MARIAN DEVOTION - Akathist Hymn to the Mother of God

Various ^

[NYer]

Eastern Monks say that "He who welcomes the Mother, also welcomes the Son; but he who rejects the Mother must finally reject the Son."

Mary's Royal status (and that of Jesus) is made quite clear in the genealogy of the Royal House of David given in the New Testament.

Theotokos

"After this, we receive the doctrine of the resurrection from the dead, of which Jesus Christ our Lord became the first-fruits; Who bore a Body, in truth, not in semblance, derived from Mary the mother of God (59) in the fulness of time sojourning among the race, for the remission of sins: who was crucified and died, yet for all this suffered no diminution of His Godhead."
Alexander of Alexandria,Epistle to Alexander,12(A.D. 324),in NPNF2,III:40

"And the Angel on his appearance, himself confesses that he has been sent by his Lord; as Gabriel confessed in the case of Zacharias, and also in the case of Mary, bearer of God."
Athanasius,Orations III,14(A.D. 362),in NPNF2,IV:401

"Many, my beloved, are the true testimonies concerning Christ. The Father bears witness from heaven of His Son: the Holy Ghost bears witness, descending bodily in likeness of a dove: the Archangel Gabriel bears witness, bringing good tidings to Mary: the Virgin Mother of God bears witness: the blessed place of the manger bears witness."
Cyril of Jerusalem,Catechetical Lectures,X:19(c.A.D. 350),in NPNF2,VII:62

"If anyone does not believe that Holy Mary is the Mother of God, he is severed from the Godhead."
Gregory of Nazianzus,To Cledonius,101(A.D. 382),in NPNF2,VII:439

"Just as, in the age of Mary the mother of God, he who had reigned from Adam to her time found, when he came to her and dashed his forces against the fruit of her virginity as against a rock, that he was shattered to pieces upon her, so in every soul which passes through this life in the flesh under the protection of virginity, the strength of death is in a manner broken and annulled, for he does not find the places upon which he may fix his sting."
Gregory of Nyssa,On Virginity,14 (A.D. 370),in NPNF2,V:359-360

"He reshaped man to perfection in Himself, from Mary the Mother of God through the Holy Spirit."
Epiphanius,The man well-anchored,75 (A.D. 374),in JUR,II:70

"Let, then, the life of Mary be as it were virginity itself, set forth in a likeness, from which, as from a mirror, the appearance of chastity and the form of virtue is reflected. From this you may take your pattern of life, showing, as an example, the clear rules of virtue: what you have to correct, to effect, and to hold fast. The first thing which kindles ardour in learning is the greatness of the teacher. What is greater than the Mother of God?"
Ambrose,Virginity,II:6 (c.A.D. 378),in NPNF2,X:374

"To the question: 'Is Mary the bearer of Man, or the bearer of God?' we must answer: 'Of Both' "
Theodore of Mopsuestia,The Incarnation,15 (ante A.D. 428),in TLCF,168

"AND so you say, O heretic, whoever you may be, who deny that God was born of the Virgin, that Mary the Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ ought not to be called Theotocos, i.e., Mother of God, but Christotocos, i.e., only the Mother of Christ, not of God. For no one, you say, brings forth what is anterior in time. And of this utterly foolish argument whereby you think that the birth of God can be understood by carnal minds, and fancy that the mystery of His Majesty can be accounted for by human reasoning, we will, if God permits, say something later on. In the meanwhile we will now prove by Divine testimonies that Christ is God, and that Mary is the Mother of God."
John Cassian,The Incarnation of Christ,II:2 (A.D. 430),in NPNF2,XI:556

"But since the Holy Virgin brought forth after the flesh God personally united to the flesh, for this reason we say of her that she is Theotokos, not as though the nature of the Word had its beginning of being from the flesh, for he was in the beginning, and the Word was God, and the Word was with God....but, as we said before, because having personally united man's nature to himself..."
Cyril of Alexandria,To Nestorius,Epistle 17:11 (A.D. 430),in CCC,306

"If anyone will not confess that the Emmanuel is very God, and that therefore the Holy Virgin is the Mother of God (Theotokos), inasmuch as in the flesh she bore the Word of God made flesh [as it is written, 'The Word was made flesh': let him be anathema."
Council of Ephesus,Anathemas Against Nestorius,I (A.D. 430),in NPNF2,XIV:206

"For by the singular gift of Him who is our Lord and God, and withal, her own son, she is to be confessed most truly and most blessedly--The mother of God 'Theotocos,' but not in the sense in which it is imagined by a certain impious heresy which maintains, that she is to be called the Mother of God for no other reason than because she gave birth to that man who afterwards became God, just as we speak of a woman as the mother of a priest, or the mother of a bishop, meaning that she was such, not by giving birth to one already a priest or a bishop, but by giving birth to one who afterwards became a priest or a bishop. Not thus, I say, was the holy Mary 'Theotocos,' the mother of God, but rather, as was said before, because in her sacred womb was wrought that most sacred mystery whereby, on account of the singular and unique unity of Person, as the Word in flesh is flesh, so Man in God is God."
Vincent of Lerins,Commonitories,15 (A.D. 434),in NPNF2,XI:142-143

"So then He was both in all things and above all things and also dwelt in the womb of the holy Mother of God, but in it by the energy of the incarnation."
John Damascene,Source of Knowledge,III:7 (A.D. 743),in NPNF2,IX:51

[dangus]

>>. He did not have our sin nature but, like Adam, had the capacity for sin. However, unlike Adam, Christ was tempted for 33 years and still remained sinless. And Christ recognized this difference:<<

Well said.

