The Spiritual
Imperative of the Divine Maternity and Marian Consecration
“Ignorance of Mary denotes a
profound ignorance of both Scripture and of God Himself…The person who
understands God understands Mary’s greatness. However, he who does not
understand God’s greatness cannot understand Mary’s greatness, and that is why
ignorance of Mary is ignorance of God.” [1]
(Monsignor Anthony La Femina)
Not enough can be said by Catholics about the
great love Our Lady has for mankind! The Blessed Virgin Mary has often been an
unnecessary stumbling block for potential converts to the Catholic faith. Since
the Protestant revolt in the 16th century much falsehood has been
spread about the Holy Mother of God and in doing so much falsehood has been
spread about the very nature of Jesus Christ. “When Our Lady’s God-given
privileges are rejected and ridiculed, how sadly history shows that her Son
fares no better.”[2]
From the earliest Ecumenical Councils of the Church to numerous papal documents
to the countless testimony of the Saints throughout the centuries, the Blessed
Mother of God holds a unique and important place in Catholicism. In fact, it
can be said that without recognizing her unique place and role in God’s plan
for the salvation of mankind that one ceases to be a true Christian. Simply
stated, “Authentic Christianity cannot exist without due veneration of and
tender love for the mother whom God chose, formed and loved from all eternity
to be His very own mother.”[3]
Unfortunately, there are also many Catholics who are ignorant of the role of
the Mother of God and I intend to make a small contribution to dispel at least
some of this ignorance and foster greater devotion to her.
Mary’s Divine Maternity and Her Immaculate
Conception
The first central dogma concerning Our Lady
is what is known as her Divine Maternity. The title of Theotokos, the
‘Mother of God’, or ‘God-Bearer’ and the subsequent theology that flows from it
was defined as a dogma of in 431 at the third ecumenical Council at Ephesus.
The Council clearly proclaimed, “If anyone does not profess that Emmanuel is
truly God and that consequently the Holy Virgin is the Mother of God, let him
be anathema.”[4]
This motherhood does not only refer to Jesus in His human nature but also to
that of His divine nature. The simple logic is that Jesus’s entire person with
both natures was born of the Virgin Mary. How can Jesus be born and not retain
both natures as a person? The Council Fathers led by Saint Cyril of Alexandria
chose to use the term hypostatic union to describe the, “two different natures
come together to form a unity, and from both arose one Christ, one Son.”[5] Although
the Council focused on the heresy of Nestorius, which in a confusing manner
denied the unified person of Christ in His two natures, Arian heretics and
others had completely denied Christ’s divinity, and this dogmatic definition
solidified the teaching that Jesus the God-Man was born of the Blessed Virgin
Mary.
While the strict dogmatic definitions of these
two Councils were mainly directed at defending the orthodox teaching about the
personhood of Christ, Mary’s divine maternity runs much deeper into the
Church’s theology and spirituality. The uniqueness of Mary being the Mother of
God is clear in Sacred Scripture when Elizabeth recognizes her divine
maternity, “And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to
me?” (Luke 1:43) Elizabeth then extols Mary’s faith in listening to and
accepting her role as the Mother of God. Father Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange so
eloquently stated, “The divine maternity is, therefore, … the foundation,
source, and root of all Mary’s graces and privileges,”[6] At the
annunciation it was made clear that the Holy Spirit would come upon her and
from this, the incarnation would take place. It is important to understand that
Jesus’ human nature was passed on to him through Mary’s human nature, untouched
by sin, and that the Holy Spirit was at work in the hypostatic union of Christ
in His divine nature. This is a mystery to be sure, but the working of the Holy
Trinity is clearly at work here in a unique manner only found in this instance
through Mary’s divine maternity and thus, “Mary became the first human being to
whom God revealed the inscrutable mystery of His intimate Trinitarian Life.”[7]
Mary at the foot of the cross was made by
Christ Himself the spiritual Mother of the Church and all Christians. As she
stood beneath the cross, she heard Jesus in saying to her “Women, behold your
son” referring to Saint John the Evangelist. This presents the reality of her
role as mother of all the faithful. It may appear that this passage of Sacred
Scripture was the first time that this reality was cast into the public eye.
