Mary, although called "mother in the order of grace," is not the author of grace. Her "spiritual motherhood" is the power of salvation LG Mary brought forth her Son in the power of the Spirit.
It is in and through this same Holy Spirit that she exercises her maternal presence and activity on our behalf. All About Mary includes a variety of content, much of which reflects the expertise, interpretations and opinions of the individual authors and not necessarily of the Marian Library or the University of Dayton. Please share feedback or suggestions with marianlibrary udayton. Athletics Overview Dayton Flyers.
Alphabetical List of Articles. All About Mary. Mary's importance lies in her relation to Christ Jesus Christ is "born of a woman" Gal 4,4. Mary is a Jewish woman. Mary is true Mother of God Theotokos according to his humanity. Mary is all-holy and sinless Immaculate Conception. She is the virginal mother Ever-Virgin.
It is important to have a positive understanding of dogma: A dogma proposes truths contained in Divine Revelation or having a necessary connection with it. These truths are immediately or mediately grounded in Scripture. They reflect not only the full authority of the Church received from Christ but also the Church's tradition, liturgical practice and the faith of the people sensus fidelium. Dogmas are lights on our path of faith. They have binding character, and intellect and heart to a deeper understanding of God's mystery.
Read CCC The Marian Dogmas There are four dogmas stating important aspects of Mary's role in salvation and her personal relationship with God. This normative decision was further explicated by the Council of Chalcedon which says with regard to Mary's divine motherhood: " Philip Neri Cadiz, Spain The solemn definition of Mary's Immaculate Conception is like Divine Motherhood and Perpetual Virginity part of the christological doctrine, but it was proclaimed as independent dogma.
Glorified in body and soul, Mary is already in the state that will be ours after the resurrection of the dead. The Assumption of Mary is a promise of immortality for all human beings.
The Assumption highlights the unity of body and soul, their respective dignity and fulfillment. The Marian dogmas have a rich meaning for our spiritual life 1. For a better understanding of Mary The four dogmas help us distinguish between person and role in the life of Mary.
As we can see there are two early dogmas highlighting Mary's role in the Incarnation: Divine Motherhood and Perpetual Virginity. The interest in her person Immaculate Conception and Assumption came later. All four dogmas stress Mary's unique relationship with God. For a better understanding of Jesus Christ Divine motherhood and perpetual virginity ascertain and deepen our understanding of Jesus Christ.
For a better understanding of our own life Marian dogmas have a special meaning for our self-understanding as human beings created in the image and likeness of God. Mary's divine motherhood reminds us that God is the origin of life and life's fulfillment, and that it is in him that we are called to bear fruit.
Mary's virginity reminds us that human fulfillment and authentic efficacy is rooted in the gift of self. Mary's Immaculate Conception reminds us that we are called to the highest possible and most intimate and lasting unity with God Mary's assumption is promise of ultimate and everlasting fulfillment in God. The Church has a rich memory of Mary's ongoing role and active presence The teaching about Mary we call it doctrine is not limited to the four dogmas.
Jesus Christ gave Mary as mother to the beloved disciple Jn 19, Here is what the second Vatican Council; Lumen Gentium, had to say about this: The predestination of the Blessed Virgin as Mother of God was associated with the incarnation of the divine word: in the designs of divine Providence she was the gracious mother of the divine Redeemer here on earth, and above all others and in a singular way the generous associate and humble handmaid of the Lord.
She conceived, brought forth, and nourished Christ, she presented him to the Father in the temple, shared her Son's sufferings as he died on the cross. Thus, in a wholly singular way she cooperated by her obedience, faith, hope and burning charity in the work of the Saviour in restoring supernatural life to souls.
For this reason she is a mother to us in the order of grace. Johann G. Roten, S. She is called "Mother of God" which translates the more accurately stated greek term "Theotokos" or "Birthgiver of God.
This needs to be read against the Council's declaration that in Christ there are two natures, one divine and one human, but only one person. Indeed, according to the Council the holy virgin is the Mother of God since she begot according to the flesh the Word of God made flesh.
This decision was further explained by the Council of Chalcedon which says with regard to Mary's divine motherhood:. Mary's Divine Motherhood was not the object of an independent or exclusive dogmatic declaration.
The statement is embedded in texts defining the person and natures of Jesus Christ. Thus, the dogma of Divine Motherhood becomes an integral part of the christological dogma. This does not diminish its definitive and binding character.
