Mariology

Mariology

Her person, virtues,
role and the
Dogmas

Mariology: The Study on Mary
Catechism of the Catholic Church # 487 :

What the Catholic faith
believes about Mary is
based on what it believes
about Christ, and what it
teaches about Mary
illumines in turn its faith in
Christ.

“To Christ
through
Mary”

Misconceptions about Mary

The
Fundamental
Errors of the
Fundamentalist

Misconceptions about Mary
(a)"Biblical" Mary Dramatically Different
from the Mary of Mariology
(b) Mary in Scripture Seen as Slighted by
Christ
(c) Marian Doctrines Are Without
Exception Unscriptural
(d) Marian Mediation and Intercession
Contrary to Salvation by Faith Alone
(e)Idolatry and Diabolic Signs and
Wonders

The Person of Mary
The Meaning of the name of Mary:
In Hebrew: Miryam means the Exalted One;
In Greek: Maria, Mariam can mean “lady”,
“beautiful”, or “well-beloved”
In Latin: Mar means sea (song: star of the sea)
In Typology:
Eva inverted into Ave:
Mary is the 2nd Eve
as Jesus is the 2nd Adam;
the tree in the Garden caused the fall of humanity;
the tree in Calvary caused the salvation of all
humanity.

So Who is Mary?
First Name: Mary
Last Name: N/A
Civil Status: Betrothed to a
Man named
Joseph
Occupation: Mother of God
Special Skills: Saying NO to
Satan
Hobby: Following Jesus
Motto: “Do whatever Jesus

A. Mary in Scripture
Both Matthew and Luke present Mary
with many allusions to great figures in
the Old Testament
Matthew recounts Mary’s virginal conception
of Jesus as fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy
the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream
and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid
Therefore the Lord himself to take Mary your wife into your home.
will give you this sign: For it is through the holy Spirit that this child has been
“the virgin shall be with conceived in her. She will bear a son and you
are to name him Jesus,
child, and bear a son,
because he will save his people from their sins. "All
and shall name this took place to fulfill what the Lord had
him Immanuel.” (Is 7:14). said through the prophet: "Behold, the virgin shall be
with child and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,"
which means "God is with us.“ When Joseph awoke,
he did as the angel of the Lord (Mt 1:20-24;).

In the Gospel of Luke, The angel’s greeting to
Mary relates her to the “Daughter of Zion”
(Zep 3:14,1 7).
(Lk1:28;).
Shout for joy, O daughter Zion! sing
joyfully, O daughter Jerusalem! And coming to her, he
The LORD, your God, is in your said, "Hail, favored
midst, a mighty savior; He will one! The
rejoice over you with gladness, Lord is with you."
and renew you in his love,

The coming of the Holy Spirit upon her, and
her carrying the Child in her womb, pictures
Mary as the living Ark of the New
Covenant in Christ her Son.

Mary as the Ark of the Covenant
"The cloud covered the "The power of the Most High will
Tent of meeting and the cover you with its shadow. And
glory of Yahweh filled so the child will be holy and will
the tabernacle." Exodus be called Son of God." Luke
40:34. 1:35.

"However can the Ark of "Why should I be honored with a
Yahweh (= My Lord) visit from the mother of My
come to me?" 2 Samuel Lord?" Luke 1:43.
6:9.
"And David danced before the "As soon as the voice of thy
Lord with all his might ... So salutation sounded in mine
David and all the house of ears, the babe leaped in my
Israel brought up the ark of womb for joy." Luke 1:44..
the Lord with shouting, and
with the sound of the
trumpet." 2 Samuel 6:14-15.

Luke’s account of the Annunciation
inspired the Fathers of the Church
to compare Mary with Eve
the Virgin Mary Eve
obediently
accepted the
received the word
word of the
of the angel
serpent

gave birth to the
living salvation gave birth to
of all through disobedience
Jesus Christ and death

The Role of Mary
Mary’s place in the History of salvation is very
significant.
When Mary said YES to the Angel she became
the spokesperson of the whole condemned
humanity who have long been waiting for
the savior.

