a false private revelation because of its partial
conveyance of the truths of Christianity, nonetheless, a revelation
of either human or satanic origin cannot manifest substantial
and ongoing spiritual fruits comparable to the qualitative and
quantitative spiritual benefits of a true revelation which has God
as its ultimate source. The work of God in comparison to the
work of man, or even of the devil, can never have identical
spiritual fruits.
If, after proper examination, which is typically initiated at the
local diocesan level under the guidance of the bishop, the Church
is satisfied with the indications of authenticity and has excluded
probabilities of error or fraud, she can grant her official approval.
Typically the examination of the reported private revelation
takes place within the diocese where the revelation is reported.
The bishop, if he discerns the reported revelation worthy of an
official investigation, will contact the Vatican Congregation for
the Doctrine of the Faith for the official guidelines of evaluation
used by the Church for investigating a reported revelation. He
18 8
will then establish a commission of investigation, which is usually
made up of experts from the fields of theology, psychology, and
medicine. Although the commission will arrive at a conclusion,
the final judgment for authenticity at the diocesan level rests with
the local bishop.
Degrees of Church Approval
The bishop, after receiving consultation from the commission
of investigation, can come to one of three potential conclusions:
1) constat de supernaturalitate, which means that this apparition
consists of a supernatural origin; 2) non constat de supernaturalitate,
which neither approves nor prohibits the reported apparition, but
typically allows for further investigation; and 3) constat de non
supernaturalitate, which concludes that the reported revelations
are not of supernatural origin, and thereby prohibits any public
devotion or distribution of the alleged message.
Normally, off icial Church approval means that there is
nothing against faith and morals in the revelation and concurring
phenomena, and that the faithful are free to accept the private
revelation without concern for doctrinal or moral error. This
doctrinal clearance allows the faithful full freedom regarding the
acceptance of the revelation.
Off icial Church approval does not technically oblige
the faithful to accept a Marian revelation, as authentic private
revelation is traditionally categorized as receiving an assent of
“human faith,” rather than the “divine faith” appropriate for
public revelation.
As Pope Benedict XIV stated:
Even though many of these revelations have been
approved, we cannot and ought not give them the
assent of divine faith, but only that of human faith,
according to the dictates of prudence whenever
18 9
these dictates enable us to decide that they are
probable and worthy of pious credence.13
On the other hand, the fact that the Church has given her
approval after careful and oftentimes scrutinous examination
offers strong moral evidence for the appropriateness of human
acceptance of a particular revelation. This is specifically the case
regarding private revelations that the Church has “made her
own” through papal statements, canonizations or beatifications
of the visionary, pilgrimages, and even liturgical feast days, such
as with the revelations of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to St. Margaret
Alacoque, the Marian apparitions of Lourdes and Fatima, and
the feast of Divine Mercy which originated from the revelations
received by St. Faustina Kowalska.
Moreover, it would be reprehensible if any Catholic, after the
Church had granted her official approval of a private revelation,
were to contradict or ridicule a Church-approved private
revelation or its corresponding devotion. Although the general
faithful are called to give an assent of human faith to a true
Marian apparition, it is also theologically held that the visionary
and any others intimately connected with, or affected by, the
revelation may and should accept the revelation with full assent
to its divine origin.14
Marian Message to the Modern World
The present era of the Church rightfully deserves the
designation, Age of Mary, with its historically unparalleled events
of Church approved Marian apparitions. This extraordinary
number of Marian visits should evoke from the faithful a gratitude
to God for this time of extraordinary graces. At the same time,
it should also evoke a serious realism, a balanced reading of the
signs of the times, about the needy state of the world that would
necessitate such an exceptional number of heavenly visits from
humanity’s Spiritual Mother.
19 0
What constitutes the overall Marian message to the modern
world? Let us summarize the heart of the Marian message to the
modern world by briefly examining the revealed messages from a
few of the most universal Marian apparitions that have occurred
in the last two centuries. We will see that Our Lady’s messages
constitute one unified message of prayer, penance, conversion,
and reparation which, over time, is gradually revealed with an
ever greater specificity and concretization, in a beauty of diversity
of cultures and geographies.
Miraculous Medal Revelation
The historical beginning of the modern Marian Era can be
associated with the Marian apparitions of Our Lady of Grace,
commonly known as the apparitions of the “Miraculous Medal”
in 1830. A series of Marian visions was granted to St. Catherine
Labouré, a religious sister of the Daughters of Charity, at their
Paris motherhouse. On November 27, 1830, the Blessed Virgin
appeared standing upon a globe and crushing a serpent beneath
her feet. Rays of light, symbolizing graces from the Mediatrix,
streamed from her outstretched hands. Around the image of Mary
the following prayer was written: “O Mary, conceived without
sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.”
The vision was then turned around, revealing a cross linked
to an “M” by a horizontal bar through the top of the “M.”
Beneath the letter “M” were the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, the
Sacred Heart crowned with thorns and the Immaculate Heart
pierced with a sword. The entire image was also encircled with
twelve stars. Contained within these two visions are symbolic
representations of Our Lady’s dogmas and doctrines, inclusive of
her roles as a) Co-redemptrix (Mary crushes the serpent’s head
[cf. Gen 3:15], the “M” attached to the cross, and her Heart
pierced with a sword [cf. Lk 2:35]); b) Mediatrix of all graces (rays
flowing from her outstretched arms); c) Advocate (the prayer,
“pray for us who have recourse to thee”); d) Queen (a circle of
191
twelve stars [cf. Rev 12:1]); and e) her Immaculate Conception
(the prayer, “O Mary, conceived without sin”).
During the vision, Mary instructed St. Catherine with the
following words: “Have a medal struck after this model. All who
wear it will receive great graces. They should wear it around the
neck.”15
The Archbishop of Paris granted permission for the first
medals, originally designated as the “Medal of the Immaculate
Conception,”16 to be struck in 1832. So many spiritual and physical
benefits were received upon the promulgation of the medal that the
faithful spontaneously referred to the medal as “miraculous,” and
hence its present name. A Church investigation in 1836 approved its
supernatural authenticity, and specific papal approval of its devotion
was granted in 1842. Since the time of its origin, the devout wearing
of the Miraculous Medal has spread throughout the Catholic
world. Wearers of the medal have received additional blessings and
indulgences granted by several popes, including Bl. Pius IX, Leo
XIII, St. Pius X, Pius XI, Pius XII, Bl. John XXIII, and Paul VI.17
The Miraculous Medal apparitions also served as encouragement
to Bl. Pope Pius IX from the domain of private revelation for the
eventual dogmatic definition of the Immaculate Conception in
1854, as the Medal of the Immaculate Conception underscored
Heaven’s appreciation of the doctrine, at this timely historical
moment of the doctrine’s development, with the words, “O Mary,
conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.”18
The Miraculous Medal devotion continues to flourish today,
with an endless list of spiritual benefits for those who wear the
medal faithfully as a concrete sign of their devotion and love
for the Immaculate Mother of God, Co-redemptrix, Mediatrix,
Advocate, and Queen.
The Message of Lourdes
In 1858, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to the fourteenyear-old peasant girl, Bernadette Soubirous, in the small mountain
19 2
town of Lourdes, France. Between February 11 and July 16, 1858
Bernadette received eighteen apparitions of the Blessed Virgin.
The fundamental message of the “Immaculate Conception” in
this early stage of the Marian Era is one of prayer and penance in
reparation to God, and for the conversion of sinners.
In the sixth apparition (February 21, 1858), the Lady dressed
in white with a blue sash said to Bernadette: “Pray for the
sinners.” During the eighth apparition (February 24, 1858),
Mary communicated to Bernadette: “You must pray to God
for sinners.” Bernadette further reported the words of the Lady:
“Penitence, Penitence, Penitence.”19
Throughout the apparitions at Lourdes, there is the call to
pray the Rosary, through the example of the Lady herself. During
all the apparitions, Mary was praying the Rosary silently, moving
the beads through her fi ngers. Bernadette also felt the strong
interior impulse to pray the Rosary. At the beginning and end
of each apparition, the Rosary was prayed by Bernadette and the
surrounding townspeople.
In the ninth apparition (February 25, 1858), the Lady directed
Bernadette to uncover what was to become the physical sign of a
miraculous spring. Here is Bernadette’s account of the event:
While I was in prayer, the Lady said to me in
a friendly, but serious voice, “Go, drink and
wash in the spring.” As I did not know where
this spring was, and as I did not think the matter
important, I went towards the river. The Lady
called me back and signed to me with her finger
to go under the grotto to the left; I obeyed but I
did not see any water. Not knowing where to get
it from, I scratched the earth and the water came.
I let it get a little clear of the mud, then I drank
and washed.20
193
This spring at Lourdes has resulted in 67 documented
miracles of healing, which have endured a scrutinizing medical
examination which rules out anything but the direct supernatural
intervention of God as cause for the healing,21 and constitutes
a Marian precedent for the typical presence of physical signs
at authentic apparition sites. These physical signs are means of
encouragement for humanity to believe and to live the message
of Lourdes, which is a Gospel call for conversion and reparation
to God for the sins of the modern era.
During the eleventh apparition (February 28, 1858), the Lady
requested the construction of a chapel at the apparition site: “Go
and tell the priests that a chapel must be built here.”22
And at the sixteenth apparition (March 25, 1858), we
have the profound self-revelation of Mary as the “Immaculate
Conception,” which served to confirm and promulgate the newly
proclaimed dogma amidst the faithful, reinforcing the infallible
statement of Bl. Pope Pius IX some four years earlier. Bernadette
tells us:
“When I was on my knees before the Lady,” she
continued, “I asked her pardon for arriving late.
Always good and gracious, she made a sign to me
with her head that I need not excuse myself. Then
I spoke to her of all my affection, all my respect
and the happiness I had in seeing her again. After
having poured out my heart to her I took up
my Rosary. While I was praying, the thought
of asking her name came before my mind with
such persistence that I could think of nothing
else. I feared to be presumptuous in repeating a
question she had always refused to answer. And
yet something compelled me to speak. At last,
under an irresistible impulse, the words fell from
my mouth, and I begged the Lady to tell me who
she was. The Lady did as she had always done
19 4
before; she bowed her head and smiled but she
did not reply. I cannot say why, but I felt myself
bolder and asked her again to graciously tell me
her name; however she only bowed and smiled
as before, still remaining silent. Then once more,
for a third time, clasping my hands and confessing
myself unworthy of the favor I was asking of her, I
again made my request.... The Lady was standing
above the rosebush, in a position very similar
to that shown in the miraculous medal. At the
third request her face became very serious and she
seemed to bow down in an attitude of humility.
Then she joined her hands and raised them to her
breast.... She looked up to Heaven...then slowly
opening her hands and leaning forward towards
me, she said to me in a voice vibrating with
emotion: ‘I am the Immaculate Conception’!”23
We see in this March 25 apparition not only the highlighting
of the newly proclaimed dogma of the Immaculate Conception,
but also a sublime revelation about the depths of Our Lady’s
fullness of grace and sinless state. As St. Maximilian Kolbe would
later comment, it is a statement about the Mother of God’s very
being, that by her very essence she was Immaculate. She was created
by the Heavenly Father as possessing a plenitude of grace and
without the slightest stain of sin.24
The heart of the message of Lourdes consists then in a general
Marian call to penance and prayer, particularly the Rosary, for
the conversion of sinners and in reparation to God through the
intercession of the Immaculate Conception.
The Message of Fatima
The six monumental Marian apparitions at Fatima in 1917,
continue the basic Marian message to the modern world, but
195
with greater specif ic ity and concretization. Along with the
general call to prayer and penance, “Our Lady of the Rosary,”
summoned the specific calls for: the daily praying of the Rosary;
the offering of all daily sacrifices to God in reparation for sin
and for the conversion of sinners; greater Eucharistic Adoration
and reparation; devotion and consecration to her Immaculate
Heart; and the five First Saturdays of Reparation. Historically, the
Fatima apparitions concurred with the climax of World War I.
The apparitions at Fatima to the three young visionaries,
Lucia (age 10), Jacinta (age 7) and Francisco (age 8), were
prefaced by three 1916-1917 angelic apparitions. The Guardian
Angel of Portugal instructed the children to pray the following
prayers of Eucharistic Reparation (as taken from the memoirs of
the visionary, Sr. Lucia):
My God, I believe, I adore, I hope, and I love you! I
beg pardon of you for those who do not believe, do
not adore, do not hope, and do not love you.
Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
I adore you profoundly and offer you the most
precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus
Christ present in all the tabernacles of the world,
in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and
indifferences with which he is offended. And
through the infinite merits of his most Sacred Heart
and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of you the
conversion of poor sinners.25
The historic Fatima apparition of July 13, 1917, can arguably
be designated as the single most important revelation of the
entire Marian Age. This message establishes: the quintessential
importance of devotion to the Immaculate Heart; a vision of
Hell; the conditional chastisement that would fall upon humanity
during the twentieth century; the request for the consecration
19 6
of Russia to the Immaculate Heart, and the promise of eventual
victory with the “Triumph” of her Immaculate Heart:
A few moments after arriving at the Cova da
Iria, near the holmoak, where a large number of
people were praying the Rosary, we saw the flash
of light once more, and a moment later Our Lady
appeared on the holmoak.
“What do you want of me?” I [Lucia] asked.
“I want you to come here on the 13th of next
month, to continue to pray the Rosary every day
in honour of Our Lady of the Rosary, in order to
obtain peace for the world and the end of the war,
because only she can help you....”
“Sacrifice yourselves for sinners, and say many
times, especially whenever you make some
sacrifice: O Jesus, it is for love of You, for the
conversion of sinners, and in reparation for the
sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of
Mary.”
As Our Lady spoke these last words, she opened
her hands once more, as she had done during the
two previous months. The rays of light seemed
to penetrate the earth, and we saw, as it were, a
sea of fire. Plunged in this fire were demons and
souls in human form, like transparent burning
embers, all blackened or burnished bronze,
floating about in the confl agration, now raised
into the air by the flames that issued from within
themselves together with great clouds of smoke,
now falling back on every side like sparks in huge
fires, without weight or equilibrium, amid shrieks
and groans of pain and despair, which horrified
us and made us tremble with fear. (It must have
been this sight which caused me to cry out, as
people say they heard me.) The demons could
be distinguished by their terrifying and repellent
likeness to frightful and unknown animals, black
and transparent like burning coals. Terrified and
as if to plead for succor, we looked up at Our
Lady, who said to us, so kindly and sadly:
“You have seen hell where the souls of poor sinners
go. To save them, God wishes to establish in the
world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If what
I say to you is done, many souls will be saved and
there will be peace. The war is going to end; but
if people do not cease offending God, a worse one
will break out during the pontificate of Pius XI.
When you see a night illuminated by an unknown
light, know that this is the great sign given you
by God that he is about to punish the world for its
crimes, by means of war, famine, and persecutions
of the Church and the Holy Father.”
“To prevent this, I shall come to ask for the
consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart,
and the Communion of Reparation on the First
Saturdays. If my requests are heeded, Russia will
be converted, and there will be peace; if not,
she will spread her errors throughout the world,
causing wars and persecutions of the Church.
The good will be martyred, the Holy Father
will have much to suffer, various nations will be
annihilated. In the end, my Immaculate Heart
will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate
19 7
19 8
Russia to me, and she will be converted, and a
period of peace will be granted to the world....”
“When you pray the Rosary, say after each
mystery: O my Jesus, forgive us, save us from the
fi re of hell. Lead all souls to Heaven, especially
those who are most in need.”26
This third Fatima message introduced the title “Our Lady
of the Rosary” and re-emphasized the crucial need to pray the
Rosary daily for world peace and for the end of World War
I—a goal that God ordained to be realized only through the
intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary (“because only she can
help you”).
The three children received a vision con fi rming the reality
of Hell and a conditional prophecy of a Second World War,
persecutions of the Church, the annihilation of nations and
suffering by the pope, if the world did not convert and continued
its ubiquitous offenses against God, and specific reference is made
to the Russia-based errors of Communism.
Yet Our Lady of the Rosary also revealed a message of hope.
Through the consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart
and the later revealed First Saturdays of Reparation, Mary’s
Immaculate Heart will eventually triumph and a period of
peace will be granted to the world. “In the end, my Immaculate
Heart will triumph… and a period of peace will be granted to
the world.” It is towards the fulfi llment of this prophecy that
every other authentic Marian apparition of the twentieth and
twenty-fi rst century has been directed and in which they fi nd
their purpose.
In the 1917 apparition of October 13, Mary identified herself
as Our Lady of the Rosary and again called the world to pray the
Rosary daily for peace in the world:
“I want to tell you that a chapel is to be built
here in my honour. I am the Lady of the Rosary.
Continue always to pray the Rosary every day.
The war is going to end, and the soldiers will
soon return to their homes.”
“I have many things to ask you: the cure of some
sick persons, the conversion of sinners and other
things....”
“Some yes, but not others. They must amend
their lives and ask forgiveness for their sins.”
Looking very sad, Our Lady said:
“Do not offend the Lord our God anymore,
because He is already so much offended.”
Then, opening her hands, she made them reflect
on the sun, and she ascended, the reflection of
her own light continued to be projected on the
sun itself....
After Our Lady had disappeared into the immense
distance of the fi rmament, we beheld St. Joseph
with the Child Jesus and Our Lady robed in white
with a blue mantle, beside the sun. St. Joseph and
the Child Jesus appeared to bless the world, for
they traced the Sign of the Cross with their hands.
When, a little later, this apparition disappeared, I
saw Our Lord and Our Lady; it seemed to me that
it was Our Lady of Dolors. Our Lord appeared to
bless the world in the same manner as St. Joseph
had done. This apparition also vanished, and I saw
Our Lady once more, this time resembling Our
Lady of Carmel.27
19 9
200
At the end of this sixth apparition, the 70,000 onlookers
witnessed the extraordinary physical sign which became known as
the “solar miracle.” The sun appeared to dance in the sky, giving off
various colors and then approached the earth with great intensity,
only to return later to its position in the sky. The solar miracle
was reported in the major secular, anti-Catholic newspapers of
Portugal, with the headlines reading, “The Miracle of Fatima”
or “How the Sun Danced at Noon over Fatima.”28
The seventh apparition to the professed Sr. Lucia of
the Immaculate Heart took place in her Spanish convent on
December 10, 1925. It is here that the important revelation of
the five First Saturday devotions occurs. This is the account from
Sr. Lucia’s diary:
On December 10, 1925, the most Holy Virgin
appeared to her, and by her side, elevated by
a luminous cloud, was a child. The most holy
Virgin rested her hand on her shoulder, and as she
did so, she showed her a heart encircled by thorns,
which she was holding in her hand. At the same
time, the Child said:
“Have compassion on the Heart of your most
holy Mother, covered with thorns, with which
ungrateful men pierce it at every moment, and
there is no one to make an act of reparation to
remove them.”
Then the most holy Virgin said:
“Look, my daughter, at my Heart, surrounded
with thorns with which ungrateful men pierce
me at every moment by their blasphemies and
ingratitude. You at least try to console me, and say
that I promise to assist at the hour of death, with
2 01
the graces necessary for salvation, all those who,
on the first Saturday of five consecutive months,
shall confess, receive Holy Communion, recite
five decades of the Rosary, and keep me company
for fifteen minutes while meditating on the fifteen
mysteries of the Rosary, with the intention of
making reparation to me.”29
We see here (with a theology similar to the Scapular devotion),
the invitation of the Mother of Jesus to intercede for the “gifts of
eternal salvation” (cf. Lumen Gentium, No. 62), which necessitates
the freely-willed cooperation of the individual. The great gift
of the five First Saturdays devotion directs the faithful to the
heart of the prayer and sacramental life of the Church, with
Sacramental Confession, Eucharistic reception, and the praying
and meditating on the Gospel mysteries of the Rosary, all with
the overall intention of offering reparation to the Immaculate
Heart of Mary. This motherly heart is mystically wounded
“at every moment” by the ongoing rejections and blasphemies
from so much of humanity who reject her love and her role as
their Spiritual Mother. Our Lady herself refers to her Heart,
“surrounded by thorns with which ungrateful men pierce me at
every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude.”30
All of her earthly children are therefore invited to “console”
her Immaculate Heart through the five First Saturdays devotion
with its extraordinary promise of “the graces necessary for
salvation,” a devotion which for many of Our Lady’s children
becomes a perpetual practice of reparation and love.
On May 13, 2000, Pope John Paul II beatified the child
visionaries, Francisco and Jacinta, at the Fatima Shrine, and
announced the release of the “third part” of the July 13, 1917,
message, known as the third secret of Fatima, which was publicly
released on June 28, 2000:
202
After the two parts which I have already explained,
at the left of Our Lady and a little above, we
saw an Angel with a f laming sword in his left
hand; flashing, it gave out flames that looked as
though they would set the world on fire; but they
died out in contact with the splendor that Our
Lady radiated towards him from her right hand:
pointing to the earth with his right hand, the
Angel cried out in a loud voice: “Penance, Penance,
Penance!” And we saw in an immense light that
is God, “something similar to how people appear
in a mirror when they pass in front of it,” a
Bishop dressed in White, “we had the impression
that it was the Holy Father” and other Bishops,
Priests, men and women Religious going up a
steep mountain, at the top of which there was
a big Cross of rough-hewn trunks as of a corktree with the bark; before reaching there the Holy
Father passed through a big city half in ruins and
half trembling with halting step, affl icted with
pain and sorrow, he prayed for the souls of the
corpses he met on his way; having reached the
top of the mountain, on his knees at the foot of
the big Cross he was killed by a group of soldiers
who fi red bullets and arrows at him, and in the
same way there died one after another the other
Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious, and
various lay people of different ranks and positions.
Beneath the two arms of the Cross there were
two Angels each with a crystal aspersorium in his
hand, in which they gathered up the blood of the
Martyrs and with it sprinkled the souls that were
making their way to God.31
2 03
Although various interpretations have been offered regarding
the third secret, the comments of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (at
that time Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the
Faith), provides fruitful insight as to its ingoing relevance:
The angel with the flaming sword on the left of
the Mother of God recalls similar images in the
Book of Revelation. This represents the threat
of judgment which looms over the world. Today
the prospect that the world might be reduced
to ashes by a sea of fire no longer seems pure
fantasy: man himself, with his inventions, has
forged the flaming sword. The vision then shows
the power which stands opposed to the force of
destruction—the splendor of the Mother of God
and, stemming from this in a certain way, the
summons to penance. In this way, the importance
of human freedom is underlined: the future is not
in fact unchangeably set, and the image which
the children saw is in no way a fi lm preview of a
future in which nothing can be changed. Indeed,
the whole point of the vision is to bring freedom
onto the scene and to steer freedom in a positive
direction. The purpose of the vision is not to show
a fi lm of an irrevocably fi xed future. Its meaning
is exactly the opposite: it is meant to mobilize the
forces of change in the right direction.32
Contemporary Reported Apparitions
Since the time of the Second Vatican Council, an unprecedented number of Marian apparitions have been reported
throughout the world. Marian apparitions have been reported
from such international locations as Cuapa, Nicaragua; Akita,
Japan; Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina; Kibeho, Africa; Naju,
204
Korea; Betania, Venezuela; Hrushiv, Ukraine; Amsterdam,
Netherlands; and several other places. A good number of these
apparitions have received official approval, while others still
remain under Church investigation.
How should the faithful respond to a reported apparition before
the Church has granted her official approval? By the Church’s own
teaching and practice, it is clear that the faithful are free to believe
in a reported apparition if nothing in the message or concurring
phenomena are contrary to faith and morals as taught by the Church.
Oftentimes, it is precisely the response of the faithful to a reported
apparition site that invites the Church authorities to enter into a
process of official evaluation and examination—a process which is
of imperative importance to the faithful and to all involved.
For example, when the 70,000 onlookers at Fatima saw the
solar miracle and began, along with the three visionaries, to live
the message of Fatima in 1917 before official Church approval was
given in 1930, they were in no sense violating proper Catholic
response to private revelation or Church authority. It is a historical
fact that the Basilica at Fatima was well under construction and
the hospital completed by the time the 1930 official approval by
the Church was pronounced. Moreover, John Paul II beatified
Jacinta and Francisco for their heroic response to the Fatima
message, although both died years before the Church granted the
Fatima apparition her official approval.
Nonetheless, before an announcement is made regarding
any reported Marian revelation, the Catholic faithful must
retain an attitude of obedience to the Church—any individual
determination concerning a reported Marian apparition must
include a clear willingness to accept the final and definitive
judgment of the Church.
The Reported Message of Medjugorje
Of the various contemporary reported Marian apparitions,
none has received more international response from the faithful
2 05
throughout the world than those coming from a small Bosnian
mountain town known as “Medjugorje,” which means, “between
the hills.”33
In June, 1981, six Croatian youths reported apparitions of the
Blessed Virgin under the title, “Queen of Peace.” An estimated
twenty million people have since pilgrimaged to Medjugorje,
inclusive of significant numbers of bishops, priests and religious
from the five continents.
What is the present Church status of the Medjugorje
apparitions? On April 10, 1991, the Bishops’ Conference of the
former Yugoslavia issued a declaration entitled, “Declaration of
the Ex-Yugoslavia Bishops’ Conference on Medjugorje.” While
the declaration is inconclusive, stating that at this point in the
investigation “it cannot be affi rmed that one is dealing with
supernatural apparitions and revelations,” it then goes on to state
that “the faithful journeying to Medjugorje, prompted both by
motives of belief and other motives, require attention and pastoral
care” by the Bishop of Mostar and his brother bishops while the
investigation continues.
