Catholics, Protestants, and Immaculate Mary

The Catholic Thing ^ | December 8, 2012 | David G. Bonagura, Jr.

[NYer]

Do Catholics worship Mary? This question is as old as the Protestant Reformation itself, and it rests, like other disputed doctrinal points, on a false premise that has been turned into a wedge: the veneration of Mary detracts from the worship of Christ.

This seeming opposition between Mary and Christ is symptomatic of the Protestant tendency, begun by Luther, to view the entirety of Christian life through a dialectical lens – a lens of conflict and division. With the Reformation the integrity of Christianity is broken and its formerly coherent elements are now set in opposition. The Gospel versus the Law. Faith versus Works. Scripture versus Tradition. Authority versus Individuality. Faith versus Reason. Christ versus Mary.

The Catholic tradition rightly sees the mutual complementarity of these elements of the faith, as they all contribute to our ultimate end – living with God now and in eternity. To choose any one of these is to choose them all.

By contrast, to assert that Catholics worship Mary along with or in place of Christ, or that praying to Mary somehow impedes Christ’s role as “the one mediator between God and men” (1 Tim 2:5) is to create a false dichotomy between the Word made flesh and the woman who gave the Word his flesh. No such opposition exists. The one Mediator entrusted his mediation to the will and womb of Mary. She does not impede his mediation – she helps to make it possible.

Within this context we see the ancillary role that the ancilla Domini plays in her divine Son’s mission. Mary’s is not a surrogate womb rented and then forgotten in God’s plan. She is physically connected to Christ and his life, and because of this she is even more deeply connected to him in the order of grace. She is, in fact, “full of grace,” as only one who is redeemed by Christ could be.

The feast of Mary’s Immaculate Conception celebrates the very first act of salvation by Christ in the world. Redemption is made possible for all by his precious blood shed on the cross. Yet Mary’s role in the Savior’s life and mission is so critical and so unique that God saw it necessary to wash her in the blood of the Lamb in advance, at the first moment of her conception.

Called (from the series Woman) ©2006 Bruce Herman

  [oil on wood, 65 x 48”; collection of Bjorn and Barbara Iwarsson] For more information visit http://bruceherman.com

This reality could not be more Biblical: the angel greets Mary as “full of grace” (Luke 1:28), which is literally rendered as “already graced” (kecharitōmenē). Following Mary, the Church has “pondered what sort of greeting this might be” for centuries. The dogma of the Immaculate Conception, ultimately defined in 1854, is nothing other than a rational expression of the angel’s greeting contained in Scripture: Mary is “already graced” with Christ’s redemption at the very moment of her creation.

Because God called Mary to the unique vocation of serving as the Mother of God, it is not just her soul that is graced, as is the case for us when we receive the sacraments. Mary’s entire being, body and soul, is full of grace so that she may be a worthy ark for the New Covenant. And just as the ark of the old covenant was adorned with gold to be a worthy house for God’s word, Mary is conceived without original sin to be the living and holy house for God’s Word.

Thus Mary is not only conceived immaculately, that is, without stain of sin. She also is the Immaculate Conception. Her entire being was specifically created by God with unique privilege so that she could fulfill her role in God’s plan of salvation. “Free from sin,” both original and personal, is the necessary consequence of being “full of grace.”

Protestants claim that veneration of Mary as it is practiced by Catholics is not biblical. St. Paul encouraged the Corinthians to “be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Cor 11:1). Paul is not holding himself up as the end goal, but as a means to Christ, the true end. And if a person is imitated, he is simultaneously venerated.

If we should imitate Paul, how much more should we imitate Mary, who fulfilled God’s will to the greatest degree a human being could. Throughout her life she humbled herself so that God could be exalted, and because of this, Christ has fulfilled his promise by exalting his lowly mother to the seat closest to him in God’s kingdom.

Mary is the model of humility, charity, and openness to the will of God. She allows a sword to pierce her heart for the sake of the world’s salvation. She shows us the greatness to which we are called: a life free from sin and filled with God’s grace that leads to union with God in Heaven. She is the model disciple, and therefore worthy of imitation and veneration, not as an end in herself, but as the means to the very purpose of her – and our – existence: Christ himself.

God’s lowly handmaiden would not want it any other way.

[PeevedPatriot]

the veneration of Mary detracts from the worship of Christ

I remember when I thought along these lines when I was starting to learn about the faith. The first time I read some of Mary's titles in the litany my jaw about hit the floor.

I understand now that it's because I was looking at Mary WITHOUT Christ. But when you view her with him, you understand that she only reflects what she's been given by him. And when you view Christ with Mary, it's more than the mind can take in. At least for me.

