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THE VIRGIN MARY

The Mother of God | FAQs about the Virgin Mary

The Mother of God

The Son Who Chose His Mother

Our understanding of Our Blessed Lady depends totally upon our understanding of her Son. Everything about her flows from her being Christ's mother; as our understanding of him grows, our understanding of her grows. It was so with the Church. By the year 500 the main dogmas about Christ had been defined; the Church's mind could now bear upon his Mother; we come to hear of Assumption and Immaculate Conception. It is so with ourselves: unless we have some knowledge of the doctrines of Trinity and Incarnation, we can still love her but cannot know her; and we have already seen that loving without deep knowledge is only a shadow of loving.

Theotokos, said the Council of Ephesus in 431; she is the mother of God; the child she conceived and bore is God the Son. In his divine nature he had existed eternally. But his human nature he owed to her as much as anyone owes his human nature to his mother. There is nothing that makes my mother mine which is lacking in her relation to him as man. As God he was born of the Father before all ages; as man he was born at a particular point of time of the Virgin Mary. Do not think it sufficient to call her the mother of his human nature; natures, we have already noted, do not have mothers. She was mother, as yours or mine is, of the person born of her. And the person was God the Son. Most of us find this truth almost shattering in its greatness; it is not simply a biographical fact about Jesus which one notes but does not linger upon. There are those who do see it like that and so dismiss it. One imagines them as saying, "Naturally, if God was to be born into our world, one would expect him to have a mother; but having brought him to birth she had done her duty and passes into the background." If thought of at all by such people, she is thought of with respect. But she is not often thought of. There is a type of religious mind which brushes creatures aside as irrelevant, indeed a distraction from the Absolute. The Absolute did not find them so. The Son died for them; for them the Father spared not his own Son (Rom 8:33).

I have put this way of looking at her as a sort of rough outline of a whole state of mind. In its more extreme utterance it can be so comic that one almost forgets how tragic it is. On the outdoor platform I once had a questioner who said, solemnly: "I respect Christ's mother as I respect my own." The overwhelming temptation, when one hears such a remark, is to point to the difference between the two sons. But it is necessary to make clear why the difference makes a difference. We are not saying that mothers of holy children are better than mothers of less holy. The difference is not between one son who is holy and another who is less obviously so. It is between a Son who is God and a son who is man only.

In seeing what the difference is, a good starting point is the simple fact that this Son existed before his mother. So that he is the only Son who was in a position to choose who his mother should be; he could choose therefore what every son would choose if he could, the mother who would suit him best. Further, it goes with the very heart of sonship that a son wants to give his mother gifts; and Christ, being God, could give her all that she would want. To his giving power there was no limit. And what above all she wanted was union with God, the completest union possible to a human being of her will with God's will, grace therefore in her soul.

He was her Son, and he gave it lavishly. She responded totally, so that she was sinless. It was her response to the graced God that made her supreme in holiness-higher even than the highest angel, the Church tells us. We may pause for a moment to look at this truth. By nature she was lower than the least angel, for human nature as such is less than angelic. But, as we have already seen, any relation in the order of grace is higher than any in the order of nature. It is by grace that we are closer to God; by our response, that is, to the created share in his own life that God offers us. By grace Our Lady outranks all created beings. But only because she responded to God's love more perfectly. St. John Chrysostom says, "She would not have been blessed, though she had borne him in the body, had she not heard the word of God and kept it."

Immaculate Conception and Assumption 

We have considered one result of Our Lady's being the mother of God-all sons want to give their mothers gifts, this Son could give without any limit save her power to receive; and what in supreme measure he gave was sanctifying grace. But there is one special element in his power to give that we might easily overlook. Because he was God, he could give his mother gifts not only before he was born of her, but before she was born herself. This is the meaning of the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception.

It is surprising how this phrase has caught the imagination of the public but more surprising how often it is used with no trace of its true meaning. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred it is used as if it meant the virgin birth of Christ. But it refers not to Christ's conception in Our Lady's womb, but to her conception in the womb of her own mother. It does not mean, either, that she was virginally conceived; she had a father and mother. It means that her Son's care for her and gifts to her began from the first moment of her existence.