This declaration makes clear that the Medjugorje apparitions
are at present neither formally approved (“constat de supernaturalitate”)
nor formally condemned (“constat de non supernaturalitate”), but
represent the middle category of Church evaluation referred to as
“non constat de supernaturalitate,” which allows for both continued
personal belief in the apparitions and personal (non-diocesan
sponsored) pilgrimages to Medjugorje while the investigation
is ongoing.
The legitimacy of personal belief in the Medjugorje apparitions
and personal pilgrimages to the apparition site at the present time
has been confirmed by the Holy See in a 1998 statement by the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which verified the
1991 former Yugoslav bishops’ Zadar statement as the present
position of the Holy See; specifies the unofficial opposition of
the local bishop which runs counter to the 1991 Zadar position
206
as simply his own personal position; and confirms the legitimacy
of private pilgrimages to the Medjugorje site.34
The basic message from the “Queen of Peace” can be
summarized under five main themes: Faith, Prayer, Fasting,
Conversion, and Peace.
The Medjugorje call of faith is a Marian call for a more
committed faith in the one God and in Jesus Christ as the one
Mediator to the Father. The call to prayer constitutes a greater
generos ity in terms of both quality and quantity of prayer,
summarized in the often used request for “prayer of the heart.”
Apart from the invitation to daily Mass and Eucharistic Adoration,
the Blessed Virgin has asked for the daily praying of the fi fteen
decade Rosary, the frequent reading of Scripture and a personal
consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate
Heart of Mary. Several of the monthly messages (given on the
25th of each month) echo the simple but persever ing refrain:
“Pray! Pray! Pray!”
The Medjugorje call for fasting began with a call to fast
on Fridays, and in August 1984, the Blessed Virgin requested
that Wednesdays also be added as a day of strict fasting. This
Wednesday and Friday fasting practice reflects the same practice
present in the fi rst centuries of the Church, as recorded in the
Didache (c. 60-120 A.D.): “Do not fast like the hypocrites on
Monday and Thursday; you [Christians] are to fast on Wednesday
and Friday.”35 Rather than requesting a new fasting practice, it
appears that the Blessed Virgin seeks to return the faithful to the
more committed fasting practice of the early Church.
The conversion theme is a call of greater conversion to Jesus
Christ, specifically through the reception of the Sacrament of
Reconciliation at least on a monthly basis. The theme of peace
calls for the spiritual peace of Christ in the heart of each believer
as the fruit of greater prayer, greater faith, greater fasting, and
greater conversion. This interior spiritual peace of Christ in the
heart should then blossom to family peace, then social peace,
with the eventual goal of world peace. However, a global peace is
207
possible only if it is founded upon the spiritual and interior peace
of Jesus Christ in the hearts of humanity.36
The Lady of All Nations Apparitions
A recent series of apparitions that have received the positive
constat de supernaturalitate declaration from its local bishop are
the apparitions of the “Lady of All Nations” in Amsterdam,
Holland. Between 1945 and 1959 the visionary, Ida Peerdeman,
received numerous apparitions and messages from the Mother of
Jesus which called for a new unity between nations, warned of
upcoming dangers of moral “degeneration, disaster, and war,” and
prophesied such events as the Second Vatican Council, confl icts
in the Holy Land and the Balkans, and forms of terrorism and
chemical warfare.37
Our Lady revealed to the visionary the following prayer to
be prayed by all people for a new descent of the Holy Spirit upon
all nations (in a way similar to the prayer of Bl. Pope John XXIII
for a “new Pentecost” at the beginning of the Second Vatican
Council):
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Father,
send now Your Spirit over the earth.
Let the Holy Spirit live
in the hearts of all nations,
that they may be preserved
from degeneration, disaster, and war.
May the Lady of All Nations,
who once was Mary,
be our Advocate.
Amen.
This prayer was also given to prepare the Church and
the world for the proclamation of a new Marian dogma, the
“dogma of the Co-redemptrix, Mediatrix, and Advocate.”38
208
This would constitute the dogmatic defi nition of the existing
Church doctrine of Mary as the Co-redemptrix, Mediatrix of
all graces and Advocate by the Roman Pontiff. Concerning this
Marian dogma, the Lady of All Nations revealed that, “I know
the struggle will be bitter, but the outcome is already assured,”39
and that the proclamation of this fifth Marian dogma would bring
peace to the world in an echo of the Fatima promise for peace:
Once the dogma, the f inal dogma in Marian
history, has been proclaimed, the Lady of All
Nations will grant peace, true peace to the
world.40
On May 31, 2002, Bishop Joseph Punt of Amsterdam
issued the following official declaration which concludes to the
supernatural origin of the fundamental Amsterdam apparitions
and message:
I have come to the conclusion that the apparitions
of the Lady of All Nations in Amsterdam consist
of a supernatural origin.41
In sum, we can say that the many appearances of the Mother
of Jesus to humanity in this Age of Mary have been nothing short
of an inestimable gift to the Church and has most likely led to
the salvation and sanctification of many.
We conclude with the words of the theologian, Fr. GarrigouLaGrange, who, as far back as the 1930’s, spoke strongly of the
need for responding to the contemporary Marian message to the
modern world:
Exterior peace will not be obtained for the world
except by the interior peace of souls, bringing
them back to God and working to establish the
reign of Christ in the depths of their intellects, of
their hearts, and of their wills. For this return of
straying souls to Him Who alone can save them,
it is necessary to have recourse to the intercession
of Mary, Universal Mediatrix and Mother of all
men. It is said of sinners who seem forever lost
that they must be confided to Mary: it is the same
for Christian peoples who stray. All the influence
of the Blessed Virgin has as its end to lead them
to her Son....
That is why on all sides many interior souls,
before the unprecedented disorders and tragic
sufferings of the hour, feel the need for recourse
to the redeeming love of Christ through the
intercession of Mary Mediatrix.42
209
210
Notes
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
Pope John XXIII, closing statement of 1959 Marian year, February 18,
1959, emphasis added.
Cf. Bonano, C.M.F., “Marian Shrines and Apparitions” Mariology, III,
p. 334.
Cf. Didache, 15:1.
Hermas, The Shepherd, 11:7.
Cf. Life and Revelations of Saint Gertrude the Great.
Cf. St. Bridget, Revelationes.
Cf. Timothy O’Donnell, Heart of the Redeemer, Ignatius, 1992, p. 125ff.
St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, II-II, Q. 174, art. 6, ad 3.
Cf. St. John of the Cross, The Ascent of Mount Camel, Bk. II; Jordan
Aumann, O.P., Spiritual Theology, London, Sheed and Ward, 1980, p.
425ff; G.M. Roschini, O.S.M., The Virgin Mary in the Writings of Maria
Valtorta, Quebec, Kolbe Publications, 1989, p. 10, footnote 9.
For discussion of Church criteria for private revelation, cf. Frederick M.
Jelly, O.P., “Discerning the Miraculous: Norms for Judging Apparitions
and Private Revelations,” Marian Studies, 44, 1993.
Cf. Aumann, O.P., Spiritual Theology, pp. 429-430.
For example, cf. Laurentin and Henri Joyeux, Scientific and Medical Studies
in the Apparitions at Medjugorje, Dublin, Veritas Press, 1987.
Pope Benedict XIV, De servorum Dei beatificatione et beatorum canonizatione,
v. 1-7 of Opera Omnia, 17 v. in 20; 2:32; 3:53.
Cf. Aumann, O.P., Spiritual Theology, p. 429.
Cf. Laurentin, The Life of Catherine Labouré, London, 1983; Laurentin,
Catherine Labouré et la Médaille Miraculeuse, Paris, 1976; Laurentin, Bernard
Billet, O.S.B., Lourdes, Documents authentiques, 7 Vols., Lethielleux, Paris,
1957-1966; J. Dirbin, C.M., St. Catherine Labouré of the Miraculous Medal,
Tan, 1958.
Ibid.
Cf. “Miraculous Medal,” New Catholic Encyclopedia, 1978, Vol. 13.
J. Dirbin, C.M., St. Catherine Labouré of the Miraculous Medal, Tan, 1958,
p. 178; cf. Laurentin, Catherine Labouré et la Médaille Miraculeuse, Paris,
1976.
This quote and all quotes of Bernadette Soubirous and accounts of
Lourdes taken from J.B. Estrade, J.H. Girolestone, tr., The Appearance
of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Grotto of Lourdes, Westminster, Art and
Book Co., Ltd., 1912; cf. also Alan Heame, The Happenings at Lourdes.
Ibid.
Cf. 67th Lourdes Miracle Officially Proclaimed, Zenit, November 15,
2005.
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
211
Estrade, The Appearance of the Blessed Virgin Mary; cf. also Alan Heame,
The Happenings at Lourdes.
Ibid.
Cf. St. Maximilian Kolbe, letter from Nagasaki to the youth of the
Franciscan Order, February 28, 1933; Manteau-Bonamy, O.P., Immaculate
Conception and the Holy Spirit, p. 7.
Sr. Lucia, Memoirs, Fourth Memoir.
Ibid.
Ibid.
For example the October 15, 1917 edition of the Lisbon newspaper, O
Seculo, ran such headlines as: “The Miracle of Fatima” as well as: “Amazing
Phenomenon!” and “How the Sun Danced at Noon over Fatima”; cf. Fr.
Robert J. Fox, Fr. Antonio Martins, S.J., Documents on Fatima & the Memoirs
of Sister Lucia, Fatima Family Apostolate, 2002, pp. 58-59.
Sr. Lucia, Memoirs, Appendix I.
Ibid.
Special insert, The Message of Fatima, from the Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith, L’Osservatore Romano, English edition, June 28,
2000, p. IV.
Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, special insert, The Message of Fatima,
“Theological Commentary,” L’Osservatore Romano, English edition, June
28, 2000, p. VIII.
The Medjugorje message outlined here is a summary from Miravalle,
Introduction to Medjugorje, Queenship, 2004.
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, letter from Archbishop
Tarcisio Bertone, former Secretary to Cardinal Ratzinger, to Bishop
Msgr. Gilbert Aubry, May 26, 1998, Protocol Number 154/81-06419.
Didache 8:1, Glimm, tr., Fathers of the Church, New York: C.I.M.A., 1947,
I, p. 177.
For a more basic summary of the Medjugorje message cf. Miravalle,
“Medjugorje” entry, New Catholic Encyclopedia, 1989, Vol. 18, p. 304;
and Miravalle, Introduction to Medjugorje.
Cf. The Lady of All Nations, messages of October 1, 1949, February 11,
1951, May 19, 1953, October 11, 1953, May 31, 1955, in The Messages of
the Lady of All Nations, The Lady of All Nations Foundation, 1999.
Ibid., messages of April 29, 1951, December 31, 1951, May 10, 1953.
Ibid., message of April 29, 1951.
Ibid., message of May 31, 1954.
Joseph Maria Punt, letter In Response to Inquiries Concerning the Lady of
All Nations Apparitions, May 31, 2002.
Garrigou-LaGrange, O.P., Mother of the Savior and the Interior Life, p.
272.
21 2
C h a p t e r Te n
R E SPON DING TO T E N
C OM MON O BJ ECTIONS
In God’s perfect providence, the Mother of Jesus is intended
to be an instrument and symbol of Christian unity. For along
with the unity in grace that comes from sharing in the grace of
Jesus Christ as our Brother, the Heavenly Father also intended to
express the universal unity of all members of the human family
by calling one woman “Mother.” And yet, because of her Godgiven roles as Mother of the Church and Spiritual Mother of all
peoples, Mary has been perceived as an occasion for division.
Nothing breaks the heart of a mother more than division
among her children, especially when she herself is posed as one
of the principal reasons for the disunity. Rather, the truth is that
Mary, in her doctrine and devotion, is actually an extraordinary
supernatural means for Christian unity and for authentic global
unity. She only becomes an occasion for division when the
revealed truth about her is rejected, as she reflects her Son, the
sign of contradiction to the world (cf. Lk 2:34), and the Body of
her Son, the Church, which has been entrusted with safeguarding
the revelation of Christ without compromise until he comes again
in glory.
Although we cannot here examine all objections given to
various points of Marian doctrine and devotion, we would like
213
21 4
to offer a brief response to ten of the more common objections
to aspects of Marian truth and love.
OBJECTION 1: “Mariolatry” or Adoration of Mary
Objection: Catholics worship Mary in a manner that violates
the First Commandment, offering adoration to her through her
images and statues, which is due to God alone.