Imagine being so humble that you, God, deign to dwell inside a mere human being for 9 months, totally dependent on her. That you place yourself under the authority of this woman and her spouse. That you allow these two, who You created, to raise you. Teach you to walk. Talk. Pray. Worship. Can you imagine? You're God and you let Joseph teach you your prayers? Mary teach you your manners?

Yes, I can ponder Mary's obedience or Joseph's acceptance of responsibility. There's so much each of their lives can teach me by example. But it ultimately circles back to the Holy Trinity. Each of the Three Persons condescended and humbled Themselves in the Incarnation. And they did it to save you and me. I appreciate our good God more not less when I contemplate Joseph or Mary. I find it adds to my worship because I realize I have more to be thankful for than I can even begin to imagine.

I love being Catholic! It's helped me to love Christ more, not less.

[bramps]

How would you justify to the hundreds if not thousands of innocent little boys raped by priests that were moved about by cardinal Law in Boston that they should believe in a faith that rewarded the man who fed them to PRIESTS he KNEW were RAPISTS. He was rewarded by a life of luxury alongside the pope no less. Exactly what would you say to these victims? I'm certain that you'll attack me, but somewhere fit in what you'd say to the rape victims. Thanks.

[crosshairs]

Catholics pray to Mary for this reason: "C'mon Jesus, Mary is your mother, you HAVE to do what she tells you".

That's it.

[crosshairs]

Prayer is offered to God, never to any created thing. To do so is to offer worship that should only be directed to God, which is idolatry.

[Clintons Are White Trash]

I will make absolutely no excuse for the people involved in the victimization of innocents. I also do not worship humans because they will disappoint you every time. My faith is in God, Jesus Christ and The Holy Spirit - not a priest. I work for a Catholic organization and see every day that priests are human too.

[Rashputin]

Humans sin. Some humans who sin are Catholics in the priesthood. Those who like to pretend that an individual committing a sin is the same thing as the entire Church being wrong don't deny all the Christian groups that condone murder by contraception nor do they claim all such groups are totally worthless because members of that group routinely murder their own children.

Obviously that's a self-serving double standard because while one group had perverts in it's midst that sexually gratified themselves with children, the other group condones murder committed in order to ensure that sexual self gratification isn't interfered with.

Exactly what do you day to the victims?

The tens of millions of victims of murder for the sake of sexual gratification that were each and every single one endorsed by these non-Catholic churches?

[Rashputin]

If it's idolatry to use the word "prayer" as it's been defined for centuries, then everyone who is Christian had better stay out of courts based on English common law. Either that or stop the stupid pretense that the word “prayer” means what they want it to mean and nothing else.

A prayer is something wished for or requested of another, you can pray for the judge to continue your judgment, pray for a specific redress, and so on, the same way you can call a barrister in England “your worship” and not be worshiping that individual as God or a god.

Folks who make up their own religion, though, like to start out by redefining terms to suit their own twisting of Scripture. Due to that fact they often can't understand a simple word like "prayer" because they've accepted the twisted definition their own personal religion finds useful in furthering their lies and their slanders of others.

Likewise, such followers of false religions cannot meet and accept Christ because they refuse to accept Christ as He is and insist that their version of Christ conform to their own personal religion so they can go along to get along in a pagan society.

[bramps]

The tens of millions of victims of murder for the sake of sexual gratification that were each and every single one endorsed by these non-Catholic churches?

---

It's a crock to label all non Catholic churches under the same umbrella. I know there are countless Christian frauds out there. The Catholic church does have a hierarchy, however, that knew children were being raped and basically was complicit in it. They talk about being pro life yet are silent about the baby killers running Washington. And your dollars pay for their opulent lifestyle. Open your eyes.

[Petrosius]

(Sigh) Mary gave Jesus nothing that he didn't already have. He took it, without her consent.

Perhaps you forgot about this line:

Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.”
--Luke 1:38

[Salvation]

Vultus Christi

The Mother, the Child, and the Serpent

By

Father Mark

 on December 7, 2012 11:55 AM |

 

The New Adam

Caravaggio's Madonna dei Palafrenieri, first exhibited in Saint Peter's Basilica in 1606, is wonderfully disturbing. While Grandmother Saint Anne looks on, the Virgin Mother Mary allows the Child Jesus to place His little foot on top of hers; together the Mother and the Child crush the head of the serpent under their feet. The nakedness of the Child Jesus suggests that He is indeed the New Adam who, by His innocence, inaugurates a new creation: the Kingdom of God where only little children are allowed to enter.

