The Blessed Virgin Mary
The Virgin Mary most perfectly embodies the obedience of faith… throughout her life and until her last ordeal when Jesus her son died on the cross, Mary’s faith never wavered. She never ceased to believe in the fulfilment of God’s word. And so the Church venerates in Mary the purest realisation of faith (CCC para 148-9)
If Jesus divides Christians from the world, then it could be said that within Christianity, Mary divides Catholic Christians from their Protestant brothers. There are two reasons for this: genuine disagreement about Mary’s role in salvation history and Protestant misunderstanding about how Catholics regard and understand Mary. It may also be said that Catholics themselves do not always have the best understanding of their spiritual mother – as excessive devotion to her can show. In this article, therefore, we look at the key Marian doctrines that are taught by the Catholic Church.
Immaculate Conception
In 1854 Pope Pius IX issued an Apostolic Constitution titled Ineffabilis Deus in which he formally declared that a belief in Mary’s sinless birth – her immaculate conception – was a matter of faith, to be believed by all Catholics. As with all Marian doctrines, Pius IX’s definition was a long time in the coming; it was foreshadowed in the Old Testament, alluded to in the New Testament and spoken of by the Fathers of the Church from the days of the early church onwards.
The Bible does not explicitly teach that Mary was born without sin. However, look at the way in which the following quotations from the Old Testament are echoed by St. Luke when talking about Mary:
Old Testament
"The cloud covered the Tent of meeting and the glory of Yahweh filled the tabernacle."
(Exodus 40:34)
"However can the Ark of Yahweh (= My Lord) come to me?"
(2 Samuel 6:9)
"And David danced before the Lord with all his might ... So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet."
(2 Samuel 6:14-15)
"And the Ark of the Lord continued in the house of Obededom the Gittite three months."
(2 Samuel 6:11)
"And the Lord blessed Obededom and all his household."
(2 Samuel 6:11) [fertility is associated with blessing]
New Testament
"The power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God."
(Luke 1:35)
"Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of My Lord?"
(Luke 1:43)
"As soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy."
(Luke 1:44)
"And Mary abode with her about three months."
(Luke 1:56)
"Now Elisabeth's full time came that she should be delivered; and she brought forth a son."
(Luke 1:57)
This theme of Mary as ark of the New Covenant was developed by the Church Fathers:
"He was the ark formed of incorruptible wood. For by this is signified that His tabernacle was exempt from putridity and corruption."
(Hippolytus, Orat. Inillud, Dominus pascit meante A.D. 235)
"This Virgin Mother of the Only-begotten of God, is called Mary, worthy of God, immaculate of the immaculate, one of the one."
(Origen, Homily 1(A.D. 244)
"Mary, a Virgin not only undefiled but a Virgin whom grace has made inviolate, free of every stain of sin."
(Ambrose, Sermon 22:30(A.D. 388)
"We must except the Holy Virgin Mary, concerning whom I wish to raise no question when it touches the subject of sins, out of honour to the Lord; for from Him we know what abundance of grace for overcoming sin in every particular was conferred upon her who had the merit to conceive and bear Him who undoubtedly had no sin."
(Augustine, Nature and Grace,42[36](A.D.415)
Perpetual Virginity
Isaiah 7:14 contains the prophecy that Jesus would be born of a virgin. Did Mary have children after His birth? There are several reasons why some Christians think that she did, but which do not stand up against further examination.
Jesus is described as having ‘brothers’. The Greek word which is translated as 'brother' in the New Testament is adelphos. This word does not only describe a blood relation. Here is a list of its other meanings, with Scriptural examples as appropriate:
a person of the same nationality (Acts 3:17; Rom 9:3)
any man, or neighbour (Matt 5:22; Luke 10:29)
persons with like interests (Matt 5:47)
distant descendants of the same parents (Acts 7:23,26; Heb 7:5);
persons united by a common calling (Rev 22:9)
mankind (Matt 25:40; Heb 2:17);
the disciples (Matt 28:10; Jn 20:17);
all believers (Matt 23:8; Acts 1:15; Rom 1:13; 1 Thess 1:4; Rev 19:10)
In respect of blood relations, a brother is not necessarily a member of one's immediate family. He can be one of the following:
In Genesis 14:14 we hear of Abraham’s ‘brother’ Lot. In actual fact, as Genesis 11:26-7 reveals, Lot is Abraham’s nephew.
In Genesis 29:10,15 Jacob is called the nephew of his uncle Laban
In 1 Chronicles 23:21-2 X and Eleazar are called brothers when they are actually cousins. Here are more occasions when the word 'brother' is used to describe those who are not members of the same family: Deut 23:7; 2 Sam 1:26; 1 Ki 9:13; 2:32; 2 Ki 10:13-14; Jer 34:9; Amos 1:9. Jesus also uses the word 'brother' when speaking of wider relations, for example, in Matt 23:1,8; 12:49
The reason why the word adelphos is used to speak of non-brothers is because Hebrew did not have a word for cousins. Therefore, one word had to fit all. This limited vocabulary is transferred into Greek.
