Objectives
By the end of this module you will be able to:
Objectives
By the end of this module you will be able to:
Introduction to Module 11
This module concerns the study of Mary, the mother of Jesus, called mariology. One might well ask what has Mary got to do with the topic of the church? In the course of these notes and the three readings on mariology in your book of readings, that question will hopefully be answered.
Different dimensions to Mariology
Mariology is a topic that covers two thousand years. Quite a long time! So where does one start and finish? Each historical epoch has its own particular way of seeing Mary and devotional practices to her.
There are many dimensions to the study of mariology. There is the question of Mary in the Bible, of the dogmas about Mary proclaimed by the Catholic Church, of the possibility of new marian (relating to Mary) dogmas, of the relationship of Mary to the Church, of the meaning and validity of popular devotion to Mary, and of the genuineness and meaning of apparitions. Not all these issues can be addressed here but one should at least be aware of them.
Then there are also the important ecumenical dimensions of mariology involving the Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant traditions. Is there a common biblical ground for mariology? Can Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants ever agree on Mary? The Orthodox have a very rich tradition of mariology. How will they influence the dialogues among western Christians? Do Catholics see Mary as the mediator of all graces? If so, then what has become of Jesus Christ in all this?
What do the already declared dogmas of the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption of Mary mean to Catholics? These dogmas are not in the Bible, so Protestants accepting only the Bible as the source of teachings, have a difficulty with these dogmas. Will the marian dogmas be an obstacle to a united christian church of the future? All these aspects are part of mariology. Not all of these issues can be dealt with in great detail but the readings will give you some feel for the issues involved.
Why place Mary here in the unit on church?
It seems at first glance that a module about Mary would not be expected to be found in a unit on church. It seems out of place. It might be better situated in a unit on saints, for example, or a unit on devotions. The fundamental question of where mariology belongs or where it fits into christian theology, was raised at Vatican II and was keenly debated. We will address this issue now. To answer the question one really has to go back a little in the history of mariology.
History of Mariology
There have always been Christians who have honoured Mary greatly and devotions to her have grown up and developed throughout the history of the christian church. Devotions like the rosary, novenas, the wearing of scapulars, miraculous medals, statues of Mary, pilgrimages to marian shrines, are some of the manifestations of this religious zeal. The theology that has accompanied these devotions has changed, developed and occasionally been distorted over time. Throughout christian history there have also been many great ages of mariology. We will briefly highlight the main ones as our interest lies more with mariology in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
The patristic period, particularly the fourth century saw many writings on Mary in Greek, Syriac and Latin. The Council of Ephesus in 431 proclaimed Mary Theotokos, Mother of God. The High Middle Ages in the West was characterised by great marian devotion expressed in liturgical, artistic and devotional ways to honour Mary. The great Gothic cathedrals of Europe all honoured Mary in some way, be it through stained glass windows, statues or naming of buildings. Speculation grew in theology as to Mary’s role in salvation among the Benedictines, Franciscans, Cisterians and Dominicans. It was also the age of St Dominic and the rosary. The decadent practices and superstitions of the Reformation period evoked a Catholic response from theologians such as Peter Canisius, Robert Bellarmine and Francis de Sales.
In the seventeenth century, in the works of people like Louis Marie Grignon de Montfort and Quirino de Salazar, Mary came to be seen as the associate of the Redeemer.
However only in the nineteenth century, did keen students of Mary come to be called "mariologists". They were a group of people or theologians who specialized in Mary. They formed a separate group who appeared to others to be engaged in an interest and activity somewhat offbeat. It was seen by some as off the christian mainstream.
Some Protestants thought these Catholics were taking things to extremes and saw marian devotion as "mariolotry" - that is, making Mary into an idol, treating her like a god or goddess. Flower-laden side altars in Catholic churches with large statues of Mary that sometimes attracted more attention than the tabernacle, seem to confirm a certain losing of religious balance. The proclamation of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Mary by Pius IX in 1854, did nothing to dissuade some Protestants in their opinions of Catholic "mariolatry".
As history moved into the twentieth century, these groups of mariologists were pressing for more marian dogmas. In due course the dogma of the Assumption of Mary was proclaimed by Pius XII in 1954. Since then they have been pressing for the proclamation that Mary is the Mediatrix of all graces with the title of "Co-redemptress". Understandably this looks to Protestants as though Mary is replacing Jesus Christ as the one and only mediator between God and humankind. It also looked that way to many Catholics.
Protestants refer to the New testament where it explicitly states: "For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and humankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, the testimony to which was borne at the proper time" (I Tm 2:5-6).
This issue was on the boil when Vatican II was announced and many hoped that the Council would proclaim Mary the Mediatrix of all graces and produce a statement on her.