Response: As discussed in Chapter Two, a distinction must be
made between adoration (latria) and veneration (dulia), and even
though the English term “adoration” may not always refer to
the worship due to God alone (as in the example already given,
that of a husband saying he “adores his wife”), adoration can
still be considered the best English term to describe the prayer
of latria. The Church has never taught that acts of adoration, the
submission, glory, and sacrifice due to God alone, are to be given
to Mary, but only an exceptional veneration (hyperdulia) because
she is the Mother of Jesus and uniquely cooperated with Jesus
Christ in his work of redeeming humanity.
We must avoid misunderstandings that can arise through
the use of the term “worship.” Traditionally, as was mentioned,
“worship” has been used for both adoration and veneration, and
the word itself simply indicates a worthiness of some type of
honor or dignity (from the Old English, weorthscipe). Although
prudence may encourage reserving the term worship exclusively
for adoration because of the potential misunderstandings of today,
the classical use of the term refers to a broader kind of honor and,
hence, cannot be viewed as an example of giving adoration to
Mary when the expression “worship of Mary” is used.
In regards to the “worshipping” of Marian statues and images,
again we must make important distinctions. First of all, there is
no adoration given to Marian images in the Catholic faith (an
act mistakenly perceived to model the pagan worship of idols).
A painting or a statue of the Mother of Jesus serves the same
Responding to Ten Common Objections
215
purpose as a family photo on an office desk, or a statue of a public
hero or statesman erected in a town square. The image serves
as a reminder of the person the image represents, and thereby
possesses a symbolic or representational value, not a true personal
value in itself.
As the father gazes upon the photograph of his family on his
desk at work and feels the warming of his heart at the thought of
his wife and children, so too, an image of Jesus’ Mother can evoke
similar feelings of fi lial love and devotion to her. Yet, as is true
of the family photo and the public memorial statue, the Marian
statue or image possesses no intrinsic power nor personhood; it
only conveys an image of a Spiritual Mother most deserving of
our frequent remembrance and love.
The Virgin Mary is the greatest human being of history, but
she never was, nor will ever be, “God.” The Catholic Church
rejects any concept of Mary as a goddess or any adoration shown
to her as a “heresy,” or grave error against the deposit of Christian
faith and revelation.
OBJECTION 2: Lack of Scriptural Basis for Marian
Doctrine
Objection: How can Catholics accept Marian dogmas like the
Immaculate Conception and the Assumption when they are not
explicitly revealed in the Bible?
Response: This question implies a certain misunderstanding
about the sources of divine revelation (as discussed in Chapter
One). The idea that all divinely revealed truths are explicitly
contained in Scripture, is, in short, “unscriptural.” Some will
quote the Scripture passage of 2 Timothy 3:16 to support the
position known as sola scriptura (Scripture alone): “Everything in
scripture has been divinely inspired, and it has its uses: to instruct
us, to expose our errors, to correct our faults, to educate in holy
living.”
216
While this inspired passage describes the great fruits of
Sacred Scripture, it nowhere even infers that Scripture is the
only source of revelation. In fact, John Henry Newman, in his
writing, Inspiration in its Relation to Revelation, explains: “This
passage furnishes no argument whatever that the Sacred Scripture,
without Tradition, is the sole rule of faith; for although Sacred
Scripture is profitable for these four ends, still it is not said to be
sufficient. The Apostle [Paul] requires the aid of Tradition (2
Thes 2:15).”1
Moreover, it is explicitly taught in Scripture that the Bible is
not the only source of divine revelation. The last Gospel ends with
St. John telling us that everything the Lord Jesus said and did is
not recorded in Scripture (cf. Jn 21:25), and St. Paul attests to
much Christian teaching being handed down in the oral tradition
of the Church (cf. 2 Thes 2:2).
Historically, one must remember that for the fi rst decades
of the Church, there was no written New Testament, since the
fi rst estimated New Testament writing was St. Paul’s Letter to
the Thessalonians in approximately 51 A.D. There was, on the
other hand, the oral tradition of the Church which handed down
the saving Gospel and doctrine of Jesus Christ (cf. Acts 2:42; 2
Thes 2:15).
Therefore, the proper question that should be asked regarding
Marian doctrine is: “Can these Marian truths be found in the
authentic Christian sources of divine revelation, Sacred Scripture,
and Apostolic Tradition, as safeguarded by the Magisterium?”
To this question, one can answer an emphatic “yes.” For every
Marian doctrine, we have at least implicit Scripture references
containing the revealed seed of the doctrine (as with the
Immaculate Conception [Gen 3:15, Lk 1:28]; and the Assumption
[Gen 3:15; Ps 131:8; Rev 11:19; Rev 12:1]); copious references
from Sacred Tradition, and the de fide teachings of the Church’s
Magisterium, including explicit papal infallible definitions (see
Chapter Five, The Four Marian Dogmas).
217
OBJECTION 3: Mary as Intercessor and Spiritual Mother
Objection: Mary’s role as intercessor and Spiritual Mother assumes
an ability of Mary (and of the saints in general) to intercede from
Heaven, which presupposes the complete knowledge and power
of God himself, and this in itself is not scriptural.
Response: The legitimacy of venerating the saints and seeking
their intercession is expressly taught by the Church 2 and can be
deduced from scriptural revelation, as in the case of the veneration
of the angels (cf. Jos 5:l4; Dn 33:2; Tob 12:16).
The angels have a supernatural dignity worthy of honor
which comes from their intimate union with God (cf. Mt 18:10).
Since the saints are also intimately united with God (cf. 1 Cor
13:12; 1 Jn 3:2), then they also deserve our honor and veneration
(see Chapter Two on dulia).
The Jewish people manifested faith in the intercession of
what we call the “communion of saints” as is attested to by Judas the
Maccabean, who relates that in a vision he beheld Onias praying
for the Jews before their great battle and, in answer to his prayer,
the prophet Jeremiah bringing him a mystical sword from God
with which he would defeat his enemies (cf. 2 Mac 15:11-16).
The early Christian community also believed in the ability
of the angels and saints to offer prayers at the feet of God and
support them with their intercession (cf. Tob 12:12). St. John the
Apostle testifies to a spiritual fruitfulness in the intercession of
the saints when he refers to their prayer of mediation as “incense”
rising before the throne of God:
…The four living creatures and the twenty-four
elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding
a harp, and with golden bowls full of incense,
which are the prayers of the saints…
And another angel came and stood at the altar
with a golden censer; and he was given much
218
incense to mingle with the prayers of all the saints
upon the golden altar before the throne; and the
smoke of the incense rose with the prayers of the
saints from the hand of the angel before God (Rev
5:8, 8:3-4).
St. Paul asked for prayerful intercession from many other
disciples (cf. Rom 15:30; Col 4:3; 1 Thes 5:25) and also referred
to his prayers for them (cf. 2 Thes 1:11). Since Heaven is a state
of God’s living saints (cf. Mk 12:26-27), St. Paul can certainly
continue his prayers for his fellow members of the Body of
Christ.
Only a misconception about Heaven as a stagnant, isolated
part of the Body of Christ, as an assembly without concern or
love for the rest of the Body still seeking the crown of heavenly
glory, would lead to the conclusion that the saints do not continue
their prayer and intercession for their beloved family on earth.
The souls of the saints in Heaven are not “in the grave,” but are
alive and in the heavenly perfection of love. They are therefore
at our disposal for powerful intercessory help. Jesus assures us in
his answer to the Sadducees that he is “God of the living,” not
of the dead, in reference to his discussion of life for the saints in
Heaven (cf. Lk 20:38).
Because Mary is Mother of the Head and of the Body, her
maternal intercession rightfully has an exalted ability to bring her
earthly children closer to Jesus Christ. We see scripturally that
Mary’s intercession starts on earth with the Wedding of Cana (Jn
2:1-11). This reflects her role as Spiritual Mother of all peoples,
inclusive of her specific motherly functions as Co-redemptrix,
Mediatrix of all graces, and Advocate (see Chapter Six, Mother
of All Peoples).
As for the need of having God’s complete knowledge and
power to hear prayers of the faithful on earth and to intercede,
we must distinguish between having a divine nature and merely
participating in providential acts through the power of God.
219
As is the case with the life of sanctifying grace in general, God
allows creatures to participate in aspects of his life, knowledge,
and power, without the creature being God himself. The saints
in Heaven do not have the restrictions of time and space which
we experience on earth, but participate in God’s experience of
events as “one great eternal present.”
The saints, therefore, have the privilege of being able to
communicate with the faithful on earth, to hear our prayers and
intercede on our behalf—all without being “gods,” but by sharing
in God’s experience of reality and power. This is not so difficult
to accept if we remember that the human ability to communicate
intellectually and to pray for one another is also performed by
the power of God’s gifts of reason and grace.
Once again, Mar y, being the Spiritual Mother of all
humanity (cf. Jn 19:26), would have a particular sharing in the
one mediation of Jesus Christ (cf. 1 Tim 2:5) for the spiritual
benefit of the human family. As Vatican II describes: “Taken
up to heaven, she did not lay aside this saving office but by her
manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal
salvation” (Lumen Gentium, No. 62).
OBJECTION 4: Against the Immaculate Conception
Objection: How could Mary be immaculately conceived and
remain sinless throughout her earthly life when St. Paul says, “all
have sinned and fall short of the glory of Christ” (Rom 3:23)? All
people need Jesus as their Savior and Redeemer, including Mary.
Response: In regards to Mary’s need for a redeemer, the Church
wholeheartedly agrees. As was discussed in Chapter Five in
reference to the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception,
Mary was redeemed by Christ precisely through her Immaculate
Conception. Mary’s reception of sanctifying grace at conception
was an application of the graces merited by Jesus Christ on the
Cross, and applied by God, who by nature is out of time.
220
Mary’s conception in sanctifying grace was a unique form of
redemption, in fact a higher form of redemption, since through
the merits of her Son she never had to receive a fallen human
nature. Hence, Mary needed to be redeemed and was redeemed
through a “preservative redemption,” a redemption brought about
through the merits of her Son on Calvary and applied to her at the
moment of her conception. Thus, not only was Mary redeemed,
but she was redeemed in a higher, more perfect manner, since
she never had to experience the stain of sin.
This unique act of God made Mary the fitting Mother of the
Word made flesh, giving him an immaculate human nature in a
fully maternal way, and meriting the name and title referred to
her by Gabriel, “full of grace” (Lk 1:28).
As to the words of St. Paul that “all have sinned” (Rom 3:23),
the Church rightfully interprets this passage as a divinely revealed
truth about humanity in general, and not a specific statement
about the Mother of Jesus. Nonetheless, since the teachings of
St. Paul were primarily directed to spreading the fundamental
Good News of salvation, which would be necessary for an accurate
understanding of Marian doctrine (Mary is who she is because
of her Son), then clearly it would be inappropriate for St. Paul to
make an explicit, exceptional clause about the Mother of Jesus in
his initial preaching of the universal need for Redemption. Any
reference to a sinless exception for the Mother of the Lord would
be inappropriate before the people of the time had a fundamental,
doctrinal clarity about the basic message of the Gospel.
Clearly, St. Paul’s intention in this passage of Romans was
not a teaching on Marian doctrine, but a general instruction on
the universal sin of humanity, and thereby the universal need for
a redeemer.
OBJECTION 5: Against the Perpetual Virginity of Mary
Objection : Mar y could not have remained a virgin after
the birth of Christ for several reasons: a) because there are
2 21
scriptural references to the “brethren of the Lord” (Mt 12:46;
Mk 3:31; Lk 8:19); b) it would negate the true marriage
between Mary and Joseph if it were never consummated; and
c) Scripture speaks of Mary being found with child before she
and Joseph came together, which infers they came together
after the birth of Jesus: “When his mother Mary was espoused
to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child”
(Mt 1:18); and d) Scripture says Jesus was the fi rst-born Son of
Mary (Lk 2:7; Mt 1:25), which infers that additional children
were born later.
Response: a) As explained in Chapter Five (under The Perpetual
Virginity), the Greek word for brother, “adelphos,” is often used
in the Bible to mean brother, cousin, near relative, or even
kinsman. In fact, there are several instances in the Bible where
the word “adelphos” is used (or its Hebrew Parallel, “ah”), and,
by examining the context, we know that it could not possibly
refer to a relation of biological brother.
For example, in Genesis 13:8, Lot is called Abraham’s
“brother” (“adelphos”), although Lot was Abraham’s cousin (Gen
12:5). In Genesis 29:15, Jacob is referred to as the “brother”
(“adelphos”) of Laban, although Jacob was actually Laban’s
nephew (Gen 29:10).
The term “brothers of the Lord” could refer to Jesus’ cousins
or his near relatives, but not to blood brothers, in light of the
revelation of Mary’s virginity before, during, and after the birth
of Christ. Jesus himself explicitly uses the term “brother” in a
manner which cannot refer to biological brother relationships
when he says, “Who are my mother and my brothers?…
Whoever does the will of God is my brother, and sister, and
mother” (Mk 3:33, 35). Christians today refer to themselves as
“brothers and sisters of the Lord.” The term “brothers of the
Lord” does not create a valid scriptural objection to Mary’s
perpetual virginity.
