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| "Medona and Child" by Francisco de Zurbarán c. 1626 |
The Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, The Mother of God, is normally a Holy Day of Obligation within the Roman Catholic Church. However, this year, the United States Catholic Bishops have dispensed the American Church from this obligation.
I thought that today, since it is a Holy Day of Obligation, I would put extra work into the Blog and provide some theological depth to our understanding of the Church’s teaching on Mary.
I have already provided an excellent link above to the Catholic Encyclopedia which has a rather lengthy article. In addition, I wanted to give appropriate citations from the Catechism of the Catholic Church: (for those who wish to really go through these citations, including the reference notes, the only obscure reference is LG which stands for Lumen gentium lined here. The designation DS stands for “Denzinger-Schonmetzer, Enchiridion Symbolorum, definitionum et declarationum de rebus fidei et morum (1965)” I was unable, with reasonable effort to find this text online. I was also unable to find the documents of Council of Friuli, also referenced.)
About our belief in Mary the Catechism says:
148 The Virgin Mary most perfectly embodies the obedience of faith. By faith Mary welcomes the tidings and promise brought by the angel Gabriel, believing that "with God nothing will be impossible" and so giving her assent: "Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be [done] to me according to your word." Elizabeth greeted her: "Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord." It is for this faith that all generations have called Mary blessed.
About the Church’s inclusion of Mary into the fold of canonized Saints we are told:
828 By canonizing some of the faithful, i.e., by solemnly proclaiming that they practiced heroic virtue and lived in fidelity to God's grace, the Church recognizes the power of the Spirit of holiness within her and sustains the hope of believers by proposing the saints to them as models and intercessors.[1] "The saints have always been the source and origin of renewal in the most difficult moments in the Church's history."[2] Indeed, "holiness is the hidden source and infallible measure of her apostolic activity and missionary zeal."[3]
829 "But while in the most Blessed Virgin the Church has already reached that perfection whereby she exists without spot or wrinkle, the faithful still strive to conquer sin and increase in holiness. And so they turn their eyes to Mary":[4] in her, the Church is already the "all-holy."
About her Immaculate Conception the Catechism says:
491 Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, "full of grace" through God, was redeemed from the moment of her conception. That is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854:
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.
Finally about Mary – Ever Virgin we hear:
Mary - "ever-virgin"
499 The deepening of faith in the virginal motherhood led the Church to confess Mary's real and perpetual virginity even in the act of giving birth to the Son of God made man. In fact, Christ's birth "did not diminish his mother's virginal integrity but sanctified it."[5] And so the liturgy of the Church celebrates Mary as Aeiparthenos, the "Ever-virgin".[6]
500 Against this doctrine the objection is sometimes raised that the Bible mentions brothers and sisters of Jesus.[7] The Church has always understood these passages as not referring to other children of the Virgin Mary. In fact James and Joseph, "brothers of Jesus", are the sons of another Mary, a disciple of Christ, whom St. Matthew significantly calls "the other Mary".[8] They are close relations of Jesus, according to an Old Testament expression.[9]
501 Jesus is Mary's only son, but her spiritual motherhood extends to all men whom indeed he came to save: "The Son whom she brought forth is he whom God placed as the first-born among many brethren, that is, the faithful in whose generation and formation she co-operates with a mother's love."[10]
Mary's virginal motherhood in God's plan
502 The eyes of faith can discover in the context of the whole of Revelation the mysterious reasons why God in his saving plan wanted his Son to be born of a virgin. These reasons touch both on the person of Christ and his redemptive mission, and on the welcome Mary gave that mission on behalf of all men.
503 Mary's virginity manifests God's absolute initiative in the Incarnation. Jesus has only God as Father. "He was never estranged from the Father because of the human nature which he assumed. . . He is naturally Son of the Father as to his divinity and naturally son of his mother as to his humanity, but properly Son of the Father in both natures."[11]
504 Jesus is conceived by the Holy Spirit in the Virgin Mary's womb because he is the New Adam, who inaugurates the new creation: "The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven."[12] From his conception, Christ's humanity is filled with the Holy Spirit, for God "gives him the Spirit without measure."[13] From "his fullness" as the head of redeemed humanity "we have all received, grace upon grace."[14]
505 By his virginal conception, Jesus, the New Adam, ushers in the new birth of children adopted in the Holy Spirit through faith. "How can this be?"[15] Participation in the divine life arises "not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God".[16] The acceptance of this life is virginal because it is entirely the Spirit's gift to man. The spousal character of the human vocation in relation to God[17] is fulfilled perfectly in Mary's virginal motherhood.
506 Mary is a virgin because her virginity is the sign of her faith "unadulterated by any doubt", and of her undivided gift of herself to God's will.[18] It is her faith that enables her to become the mother of the Savior: "Mary is more blessed because she embraces faith in Christ than because she conceives the flesh of Christ."[19]
507 At once virgin and mother, Mary is the symbol and the most perfect realization of the Church: "the Church indeed. . . by receiving the word of God in faith becomes herself a mother. By preaching and Baptism she brings forth sons, who are conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of God, to a new and immortal life. She herself is a virgin, who keeps in its entirety and purity the faith she pledged to her spouse."[20]
IN BRIEF
508 From among the descendants of Eve, God chose the Virgin Mary to be the mother of his Son. "Full of grace", Mary is "the most excellent fruit of redemption" (SC 103): from the first instant of her conception, she was totally preserved from the stain of original sin and she remained pure from all personal sin throughout her life.
