Mary, Mother of God

CatholicExchange.com ^ | 12-31-06 | Marcellino D'Ambrosio, Ph.D.

[Salvation]

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Mary, Mother of God

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Marcellino D'Ambrosio

December 31, 2006

The mother of the Messiah has been called many things in the last 2000 years — the Virgin Mary, Our Lady, the Blessed Mother.  But call her "the Mother of God" and you'll see some Christians squirm.

This is nothing new.  One day in the early fifth century, a priest preached a stirring sermon in the presence of the patriarch of Constantinople.  His subject was the holy mother of Jesus.  The preacher continually referred to Mary as the "Theotokos" meaning "God-bearer" or mother of God.  This was no innovation — Christians had invoked Mary under this title for at least two hundred years.  Nevertheless, at the close of the sermon, the patriarch ascended the steps of the pulpit to correct the preacher.  We should call Mary the Mother of Christ, said Patriarch Nestorius, not the Mother of God.  She was the mother of His human nature, not the mother of His divinity.

His comment sparked a riot.  And the dispute rocked not only the congregation, but the entire empire.  Cyril, patriarch of Alexandria, Egypt, immediately recognized that Nestorius's Marian theology was a symptom of a much deeper problem, a problem with the incarnation itself.  For to deny Mary the title "Mother of God" makes of Jesus a dichotomy, a split personality.  It would mean that God had not really embraced our humanity so as to become human.  Rather, the humanity of Christ is hermetically sealed off from the divinity, as if Jesus were two persons, as if human nature were so distasteful that God, in Christ, had to keep it at arm's distance.  It is OK, according to Nestorius, to say that in Jesus, God raised Lazarus, or multiplied the loaves, or walked on water.  But it is not OK to say that in Jesus God is born or that God died.

Cyril, aware that this was a challenge to the heart of our faith, demanded that an ecumenical council be called to settle the matter.  So in 431, the Council of Ephesus met under Cyril's leadership and solemnly proclaimed that Mary is indeed rightly to be honored as the Theotokos, the Mother of God.  It proclaimed that from the moment of His conception, God truly became man.  Of course Mary is a creature and could never be the origin of the eternal Trinity, God without beginning or end.  But the second person of the blessed Trinity chose to truly become man.  He did not just come and borrow a human body and drive it around for awhile, ascend back to heaven, and discard it like an old car.  No, at the moment of His conception in the womb of Mary, an amazing thing happened.  God the Son united Himself with a human nature forever.  Humanity and divinity were so closely bound together in Jesus, son of Mary, that they could never be separated again.  Everything that would be done by the son of Mary would be the act both of God and of man.  So indeed it would be right to say that a man raised Lazarus from the dead and commanded the wind and waves, that God was born that first Christmas day and that, on Good Friday, God died.

The Council of Ephesus, once confirmed by the pope, became the third ecumenical council of the Catholic Church, and its teaching in this matter is dogma, truth revealed by God which all are bound to accept.

So why does the Roman liturgy celebrate the Octave of Christmas as the Feast of Mary the Mother of God?  Because this paradoxical phrase strikes at the very heart of Christmas.  The songs we sing and the cards we write extol the babe of Bethlehem as Emmanuel, God-with-us.  He is so with us that after Gabriel's visit to the Virgin of Nazareth, the Divine Word can never again be divided from our humanity.  What God has joined, let no man separate.

Dr. D'Ambrosio studied under Avery Cardinal Dulles for his Ph.D. in historical theology and taught for many years at the University of Dallas. He now directs www.crossroadsinitiative.com, which offers Catholic resources for RCIA, adult faith formation, and teens, with a special emphasis on the Year of the Eucharist, the Theology of the Body, the early Church Fathers, and the sacrament of confirmation.

(This article originally appeared in Our Sunday Visitor and is used by permission of the author.)

[wagglebee]

How about Mary's own profession of her need for a savior (aka her sinful nature), in Luke 1:46-48?