222
b) The perpetual virginity of Mary does not constitute an
impediment to a true marriage between Mary and Joseph. The
essence of marriage consists in the vow of a total gift to other
which includes the marital right of conjugal relations. The validity
of the marriage bond lies not in the exercise of this right, but
rather, in the true gift of self inclusive of the marital gift to the
spouse. To agree mutually to offer even the material exercise
of the marital rights of relations under the proper circumstance
as a gift to God does not violate or prevent the essence of an
authentic and valid marriage vow. Therefore, Mary and Joseph
experienced a true marriage with the total gift of self to each
other, even though they did not exercise the marital gift of
conjugal relations.
c) The biblical words “before” and “until” state merely what
has not yet taken place; it does not establish that it will take
place afterwards. Let us look at other passages of the Bible where
these words are used. In 2 Samuel 6:23, it says: “Michal, that
daughter of Saul, had no child until the day of death.” Does this
establish, therefore, that Michal had a child after the day of death?
Obviously not. Psalm 110:1 prophesies about the reign of Christ
the King: “Sit then at my right hand, until I make thy enemies
thy footstool.” This cannot seek to convey that after the defeat
of the enemies of Christ that Jesus will no longer sit at the right
hand of the Father. This obviously could not be the case.
Even in terms of present usage, if one were to say, “the thief
refused to give back the stolen goods before he died,” this cannot
denote that he gave back the stolen goods after he died.
The scriptural passages that state that Mary and Joseph did not
come together before Mary was with child, in no sense establishes
the fact that they did so after the birth of Christ, but simply that
their coming together had not taken place before Christ’s birth.
d) The term “fi rst-born Son” neither infers nor establishes
that other children were born later. In the Mosaic law the term
2 23
“fi rst-born” was applied to the child whose birth had not been
preceded by another, regardless of whether other children fol lowed
or not. According to the Law, every mother was required to go
through certain rituals after the birth of her first child (whether
followed by other children or not).
Moreover, Jesus is rightly called “fi rst-born of the Father”
and “first-born of Mary.” This cannot infer that the Father, too,
had other divine sons after his “first born” Son.
OBJECTION 6: Against the Assumption of Mary
Objection: Mary had to remain in the grave after her death since
death is a result of the sin that all humanity experiences (cf. Rom
3:23, 5-8; Heb 2:14-15). Therefore, Mary’s bodily assumption
is a human impossibility, due to her human and therefore sinful
condition.
Response: As Pope Pius XII explained in the infallible definition
of the Assumption in 1950, Genesis 3:15 reveals Mary, the
“woman” and mother of the seed of victory, Jesus Christ, as
sharing in the same absolute victory in her complete opposition
or “enmity” to Satan. As St. Paul states, the effects of the evil seed
of Satan are twofold: sin and death. Mary, sharing in the same
enmity as her Son towards Satan’s seed of evil, triumphs over sin
in her Immaculate Conception and over the corruption of death
in her glorious Assumption of body and soul into Heaven at the
end of her earthly life.
A further distinction needs to be made regarding an accurate
understanding of “death” as it results from sin. The death that
takes place as a result of sin is associated with the corruption of the
body. Jesus Christ, for example, also experienced death, but not
as a result of the corruption of the body due to sin. Rather the
death of Jesus consisted of a separation of soul and body in his
humanity on the Cross.
224
In regards to Mary, the Church has never officially defined
the fact of her earthly death, but it remains a strong secondary
tradition and the majority position in the Church. What we
do know with certainty is that if Mary died, it was not as a
result of the corruption of the body due to sin (in light of her
Immaculate Conception and sinless earthly life), but rather, as a
willed acceptance of a temporary separation of soul and body in
imitation of her Son as Jesus’ perfect disciple.
The bodily Assumption of Mar y is the effect of her
Immaculate Conception and a fitting close of that earthly life
that ended in the same sinless state that it began, by God’s unique
gift and privilege. Moreover, there is nothing in Sacred Scripture
that would forbid a bodily assumption by God’s power before his
second coming. In fact, the Gospel reference in Matthew 27:52
in a certain sense affi rms its possibility: “...and the graves were
opened, and many bodies arose out of them, bodies of holy men
gone to their rest.”
The Mother of God’s bodily Assumption is the appropriate
conclusion of her Immaculate Conception, her sinlessness, her
participation in man’s Redemption, and her share in Christ’s
glorious triumph over sin and death. It is the fitting tribute
of a Divine Son to his human Mother in keeping the Fourth
Commandment to “honor your mother.”
OBJECTION 7: Against Mary as Mediatrix of All Graces
Objection: How can it be said that all graces of Christ come to
humanity through Mary, if we consider a) the saving graces of
Christ applied to humanity before the time of the Redemption;
and b) the sanctifying grace which, according to the infallible
teaching of the Catholic Church herself, is produced automatically
in the souls of those who properly receive the sacraments?
Response: a) As discussed in Chapter Six (Mother of All Peoples),
after the Redemption of Christ, Mary distributes the graces of
2 25
her Son at least as a “secondary moral cause,” by her willed acts,
which are always subordinate and in conformity with Jesus the
Redeemer and the one Mediator of all heavenly grace (cf. 1 Tim
2:5).
As for those people living before the Redemption of Christ,
they received graces through Mary’s mediation in virtue of Mary’s
participation in the “fi nal causality” of the obtaining of grace.
In other words, in view of the future merits and intercession of
Mary by virtue of her participation with her Son in the world’s
Redemption as the Co-redemptrix, Mary also mediated graces to
anyone who received the graces of Redemption before the historical
event of Calvary. Because Mary had an exalted participation in the
acquisition of the graces of Redemption with and under Christ,
she can be seen as having a secondary mediating effect in all those
who receive the saving graces of Redemption, regardless of when
they were applied to souls in God’s plan of salvation, which would
include people of the Old Testament.
b) As for the sanctifying grace which the sacraments
automatically confer, Mary nonetheless mediates it in several
ways. First, Mary mediates the grace of the sacraments by being
Mother of Jesus, the Author of Grace and the First Sacrament to
the world. Secondly, Mary mediates the grace of the sacraments
by her role as Co-redemptrix. By Mary’s direct and meritorious
participation in the Redemption of the world by Jesus Christ,
she shares in the acquisition of the graces of Calvary which
are distributed through the sacraments of the Church. In this
foundational and pivotal manner, Mary mediates the grace of
the sacraments through her share in the acquiring of the graces
with Jesus the Redeemer.
Thirdly, it is through Mary’s direct mediation that we receive
the actual graces to desire the reception of the sacraments and
to prepare us for worthy reception of the sacraments. Through
Mary’s direct distribution of actual graces, we receive a temporary
enlightening of the mind and strengthening of the will to perform
226
the meritorious acts of receiving the sacraments, which constitute
the spiritual backbone of the Christian life. Mary’s mediating
presence is at every baptismal font, leading people by actual graces
into the sacramental life of Jesus Christ and the Church.
Furthermore, Mary’s profound union with the Holy Spirit, the
Sanctifier, leads to her role as Mediatrix of every grace bestowed
to the human family. As St. Maximilian Kolbe taught, the Holy
Spirit is so deeply united to Mary in the work of sanctification, that
their inexpressible spousal union resembles the union of the divine
nature and human nature in the one divine person of Jesus Christ.
Although the Holy Spirit never became incarnate, and the Holy
Spirit and Mary are two separate persons, nonetheless St. Maximilian
compares their union to the Hypostatic Union of Jesus Christ. In
light of this exceedingly profound union, the Holy Spirit, by divine
disposition, acts only through Mary his Immaculate spouse, and
since the Holy Spirit is the Sanctifier and source of all graces, then all
the graces of the Spirit, inclusive of those received in the sacraments,
are mysteriously conveyed through the Blessed Virgin as Mediatrix
of all graces. Once again, as St. Maximilian Kolbe describes:
The union between the Immaculata and the Holy
Spirit is so inexpressible, yet so perfect, that the
Holy Spirit acts only by the Most Blessed Virgin,
His spouse. This is why she is the Mediatrix of all
grace given by the Holy Spirit.3
OBJECTION 8: Objection to the Rosary
Objection: The repetitious nature of the Rosary is condemned by
Jesus in the Gospel where he said, “And in praying do not heap
up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think they will be
heard for their many words” (Mt 6:7).
Response: The false type of prayer that Jesus condemns in the
gospels is the heaping of “empty phrases.” Surely, no Christian
227
would consider the Our Father or the scriptural salutation of the
Hail Mary (Lk 1:28, 42) as “empty phrases,” without meaning or
content.
The legitimacy of repetitious prayer is obvious by its repeated
example in the Bible. For example, Psalm 136 is completely
structured upon the frequently repeated phrase: “His mercy
endures for ever.” Repetitious prayer is also an integral part of
the canticle of Daniel 3:52-88, which is built upon the constantly
repeated phrase, “praise and exalt him above all forever.” Further,
the angels give unceasing praise before the throne of God in the
perpetual repetition, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,
who was and is and is to come!” (Rev 4:8), in the account of
Heaven in the book of Revelation.
The repetitious nature of the Rosary prayer, as discussed
in Chapter Seven, is a means of entering more deeply into the
revealed Gospel mysteries of Jesus Christ, thus promoting Christian
meditation. Far from being an empty repetitional structure, the
peaceful repetition of the Hail Marys is an incarnational way of
keeping the body focused on the disposition of the soul in order
to penetrate the mysteries of Christian salvation.
What Our Lord condemns in the Gospel passage is the
“empty” repetition and quantity of words that are bereft of the
attention of the mind and devotion of the heart. The Rosary is
a vocal and mental prayer form that utilizes a prayerful repetition
of the Gospel-based Our Father and Hail Mary.
It is important to remember that every prayer form can be
abused by a type of formalism that practices the external act
without the proper internal intention of the heart to raise our
minds and hearts to God.
When the Rosary is used as an authentic form of Christian
vocal prayer and meditation with the proper internal disposition
of love of God, which is required for any true Christian prayer
form, it is a litany-like succession of Hail Marys that in the
words of Pope Paul VI, “becomes in itself an unceasing praise
of Christ”4
228
OBJECTION 9: Objection Against Consecration to Jesus
Through Mary
Objection: The act of Marian consecration involves a) giving
oneself entirely to Mary, and this constitutes an act of adoration.
A Christian is only permitted to give himself entirely to God
and never to a creature; and b) giving all our merits and good
works to Jesus through Mary will make us spiritually incapable
of helping the souls of our parents, relatives, and friends.
Response: a) Here again a distinction must be made between acts
of “latria” and “dulia” (see Chapter Two). Consecration to God,
for example, to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, is an act in the order of
latria, which is the worship paid exclusively to God, and in which
a person is given directly and completely to God.
Consecration to Mary, for example, to her Immaculate
Heart, is an analogous act in the order of hyperdulia, that exalted
devotion which the Mother of God properly deserves. Here a
person gives himself entirely to Mary as a means of union with
Jesus Christ. Giving oneself entirely to Mary does not mean Mary
is the goal or fi nal recipient of the self-gift; but rather, that it is
a Christ-designated means of consecrating oneself to Jesus and
renewing one’s baptismal vows. One’s gift of self to Mary in the
order of hyperdulia, or exalted veneration, is the best means to a
complete and total gift of self to Christ in the order of adoration,
which is proper only for Our Lord.
b) To the objection that through Marian consecration we lose
our spiritual ability to aid the souls of our parents, relatives, and
friends, St. Louis Marie de Montfort offers the following clear
and succinct answer:
It is not credible that our parents, friends and
benefactors should suffer from the fact of our being
devoted and consecrated without exception to the
229
service of Our Lord and His Holy Mother. To think
this would be to think unworthily of the goodness
and power of Jesus and Mary, who know well how
to assist our parents, friends and benefactors, out of
our own little spiritual revenue or by others.5
De Montfort’s response ref lects the spiritual humility all
Christians should have in regards to their limited ability to dispense
properly their own spiritual benefits, in contrast to the best and
perfect distribution of graces made by the universal Mother and
Mediatrix of all grace.
OBJECTION 10 : Objection Against Mar ian Pr ivate
Revelation
Objection: How can any human being, including Mary, appear
after death in a way only possible by God himself?
Response: We return to the distinction between “being God”
and “participating in the power of God.” The Mother of God,
especially since she is not bound by the limits of time and space
in Heaven, can participate in God’s power to become visible to a
person on earth, to communicate, and even to be present in her
assumed body in a type of three-dimensional apparition.