509 Mary is truly "Mother of God" since she is the mother of the eternal Son of God made man, who is God himself.
510 Mary "remained a virgin in conceiving her Son, a virgin in giving birth to him, a virgin in carrying him, a virgin in nursing him at her breast, always a virgin" (St. Augustine, Serm. 186, 1: PL 38, 999): with her whole being she is "the handmaid of the Lord" (Lk 1:38).
511 The Virgin Mary "cooperated through free faith and obedience in human salvation" (LG 56). She uttered her yes "in the name of all human nature" (St. Thomas Aquinas, STh III, 30, 1). By her obedience she became the new Eve, mother of the living.
Readings for the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Commentary:
Reading 1 Nm 6:22-27
Especially in Protestant circles this passage is known as Aaron’s Blessing and is often used as the final blessing given at their services. It is interesting for us that it is used on the Solemnity of Mary – the obvious inference is that Mary, the Mother of God is a blessing to all of us.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8
R. May God bless us in his mercy.
Psalm 67 gives us another blessing and has elements of the ancient blessing of Aaron we heard in the first reading. This blessing has more of a plaintive tone, beseeching, almost pleading that the Lord bless us.
Reading II Gal 4:4-7
“God sent his Son, born of a woman” this passage provides us with the important fact that Mary gave birth to Jesus. He did not mystically appear to us. Jesus is (was) true man, meaning he went through the biological birth process. That also means that Mary, the Mother of God when through all of the difficult physical process of giving birth.
St. Paul goes on to remind us that through this action we are all adopted by God and are entitled to call God our Father “Abba” (translated into American usage as “daddy”).
Gospel Lk 2:16-21
The message, given to the shepherds by choirs of angels that they, in turn, brought to Mary that she kept and reflected in her heart about was; “For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger." (Lk 2 11-12)
This encounter with the shepherds further reinforces Mary’s faith, the acceptance of her child’s role explained to her by the Archangel Gabriel when this wonderful and tragic journey began.
Reflection:
We, as Disciples of Christ, always try to imitate him. We try to develop our spiritual selves and to conform our minds to His will in order to be faithful to our call. This is our life long pursuit. It is one that we know, while we constantly hold that goal up before ourselves, is impossible to fully attain until we are purified through his own grace and stand before him.
Lest we become discouraged, the Lord has left us helps along the way. First, he gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit, also of God, that dwells in us and sustains us. We are aware of this gift given to all at Pentecost and to us individually at our Baptism. But we still must learn to use it; that ability (to reach out to the strength of the Holy Spirit) is much like a muscle it must be built up.
God, in his infinite wisdom has seen our dilemma and also provided us with additional examples, like steppingstones; inspired people of faith have proceeded us on this journey and in this task. Their lives provide us with additional examples, showing us the way to follow; the path and the pitfalls; like lamps on a dark and winding road. These people are, of course, the Saints acclaimed and canonized by Holy Mother Church.
Chief among these beacons of light in the darkness is Mary, the Mother of God, Blessed Virgin who is the first to know and accept our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It was she who accepted, without fear, the great blessing of bearing the Messiah long prophesied. It was she who kept all of the signs and foreknowledge in hear heart. It was she who first gave the world a peak at the nature of her son at the wedding feast of Cana when she told the steward to listen to him regarding the wine. And it was she who stood at the foot of the cross, torn by grief, as her son fulfilled his Father’s purpose.
From that high station, Jesus sent his mother to be mother of us all; “When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, behold, your son.’ Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother." And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.” (Jn 19 26-27)
Through all those years since, Mary has come to the people of this earth. She has come in many places and ways; to Fatima and Lourdes, to Guadalupe, Mexico and Czestochowa, Poland. She has come with various messages but with one overwhelming purpose – to bring the people of God to faith in Her Son.
Today, on her day, we celebrate the Virgin Mary’s sacrifice and gift. We thank God for that shining example of faith that gives us hope in our own journey. May we always revere her and keep her example in our hearts.
Pax
[2] John Paul II, CL 16,3
[3] CL 17, 3.
[4] LG 65; cf. Eph 5:26-27.
[5] LG 57.
[6] Cf. LG 52.
[7] Cf. Mk 3:31-35; 6:3; 1 Cor 9:5; Gal 1:19.
[8] Mt 13:55; 28:1; cf. Mt 27:56.
[9] Cf. Gen 13:8; 14:16; 29:15; etc.
[10] LG 63; cf. Jn 19:26-27; Rom 8:29; Rev 12:17.
[11] Council of Friuli (796): DS 619; cf. Lk 2:48-49.
[12] 1 Cor 15:45,47.
[13] Jn 3:34.
[14] Jn 1:16; cf. Col 1:18.
[15] Lk 1:34; cf. Jn 3:9.
[16] Jn 1:13.
[17] Cf. 2 Cor 11:2.
[18] LG 63; cf. 1 Cor 7:34-35.
[19] St. Augustine, De virg., 3: PL 40, 398.
[20] LG 64; cf. 63.
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