There are other reasons why the Catholic Church does not believe that Jesus' brothers are not blood brothers:
In Luke 2:41-51 no reference is made to Jesus’ siblings when He is lost.
In Matt 13:55 James, Joseph, Simon and Jude are all mentioned as Jesus’ brothers. However, in Matt 27:56 Joseph and Simon are described as sons of Mary, wife of Clopas.
Matthew 1:24-5 states "Joseph knew her not till . .”. The until implies that Joseph had sex with Mary after Jesus’ birth. But we are under no obligation to take the word in that sense for the Bible uses it elsewhere where no change in behaviour is meant. For example, 1 Sam 15:35; 2 Sam 6:23; Mt 12:20; Rom 8:22; 1 Tim 4:13; 6:14; Rev 2:25.
Similarly, the reference to ‘firstborn’ in the same passage would also seem to imply that more children came afterwards. However, the following may be noted:
the first child born to a woman is always going to be her first born even if she has no further children
In the Bible, first born can mean the pre-eminent child who was not in fact the eldest of its siblings (see Jeremiah 31:9),
It can also be used of groups, as in Exodus 4:22 and Hebrews 12:23
Just before His death on the cross, Jesus commits Mary to John’s care. According to Jewish convention, if Jesus had any brothers, it would have been one of them who took her into his home.
Assumption
In 1950, ninety six years after Pope Pius IX formally declared that Mary was immaculately conceived, Pope Pius XII formally declared that at the end of her earthly life, Mary was assumed – that is, bodily taken – into heaven.
Like the doctrine of the immaculate conception, the assumption is not explicitly referred to in the Bible. However, we do know from Scripture that it is possible for good men to be assumed into heaven – see Enoch (Gen 5:24, Cf. Heb 11:5) and Elijah (2 Kings 2:11). So, if it could happen to them, why not to Mary who was not only good, but perfect? Of course, it is one thing to say that something is possible, but another to say that it happened. Well, a two clues from within Scripture and the Tradition of the Church give a hint of what really happened to Mary at the end of her life.
Revelation 11:19 describes the opening of heaven. Who or what is found inside? The ark of the covenant. And who did the first Christians call the ark of the covenant? Of course, it was Mary.
For many centuries, cities have gained great prestige from being associated with famous saints. The reason why Rome is the 'headquarters' of the Catholic Church is because that is where St. Peter and St. Paul lived and died. Tradition says that Mary died in Ephesus. But never, ever has anyone claimed that her body rests there. Why? Surely it would be in the best interest of Ephesians claim otherwise. Think of the honour that Ephesus would receive! The reason why no such claim is made is because it can't be made. Mary's body does not rest in Ephesus. At her death, she was assumed into heaven.
Before moving on, there is one question left to ask: did Mary die at the end of her life? Although a belief in the Assumption is required for Catholic Christians, Catholics are free to believe that she did or didn't die. In his proclamation that Mary was assumed into heaven, Pope Pius XII deliberately left the question open,
“…by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own authority, we pronounce, declare, and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma:
that 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.”
(Pius XII Munificentissimus Deus)
Queen of Heaven
In the Old Testament book that bears his name, the prophet Jeremiah refers disparagingly to Israel’s worship of a false goddess called the ‘Queen of Heaven’ (see Jeremiah 44:15-17). Because the Catholic Church has given this title to Mary, anti-Catholics have suggested that the Church is, therefore, worshipping the same false goddess as the ancient Israelites. This view is, of course, nonsense. In John 10:11, Jesus refers to Himself as the 'Good Shepherd'. But this title once belonged to a false god – Apollo, a member of the Greek Pantheon, yet no one is suggesting that in worshipping Jesus, we are in fact worshipping an older pagan god.
Mary was formally named the Queen of Heaven in 1954 by Pope Pius XII (see his encyclical Ad Caeli Reginam). Her queenship follows naturally from the kingship of Christ. His kingship is prophesied in Psalm 45:9 and then confirmed by Gabriel "The Lord God will give him the throne of his David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:32-33). What kind of queen is Mary? The first thing to say is that she is not a queen in the earthly sense. In his encyclical, Pius XII clarifies says,
'... in the full and strict meaning of the term, only Jesus Christ, the God-Man, is King; but Mary, too, as Mother of the divine Christ, as His associate in the redemption, in his struggle with His enemies and His final victory over them, has a share, though in a limited and analogous way, in His royal dignity. For from her union with Christ she attains a radiant eminence transcending that of any other creature; from her union with Christ she receives the royal right to dispose of the treasures of the Divine Redeemer's Kingdom; from her union with Christ finally is derived the inexhaustible efficacy of her maternal intercession before the Son and His Father.' (Para 39)
Mother of God
Luke 2:120 tells the story of how Jesus was born to Mary. John 1:14 shows how the early Church believed that Mary was not just the mother of Jesus the human being but of Jesus who is God as well. In 431, at the Council of Ephesus, the Church solemnly declared Mary to be Theotokos (lit. God bearer = Mother of God) in reply to heretics who taught otherwise.
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