The truth is however, that this reality is presented much earlier in the
Gospels. By the mere act of Mary’s humble acceptance as a handmaid to the
announcement of the angel of her divine maternity, she instantly became our
spiritual mother, “By that act she conceived us spiritually.”[8] It is
from this font of divine maternity that the intercession and mediation of Our
Lady flow forth. “In Mary's
case we have a special and exceptional mediation, based upon her "fullness
of grace," which was expressed in the complete willingness of the
"handmaid of the Lord." In response to this interior willingness of
his Mother, Jesus Christ prepared her ever more completely to become for all
people their "mother in the order of grace."[9] As we
will soon see there is more to understanding the biblical phrase “full of
grace”.
It must be said that Mary was chosen by God
from all eternity to be Jesus’ mother. It is obviously fitting that Jesus would
never have allowed Himself to be touched by the works of Satan through the
fallen nature of humanity tainted by original sin. Jesus chose to make His
mother perfect regarding her humanity, being that her humanity was intimately
united to the hypostatic union. She would not only be the perfect ark for Him,
but she was His Immaculate Mother and thus of His very flesh. “Holiness is the
sum total of all God’s attributes and, with due respect for His own divine
nature, what other kind of mother could God make for Himself except a worthy,
i.e. holy, mother?”[10] This
preservation of Mary from original sin is known as the dogma of the Immaculate
Conception. Although formally pronounced ex-cathedra by Pope Pius IX only in 1854,
this teaching is based in the Scriptures and has been taught by the Fathers of
the Church and all the Saints through the ages. Saint Ephraim the Syrian in his
361 praises Our Lord and His Mother, "You alone and your Mother are
more beautiful than any others, for there is no blemish in you nor any stains
upon your Mother. Who of my children can compare in beauty to these?"[11] As we
can see, this dogma is closely connected to the dogma of her divine maternity
and her close union with Christ. “Mary
has a consanguineous relationship in the direct line to the Second Person of
the Most Holy Trinity. No other woman
exists who can make this boast!”[12]
Mary’s holiness is attested to in Sacred
Scripture. The most heavily quoted portion of Scripture in reference to her
holiness is Luke 1:28, “And the angel being come in, said unto her: Hail, full
of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.” Many know this
passage, but few truly understand its significance due in no small part to
inadequate biblical translation, which does not fully convey its meaning. Does
the translation from Latin, “full of grace” adequately convey the total reality
of the status of Mary’s holiness? “The Latin and English translations of the text,
usually “Gratia Plena” or “Full of Grace”, do not do justice to the Greek text.”[13] The
Greek word used is Kecharitomene, which is a title rather than an adjective. Ultimately it is a title that
expresses an action or more specifically expresses a predetermined and ongoing
reality that contains the entire meaning of Mary as ‘The Immaculate
Conception!’ When someone asks if the dogma of the Immaculate Conception is
contained in Sacred Scripture, you can answer in the affirmative! Monsignor
Anthony La Femina explains,
“Kecharitomene may be
rendered as “Pre-sanctified One.” This translation is not one that interprets
the Greek word but rather, one that renders a literal translation of it. Thus,
Gabriel’s greeting would have been “Hail, Pre-sanctified One. The Lord is with
you!” This most singular grace of pre-sanctification is called Mary’s
Immaculate Conception… The grace of the immaculate
conception made Mary to be above all others of God’s creation and from the
first moment of her conception, to most resemble God.”[14]
Looking here at the Greek word and its much
deeper meaning than we are offered through common translation. We can see a
significant reality about Our Lady not commonly understood among Catholics.
“Hail Presanctified One!” demonstrates Mary’s role as being chosen by God
before all eternity to be immaculately conceived for the sole reason of
becoming Jesus’ mother. There was indeed a reason the Blessed Mother referred
to herself as ‘The Immaculate Conception’ in Lourdes, France. It was clearly a
reminder that it was through her that all believers would be triumphant over
the dominion of Satan. This reality leads us to look deeper at Mary’s action in
the life of the Church as the ‘Women’ who will crush Satan’s head, ultimately
acting as co-redemptrix and the mediatrix of all graces.
