The Blessed Virgin in the History of Christianity [Ecumenical]

Insight Scoop ^ | January 1, 2009 | John A. Hardon, S.J.

[AnAmericanMother]

Beautiful! (yes, the Adoration of the Shepherds is Korean, and Joseph is a man of substance vide his hat!)

Here's another beauty, Van Eyck's Virgin from the Ghent Altarpiece:

[Coleus]

The most sublime of Mary’s privileges is her Divine Maternity. Without that Maternity, her other privileges would not exist; she herself would not exist, for she was created only to be the Mother of God.

Mary’s Divine Maternity is great also because this privilege is the reason for her other privileges – her Immaculate Conception, miraculous virginity, fullness of grace, Assumption, and the spiritual maternity of all mankind. The Divine Maternity explains everything in her; without this Maternity nothing in Mary can be explained.

In her teaching concerning the union of the human and the Divine natures in Christ the church states that Jesus Christ is God and Man, perfect God and perfect Man, and that this Divinity and Humanity are united in only one Person so that the actions of the Divine Nature or the Human nature are the actions of one person, the Divine Person.

Since God was born of Mary, she is the Mother of God. If we could not say that she is the Mother of God for having given a body to the Son of God, then neither could we adore this Body; nor would we have been redeemed by the sacrifice of this Body on the Cross; nor would we be united to the Divinity in receiving this Body in the Eucharist.

Mary’s Divine Maternity is such a sublime privilege that no creature, not even Mary herself, can understand it fully. To understand her dignity as Mother of God in all its fullness, we would have to understand fully the dignity of the Son of God whose Mother she is.

The dignity of the Divine Maternity raises Mary above all the rest of creation. As Mother of God she surpasses, in an immeasurable degree, all other creatures, Angels, and men. They are God’s servants, but she is His Mother.

We have the sublime dignity of being children of God by adoption; Jesus alone is His son by nature. But Mary is not the adoptive Mother of the Son of God; she is His real Mother. We can lose our Divine adoption, but Mary can never lose her Divine Maternity. God might have created a more beautiful world, more perfect people, more marvelous spirits; He could not have made anything more wonderful than a Mother of God.

Mary’s Divine Maternity places her in a very wonderful relationship with the three Divine Persons. She is the loving daughter of the Father because, before all creatures, she was predestined to be His daughter at the same moment that He decreed the Incarnation of His son. He bestowed marvelous privileges upon her and loved her more than all other creatures together. As Mother of the Son of God, she is associated with the Father in the generation of His Son. With the Father she, too, can say: “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.”

Mary is the Mother of the Son of God. She fulfills the duties and enjoys the rights of a true mother. From her own flesh and blood, she formed the Body of her Son. She nourished him, clothed Him, educated Him. She commanded Him and He obeyed. How can we ever understand the great love that bound their hearts together!

Mary is the spouse of the Holy Spirit because according to the Gospel and the teaching of the Apostles’ Creed, she conceived of the Holy Spirit the Son of God, made Man. She is also called the temple of the Holy Spirit because, in virtue of her Immaculate Conception and her fullness of grace, He dwells within her in a most singular manner.

During all eternity it will be one of our greatest joys to admire the infinite love of God for Mary whose Son he willed to be, just as He is in all truth the Son of the Father. The Divine Maternity itself, more than any particular privilege, is a mark of God’s unequalled love for Mary. We should rejoice with her in the happiness that filled her heart because of such love. We can ask Mary to pray to God that we return His love with some of the generosity and fervor with which she loved Him.

THE WORD OF GOD
“When the designated time had come, God sent forth His Son born of a woman….so that we might receive our status as adopted sons.” (Gal 4:4-5)

“Shout for joy ….O daughter of Jerusalem!….the King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst.” (Zep 3:14-15)

“The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us, and we have seen His glory: the glory of an only Son coming from the Father, filled with enduring love.” (Jn 1:14)

“Mary gave birth to her first-born Son and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger.” (Lk 2:7)

[vladimir998]

The Van Eyck is beautiful!!! By the way, the Latin says: HEC E SPECIOSIOR SOLE + SVP OEM STELLARV DISPOSICOEM LVCI PATA IVEITVR POR . CADOR E ENI LVCIS ETERNE . + SPECLM SN MACLA DI MAIESTIS.