For all of us conception comes when God creates a soul and unites it with the bodily element formed in the mother's womb. But from the very first moment of her soul's creation, it had, by God's gift, not natural life only but supernatural life. What this means quite simply is that she whom God chose to be his mother never existed for an instant without sanctifying grace in her soul.

A century ago the Church made this doctrine the subject of an infallible definition. For century upon century before that Catholics had held it for certain truth. Once the Church had formulated with all possible clearness the doctrines of the Trinity and Incarnation, so that Catholics could live day in and day out in the full awareness of who and what Christ is, they began to see it as unthinkable that he should have allowed his mother to exist for so much as an instant without sanctifying grace. Yet for many devoted lovers of the Blessed Virgin, a troubling question remains. Our Lady had said in the Magnificat: "My spirit doth rejoice in God my Savior." How could God be her Savior, what was there to save her from, if she had had grace always?

Gradually they came to see the answer, or rather the two-fold answer. To save men from their sins is a great mercy of God; but to save this one woman from ever sinning was a greater mercy, but still a mercy. Not only that. Sinless as she was, possessed of grace at every instant, she was still a member of a fallen race, a race to which heaven was closed. The Savior's redeeming act opened heaven to her as to all members of the race.

The Assumption:

Roughly a hundred years after the definition of the Immaculate Conception came that of the Assumption of Our Blessed Lady. In the dogma, the word assumption has no relation to its ordinary English meaning of something one assumes because one cannot prove it. It means the taking of Our Lady, body and soul, into heaven. It is, if anything, earlier than the belief that she was conceived immaculate; and it is not too much to say that in 1500 years it never raised any serious doubt, or even problem, in the minds of Catholics.

It was an almost inevitable result of living with the full truth about her Son. For the ordinary man, there was the simple feeling that Christ would want his mother with him in heaven not her soul only but herself, body and soul. Any son would want that, and this was the one Son who could have what be wanted. For the more instructed, probably, there was anon element. It is a doctrine of the Church that all men would receive back the bodies from which their souls had been separate at death. The gap between was a result of sin, and Our Lady was sinless.

Men, of course, cannot pretend to know what God will or will not do. For all of us the temptation occasionally arises to decide some question with the confidence that the decision is God's, when all that we have done is to decide what we would do if we were God. But when the vast mass of Catholics see a conclusion as certain over a space of some fifteen hundred years, the risk is not great. It vanishes altogether when the Church gives its solemn definition as she gave it in 1969.

Our Mother

At the Annunciation, theologians hold that in saying, Be it done to me according to thy word” Our Lady uttered the consent of the human race to the first step in its redemption. The Assumption means that in heaven she represents the human race redeemed; she alone is, body and soul, where all the saved will one day be. We must look a little more closely at her relation to the human race which at these two points she represents.

We call her our mother, and for most of us the matter requires no discussion. Yet it repays discussion. If we take for granted that she is our mother simply because she is Christ's, we omit something that matters for our understanding of what he means to her and she to us. As her Son, he drew his natural life from her; but, because he was her Redeemer, she drew her super­natural life from him; and it is in the supernatural order, the order of grace, that she is our mother.

How, in this order, does she become so? By her Son's appointment. In the Collect to her feast as Mediatrix of All Graces, the Church says it-"O Lord Jesus Christ, our Mediator with the Father, who hast deigned to appoint Thy most blessed Virgin Mother to be our Mother." The appointment was made upon Calvary. When Our Lord gave her the Apostle John to be her son, he was not simply making provision for her. For that he had no need to wait for Calvary; he could have attended to it before his crucifixion and after his Resurrection. Calvary was the sacrifice of the race's redemption; everything that he did and said on the cross is related to that. So with his words to Our Lady and St. John. It was as part of his plan of redemption, that he was giving her to be the mother of John-not of John as himself but as man. From that moment she is the mother of us all.

What does motherhood carry with it? Essentially, love and  total willingness to serve. Those two things Catholics have  always seen in her, telling her their needs with complete  confidence, inwardly conversing with her freely. That is, we  pray to her; which means that we ask her to pray for us-for all  kinds of things, but especially for grace, which is what mattered  most to her (matters most to us too, though we do not always,  realize it). In the encyclical Ad Diem St. Pius X called her "the first steward in the dispensing of graces."