Vatican II debate
The keen mariologists were keen to have a separate document, statement on Mary. Others were inclined to want to make a statement about Mary but within the document on the Church , Lumen Gentium (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church).
The prepared schema on Mary was called, Mary the Mother of God and Mother of men. At the second session of Vatican II, several members requested that the subject of Mary be treated in the context of the document on the Church. This suggestion was much debated and finally, by the narrow margin of 1114 to 1074 votes, it was resolved to include the statement on Mary in the document on the church. This now appears in Lumen Gentium, Chapter 8.
The fact that so many voted to have a separate document for Mary at the Council reflects where mariology was towards the end of the 1950s and early 1960s. The final document in Lumen Gentium had to reflect the fact that opinions were divided. The actual section in Lumen Gentium that deals with mariology covers paragraphs 55- 65. This can be divided into paragraphs 55-59 which are mainly christological and 60-65 which are mainly ecclesiological.
The question of Mary as Mediatrix of graces is confronted head-on. Paragraph 62, after mentioning the titles of Mary as Advocate, Auxiliatrix, Adjutrix and Mediatrix, says "These, however, are to be so understood that they neither take away from, nor add anything to, the dignity and efficacy of Christ the one Mediator".
Mary and the Church in Lumen Gentium (# 60-65)
We will now consider what the Vatican II document Lumen Gentium says about the relationship of Mary to the Church.
The freedom of God’s grace is the first thing stressed in this section. Mary’s influence on humankind derives from God’s grace not from any inner necessity on the part of Mary. Her influence in no way impedes the direct union of the faithful with Christ, rather it facilitates that union.
Paragraph 61 says that Mary is in a way a mother to us (that is, the church) in the order of grace. How is that possible? It is possible if we think of her role in the story of salvation. She was part of God’s plan from the beginning - what Paul calls "the mystery of Christ". She conceived Jesus, she served on earth as Jesus’ mother, she nourished him, looked after him and witnessed his death on the cross. By her faith and hope and love, she co-operated in the Saviour’s plan of restoring the life of grace to humankind. That is why she is a mother to us in the order of grace.
Mary’s role of mother in the order of grace commenced at the Annunciation and continues uninterruptedly even though she is now in heaven. By her maternal intercession she continues "to win us gifts of eternal salvation". Mary cares for those still journeying on earth. Because of this the church gives her the titles of Advocate, Auxiliatrix, Adjutrix and Mediatrix. Having said that much the document is quick to put it all in perspective lest some get carried away by the lofty titles. There is only one unique source of all our grace and that is Christ. But that fact does not stop others, especially Mary, from cooperation in the work of salvation and sharing in this one source of grace. Mary provides maternal help to all. Yet this paragraph reminds us for a second time that this role does not usurp that of Christ: "The Church does not hesitate to profess this subordinate role of Mary".
Mary is also a model of the Church, as Ambrose taught. Her faith, hope, charity and perfect union with Christ is an example for the whole Church to emulate. In a way she also gave birth to all the church. She did this because through her faith she became the mother of Jesus on earth and he in turn was the first born of many faithful (the church). So indirectly she is also the mother of all the faithful. She cooperated in bringing them about through giving birth to Jesus. She has an ongoing maternal interest in all new member as they are born into the christian church.
The church by its preaching and baptising brings forth "to a new and immortal life children who are conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of God". The church is thus imitating the mother role (# 64).
Mary has become a model of sanctity for the whole church. They look up to her who "shines forth to the whole community of the elect as a model of the virtues".
Where Mary is being preached and venerated she calls the faithful to her Son and his sacrifice and to the love of the Father. The church seeking after the glory of Christ, becomes more like Mary as it progresses in faith, hope and love, searching out and doing the will of God. For this reason the church in its apostolic work looks up to one who brought forth Christ by the Holy Spirit, so that, through the church, Christ may be conceived and born again into the hearts of many believers.
Note that with all the titles given in # 62, the document does not use the title "Co-redemptrix". There would be much ambiguity with this title. During the Council Paul VI in 1964, in fact did proclaim Mary by a new title but it was not co-redemptrix. It was Mary Mother of the Church, thus stressing this ecclesial link and underlining the way Mary fits into our understanding of theology today.
Exercise 11.0
11.0.1 Explain in your own words in about half a page why Mary is linked to the Church in the Vatican II documents.
Introduction to Readings 11.1 and 11.2
Senior, D. "Gospel Portrait of Mary : Images and Symbols from the Synoptic Tradition", in Mary, Woman of Nazareth : Biblical and Theological Perspectives, ed. D.Donnelly, ( New York: Paulist Press, 1989), 92-108.