Scripture attests to the possibility of a vision or apparition by
persons who have died: “...and the graves were opened and many
bodies arose out of them, bodies of holy men gone to their rest;
who, after his rising again, left their graves and went into the holy
city, where they were seen by many” (Mt 27:52-53). If the dead can
appear in bodily form to others, certainly the Mother of Jesus,
whose body is gloriously assumed into Heaven, can appear to her
earthly children with Gospel messages encouraging greater faith,
prayer, penance, conversion, and peace (See Chapter Nine for an
extended treatment on Marian private revelation).
23 0
Notes
1
2
3
4
5
Ven. John Henry Cardinal Newman, Inspiration in its Relation to Revelation,
1884; cf. Karl Keating, Catholicism and Fundamentalism, San Francisco,
Ignatius Press, Ch. 10.
Cf. Council of Trent, D986, 984, 998, and Lumen Gentium, No. 51.
St. Maximilian Kolbe, letter to Fr. Mikolajczyk of July 28, 1935;
Manteau-Bonamy, O.P., Immaculate Conception and the Holy Spirit, p.
99.
Paul VI, Marialis Cultus, No. 46.
Note: Special thanks are offered for the exceptional technical preparation of Introduction
to Mary by Mr. Jonathan Baker.
Conclusion
It is our deepest hope that the information presented in this
book has provided some theological and reasonable grounds
for a greater acceptance and appreciation of the Mother of the
Lord’s role in God’s drama of human salvation, a maternal role
that hopefully will evoke a sincere f ilial Christian love and
appreciation on the part of her earthly children.
May all peoples one day experience the unity within the one
People of God that the Heart of Mary so urgently desires for
all humanity, as expressed by the Fathers of the Second Vatican
Council:
The entire body of the faithful pours forth urgent
supplications to the Mother of God and of men
that she, who aided the beginnings of the Church
by her prayers, may now, exalted as she is above
all the angels and saints, intercede before her Son
in the fellowship of all the saints, until all families
of people, whether they are honored with the title
of Christian or whether they still do not know
the Savior, may be happily gathered together in
peace and harmony into one People of God, for
the glory of the Most Holy and Undivided Trinity
And may the two prophetic hymns from the two Testaments
of God’s inspired Word be profoundly fulfilled concerning God’s
231
23 2
greatest Masterpiece, the Immaculate Co-redemptrix and the
Spiritual Mother of all peoples:
“I exalt my God;
and my spirit rejoices in the King of heaven,
… A bright light will shine
to all parts of the earth; many nations shall come
to you from afar,
And the inhabitants of all the limits of the earth,
drawn to you by the name of the Lord God,
Bearing in their hands their gifts for the King of
heaven.
Every generation shall give joyful praise in you,
and shall call you the chosen one, through all ages
forever.” (Tobit 13:11).
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he h a s reg a rded t he hu m i l it y of h i s
handmaid.
For behold, from this day, all generations
will call me blessed” (Lk. 1:46-48).
A ppe n di x
Marian Prayers
The following appendix provides the basic components of
praying the Rosary, which includes the structure and order of
the Rosary, the prayers contained in the Rosary, and the twenty
Mysteries of the Rosary, accompanied by a brief Scripture verse
pertaining to the respective Gospel mystery.
Also included in the Appendix is the full form of St. Louis
Marie Grignon de Montfort’s Consecration to Jesus Through Mary,
as well as some popularly known Marian prayers.
233
23 4
How to Pray the Rosary
The Rosary is a form of vocal and
menta l prayer on the Myster ies
of our Redemption, divided into
t went y decades. The recitation
of each decade is accompanied by
meditation on one of the twenty
events or “mysteries.”
1. “ T h e S i g n
of t he Cros s”
and “Apostles’
Creed.”
2. “Our Father.”
3. Three “Hail
Marys.”
4. “Glory Be”;
announce First
Mystery.
5. “Our Father.”
6. Ten “Hail Marys”;
meditate on the
mystery announced.
7. “Glory Be” and optional
“Fatima Prayer.”
8. Announce Second
Mystery and repeat as in 5,
6, 7. Continue in like manner
until the Five Mysteries are
prayed.
9. “H a i l , Holy Queen,” “Ros a r y
Prayer”; end with “The Sign of the
Cross.”
Appendix
235
The Rosary begins by holding the Cross and making the
Sign of the Cross as we pray:
The Sign of the Cross
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of
the Holy Spirit. Amen.
While still holding the Cross we profess our beliefs as
we pray:
The Apostles’ Creed
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator
of Heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His
only Son, Our Lord; Who was conceived by the
Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered
under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was
buried. He descended into Hell; the third day
He rose again from the dead; He ascended into
Heaven, sits at the right hand of God, the Father
Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge
the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy
Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion
of Saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection
of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.
On the f irst bead we pray the Our Father. This is
traditionally offered for the intention of the Holy Father,
the pope:
Our Father
Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Your
name; Your kingdom come; Your will be done on
earth, as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily
23 6
bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive
those who trespass against us; and lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
Three Hail Marys are then prayed for the virtues of faith,
hope, and charity:
Hail Mary
Hail, Mary, full of grace; the Lord is with thee;
blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the
fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of
God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of
our death. Amen.
We then pray the Glory Be (no bead):
Glory Be
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the
Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning is now,
and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
On the fifth bead we announce* the first mystery (see list
of mysteries below) and while meditating on the mystery say
one Our Father and ten Hail Marys (one on each of the next
ten beads) and a Glory Be (no bead.) Then, as requested by
Our Lady of the Rosary at Fatima, we pray:
Fatima Prayer
O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the
fires of Hell. Lead all souls to Heaven, especially
those who are most in need of thy mercy.
(Repeat from * for each mystery.)
Appendix
237
At the end of the five decades, the “Hail, Holy Queen”
is prayed:
Hail, Holy Queen
Hail! Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life, our
sweetness, and our hope. To thee do we cry, poor
banished children of Eve; to thee do we send up
our signs, mourning and weeping in this valley of
tears. Turn then, most gracious Advocate, thine
eyes of mercy toward us; and after this our exile
show unto us the blessed fruit of your womb, Jesus.
O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.
V. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Optional Closing Prayer from the Roman Missal:
O God, whose only-begotten Son, by His life,
death, and resurrection has purchased for us the
rewards of eternal life; grant, we beseech you,
that, while meditating on these mysteries of the
most holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we
may imitate what they contain, and obtain what
they promise. Through the same Christ our Lord.
Amen.
End with the Sign of the Cross.
The Twenty Mysteries of the Rosary
Joyful Mysteries
1. The Annunciation—“Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women” (Lk 1:28).
238
2. The Visitation—“When Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary
the babe in her womb leapt, and she was fi lled with the Holy
Spirit” (Lk 1:41).
3. The Birth of Jesus—“And she brought forth her firstborn Son
and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes” (Lk 2:7).
4. The Presentation—“According to the law of Moses, they
took Jesus up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord” (Lk
2:22).
5. The Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple—“After three days
they found him in the temple. He was sitting in the midst of
the teachers” (Lk 2:46).
Luminous Mysteries
6. The Baptism of the Lord—“This is my beloved Son, with whom
I am well pleased” (Mt 3:17).
7. The Wedding of Cana—“His mother said to the servants, ‘Do
whatever he tells you’” ( Jn 2:5).
8. The Proclamation of the Kingdom of God—“The kingdom of God
is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mk 1:15).
9. The Transfiguration—“As he was praying, the appearance of his
countenance was altered, and his raiment became dazzling
white. And behold, two men talked with him, Moses and
Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure,
which he was to accomplish at Jerusalem” (Lk 9: 29-31).
10. The Institution of the Eucharist—“And he took bread, and
when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to them,
saying, ‘This is my body which is given for you. Do this in
remembrance of me’” (Lk 22:19).
Sorrowful Mysteries
11. The Agony in the Garden—“Jesus came with them to
Gethsemane… he began to be saddened and exceedingly
troubled” (Mt 26:36, 37).
12. The Scourging at the Pillar—“Pilate then took Jesus and had
Appendix
23 9
him scourged” ( Jn 19:1).
13. The Crowning of Thorns—“And plaiting a crown of thorns
they put it upon his head and a reed into his right hand” (Mt
27:29)
14. Jesus Carries the Cross—“And bearing the Cross for Himself,
he went forth to the place called The Skull” ( Jn 19:1).
15. The Crucifi xion—“And when they came to the place called
The Skull they crucified him” (Lk 23:33).
Glorious Mysteries
16. The Resurrection—“He is not here, but has risen. Behold the
place where they laid him” (Lk 24:6; Mk 16:19).
17. The Ascension—“And he was taken up into Heaven and sits
at the right hand of God” (Mk 16:19).
18. The Descent of the Holy Spirit—“And suddenly there came
a sound from Heaven…and there appeared to them parted
tongues of fi re…and they were fi lled with the Holy Spirit”
(Acts 2:2, 3, 4, 11).
19. The Assumption of Mary, Body and Soul into Heaven—“Hear, O
daughter, and see; turn your ear… for the King shall desire
your beauty. All glorious is the king’s daughter as she enters: her
raiment is threaded with spun gold” (Ps 44:11, 12, 14).
20. The Coronation of Mary, Queen of Heaven and Earth—“And a
great sign appeared in Heaven: a woman clothed with the
sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown
of twelve stars” (Rev 12:1).
Note: If five decades are prayed daily, the general order
suggested by Pope John Paul II in his apostolic letter on the
Rosary, Rosarium Virginis Mariae (No. 38), is that the Joyful
Mysteries are prayed on Monday and Saturday, the Luminous
Mysteries on Thursday, the Sorrowful Mysteries on Tuesday
and Friday, and the Glorious Mysteries on Wednesday and
Sunday.
240
Appendix
241
Tota l Consecr at ion P r ay e r
to Jesus Th rough M a ry
by St. Louis M a r i e de Montfort
O Eternal and Incarnate Wisdom! O sweetest and most
adorable Jesus! True God and true man, only Son of the Eternal
Father, and of Mary, always virgin! I adore You profoundly in
the bosom and splendors of Your Father during eternity; and I
adore You also in the virginal bosom of Mary, Your most worthy
Mother, in the time of Your Incarnation.
I give You thanks that You have annihilated Yourself, taking
the form of a slave in order to rescue me from the cruel slavery of
the devil. I praise and glorify You because You have been pleased to
submit Yourself to Mary, Your holy Mother, in all things, in order
to make me Your faithful slave through her. But, alas! Ungrateful
and faithless as I have been, I have not kept the promises which I
made so solemnly to You in my Baptism; I have not fulfi lled my
obligations; I do not deserve to be called Your child, nor yet Your
slave; and as there is nothing in me which does not merit Your
anger and Your repulse, I dare not come by myself before Your
most holy and august Majesty. It is on this account that I have
recourse to the intercession of Your most holy Mother, whom You
have given me for a Mediatrix with You. It is through her that I
hope to obtain from You contrition, the pardon of my sins, and
the acquisition and preser vation of wisdom.
242
Hail, then, O Immaculate Mary, living tabernacle of the
Divinity, where the Eternal Wisdom willed to be hidden and to be
adored by angels and by men! Hail, O Queen of Heaven and earth,
to whose empire everything is subject which is under God. Hail, O
sure refuge of sinners, whose mercy fails no one. Hear the desires
which I have of the Divine Wisdom; and for that end receive the
vows and offerings which in my lowliness I present to you.
I, (Name), a faithless sinner, renew and ratify today in your hands
the vows of my Baptism; I renounce forever Satan, his pomps and works;
and I give myself entirely to Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Wisdom, to carry
my cross after Him all the days of my life, and to be more faithful to Him
than I have ever been before.
In the presence of all the heavenly court I choose you this day for my
Mother and Queen. I deliver and consecrate to you, as your slave, my body
and soul, my goods, both interior and exterior, and even the value of all my
good actions, past, present and future; leaving to you the entire and full right
of disposing of me, and all that belongs to me, without exception, according
to your good pleasure, for the greater glory of God, in time and in eternity.
Receive, O gracious Virgin, this little offering of my slavery,
in honor of, and in union with, that subjection which the Eternal
Wisdom deigned to have to your maternity, in homage to the
power which both of you have over this poor sinner, and in
thanksgiving for the privileges with which the Holy Trinity has
favored you. I declare that I wish henceforth, as your true slave,
to seek your honor and to obey you in all things.
O admirable Mother, present me to your dear Son as His eternal
slave, so that as He has redeemed me by you, by you He may receive
me! O Mother of mercy, grant me the grace to obtain the true
Wisdom of God; and for that end receive me among those whom
you love and teach, whom you lead, nourish and protect as your
children and your slaves.
O faithful Virgin, make me in all things so perfect a disciple,
imitator and slave of the Incarnate Wisdom, Jesus Christ your Son,
Appendix
2 43
that I may attain, by your intercession and by your example, to the
fullness of His age on earth and of His glory in Heaven. Amen.
The Litany of Loreto
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God, the Father of Heaven,
have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world,
have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit,
have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, one God.
have mercy on us.
