Posted on 07/24/2004 8:27:07 PM PDT by narses
An Explanation of the Coredemptrix of Mary Title
Compiled by Martin Beckman
The following is a compilation of several articles by other authors, and discussions I have had with Protestants and Catholics on this issue. Much of the information in this compilation is copied from other authors and therefore I make no claims of authorship of this information in it's entirety.This article is intended to give a brief explanation.
Newsweek ran an article in it's August 25th, 1997 issue about a movement within the Catholic Church. Millions of Catholics signed and submitted a petition to Pope John Paul II in an effort to name Mary, the Mother of our Lord, as Coredemptrix, Mediatrix, and Advocate for all Christians. This would be the fifth and final Marian dogma. Members of Vox Populi Mariae Mediatrici ("The Voice of the People for Mary Mediatrix") spearheaded the effort.
Supporters include Cardinal John O'Connor of New York, the late Mother Teresa of Calcutta; the late Cardinal Luigi Ciappi, OP, papal theologian emeritus; Cardinal Jaime Sin of Manila, the Philippines; Cardinal Edouard Gagnon, president of the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses; over 480 bishops including 40 cardinals; prominent lay leaders and ordinary faithful from all parts of the world. Hardly a fringe group!
Here's a short description from the petition submitted to the Pope:
When the Church invokes Mary under the title, "Coredemptrix", she means that Mary uniquely participated in the redemption of the human family by Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour. At the Annunciation (cf.Lk.1:38) Mary freely cooperated in giving the Second Person of the Trinity his human body which is the very instrument of redemption, as Scripture tells us: "We have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all" (Heb.10:10).
And at the foot of the cross of our Saviour (Jn.19:26), Mary's intense sufferings, united with those of her Son, as Pope John Paul II tells us, were, "also a contribution to the Redemption of us all" (Salvifici Doloris, n.25). Because of this intimate sharing in the redemption accomplished by the Lord, the Mother of the Redeemer is uniquely and rightly referred to by Pope John Paul II and the Church as the "Coredemptrix."
It is important to note that the prefix "co" in the title Coredemptrix does not mean "equal to" but rather "with", coming from the Latin word cum. The Marian title Coredemptrix never places Mary on a level of equality with her Divine Son, Jesus Christ. Rather it refers to Mary's unique human participation which is completely secondary and subordinate to the redeeming role of Jesus, who alone is true God and true Man.
Mary's role was unique. If she had said 'no' to Gabriel ... to God, would we have a Savior, would we have our true Redeemer ... our Lord .... the Messiah? Mary played a definite role in our salvation. But back to the original statement ... that role is entirely dependent and subordinate on Jesus.
Mary is called to give her free and full consent to conceive this child. She is not merely a passive recipient of the message, but she was given an active role, and heaven awaited her free choice. It is precisely by her free consent to collaborate in God's saving plan that she becomes the Coredemptrix. The prophecy of Simeon to Mary, "and a sword will pierce through your own soul also" (Luke 2:25), affirms Mary's unique participation in the work of redemption, as it warns her that she will undergo an unspeakable pain that will pierce her soul, for the salvation of mankind. John 19:25 tells us of Jesus' Mother at the very foot of the cross, persevering with her Son in his worst hour of agony, and therein suffering the death of her Son.
Thus in her own suffering too, the Mother of the Redeemer participates in the redemptive mission of Jesus Christ.
St. Paul tells us we are to make up what is lacking in the sacrifice of Jesus (Col 1:24): "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church,"
Paul is making a very similar statement here also. By his sufferings he is completing what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the church and us. This is a role we all can partake .... but this role is dependent on Christ and subordinate to Christ.
That is all that statement about Mary is saying. Mary had a role, a contribution in filling what was lacking in us, the Church. It's a very biblical statement.
Jesus Christ as true God and true man redeems the human family, while Mary as Coredemptrix participates with the Redeemer in his one perfect Sacrifice in a completely subordinate and dependent way. The key word here is "participation" in that which is exclusively true of Jesus Christ. The title "Coredemptrix" never puts Mary on a level of equality with our Lord; rather, it refers to Mary's unique and intimate participation with her divine Son in the work of redemption. "Coredemptrix" is a Latin word; the prefix "co" in the title, "Coredemptrix," derives from the Latin word "cum," which means "with," not "equal to." Mary's sufferings are efficacious towards the redemption of man because they are wholly rooted in the redemptive graces of Christ and are perfectly united to His redeeming will. Similarly, as Mediatrix, the Mother of Jesus does not "rival" Christ's mediation but rather participates in the one mediation of Jesus Christ. Imagine water from a reservoir reaching the people through a system of aqueducts or channels. By analogy, Jesus is the infinite "reservoir" of all grace, which is distributed to us through Mary .... as she gave birth to Jesus. Jesus, the one mediator, does not exclude secondary, subordinate mediators.
Catholics do agree wholeheartedly that Jesus is the one and only mediator between man & God. No question ... the bible teaches this ... the Catholic Church teaches this. No subordinate co-deities, no additional redeemers, no additional mediators! Clear enough?