Perkins, P. "Mary in Johannine Traditions", in Mary, Woman of Nazareth : Biblical and Theological Perspectives, ed. D.Donnelly, (New York: Paulist Press, 1989), 109-122.
The history of mariology we have given above should help one to situate the readings that follow.
Mariology is often associated with Catholicism as its distinct badge. This is true, but in the contemporary ecumenical climate, studies of Mary have been undertaken that include scholars from different christian churches. Bearing this in mind, the Bible is a good place to start.
The first two readings are both chapters from the book edited by Doris Donnelly, Mary, Woman of Nazareth : Biblical and Theological Perspectives (1989). The first by Donald Senior examines Mary in the Synoptic gospels and the second by Pheme Perkins deals with Johannine literature. As both these chapters relate to the New Testament, it is necessary to say something about Mary in the Old Testament.
Basically mariologists of the past were inclined to see too much into some verses of the Old Testament. The key texts referred to in connection with Mary were Gen 3:15, Is 7:14 and Mic 5:2-4.
The text of Genesis 3:15 reads as follows: "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." The text as it stands suggests optimism and ultimate victory of good over evil introduced by the serpent. However right from the time of the Vulgate translation of the Bible into Latin, a marian twist was given the texts with the words "she shall crush" and "you shall lie in wait". However some exegetes affirm a marian interpretation insofar as "seed" could refer to Christ and hence the "woman" is Mary. Irenaeus took it in this sense.
Is 7:14 reads: "The Lord himself therefore, will give you a sign. It is this: the maiden (almah) is with child and will soon give birth to a son whom she will call Immanuel".
Here the Greek version of the Bible reads "parthenos" meaning "virgin", which is more explicit than the Hebrew, "almah", which means either a young girl or a young recently married woman.
The question is who is the son referred to in the text? It could be the future king Hezekiah, son of Ahaz. But many more see it as a messianic text, that is referring to the future Messiah of Israel, Jesus Christ. If it is, then the woman is Mary and the translation "virgin" fits in well with the marian doctrine of her virginity. Since the Patristic tradition there is overwhelming support for the messianic interpretation of this text - even if the translation "virgin" is reading too much into the word "almah" from an exegetical point of view. Likewise not too much should be read into the text of Micah 5:2-4 which speaks of Bethlehem out of which shall be born "the one who is to rule Israel" although Matthew interprets it as referring to the Messiah.
So much for a look at some of the biblical material on mariology. Your readings do not cover everything in that area but give you some feel for the complexities of the subject matter.
Exercise 11.1 & 11.2
Write a summary in about 500 words each of what we learn about Mary in :
11.1.1 the Synoptics and,
11.2.1 in Johannine literature.
Introduction to Reading 11.3
Coyle, K. "The Marian Dogmas II", in Mary in the Christian Tradition, (Mystic: Twenty-Third Publications, 1996), 35-47.
The third reading moves onto doctrinal matters about mariology. Its content relates to some of what the Catholic Church has taught explicitly about Mary. The reading is Chapter Three, "The Marian Dogmas II", from Coyle’s book, Mary in the Christian Tradition (1996). It deals with the dogmas of The Immaculate Conception and the Assumption of Mary from the viewpoint of their history, theological arguments, definition and understanding and meaning of these dogmas today. Note the importance of the western Church’s concept of original sin (from Augustine onwards) in forming out thinking about the Immaculate Conception. Orthodox Christians never inherited the Augustinian understanding of original sin and thus their theology of sin and baptism is expressed in other ways. The chapter provides four questions for further reflection and discussion.
Exercise 11.3
Write paragraphs on the following:
11.3.1 What did Augustine say about original sin?
11.3.2 How can we understand the meaning of the Immaculate Conception today?
11.3.3 How can we understand the meaning of the Assumption of Mary today?
Introduction to Reading 11.4
Hamington, M. "The Recasting of Marian Imagery", in Hail Mary? : The Struggle for Ultimate Womanhood in Catholicism, ( London: Routledge, 1995), 157-179.
The fourth reading is Chapter 6 "The Recasting of Marian Imagery" from Maurice Hamington’s book, Hail Mary?: The Struggle for Ultimate Womanhood in Catholicism (1995). This reading is quite different in content and style from the others. He is looking to recast the traditional image of Mary in a way that takes cognizance of the criticism of contemporary feminism and also remains faithful to the biblical material and an understanding of tradition that allows for growth and development. It might be helpful to ask oneself, after reading the chapter, to what extent one can identify with his approach and what elements one would reject.
Exercise 11.4
11.4.1 Write down in the form of short statements, the points you agree with and then the ones you disagree with, in Hamington’s attempt to recast the image of Mary.
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