With this we come to an element in the Redemption which we  too easily fail to notice. Christ redeemed us, but it is in God's  plan that the application to individual souls of the Redemption  Christ won should be by fellow members of the race: that we are  not meant to be only recipients of redemption, still less  spectators and no more: we are all called to be stewards in the dispensing of graces. The principal ways for every one of us are love, prayer (the Mass above all), suffering.

None of these things would be of any effect if Christ had not  died for us; but in union with his redemptive act they are of  immense power. From the beginning of the Christian Church  their effect is taken for granted. Thus St. Paul can tell his  converts to pray for others precisely because there is one  Mediator between God and man (1 Tin 2:5). In other words, the fact that Our Lord is Mediator does not make our prayer for one another unnecessary; it makes it effective.

Everyone's prayers can help others, but the holier, the more.  With Christ and in Christ we are all called upon to take a part in redeeming others. All are meant to take a part in his redeeming work, but Mary above all; for she was sinless, she was wholly love, she suffered supremely.

The Mystical Body exists for the application of Christ's  redemption to the souls of men; as I have said, we are all called  upon to help in the application to souls of that redemption  which only he could have won for our race-called upon to be in  that sense co-redeemers. But she more than all! So that once again she represents the race, the redeemed race. So much of what we say when we speak of her and when we speak of the Church is interchangeable-we call her our mother, for instance, and in the next breath we speak of our holy mother the Church. The truth is that what the Church, the Mystical Body, does in its other members more or less well according to the individual's will to cooperate, she in her single person does continually and perfectly. She is the first steward in the dispensing of graces.  

From Frank Sheed’s, Theology for Beginners

   

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE VIRGIN MARY

1.  Who Is the Virgin Mary?
Mary is the woman with whom the promise of the old covenant is opened (cf. Gn. 3:15) and with whom Simeon closes the ancient prophecy (cf. Lk. 2:25-35).  She is the woman who has had the closest contact with the Most Blessed Trinity in History.  The Father chose her among all women, the Holy Spirit brought into being the Son of God in her womb, and Jesus took flesh and blood in her womb.  If sin entered the world through Eve, salvation entered through the Virgin Mary.

2.  Why is Mary the center of attack today?
"Enmity between the woman and the devil" (Gn. 3:15) was prophesied from Genesis.  It is also written that the devil will wage war on “the children of the woman.” (Rev.12:17) This is the reason why Mary is the center of attack today.

3.  Why is the Church the great defender of Mary?
Because She is our Mother since at Calvary, Jesus gave her to the disciple John and thereby, to us who would be his disciples.(cf. Jn 19:25-28).Additionally, because The Father prophesied she and her seed would defeat satan.(Gen 3:15) .

4.  Why does the Church call Mary Mother of God?
In Luke's Gospel 1:39-45, Elizabeth moved by the Holy Spirit said:  "Why should I be honored with a visit from the mother of my Lord?"  When a person speaks under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, it is He who speaks, therefore it was the same Holy Spirit who called Mary, Mother of God.

5.  Did Mary have more children?
In Mark's Gospel, four brothers of Jesus are mentioned - James, Joseph, Jude and Simon whom are never called sons of Mary.  The Hebrew word 'Aha' is used for brother, uncle, cousin, relative. For example in Genesis 13:8 Lot is called the "brother" of Abraham; in reality, however, they are uncle and nephew (cf. Gn 12:5). Furthermore, Acts 1:13 mention Simon and Jude as followers of the Master. In Mark's gospel 15:40, Joseph and James are mentioned as sons of Mary, but John 19:25 makes clear that this Mary was a sister (Aha) of the Mother of Jesus.  

6.  What relation did Joseph have with Mary?
The relation of Joseph with the Virgin Mary was that of providing legality and support to the Redeemer.  In Matthew 2:13 the Angel says to Joseph:  "Take the child and his mother."  The Hebrew way of referring to the wife of a man is the one we see in Gn. 19:15.  Mary is not the wife of Joseph, she is the Mother of Jesus.  Matthew 1:18 says: "... he did not know her until she gave birth to her first born child."  The word "until" indicates preceeding in time, but does not impose a condition to what happen after.  In 2 Samuel 6:23 it says:  "Until the day of her death, Michal, daughter of Saul, had no children."  Did she have children after she was dead?  As far as naming Jesus her "first-born", it does not necessarily mean she had other sons, but rather the "first-born" is the title give to a son that would be consecrated to the Lord.