Sexual Abuse: The Dark Sin

The darkness of this painting, so typical of Caravaggio, and the sinister writhing of the serpent combine with the purity of the Infant Christ to speak poignantly to the tragic drama of the sexual abuse of children. Adults who were sexually abused as children never really recover from the serpent's venomous bite. The poison has a delayed release. Its effects are experienced over time, triggering emotional chaos, spiritual distress, and even chronic physical illness. The serpent, moreover, hides in the darkness, biding its time in anticipation of new attacks.

Therapy

While therapy or some form of counseling is certainly helpful in dealing with the long-term effects of the serpent's bite, it is not sufficient. Rarely is a complete healing possible through therapy alone. In my experience, most persons struggling with the effects of sexual abuse will suffer recurrent crises, although with time these may become less frequent and less debilitating. The benefit of therapy is in helping the individual to identify what things trigger crises, what things feed into the chaos, and what strategies are effective in countering recurrent difficulties.

Supernatural Means

Ultimately, one is obliged to confront the evil, in its origin and in its effects, on spiritual ground and with supernatural means. This is where the adult living with the effects of sexual abuse as a child finds it necessary to identify with the Infant Christ in entrusting himself entirely to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The Lord God said unto the serpent, I will put enmity between Thee and the Woman, and between thy seed and her Seed, which same shall bruise thy head, alleluia. (Antiphon at the Benedictus on December 8th, Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception)

Consecration to the Blessed Virgin Mary

Consecration to the Blessed Virgin Mary leads one to place one's own foot on hers in total confidence. So long as the serpent's head remains under the foot of the Immaculate Virgin and one's own foot rests on hers, the effects of the abuse are held in check. The serpent may writhe and hiss, but ultimately the All-Holy Mother of God and her Seed, that is the Infant Christ and those who belong to Him, will crush its head.

The Immaculate Conception

The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary is of all days the most favourable to make or to renew a personal consecration to the Immaculate Mother of God, especially if one struggles with the long-term effects of sexual abuse. The renewal of one's consecration to the Blessed Virgin Mary opens again and again the floodgates of the graces given her by God for distribution to the weakest and most wounded of her children.

The Rosary: Where Hope Flowers

One will also find in the humble prayer of the Rosary an indispensable protection and a source of inner healing. The mysteries of the infancy and childhood of Christ are supremely effective in countering the effects of a childhood marred by abuse. In the presence of the Immaculate Virgin and her Child there flowers the hope of a serene and fruitful life. "Give glory to the Lord for thy good things, and bless the God eternal, that He may rebuild His tabernacle in thee" (Tobias 13:12).

[Salvation]

Non-Catholic Clergy Abuse & Crimes

[Petrosius]

Prayer is offered to God, never to any created thing. To do so is to offer worship that should only be directed to God, which is idolatry.

Pray tell, do you not understand the difference between prayer and worship?

[narses]

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[narses]

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[bramps]

I missed the part where it says, “feed lobster and caviar to the Cardinal who sacrificed little boys to be raped but kept the church out of the headlines.”

It’s sad to have to believe from all the heads still in the sand that if victims didn’t come forward, Law and many others VERY HIGH in the Catholic church would still be silent and allowing little boys to be raped.

Seriously, is there any rational reason not to believe that?

[Salvation]

Christ’s Church will win out in the end. Did you get that message? The serpent’s head will be crushed.

Just remember:
One
Holy
Catholic
Apostolic

All churches have sinners within them.

What church do you attend?

[Rashputin]

What's a crock is anyone who condones the murder to infants on the alter of either economics or their sex life pretending they have even a clue about what's right and wrong left in their skulls.

Those who pretend the tens of millions of infants murdered by contraceptive (at least twice as many as have been aborted) is a lesser sin than whatever they choose to point to, obviously haven't filled the empty space in their skull with even a tiny bit of honesty.

[bramps]

I attend a Baptist church and it’s the only one I answer for. The one thing I can say with certainty is that if anyone (nevermind an elder) was found to be doing what Bernie Law did, he’d be brought staight to jail. What did you and your fellow Catholics do?Something I can also say with certainty we’d never do, reward him with your tithes that feed him lobster and his luxurious lifestyle alongside the Pope. Just humor me and at least tell me that bothers you a teeny little bit.

[bramps]

Your points could only leave an adversary speechless.

[narses]

See http://home.catholicweb.com/olguadalupeprolife/index.cfm/NewsItem?ID=275734&From=Home and search for “baptist”, then get back to us at how sin free your splinter group really is.