Holy Mary, pray for us. (repeat after each invocation)
Mother of Christ,
Mother of the Church,
Mother of divine grace,
Mother most pure,
Mother most chaste,
Mother inviolate,
Mother undefi led,
Mother most amiable,
Mother most admirable,
Mother of good counsel,
Mother of our Creator,
Mother of our Savior,
Virgin most prudent,
Virgin most venerable,
Virgin most renowned,
244
Virgin most powerful,
Virgin most merciful,
Virgin most faithful,
Mirror of justice,
Seat of wisdom,
Cause of our joy,
Spiritual vessel,
Vessel of honor,
Singular vessel of devotion,
Mystical rose,
Tower of David,
Tower of ivory,
House of gold,
Ark of the covenant,
Gate of Heaven,
Morning star,
Health of the sick,
Refuge of sinners,
Comforter of the afflicted,
Help of Christians,
Queen of angels,
Queen of patriarchs,
Queen of prophets,
Queen of apostles,
Queen of martyrs,
Queen of confessors,
Queen of virgins,
Queen of all saints,
Queen conceived without original sin,
Queen assumed into Heaven,
Queen of the most holy Rosary,
Queen of the family,
Queen of peace,
Appendix
2 45
Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world;
spare us, O Lord.
graciously hear us, O Lord.
have mercy on us.
V. Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray.
Grant, we beg you, O Lord God, that we your servants may enjoy
lasting health of mind and body, and by the glorious intercession of
the Blessed Mary, ever Virgin, be delivered from present sorrow and
enter into the joy of eternal happiness. Through Christ our Lord.
R. Amen
Angelus
V. The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary.
R. And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.
Hail Mary…
V. Behold the handmaid of the Lord.
R. Be it done unto me according to Your word.
Hail Mary…
V. And the Word was made flesh.
R. And dwelt among us.
Hail Mary…
246
Let us pray:
Pour forth we beseech Thee, O Lord, Your grace into our hearts,
that we to whom the Incarnation of Christ, Your Son, was made
known by the message of an angel, may by His passion and cross be
brought to the glory of His resurrection, through the same Christ
Our Lord. Amen.
Regina Caeli
(replaces the Angelus during the Easter Season)
Queen of Heaven, rejoice, alleluia:
For He whom you merited to bear, alleluia,
Has risen, as He said, alleluia.
Pray for us to God, alleluia.
V. Rejoice and be glad, O Virgin Mary, alleluia.
R. Because the Lord is truly risen, alleluia.
Let us pray.
O God, who by the resurrection of Your Son, Our Lord Jesus
Christ, granted joy to the whole world: grant, we beg You,
that through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, His Mother,
we may lay hold of the joys of eternal life. Through the same
Christ our Lord. Amen.
Sub Tuum Praesidium
O Holy Mother of God,
in our necessities,
but deliver us from all danger,
Appendix
Memorare
Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary,
that never was it known
that anyone who fled to your protection,
implored your help or sought your intercession,
was left unaided.
Inspired with this confidence,
I fly to you, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother;
to you do I come,
before you I stand, sinful and sorrowful.
O Mother of the Word Incarnate,
despise not my petitions,
but in your mercy hear and answer me.
Ave Regina Caelorum
Ave, Regina Caelorum,
ave, Domina angelorum,
salve, radix, salve, porta,
ex qua mundo lux est orta.
Gaude, Virgo gloriosa,
super omnes speciosa;
vale, o valde decora,
et pro nobis Christum exora.
Alma Redemptoris
Loving mother of the Redeemer,
gate of heaven, star of the sea,
assist your people who have fallen yet strive to rise again.
To the wonderment of nature you bore your Creator,
yet remained a virgin after as before.
2 47
248
You who received Gabriel’s joyful greeting,
have pity on us poor sinners.
Ave Maris Stella
Hail, O Star of the ocean,
God’s own Mother blest,
ever sinless Virgin,
gate of heav’nly rest.
Taking that sweet Ave,
which from Gabriel came,
peace confirm within us,
changing Eve’s name.
Break the sinners’ fetters,
make our blindness day,
Chase all evils from us,
for all blessings pray.
Show thyself a Mother,
may the Word divine
born for us thine Infant
hear our prayers through thine.
Virgin all excelling,
mildest of the mild,
free from guilt preserve us
meek and undefi led.
Keep our life all spotless,
make our way secure
till we find in Jesus,
joy for evermore.
Appendix
249
Praise to God the Father,
honor to the Son,
in the Holy Spirit,
be the glory one. Amen.
Fatima Prayers
My God, I believe, I adore, I hope, and I love you! I beg pardon
of you for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope,
and do not love you.
Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore you
profoundly and offer you the most precious Body, Blood, Soul
and Divinity of Jesus Christ present in all the tabernacles of the
world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifferences
with which he is offended. And through the infinite merits of his
most Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of
you the conversion of poor sinners.
25 0
Index
A
Aaron, 27, 28
Abraham, 28, 33, 62, 89, 221
Ad diem illum, 19, 21, 87, 107, 122,
164
Adelphos, 62, 221
Adiutricem populi, 84, 122
Advocate, 29, 44-45, 83, 93-94,
109, 114-118, 133, 136, 156,
162, 174, 190, 191, 207-208,
218, 237
Age of Mary, 3, 181, 189, 208
Ahasuerus, 29
Akita, Japan, 203
Alan of Rupe, 134
Albigensianism, 131, 151
Ambrose, St., 43, 45, 49, 60, 61, 67,
79, 80, 111, 125
Andrew of Crete, St., 67, 75, 80
Amsterdam, apparitions of Our
Lady in, 204, 207-208
Annunciation, The, 18, 32, 52, 84,
87-88, 90, 95, 120, 123, 129,
136, 140-141, 237
Anselm of Canterbury, St., 155
Apostles’ Creed, 53, 57, 135, 234-235
Aquinas, St. Thomas, 13, 15, 21, 39,
58, 61, 79, 80, 90, 112, 122,
124, 151, 184, 210
Arians, 61
Ark of the Covenant
as type of Mary, 27-28, 37,
74, 244
Ark of Noah
as type of Mary, 27
Assumption, The, 51-52, 72-76,
130, 139, 215-216, 223, 239
Augustine, St., 58, 60, 61, 79, 84,
122
B
Baptism of desire, 105
Baumann, Richard, 149
Benedict XV, Pope, 97, 108, 165
Benedict XVI, Pope, 5, 13, 78, 99
Bernadette Soubirous, St., 147, 191,
210
Bernard of Clairvaux, St., 68, 114,
136, 155, 177
Betania, Venezuela, 204
Bosco, St. Don, 147
Bridget of Sweden, St., 100, 123,
184
C
Calvin, John, 61, 80
Cana, Wedding Feast of, 6, 32, 3536, 103, 115, 130, 218, 238
Carmelite Order, 172
251
25 2
Catechism of the Catholic Church, 59,
78, 79, 80, 81, 152
Catherine of Siena, St., 100, 123
Chastisement, 195
Christotokos, 54
Christo-typical Mariology, 119
Civilization, 23, 46-47, 49
Clark, Kenneth, 46, 49
Clement XI, Pope, 156
constat de non supernaturalitate, 188,
205
constat de supernaturalitate, 188, 205,
207
Co-redemptrix, 32, 83, 94-102,
110-111, 114, 118, 121-122,
190-191, 207-208, 218, 225
Cognitum sane, 108, 124
communion of saints, 14, 17, 217,
235
communism, 171, 198
Consecration to Mary:
defi ned, 153-154
de Montfort method, 153,
156-160, 165-166, 241-242
history, 154-156
indulgences for, 164
John Paul II method, 166168
Kolbe method, 162-163
magisterial teaching on, 164168
objections to, 228
of world by pope, 117, 168172
points to Christ, 175-176
relationship to Scapular, 172175
theological foundation, 160162
Consecration to Sacred Heart, 176,
206, 228
Constantinople, Council of, 60
Consueverunt Romani Pontifi ces, 134,
151
Cuapa, Nicaragua, 203
Cum praecelsa, 86
Cum quorumdam hominum, 58
Cyril of Alexandria, St., 53, 61
D
Damascene, St. John, 75, 154, 177
Dante, 48, 49
Daughter Zion, 29, 39
Daughter Zion, book by Cardinal
Joseph Ratzinger, 29, 39
Deborah, 28
Dei Verbum (Second Vatican
Council on Divine
Revelation), 7-8, 12
De Montfort, St. Louis Marie. See
Montfort
deposit of faith, 9, 69, 182, 184
Deus Caritas Est, 5
Didache, 184, 206, 210, 211
Dispensatrix, 106, 107, 124, 125
Divine Comedy, The, 48, 49
Divine Mercy, Feast of, 189
Doctor Mellifluus, 109, 124
Dominic Guzman, St., 131, 132,
133
dulia, 14, 92, 214, 217, 228
E
early Church (references to Mary),
26, 41-48, 52, 53, 54, 56,
57, 58, 60, 61, 66, 67, 68,
75, 81, 85, 86, 116, 132-133,
154-155
Ebionites, 61
Ecclesio-typical Mariology, 119
Elizabeth, St., 32, 103, 115, 129,
137, 238
Index
Entrustment, Filial, 166
Ephesus, Council of, 23, 45-46, 52,
53, 54, 79
Ephraem, St., 44, 60, 61, 67, 79, 80,
104, 124
Epiphanius, St., 45
Esau, 28
Esther, 29
Eucharist, 17, 90, 130, 160, 238
F
Familiaris Consortio, 146, 152
fasting, 92, 182, 206
Fatima, 49, 113, 122, 136, 147-148,
152, 169-171, 178, 187, 189,
194-203, 204, 208, 211, 234,
236
Fatima prayer, 234, 236
Fifth General Council. See
Constantinople, Council of
First Saturday devotion, 169, 195,
197, 198, 200-201
Five for Sorrow, Ten for Joy, 149
formalism, 173-174, 227
Francisco of Fatima, 195, 201, 204
Francis de Sales, St., 147
Francis of Assisi, St., 20
full of grace, 16, 32, 65, 72, 74, 137,
220, 236-237
G
Gabriel, Angel, 16, 32, 43, 52, 56,
57, 60, 65, 90, 129, 137, 141,
220
Gagnon, Cardinal Edouard, 1-2
Garrigou-LaGrange, Fr., 125, 130,
131, 142, 151, 152, 157, 159,
208, 212
Gebirah, 29, 115
Germain of Constantinople, St., 75
253
Gertrude, St., 184
Gregory of Tours, St., 75, 80
Gregory Nazianzen, St., 45
H
Hail Mary prayer, 127, 129, 132,
133, 135, 137, 138, 139, 143,
144, 151, 227, 234, 236
Hell, 136, 150, 172, 195, 197, 198,
235, 236
Hermas, Pastor, 184, 210
Holofernes, 29
Holy Spirit:
guarantees papal infallibility,
64, 69
guards deposit of Faith, 9, 69
inspires Scripture, 7
Mary, temple of, 55
source of private revelation,
183
united with Mary, 111, 162163, 226
Hrushiv, Ukraine, 204
hyperdulia, 15, 92-93, 214, 228
Hypostatic Union, 17, 54, 55, 226
I
Ildefonsus of Toledo, St., 155, 177
Ignatius of Antioch, St., 57
Immaculate Conception:
defended, 64-72, 215-216,
219-220
defi ned, 25, 26, 64, 69-71,
73, 191
in Old Testament, 24, 25,
64-65, 216
proclaimed at Lourdes, 162,
193-194
proclaimed by Bl. Pius IX,
25, 26, 64, 68, 69-70, 191, 193
25 4
relationship to Assumption,
75, 76-78
relationship to Miraculous
Medal, 191
Uncreated (Holy Spirit), 111,
162-163
Immaculate Heart of Mary
Triumph of, 169, 196, 197,
198
Incarnation, 17, 19, 20, 30, 64, 90,
95, 99, 103, 129, 132, 135,
138, 241, 245