What you term as an "AKA" is something that neither the Church nor any prominent Protestant Reformer (Luther, Calvin, Wesley, etc.) has ever believed.

[wagglebee]

Hang in there, you're bound to get it right sooner or later!

:-)

[Mad Dawg]

Well, it's like this:

Despite what non-Catholics say about us, we actually do read the Bible once or twice a century and we're actually aware of these texts. Obviously we don't find them conclusive arguments against those doctrines that some find outrageous. For example we don't find what we call the Magnificat evidence of a sinful nature, and since we say that Mary's Immaculate Conception was made possible by the saving work of Christ, we don't find her calling God her Savior in those verses in anyway troublesome as far as that doctrine is concerned.

What I, personally DO find troublesome is that those who attack the doctrine so often do so before they find out what it is.

My experience here is that a lot of alleged conversations about these things go very bad very fast. And that's why if this turns out to be one of those, I'm not interested. I just don't think fights over these things get anywhere, and my experience on FR bears that out. They're not real conversations at all, they're just debates. Many of us would be happy to explore the doctrine and to attempt to explain it, but because all these conversations seem so readily to deteriorate into general mayhem involving ecclesiology, the role of Scripture in determining doctrine, and other things far, far afield from s close examination of the issue at hand, in this case what "Theotokos" means in itself and in our lives, that doesn't seem to happen very much.

I hope that's a sufficiently respectful and clear answer.

[Salvation]

Thanks. We'll keep trying.

[wagglebee]

One verse in the Magnificat has been used by some to deny the Blessed Mother's status. While the rest of the Magnificat actually solidifies her Immaculate state and Elizabeth clearly declares her the Mother of God.

[wagglebee]

I gave up years ago, if something I say is confusing, y'all can just ask me what I meant.

[Salvation]

Your answer bear out my judgments too.

Some of those threads got very nasty and confrontational. I pray this one does not go that way also.

**What I, personally DO find troublesome is that those who attack the doctrine so often do so before they find out what it is.**

Amen to that. Exactly why I posted the link to the Immaculate Conception threads. Knowledge helps, doesn't it?

BTW, your answer was very respectful. God bless you!

[Always Right]

What I, personally DO find troublesome is that those who attack the doctrine so often do so before they find out what it is.

As a non-Catholic, I am not so troubled by what Catholics believe about Mary, but the heavy emphasis that is placed on Mary. It appears to many non-Catholics that Mary is the central figure to Catholics, and Jesus is some secondary character. Of course stating that will offend many Catholics and I will be attacked for it.

[wagglebee]

It appears to many non-Catholics that Mary is the central figure to Catholics, and Jesus is some secondary character.

I can appreciate why some would feel this way, but that perception is still wrong.

[netmilsmom]

>> As a non-Catholic, I am not so troubled by what Catholics believe about Mary, but the heavy emphasis that is placed on Mary. It appears to many non-Catholics that Mary is the central figure to Catholics, and Jesus is some secondary character. Of course stating that will offend many Catholics and I will be attacked for it.<<

No you won't be attacked because you said this, "It appears to many non-Catholics..."
That is honest and polite. It opens the way for us to understand how you feel.

There are many people here who can help you to understand our POV now since you have explained yours.

Thank you for being nice!

(and I'm an Anti-Catholic Troll Hunter)

[Running On Empty]

I think Salvation means that Catholic discussion is preferred. It was certainly clear.

Salvation would prefer that the thread not be hi-jacked.

There are plenty of other threads that have gone over this subject again--and again--and again.

Catholics are not likely to change their doctrinal--or dogmatic--beliefs.

When I chose to become a Catholic, I didn't return to the Protestant denomination I left and quarrel with it. I acknowledged that I was grateful for the beginnings of my Christian life in a non-Catholic denomination and then occupied myself with my newly-received Catholic faith.

I have never stopped being grateful for coming into the Catholic Church.