The whole life of Mary has been spent in :
serving the Son of God – Jesus her only Son.
(“I am the handmaid of the Lord.”)
calling the lost humanity to recognize and
follow Jesus:
(“do whatever Jesus tells you to do”)

The Dogmas on Mary
The most important features of Mary's role and person
are captured in the four Marian dogmas
1. What are dogmas?
A dogma proposes truths contained in Divine
Revelation
These truths are immediately or mediately
grounded in Scripture
They reflect the full authority of the Church
received from Christ and also the Church's tradition,
liturgical practice and the faith of the people
(sensus fidelium)
Dogmas are lights on our path of faith. They
have binding character, and intellect and heart to a
deeper understanding of God's mystery. Read CCC
88-89 (85-95)

The Dogmas on Mary
2. The Marian Dogmas
The following dogmas are stating
the important aspects of Mary's role in
salvation and her personal relationship
with God. Their names are:
A Divine Motherhood
B Perpetual Virginity
C Immaculate Conception
D The Assumption
E. The Veneration, Invocation of and
Devotion to Mary

The Divine
Motherhood
(theotokos)

MARY IS THE MOTHER OF GOD
Theotokos: Greek for “God-bearer” or Mother
of God.
the principal title of the Virgin Mary in the
Oriental Church The Dogma defined in the
Council of Ephesus 431AD,
That was a result of the resolution of the heresy
propagated by Nestorius, who claimed that
in Jesus, there are two persons the Divine
Person and the human person. He further
claimed that Mary gave birth only to the
Human Jesus and thus can only be called
Cristotokos, but not as the Theotokos.

Scriptural basis of the Theotokos
“Behold the Virgin shall be with child,
and shall bring forth a Son; and they
shall call his name Emmanuel;
meaning God is with us.” (Isaiah 7:14)

And the angel said to her in reply, "The
Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the
power of the Most High will
overshadow you. Therefore the child to
be born will be called holy, the Son of
God. (Luke 1:35)

“When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the
infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth,
filled with the holy Spirit, cried out in a loud
voice and said, "Most blessed are you
among women, and blessed is the fruit of
your womb. And how does this happen to
me, that the mother of my Lord should
come to me? “ (Luke 1: 41-43)

Since Mary is the mother of Jesus and
Since Jesus is God,
therefore Mary is the mother of God

One striking parallel has been drawn between Mary
and Moses: When they revealed God’s will to the
people

Moses then went, convoked all the elders of the
people and related to them all that Yahweh had
ordered him to tell them. Then the entire people,
with one accord responded: 'All that Yahweh has
said, we will do.' And Moses brought back to
Yahweh the response of the people." (Ex 19:7-8).

closely parallels the words of Mary to the servants at
Cana:
"Do whatever he tells you" (Jn 2:5).
"John puts on the lips of Mary the profession of faith
that the whole community of the chosen people
pronounced one day in front of Sinai."

Mary as the Ark of the Covenant
"And the Ark of the Lord
continued in the house "And Mary abode with her about
of Obededom the three months." Luke 1:56.
Gittite three months."
2 Samuel 6:11.

at the end of the infancy gospel
As Jesus enters the Temple Thus it is that Simeon can die
Simeon greets him as 'the
glory of Israel' (Luke 2:32). happy (Luke 2:26, 29): he
now can "see death" since
he has "seen the glory of the
Lord."

Protestant Reformers on Mary as Mother of God
Martin Luther: “In this work whereby she was made the
Mother of God, so many and such good things were
given her that o one can grasp them… Not only was
Mary the mother of Him who is born (in Bethlehem), but
of Him who, before the world, was eternally born of the
Father, from a Mother in time and at the same time man
and God.” (Weimer, p. 572)
John Calvin: “It cannot be denied that God in choosing
and destining Mary to be the Mother of His Son, granted
her the highest honor… Elizabeth calls Mary Mother of
the Lord, because the unity of the person in the two
natures of Christ was such that she could have said that
the mortal man engendered in the womb of Mary was at
the same time the eternal God” (Calvini opera, p. 348,
35)
Ulrich Zwingli: “It was given to her what belongs to no
creature, that I the flesh she should bring forth the Son of
God” (Zwigli, v. 6, 1, p. 639)