Mary as the ‘Women’
Following the leitmotif of Msgr. Anthony La
Femina’s lecture titled ‘Mary’s
Signal Place in Authentic Christianity’, I will focus now on how the title of
‘Women’ in the Gospel of John is closely related to Genesis. In fact, the
passage of John cannot be understood without referring to the prophetic text of
Genesis. The use of the word ‘Women’ to refer to Our Lady is found twice in the
Gospel of John. Its use is found at the Wedding Feast at Cana and at the foot
of the cross. It is interesting that St. John never refers to Mary by her name,
but to this mysterious title of ‘Women.’ Why does Jesus use this term when
referring to His mother? Was it to denigrate her as many Protestants contend?
This ignorant interpretation demonstrates how many people read the Scriptures
but hardly understand its meaning! Upon closer inspection, we see a clear
connection between Genesis 3:15 and John 2:4. The passage of Genesis reads, “I
will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her
seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her
heel.” In the Gospel of John Jesus answers His mother after her making it known
to Him that there was no more wine in the following manner, “Woman, what
is that to me and to thee? my hour is not yet come.” Monsignor explains,
“At the marriage feast of Cana, Jesus himself reveals the identity of the
mysterious Woman of Genesis. He does this by addressing his mother with the
title of “Woman” (Jn 2:4). By making this identification, Jesus reveals Himself
as the Woman’s offspring. In this manner, John discloses the identity of the
two persons decreed to fulfill the prophecy of Genesis… By addressing his mother with the title used
in the prophecy of Genesis, Jesus openly identifies his mother as the Woman of
Genesis who, as his companion in his redemptive hour, will conquer the devil in
favor of the human race. Jesus
associates and includes Mary to his hour set by the Father for the redemption
of the world.”[15]
This reality is significant because it
clearly shows Mary’s role not only as a mediator in the role of salvation, but
also as an instrumental cause of the triumph of the Church and henceforth of
all believers over Satan! By virtue of her close union with Christ, she is the
one who crushes the head of Satan in Genesis. She is the long-awaited
fulfillment of the prophecy. I think the connection of Mary’s spiritual
participation in her role as mediatrix is very apparent in comparing both
passages. Her title demands action. The action of Mary as the ‘Women’ crushing
the head of Satan is directly connected to Mary’s intercession at Cana where
she in effect declares the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. Jesus’ ministry
is completed with His perfect Sacrifice on the cross through which Satan is
defeated. “Who else would be a terror to the demon but the Promised Woman?”[16]
Mary’s spiritual action as mediatrix and intercessor is not only for this
instance, but it is her role for all time in the life of the Church. “She would
intercede for its members until the day her Son would return and take all the
faithful on earth to Himself. Her role would ever be Daughter, Spouse, Mother,
Intercessor and Refuge of Sinners.[17]
Go to Part II
[1] Monsignor
Anthony LaFemina. STL., JCD, Mary’s
Signal Place In Authentic Christianity (Private Lecture 2019)
[2]
Eamon R. Carroll, Mary In the Documents
of the Magisterium (Mariology Vol I, 1954, Public Domain)
[4]
The Council of Ephesus, Anathema #1
451
[5]
Saint Cyril, Second Letter to Nestorius, (430AD)
[6] Reverend
Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange O.P., The
Mother of the Saviour (TAN Books, 1993) P39
[7] Monsignor
Anthony LaFemina. STL., JCD, Mary’s Signal Place In Authentic Christianity,
(Private Lecture 2019)
[8] Reverend
Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange O.P., The
Mother of the Saviour (TAN Books, 1993) P39
[9]
John Paul II, Redemptoris Mater, Para 39, (March 25th, 1987)
[10] Monsignor
Anthony LaFemina. STL., JCD, Mary’s Signal Place In Authentic Christianity,
(Private Lecture 2019)
[11] Ephraim
the Syrian, Nisibene Hymns 27:8 (361)
[12] Monsignor
Anthony LaFemina. STL., JCD, Mary’s Signal Place In Authentic Christianity,
(Private Lecture 2019)
[13]
Ibid
[14]
Ibid
[15]
Ibid
[16]
Mother Mary Angelica, The Promised Woman (EWTN 1977) P61
[17]
Ibid
Matthew J. Bellisario
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