Wisdom 7: “This one is more radiant than the sun and surpasses any arrangement of the stars. Compared to the light she is deemed to be purer, as she is the echo of the eternal light, the immaculate reflection of God’s majesty.”

[RobbyS]

Yes, but evangelical do deny her an important role. She is never mentioned except at Christmas, if then. And the Church has developed a doctrine of Mary because without reference to her there is no coherent theology of the God- man. Mariology is corollary to the doctrine of the Trinity. Ithink this can be seen in the events of the past two centuries in Catholic Countries. The Enlightenment rejects the divinity of Jesus, repudiates the Incarnation. God has not, in its estimation visited man. The Virgin Birth is absurd. In response to this unbelief we have many reported visions of the Virgin, as if in replay to the claims of the infidels, with their demand for empirical proof. As if in mockery of their science, we have the Virgin appearing to children, and often signs that challenge their claim to all knowledge. And always the Virgin is pointing to Jesus, but as often as not, the Jesus who is the judge of all mankind. The most dramatic instance is that of Fatima because of its apocalytic character and its timing, the eve of the Russian revolution and in the midst of the Great War that pulls down the Proud Tower of Europe. Mary in these instance is serving as an angel of the Lord, with God perhaps letting the children see His Mercy and His justice made manifest in a form most soothing to these children.

[Marysecretary]

Through CHRIST all these things are done.

[Marysecretary]

Amen, LiteKeeper.

[Marysecretary]

These articles always do. Sadly.

[Marysecretary]

Babies are also dependent on their fathers. But they’re never mentioned...

[Desdemona]

placekeeper

[Religion Moderator]

This thread is tagged “ecumenical” in the Religion Forum. Antagonism is not allowed. Personal attacks are never allowed.

[A.A. Cunningham]

“And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” Luke 1:43

[LiteKeeper]

If I implied that Mary contributed absolutely nothing to Christianity, I stand corrected. However, it still remains that ONLY the Lord Jesus Christ gives ANY meaning to Christianity. He, alone, is the Creator; He, alone, is the God Man; He, alone, is the Savior; He, alone, is seated at the right hand of God; He, alone, is coming again.

I reject the Mother of God line. Elevation of Mary to an exalted status, sharing in any way in our redemption, serving in any way in our access to the Son is bordering on idolatry. It is not Scriptural; it is not acceptable.

[Iscool]

Archbishop Fulton Sheen told one such story, he had been visiting (or trying to visit) a hardened sinner in the hospital and trying to get him to accept Christ and be saved,

Been on these threads for years...This is the first time I've heard a Catholic talk about accepting Jesus and getting saved...

You must be a transplant from a Protestant religion...

[Iscool]

Do you think she contributed nothing to his education, he who was subject to her and Joseph

Jesus was carring on intelligent conversations with doctors at 12 or 13...He learned that from Mary??? What, she had a PHD???

You guys are good at telling tales...

[Iscool]

Mary's free cooperation in saying, "Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum"

Well I guess Mary did have a PHD...She spoke Latin as well...

[Iscool]

I guess I left out a small detail, he had confessed Christ to a Minister,

I'm guessing you mean he confessed Jesus is Lord, come in the flesh...And if it was a Protestant Minister, your father in law likely accepted Jesus as his Saviour...In which case, he's in Heaven this very minute...

Seeing a vision or ghost of Mary will get you nothing...And seeing a vision of Mary does not mean it was the Catholic Mary...

[Iscool]

His statement, treat the sinner, who has rejected the Church, like a Gentile is a reference to Jewish practice towards Gentiles at the time,

You're wrong, of course...Jesus told the apostles NOT to preach to Gentiles...There wasn't a Gentile in the bunch when Jesus made the reference to Gentiles...Hence, no Catholic church...

[GonzoII]

"I reject the Mother of God line."

The Scriptures say "The mother of my Lord" Lk:1:43