The Immaculate Conception of Mary
Immaculate Conception is the title given to
the Blessed Virgin Mary as sinless at the
moment her mother (St. Anne) conceived
her in the womb

To become the mother of the Savior, Mary
"was enriched by God with gifts appropriate
to such a role." The angel Gabriel at the
moment of the annunciation salutes her as
"full of grace". In fact, in order for Mary to be
able to give the free assent of her faith to the
announcement of her vocation, it was
necessary that she be wholly borne by
God's grace. (CCC 490)

The Immaculate Conception of Mary
That is what the dogma of the Immaculate
Conception confesses, as Pope Pius IX
proclaimed in 1854: (CCC 490)
The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first
moment of her conception, by a singular
grace and privilege of almighty God and by
virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of
the human race, preserved immune from all
stain of original sin. (Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus,
1854)

2 Effects of Immaculate Conception
Freedom from Concupiscence
Mary was never attracted in disobeying
God. Rather her lifestyle is in following
God’s will.
“Let it be done to me according to your
word.” (Lk 1:38)

Freedom from Actual Sin
Mary did not do anything that is
displeasing to God.

Proofs from Scripture
Old Testament Prefigurement
The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception is not
explicitly revealed in Scripture, but is contained
implicitly in the following passages.
“I will put enmity between you and the
woman, and between your seed and
her seed; he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel." (Gen.
3:15)

Old Testament Prefigurement
enmity = War;
There will be a war between
the WOMAN vs the SERPENT
this woman cannot be EVE because Eve
has already been defeated.
this Woman will bear the child that will
destroy the Head of the Serpent
So this Woman is the Mother of the Savior,
And this woman will never be defeated by
the serpent, that is she will never
succumb to Temptation

New Testament Fulfillment
“And he came to her and said, "Hail, full of
grace, the Lord is with you!"…And the
angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary,
for you have found favor with God… For
with God nothing will be impossible." (Luke
1:28,30, 37).
“And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of
Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and
Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and
she exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are
you among women, and blessed is the fruit
of your womb!” ( Luke 1:41-42).

Scriptural Foundation
"Rejoice so highly favored"/"Hail full of grace". Luke
1:28.
Both translations are derived from the Greek word
kecharitomene
which refers to a person transformed by
the grace of God.

The word is used only one other time in the New Testament and
that is in the epistle to the Ephesians.

where Paul is addressing those who by becoming
Christians are transformed by grace and receive
the remission of sins.

It is obviously significant that Mary is considered to
already have been transformed by grace before
the birth of Christ.

kecharitomene
Christians have been 'transformed by
grace' 'according to the richness of his
grace, they find redemption by his blood,
the remission of sins.' (Ephesians 1:7).
The perfect passive participle is used by
Luke to indicate that the transformation
by grace has already taken place in
Mary, well before the moment of the
Annunciation.

kecharitomene
Sophronius of Jerusalem, for example,
interprets the term 'full of grace' in this
manner:
'No one has been fully sanctified as you
...; no one has been purified in advance as
you.'

Mary had been 'transformed by the grace' of
God in view of the task which she awaits,
that of becoming the Mother of the Son of
God, and to do so while remaining a virgin.

(Ignace de la Potterie, Mary in the Mystery of the Covenant, pp.17-20.)

The Protestant Reformers on the
Immaculate Conception
Martin Luther - "But the other conception, namely the infusion of
the soul, it is piously and suitably believed, was without any
sin, so that while the soul was being infused, she would at the
same time be cleansed from original sin and adorned with
the gifts of God to receive the holy soul thus infused. And
thus, in the very moment in which she began to live, she was
without all sin..."3 (Martin Luther, Weimar edition of Martin
Luther's Works, English translation edited by J. Pelikan
[Concordia: St. Louis], Volume 4, 694.)
John Calvin - "It cannot be denied that God in choosing and
destining Mary to be the Mother of his Son, granted her the
highest honor."9 (John Calvin, Calvini Opera [Braunshweig-
Berlin, 1863-1900], Volume 45, 348.)
Ulrich Zwingli - "I esteem immensely the Mother of God, the ever
chaste, immaculate Virgin Mary." (E. Stakemeier, De
Mariologia et Oecumenismo, K. Balic, ed., (Rome, 1962),
456.)