7.  Why does the Church say that Mary did not have sin?
Jesus was under the law.  According to the law, sin was transferred by the mother (cf. Psalm 51:5).  Jesus, who is God, could not have sin, therefore by the power of God, Mary was kept from sin. As for her maternity, the Greek word which translated into "full of grace" is: Kecharitomone, which means that she was, she is and she will be full of grace.  Grace is the absence of sin.  Mary proclaims in the Magnificat: "I rejoice in God my Savior."  There are still 33 years before Calvary and Salvation yet already Mary proclaims herself in the present as "saved". This salvation is a singular grace presented to Mary before Calvary, yet by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ at Calvary.

8.  Why does the Church say that Mary was taken to Heaven in body and soul?
The Assumption of Mary is not expressly spelled out in the Bible, but it is part of the sacred tradition in the church. The early church Fathers, taught by the apostles believed this. Moreover, Mary's assumption does not contradict the Scriptures, because before Mary, Enoch and Elija were taken in body and soul to Heaven (cf. Gn 5:24 and 2 Kings 2:11)

9.  Why does the Church call Mary Queen?
The Word of God promises:  "He who humbles himself will be exalted."  Mary humbled herself as a slave (cf. Lk. 1:38) and Jesus exalts her as Queen.  Additionally, 1 Kings 2:13-20 prefigures our Blessed Mother. In the Old Testament during David son’s reign- king Solomon and following, the mother of the king (the queen mother) sits at the right hand of the King and intercedes on behalf of the people.  Jesus is King (cf. Jn. 18:37).  He is heir to the Kingdom of David (cf. Lk. 1:32) therefore Mary's place is a throne at the right hand of her Son the King of Kings. Furthermore, Revelations 12:1 speaks of “a woman” with a crown, this woman represents both the church and Mary.

10.  Why do Catholics pray to Mary?
In John 2:1-12, Mary demonstrates the power of intercession the Jesus assigns to her.
Christ is the only intercessor between God and man" and this is Christ.
Jesus intercedes for mankind before the Father. And Mary intercedes for mankind before Jesus. Just as many of us are asked to intercede for a sick person before Jesus, Mary prays for us to her son.
Some are concerned that Mary cannot intercede for us because she is dead. Yet, Luke 10:38 says that our"God is not a God of the dead but of the living. Moreover, Revelation 6:9-10 and 8:3-4 shows us souls calling to God even after leaving this world.

11.  Do Catholics adore Mary?
Mary is a creature and the Church teaches it is a grave sin to worship a creature.  However, the Church doesn't tire of proclaiming that we honor Mary as Jesus did and we proclaim her Blessed fulfilling the Biblical prophecy (cf. Lk. 1:48).Adoration is unique and belonging only to God and keeping the fourth commandment "Honor your father and your mother".

12.  Why do Catholics pray the Rosary? 
Catholics pray the rosary because Jesus asks us to "put on the mind of Christ". By meditating on 15 different mysteries in the life of Christ, the Christian learns how she/he is to respond in following the Christian walk. All the mysteries are in the Bible. The rosary is a purely biblical prayer. The Our Father and the first part of the Hail Mary are also in the scriptures.  Those who are concerned of the repetition, may allay their fears since in, Mark 14:39 it says that even Jesus repeated his prayers. The key is for it not to be meaningless repetition. 

13.  Some people say that the apparitions of Mary are things of the Devil.
 In her approved apparitions, Mary does not bring to the world her own new message, rather, she brings the evangelical message of conversion, repentance and a return to Scripture.  Scripture says that to attribute to the devil acts of God is a sin against the Holy Spirit and it is not forgiven (cf. Matthew 12:22-32).

Love Mary and she will take you to Jesus whom you so much search, because she knows Him very well.  She carried Him in her womb for nine months, she fed Him, cared for, and guided Him for 30 years.  Nobody knows Him as she does.  Nobody gives more glory to God than she does.  Her entire role is to bring us closer to Jesus and she teaches us as she did at Cana, "Do whatever he tells you."

With the help of Frank Morera,From  Florida Center for Peace

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