indulgences, 135, 144-145, 152,
164, 177, 191
Ineffabilis Deus, 25, 39, 66, 69, 80
Ingravescentibus malis, 141, 151
Ingruentium malorum, 142, 151
Inspiration in its Relation to Revelation,
216, 230
Intercessor, Mary as, 6, 27, 32, 35,
42, 44, 45, 88, 91, 102-121,
137, 153, 154, 155, 156, 161,
167, 171, 172, 174, 198, 209,
175, 217-219, 225
Inter Sodalicia, 97, 108, 122, 124
Irenaeus of Lyon, St., 43, 57
Isaac, 28, 55
Islam, 47
Israel, people of, 26, 27, 28, 29, 89,
115, 183
Iucunda semper, 139-140, 151
J
Jacinta of Fatima, 195, 201, 204
Jacob, 27, 28, 62, 221
Jael, 28
Jerome, St., 24, 44, 49, 61, 63, 79,
85, 97
Jesus Christ:
brother to men, 213
fi rst born of Father, 223
Head of Mystical Body, 84,
86, 87, 88, 107, 120, 218
King, 29, 37, 94, 97, 114,
115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 222
Mediator, 25, 89-94, 102,
104, 105, 108, 112, 162, 206,
225
New Adam, 38, 42-43, 85,
97, 102
preredeemer of Mary, 71-72,
219-220
primacy over Mary, 20, 31,
41, 93
Redeemer of mankind, 19,
20, 25, 64, 95, 105, 119, 121,
131, 164, 219, 225
Sacred Heart of, 169, 189,
190, 195, 206, 228
Savior, 20, 26, 32, 33, 36,
42, 66, 69, 71, 84, 86, 87, 89,
92, 93, 95, 96, 219, 231, 232
sign of contradiction, 96,
213
Son of God, 5, 25, 30, 36,
43, 52, 55, 59, 61, 78
Joan of Arc, St., 108
John, Eudes, St., 100, 123
John Paul II, Pope
consecration of world to
Mary, 117, 171
on Co-redemptrix, 98-99
on consecration to Mary,
165-168
on Maternal mediation, 88,
91-92, 93-94
on Mediatrix, 103, 104, 109
on Rosary, 127, 128, 134135, 137-138, 142-143, 145146, 150, 167-168
on Spiritual Motherhood,
84-85
John the Apostle, St., 217
John the Baptist, St., 16
John VII, Pope, 155
Index
John XXII, Pope, 174
John XXIII, Bl. Pope, 181-182, 207
Josemaría Escrivá, St., 102, 123
Joseph, St., 17, 124, 199
Journet, Cardinal Charles, 120, 126
Judas the Maccabean, 217
Jude, St., 20
Judith, 29
Justin Martyr, St., 42, 49
K
Kecharitomene, 66
Kibeho, Rwanda, 203
Kolbe, St. Maximilian, 101, 111,
123, 162-163, 177, 194, 211,
226, 230
Kowalska, St. Faustina, 183, 189
L
Labouré, St. Catherine, 190, 210
Lady of All Nations, 207-209,
211 See also Mother of All
Peoples
Prayer of, 207
Lateran Synod of 649, 56
latria, 13-14, 214, 228
Lecky, William, 47
Leo the Great, Pope St., 58
Leo XIII, Pope, 84, 106, 110, 128,
139, 164
Lepanto, Battle of, 134
Lépicier, Cardinal, 125
Liguori, St. Alphonsus, 147
locution, interior, 185
Longo, Bl. Bartolo, 149, 152
Lourdes, 13, 108, 113, 122, 147,
152, 162, 187, 189, 191-194,
210-211
Lucia of Fatima, 152, 170, 171, 178,
195, 196, 200, 211
Lumen Gentium (for Second Vatican
255
Council’s teachings on
Mary):
as source of unity, 231
Assumption, 78
Co-redemptrix, 98
early Church devotion to, 46
Immaculate Conception, 72
Intercessor, 173, 216, 230,
231
Mediatrix, 90-91, 93, 109,
162
Model of Church, 111
Mother in order of grace, 86
Mother of God, 55, 231
New Eve, 44
Old Testament
foreshadowing, 30
Perpetual Virginity, 59, 60
proper veneration of, 6, 1516, 18, 217, 230
Spiritual Motherhood, 86,
88, 173, 219
warning about Marian
extremes, 6-7
Luther, Martin, 61, 80
M
Maccabees, 29, 217
Magisterium (nature and role of ),
7-10, 182, 216
Manichaeism, 131
Margaret Mary Alacoque, St., 184
Maria Santissima Nella Storia Della
Salvezza, 3
Mariology, 3
Mary, of Agreda, Ven., 123
Marialis Cultus, 136, 138, 151, 227,
230
Marian devotion:
defi ned, 13-20
extremes in, 5-7
influence on Western
25 6
culture, 46-47, 134
reasons for, 16-20
relationship to Scapular, 172176
Marian Psalter, 133
Mariolatry, 14, 214
Martin I, Pope St., 56
Mediator Dei, 109, 124, 128, 151
Mediatrix:
Advocate, 29, 44, 45, 83, 93,
94, 109, 114-119, 133, 136,
162, 174, 190, 191, 207, 208,
218, 237
Co-redemptrix, 32, 83, 94102, 110, 111, 114, 118, 121,
122, 190, 191, 207, 208, 218,
225
Maternal, 88-94
NT reference to, 35
objections to, 224-226
of All Graces, 83, 94, 102114, 118, 124-125, 154, 157,
160, 163, 173, 190, 208, 218,
224, 226
of Mercy, 109, 110
OT reference to, 89
Meditation, Christian, 140-141, 227
Medjugorje, 148, 152, 203-206,
210-211
Miraculous Medal, 113, 190-191,
194, 210
Miriam, sister of Moses, 28
Miserentissimus Redemptor, 108, 124
Montfort, St. Louis Marie de, 20,
21, 113, 140, 147, 151, 153,
156-162, 163-166, 175, 177,
178, 228, 229, 230, 233, 241
Moses, 27, 28, 63, 89, 238
Motherhood, Spiritual, 36, 83-121,
114, 118, 166
Mother Teresa, Bl., 102, 123
Mother of All Peoples, 83-121, 118,
213, 218, 224
Mother of the Church, 41, 88, 120,
121, 170, 171, 213
Mother of God, 1, 5, 6, 11, 17, 23,
45, 46, 52-55, 60, 67, 70, 72,
73, 76, 78, 86, 100, 101, 109,
113, 115, 116, 118, 119, 120,
127, 133, 137, 139, 144, 154,
155, 160, 168, 172, 176, 181,
191, 194, 203, 224, 228, 229,
231
Munifi centissimus Deus, 73, 76, 80,
81, 122
Mysteries of the Rosary, 129-130,
132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137,
138, 139, 140, 144, 145, 201,
227, 233, 234, 237-239
Mystical Body, 14, 45, 59, 84, 86,
88, 96, 113, 118, 120, 159,
167, 170
Mystici Corporis, 59, 79, 96, 122
N
Naju, Korea, 203
Nestorius, 53, 54
New Adam, 38, 42, 43, 85, 97, 102
New Eve, 38, 42, 44, 67, 85, 96-97,
102
Newman, Cardinal John Henry,
101, 123, 230
New Testament (references to
Mary), 30-38
Nicholas IV, Pope, 155
non constat de supernaturalitate, 188,
205
Nursing Mother, 113
O
Octobri mense, 106-107, 124, 151
Old Testament (foreshadowing of
Index
25 7
Mary), 24-30
original sin, 16-18, 34, 64-65, 6768, 70-71, 76-80, 95, 244
Our Lady of:
Carmel, 199
Dolors, 199
the Rosary, 136, 147, 148,
195, 196, 198, 199, 236
proximate mediation, 104, 112
public revelation, 113, 182, 185,
186, 188
Punt, Bishop Joseph Maria, 208,
211
Purgatory, 145, 174, 175, 185
P
Queen of Peace, 148, 149, 205, 206,
244
Queenship of Mary, 15, 29, 30, 35,
47, 78, 115-116, 118-119,
171, 174, 190, 191
Padre Pio, St., 101, 123
papal infallibility, 69
Paul the Apostle, St., 36, 41, 42, 53,
63, 74, 86, 89, 91, 139, 154,
184, 216, 218, 219, 220, 223
Paul IV, Pope, 58, 60
Paul V, Pope, 155
Paul VI, Pope, 88, 109, 120, 125,
128, 136, 138, 139, 145, 151,
170, 178, 191, 227, 230
Perpetual Virginity, 10, 27, 51, 52,
56-64, 80, 220-222
Peter, St., 41, 42, 69.
Pius IX, Bl. Pope, 25-26, 70, 106,
164, 191, 193
Pius V, Pope St., 134
Pius VII, Pope, 106
Pius X, Pope St., 19, 87, 107, 116,
125, 164
Pius XI, Pope, 97, 108, 116, 125,
141, 165
Pius XII, Pope, 59, 72, 73, 75, 96,
97, 109, 125, 128, 141, 165,
170, 174, 175, 179, 223
prayers to Mary, 233-249
Preservative Redemption, 71-72,
220
private revelation, 11, 113, 149, 181189, 191, 204, 210, 229
Protestantism, 47, 61, 149
Protoevangelium, 24
Q
R
Rachel, 28
Ratzinger, Cardinal Joseph, 39,
203, 211
Rebecca, 28
Redemption
objective, 93, 96, 102, 120
subjective, 102
Redemptoris Mater, 39, 85, 93, 94,
98-99, 103, 110, 122, 124,
165, 166, 167, 178
remote mediation, 104
Revelation:
defi ned, 7-10, 215-216
in reference to Marian
devotion, 9-10, 215-216
private. See private revelation
public. See public revelation
Rosarium Virginis Mariae, 128, 134,
135, 137, 146, 150, 151, 152,
167, 178, 239
Rosary:
as meditative prayer, 128,
132, 133, 135, 139-144, 149,
201, 227
as vocal prayer, 128, 131,
258
135, 139-140, 226-227
Christ-centered, 138-139
Church teaching on, 127,
128, 135, 136, 137-138, 139,
141, 142, 145, 146
family Rosary, 145-147
greatest Marian prayer, 11,
127-128, 149
history, 131-136
how to pray, 128-130, 234239
indulgences for praying, 135,
144-145
in private revelation, 131132, 144, 147-148
Mysteries. See Mysteries of
the Rosary
objections to, 226-227
prayers contained in, 234237
Protestant interest in, 149
scriptural roots, 136-138
structure, 129-130, 133-136,
234-239
Russia, consecration of, 169-172,
196, 197, 198
S
Sabbatine privilege, 174-175
Sacred Heart of Jesus, 169, 189, 190,
195, 206, 228
Sacred Tradition. See Tradition,
Sacred (nature and role of )
Sacro vergente anno, 170, 178
Salutaris ille, 151
sanctifying grace, 61, 68, 70, 71,
80, 102-104, 119, 219-220,
224-225
Sarah, 28, 55
Satan
call to renounce, 158, 159,
242
confl ict with Mary, 18, 24,
25, 28, 37-38, 64, 65, 148,
223
influence on private
revelation, 187
Scapular, 172-175, 201
Scotus, Duns, 68, 69, 71-72, 80
Scripture:
nature and role of, 7-10, 182,
215-216
references to Mary, 10, 18,
23-38, 52, 53, 56, 57, 58, 62,
64, 65, 73, 74, 79, 84, 129,
130, 137, 215-216, 218, 219,
221, 223
secondary moral cause, 105, 112,
113, 225
secondary physical cause, 112, 113
Servites of Mary, 155
Severus, St., 67, 80
Shepherd, The 184, 210
Signum Magnum, 170, 178
Simon Stock, St., 172
Siricius, Pope St., 60
Sisera, 28
Sixtus IV, Pope, 86
slave of Mary, 154-155
sola scriptura, 215
Sophronius, St., 67, 80
Spiritual Motherhood. See
Motherhood, Spiritual
Stein, Edith. See Teresa, Benedicta
of the Cross, St.
Sub Tuum Praesidium, 11, 45, 246
T
Teresa of Avila, St., 142, 147
Teresa, Benedicta of the Cross, St.
(Edith Stein), 101,
Theognostes of Constantinople, 68
Index
Theotokos, 17, 53-54
Theotokos: A Theological Encyclopedia
of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 3
Thérèse of Lisieux, St., 20
Third Secret of Fatima, 201-203
Tradition, Sacred (nature and role
of ), 7-9, 216
Trent
Catechism of, 58-59, 105
Council of, 18, 21, 58-59,
105, 230
True Devotion to Mary, 20-21, 113,
125 153, 156, 157, 158, 159,
161, 164-166, 168, 175, 176,
177, 178, 179, 228, 230
U
Uncreated Immaculate Conception
(Holy Spirit), 111, 162, 163
V
Vatican Council II: teachings on
Mary. See Lumen Gentium
veneration:
of Mary, 5-10, 13-20, 31,
41-48, 51, 153-176, 214-215
of Saints, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18,
20, 92, 108, 217-219
visionary (defi ned), 182, 184-186
Visitation, The, 32, 103, 129, 238
W
Ward, J. Neville, 149
Wesley, John, 61, 80
World War I, 144, 148, 195, 198
World War II, 170, 198
Z
Zwingli, Ulrich, 61, 80
25 9

Introduction to Mary

Transcription

Similar documents

moving made easy

Spring Book Buzz Brochure. - High Plains Library District

o MAGAzine

Sales Sheet

St Marys College Brochure

Thank you! - Mary Greeley Medical Center

The Cause of John Mary de la Mennais

THE CONNECTION Mary, Mother of God and Our Mother

TAEA Conference 2015 - Mary DeChambres Bio

1 – Bread of Life