>>You assume a person inherits their genetic makeup from the mother. I would disagree and say the genetic makeup is from the father.<<

Hey, Harley: You would be flat-out wrong. There are two types of genetic material: DNA for organismal replication, and RNA for cellular function (subcellular replication.) A child receives 50% of his DNA, 100% of his RNA, and 99% of his initial zygotic mass from his mother.

>> In this sense the literal Father. After all the Nicene Creed itself states Christ was "conceived by the Holy Spirit".<<

Be careful not to inadverdantly twist words here. This means that he was conceived through the power of the Holy Spirit. In the bible, the angel Gabriel says to Mary, "You shall conceive..."

>> "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!"<<

Hey, be careful! You just disproved Total Depravity!

[dangus]

>>Sin comes generationally through the father.<<

??!?

[HarleyD]

"A child receives 50% of his DNA, 100% of his RNA, and 99% of his initial zygotic mass from his mother."

I'm no reproductive therapas but the sperm that issues forth from the man is alive. The woman's egg, to my knowledge is not.

"This means that he was conceived through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Hmmm...I looked this up in the Greek and I will say the very few verses where this is mentioned is very inconclusive. It could be interpreted your way, my way or I even thought of some other ways. I don't like to base my theology on such inconclusiveness. The only thing I'm willing to say is Mary found favor with God, was a virgin and by the power of the Holy Spirit was found with child. How this miracle took place is unclear.

"If you then, being evil, ..." Hey, be careful! You just disproved Total Depravity!

Oh, really! I think this verse illustrates Total Depravity.

[HarleyD]

You're not saying a hen's egg is alive before a rooster comes along are you?

[HarleyD]

"And when the Catholic Church recognizes that Truth has been revealed but which we cannot understand, it is called a mystery."

Protestants have the same belief. Only our mysteries are those areas not revealed in the scriptures. We don't base our mysteries upon the doctrine of men.

[Bigg Red]

Help defend Our Lady on this thread!

**
I see no point in wasting my time on people who ridicule our traditions. You'll never change the minds of the bigots.

[topcat54]

So clones of the mother are free from original sin?

Do you know any? :-)

In theory, clones are a variation on identical twins. So it's a non-issue.

What about that new process where two women mix their DNA?

What about humans and Martians? Why discuss theories that have no basis in reality?

In any case you cannot create in a test tube the conditions under which Our Lord was conceived. His genetic material was the product of the miraculous generation of the Holy Spirit and the virgin. No other human, either real or theoretical, falls into that category.

[HarleyD]

That's not in the Bible, Harley. That's Protestant tradition.

I think it is in the Bible. "Sin came into the world through one MAN..." Don't you find this statement a little odd since Eve took the first bite? Wouldn't you think that Paul should have said, "Sin came into the world through one WOMAN..."? Paul had it right because sin is transmitted through the man.

(BTW, Catholics and Orthodox believe nothing remotely like it. Original sin is the inherited lack of grace, not some polluted "Adamic nature" that is transmitted from men.)

You might include some Protestants as well. Reformers are just about the only ones (there are a few others) who believe in original sin.

Quite frankly I don't understand why you think a virgin birth was necessary.

[dangus]

>> I'm no reproductive therapas but the sperm that issues forth from the man is alive. The woman's egg, to my knowledge is not.<<

Don't know where you ever got that from. The egg is very much alive. In fact, unlike sperm, an egg can be induced into forming a whole, new, adult life form. (This harder in actual practice.)

>> Oh, really! I think this verse illustrates Total Depravity.<<

Hmm? "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts..." This statement is a biblical reminder that even evil (unsaved) parents still provide those good things which are necessary for their children. You do not need the spiritual enlightenment of salvation in order to feed your child, care for it, teach it basic skills. All these things are good things, and parents know how to provide these good things for their children. They are insufficient for salvation, but they still are beneficial towards salvation.

The care that even unredeemed parents provide their children functions as a prevening grace, which is given by God through them so as to prepare a child for further grace.

[HarleyD]

I don't wish to make too much out of this since I told dangus I'm not sure how the Holy Spirit brought this about. However, I believe you'll find the sperm will swim towards the egg. There are even studies which suggest that sperm "smells" and can sense the egg. And many sites says sperm can "live" up to 24 hours outside the body. This all indicates to me life.

[HarleyD]

Just a slight correction:

Hmm? "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts..." This statement is a biblical reminder that even evil (unsaved) (totally depraved) parents still provide those good things which are necessary for their children. ;O)