Peace of Christ

ROE

[AlaninSA]

"It appears to many non-Catholics that Mary is the central figure to Catholics, and Jesus is some secondary character. Of course stating that will offend many Catholics and I will be attacked for it."

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No, you won't be attacked for posting such a comment in the rational tone you used.

The issue - in my conservative Catholic view - is that non-Catholics often see only what they want to see when looking at the Catholic Church. That is, they see only what they've been prepared to find repulsive. There's often a failure to take a more broad view.

Yes, we honor Mary.

Mass, however, is all about Jesus and God.

[Mad Dawg]

"Lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds." The fact that MY waistline isn't what it ought to be is no argument against eating. If there is a proper level of Marian devotion we sinners will deviate from it either in the direction of excess or of deficiency. And while either deviation is sad, to those who have little devotion, even normative devotion will seem excessive.

I get that. If my first hearing of the Salve Regina had NOT been among good and holy Trappists, my then protestant hair would have curled. "Our Life, our Sweetness, and our Hope"? Are you kidding me? Jesus is THE LIFE, not his mother. But seeing these guys and having conversed with some of them and at length with the nun who I had come to visit, I had no question about their continuous self-offering to Jesus and I saw that even such apparently excessive language could only be understood properly in the context of the overarching commitment. (And it didn't hurt that it was a completly and ravishingly lovely song.)

But, yeah, some Calflicks have made like a sheep and gone astray.

But, consider, if you will, the privilege of being the God-bearer. I was the, ahem, primary care-giver of my one and only kid, and the eager self-sacrifice that involved, the alertness, the solicitude, the attentive awareness for nearly every waking minute, that was what parenthood in the early years meant to me. And that's what, in my rare moments of sanity, I wish for in my relationship with Jesus.

And, being of the guy persuasion as I am, I have no clue what it would be to be attentive to the Lord within me, as she must have been.

My point is that whatever else we might want to say about the God-bearer, she, as it were naturally, had the life of prayer that we pray to be granted, that we long to experience. Since it seems inevitable that, one way or another our hearts will be broken and pierced as hers was, can't you understand at least the impulse to look not only to our Lord but to His mother for some, ah, solace and guidance as we blunder through our lives? Yes, Jesus is THE paradigm, but at another level, His Mother is also someone whom I, what shall I say, admire deeply.

[Running On Empty]

Very good post. Thanks

[Salvation]

I can understand where you are coming from and I believe as the article states (and as you know) that Christ is the center of Catholic life.

**He is so with us that after Gabriel's visit to the Virgin of Nazareth, the Divine Word can never again be divided from our humanity. What God has joined, let no man separate.**

[Salvation]

Thanks for your wonderful testimony and kind actions toward the church of your original beliefs. You are a true Christian and Catholic!

[Global2010]

Mary if I understood correctly was born without Original Sin.

She lived her life choosing to be totally obediant to God.

Any comments further on this?

[Always Right]

Yes, Jesus is THE paradigm, but at another level, His Mother is also someone whom I, what shall I say, admire deeply.

She was a very admirable and the world is indebted to her great faith and for bearing and raising our Savior and supporting Him throughout His life. That said, I have gone and visited many Catholic Churches and there are many where a big statue of Mary is on the alter and trying to find any hint of Jesus is like trying to find Waldo. To me, Mary was very humble and faithful servant and would quite possibly be offended by that much attention.

[Pyro7480]

That said, I have gone and visited many Catholic Churches and there are many where a big statue of Mary is on the alter and trying to find any hint of Jesus is like trying to find Waldo.

What you were looking for was probably "hiding in plain sight." Ever hear of a crucifix? Even better, the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your Saviour was probaby in those churches as well.

[Global2010]

A young man who is training now for his Holy Orders answered a ? I had about examinining/study of Catholic Doctrine and Scripture.

He said its like peeling an artichoke there is alway another layer to peel away exposing more.

Something to that effect.