Revisiting the Misconception
some of the basic issues at stake.
First, there is interpretation.
Here the choice is between one historic, consistent, and
authoritative interpretation protected by the Holy Spirit and an
endless succession of contradictory interpretations.
Secondly, there is the question of faith and
works. Sola fides, sola gratia
If salvation comes from grace alone and faith alone with
no response of the believer involved in accepting or rejecting
grace and faith, then we are simply puppets or robots. What is
more, those who affirm grace and faith alone also say that
God predestines the vast majority of humanity to damnation.

Finally, the Fundamentalist doctrine that no
creature can be a mediator between God
and man
If he preaches the Word of God then he is mediating the
grace of God, even salvation, to his fellow man - "Let him
know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his
way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of
sins." (James 5:20).
Paul says quite unambiguously that "We are
God's fellow workers" (1 Corinthians 3:9).

Regarding the Fundamentalist charges against
Mariology:
(a) the Biblical Mary is, if anything, far more mysterious
and majestic a figure than the Mary of Mariology
(b) that Mary is not "slighted" by Christ: she is seen as a
key participant in His salvific mission and also as a
Mother who has to offer up her Son in sacrifice
(c) the key Marian doctrines are all clearly taught by
Scripture as recognized by the earliest Christians
(d) that Marian mediation and intercession highlight
our own freedom and remind us of our
responsibilities in both accepting the offer of
salvation and mediating it to our fellow beings.

A brief response to Fundamentalist
critiques of major Marian doctrines.
Mother of God
Fundamentalist criticisms of the fundamental Christian
teaching that Mary is the Mother of God inevitably end
up repeating the ancient heresies of Nestorianism,
Adoptionism, Arianism and Monophysitism.
According to Nestorianism, there are two persons in Jesus
Christ, one human and the other divine.
According to Adoptionism Jesus was a man by nature and
later became God by adoption; because of his
exemplary life he was exalted to divine sonship.
Arianism essentially holds that Jesus Christ was only a man
and not God.
Monophysitism, also called Eutychianism, is the view that
Jesus Christ had a divine but not a human nature;
although He "wore" human flesh He was not truly human.

Fundamentalists argue that the doctrine of the Immaculate
Conception implies that Mary has no need of a Savior and is
therefore divine and also that the doctrine runs contrary to
Scripture.
It should be noted that no orthodox presentation of the doctrine
suggests that Mary does not need a Savior or that she is divine:
on the contrary the doctrine explicitly states that Mary was saved
from her sins by her Son's redemptive death but that these
graces were applied to her at the moment of her conception.
We see in the Old Testament that many of the prophets were
prepared for their mission beforehand by God and also that
some of them were sanctified by God at birth (Jeremiah, John
the Baptist).
To be immaculately conceived, is not the same as being divine
or semi-divine. Both Adam and Eve were immaculately
conceived. (not through the womb but in the mid of God)

"As a child of Adam and Eve, Mary
shares our fallen condition de jure. But
de facto she was rescued from it at her
conception. All was grace, but in her
grace was preventive medicine. For us
it is therapeutic, healing the actual
damage of sin."

Implications of the Marian Dogma
Mother of God
explicitly shows that Jesus is True God
and True Man. He is a divine person
who became man and Mary give birth
to Him.

Implications of the Marian Dogma
God’s grace makes us truly righteous.
That is we are completely cleansed and
healed from the wounds and stains of Sins
Enabling us to strive to be Holy as our God is
Holy
That is we can say NO to Temptations and like
Mary we keep our baptismal robe as
spotless as the lamb, or our keep our
Promise at confession. With God’s grace
kecharitomene

That’s all Folks

Mary
Mother of God,
Pray for US sinners
now and at the
hour of our death
Amen

Mariology

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