The dogma of Divine Motherhood is generally accepted by all Christian denominations. The expression perpetual virginity, ever-virgin, or simply "Mary the Virgin" refers primarily to the conception and birth of Jesus.
From the first formulations of faith, especially in baptismal formulas or professions of faith, the Church professed that Jesus Christ was conceived without human seed by the power of the Holy Spirit only. Here lies the decisive meaning of expressions such as "conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary," "Mary's virginal conception," or "virgin birth. Later statements are more explicit.
Mary conceived "without any detriment to her virginity, which remained inviolate even after his birth" Council of the Lateran, Although never explicated in detail, the Catholic Church holds as dogma that Mary was and is Virgin before, in and after Christ's birth. It stresses thus the radical novelty of the Incarnation and Mary's no less radical and exclusive dedication to her mission as mother of her Son, Jesus Christ.
Vatican II reiterated the teaching about Mary, the Ever-Virgin, by stating that Christ's birth did not diminish Mary's virginal integrity but sanctified it.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church ponders the deeper meaning of the virgin bride and perpetual virginity It also maintains that Jesus Christ was Mary's only child. The so-called "brothers and sisters" are close relations. Though highlighting a privilege of Mary it in fact stresses the dignity and holiness required to become "Mother of God. More specifically, the dogma of the Immaculate Conception states "that the most Blessed Virgin Mary, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege from Almighty God and in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, was kept free of every stain of original sin.
Less than years later, the divinity of Jesus again was questioned. The heretic was Nestorius, archbishop of Constantinople from So in another general council was called, this time in Ephesus, Turkey. The majority of bishops, led by Bishop Celestine of Alexandria, attested to the results of Nicaea that Jesus was one person. During his general audience on Nov. Mary was the tabernacle that carried Our Lord for nine months; thus, original sin or any sin could never stain her in the manner of other men and women.
During the middle ages theologians and Church leaders debated as to whether or not Mary was conceived exempt from original sin. People like Albert the Great, St.
Thomas Aquinas and St. It was the theologian and Franciscan Blessed John Duns Scotus who convincingly explained that Mary was preserved in advance from original sin preserved redemption , that she was redeemed and saved at her conception.
He explained that if a person falls, they have to be helped up, but God prevented Mary from falling redeemed in advance. Simply put, Mary was sinless from her conception by the grace of God. In , Pope Clement XI r. This long-held belief by Catholic Christians, that Mary was sinless from the moment of her conception, became a dogma of the Church in After surveying the bishops of the Church and receiving an overwhelming positive response, on Dec.
Through this proclamation, Pius IX exercised his papal infallibility, that is, he was acting on an issue of faith and morals , speaking without error, from the chair of Peter as the head of the Catholic Church and formally establishing as an article of faith, a belief to be held by all the faithful in the universal Church. Four years later the Blessed Mother would call herself the Immaculate Conception during an apparition to St.
Bernadette at Lourdes, France. The Immaculate Conception was honored by many of the new world explorers. The Spanish Conquistador Cortes founded the first hospital in North America; it was erected in Mexico City in and originally called the Hospital of the Immaculate Conception.
This was eight years before the pope used his authority to declare the Immaculate Conception as a dogma of the Church. That Mary was assumed into heaven is the oldest of all the Marian beliefs and can be traced back to the Apostles, many who were alive at time of her passing.
The term assumed, as used by the Church, means that when her life on earth ended, Mary did not suffer the decay of the grave but was taken into heaven by God. That her body did not corrupt in a tomb is in keeping with her role as the sinless, immaculate Virgin Mother of God.
The Eastern Church calls her passing the Dormition of Mary Latin for falling asleep and began celebrating a feast by that name in the fourth or fifth century. By the seventh century the Western church added this feast and later the name was changed to the feast of the Assumption.
In the case of Mary, the holiest and most beautiful of all our saints, there is no clear evidence of how or when she died; no remains, no relics. Some historians think she died in Ephesus primarily because St. John lived there and cared for Mary as requested by Jesus from the cross.
Other historians, probably in the majority, maintain that she died in Jerusalem. It was said by some that everyone dies, yet if death is the result of sin Rom , how could the sinless Mother of God die? It was only to secure for her the experience of that sleep which comes from on high, leading us up to the object of hope. But even though the human creature we celebrate today must obey the law of nature, as we do, she is superior to other humans.
Therefore, death does not come to her in the same way it comes to us. Instead, it comes in a superior way, and for a reason higher than the reasons that oblige us to surrender totally to death. Defining the Assumption of the Blessed Mother as an article of faith was promoted in the Church for centuries.
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