But what about our role in bringing people to Christ, preaching the Gospel, as teachers, pointing people to Christ .... and so on? We can be mediators in that fashion. Surely you do not disagree that faith comes from (by grace) from receiving the gospel message.
This is not saying we are mediators between Jesus and God for mankind ... but we can have a subordinate & dependent role.
This isn't adding to Jesus' mediatorship, not a seperate channel, not an end-run, or anything that takes away from His role.
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Touche` Doc, Touche`!
I couldn't help myself. :-)
How could you?
Notice the lack of scripture for his beliefs.
(Shameless rip off of the Animanics cartoon)
OOOHHH!!! The Animaniacs....my favorites!!!! Hey, what you wrote was not the greatest in the world......but you may have been on to something! Please continue!
What are we going to do tonight, Brain?
The same thing we do every night, Pinky, try to take over the world!
Don'tcha love it?
"Hail Mary, Full of Grace, the Lord is With Thee."
Doesn't do a thing for me. I don't pray to Mary. I pray to God the Father, through Jesus Christ. That is the biblical way. There is no other.
Actually, the quote I posted was a direct quote from the Gospel. Why do you REJECT scripture?
"Hail Mary, Full of Grace, the Lord is With thee. Blessed art Thou amongst Women, and Blessed is the Fruit of thy Womb Jesus."
Irishtenor, I see you are a Presbyterian, so thought it my opener to step in. Well, me too, in the past.
In the '50's as a young Presbyterian, I burned with desire to be a preacher. More important to me was the quest for truth no matter where it brought me, and guess where it brought me!
One day I heard the Rosary on a radio program, and puzzled at first, I was curious. First reaction: knee jerk declaration they were praying to Mary as if to an idol. Then I listened, finding Gospel and truth in what was said.
Then I started seeing my Presbyterian upbringing as OK, but sort of like Christianity Lite. To me the answers were with the Church founded in the year 33 by Jesus Christ as the Bride of Christ, and not an offshoot coming millenia later. And I understood without being taught the first time I witnessed it, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was just that, the truth, and not what we were led to believe, dinner with Jesus and the homeless or whatever.
And, yes, I have read the heroic escapades of Luther but also several darker sides of hero Martin Luther, some my Mom, a devout Lutheran would never listen to. And I bet you never read the "rest of the story" either. Maybe you can locate some of it on a google search, the story of a troubled revolutionary bent on destruction, yet reluctant to let even his own mother part from the Catholic faith and insisting she continue to Mass. (Could it be he wanted his mom saved, even in the knowledge he was leading others astray?)
You might find he believed Marianology, the truth for what it was, then fought it anyway.
It really gets tough for me to see doubt and destruction as virtues any more. I can only doubt the doubters. It is tough as well to accept truth with footnotes and qualifications, when the simple truth is right there. The emptiness of my searching went away as I settled into being a plain old traditional Catholic.
Check out my own tagline to see where I came after the Presbyterian Church.
Mary is "Co-Redemptrix" in the sense that her cooperation with God, her "fiat," brought our Savior into the world. In no way is the title meant to elevate Mary to the Godhead.
Since the prefix "co" is often interpreted as "co-equal," it would be very easy to misinterpret this title and assume that the doctrine "elevates Mary to a co-equal status with her Son."
The pope has refused to promulgate this dogma for this pastoral reason.
Right, the Bible Luther and all the other Protestants got from the Catholic Church. No problem with that.
Bible alone. Faith alone.
These doctrines of Luther are neither Scriptural nor of Christ.
"Men have crowded all her glory into a single phrase, 'the Mother of God'. No one can say anything greater of her or to her, though he had as many tongues as there are leaves on the trees . . ."Martin Luther
Why do you need Mary in any role, co, cum, etc?
The Father gave us Jesus. The Father made Jesus pre-eminent and supreme. In Jesus, you receive all that you need to approach the Father, have your sins forgiven, your prayers answered.
In Jesus is our life. In Jesus in our light. In Jesus in our salvation.
Why does any believer need any co-redemtrix, co-mediator, co anything?
God's answer to man's fall is Jesus...
Mary is the Mother of God.
Co-Redemptrix is an afterthought compared to that title.
>>The Father gave us Jesus. The Father made Jesus pre-eminent and supreme. In Jesus, you receive all that you need to approach the Father, have your sins forgiven, your prayers answered. <<
Because when two Christians pray together it is much more powerful than one.
I am constantly amazed that the same people who join in the prayer threads here will slam Catholics for praying with saints. It's just fine if you prefer those who are alive to those who have gone on, but please don't condemn me for my faith. (not you personally)
Thank you for the answer.
>>Whoa! Dial down the anger... I just asked a question<<
Truly, the anger was not directed at you.
I have been on threads where I have been made fun of for my opinions. Where a poster has called in other people to laugh about what I have said. To me it is rude.
My Jesus is not better than anyone else's Jesus, but some people here do feel that way.
I personally feel that anyone who has a good relationship with God and walks in the path of Jesus will make it to heaven. I understand the narrow path but pitting Christian against Christian is outside of that path as well (and that also is not directed at you).
I guess what I am saying is that if a person feels my way is the wrong way, pray for me. God will show me the right way, whether it is mine or theirs.
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