MARY

the

Mother of God and of Humanity

Sept. 14, 2013 Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross

IDENTIFICATION: Identify the Marian Dogma

Theotokos

Immaculate Conception

Marys Assumption

Questions to be answered A. Who is Mama Mary for me? (Personal view) B. What does the Church tell me about Mary? (The Catholic Church view) C. What is my RESPONSE to this?

A. Who is Mama Mary for me?

B. The 4 DOGMAS on MARY

(doctrines that we must believe and accept):

1. 2. 3. 4.

Theotokos Immaculate Conception Perpetual Virginity The Assumption

1. THEOTOKOS
THEOTOKOS = a Greek word which literally means bearer of God = it is also translated as Mother of God

Theotokos: Description & Definition

Liturgical Celebration: JAN 1 It is the first (and oldest) Marian Dogma Mary's Divine motherhood is based on the teaching of the Gospels, on the writings of the Fathers, and on the express definition of the Church

Theotokos: Description & Definition

It simply tells us that Mary is the Mother of Jesus, and since Jesus is God, or the Incarnate Son of God, then Mary can be considered the MOTHER OF GOD!

Theotokos: Biblical Sources

The bible tells us that during the VISITATION of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth, Mary is acclaimed by Elizabeth, at the prompting of the Spirit and even before the birth of her son, as "the mother of my Lord".

LUKE 1:41-43
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?

Theotokos: Biblical Sources

According to St. John Jesus is the Word made flesh, the Word Who assumed human nature in the womb of Mary. As Mary was truly the mother of Jesus, and as Jesus was truly God from the first moment of His conception, Mary is truly the mother of God.

John 1:1-2, 14
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father's only Son, full of grace and truth.

Theotokos: History
The contention of Nestorius denying to Mary the title "Mother of God" was followed by the teaching of the Council of Ephesus proclaiming Mary to be Theotokos in the true sense of the word.
(The New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia)

NESTORIANISM
Nestorianism teaches that in Christ there was an accidental union of a human person and a divine person. In this understanding, the Word of God dwelt in Christ as in a temple and that the one who died on the cross was Christ, not the Word of God.

NESTORIANISM
Consequently, Nestorius strongly criticized the use of Theotokos to Mary in that she could only be called Christotokos. These heretical views were condemned in the Council of Ephesus in 431.

2. IMMACULATE CONCEPTION
Liturgical Celebration: DEC 8 The Dogma of the Immaculate Conception was declared by Pope Pius IX 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, Saviour of the human race, PRESERVED IMMUNE from all stain of original sin. (Ineffabilis Deus)

Immaculate conception: description & definition

Mother Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception as a dogma exactly because she was conceived in the womb of Anne, her mother,

without any stain of original sin.

Immaculate conception: description & definition

CCC 490: To become the mother of the Saviour, 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".

Immaculate conception: description & definition

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.

Immaculate conception: biblical source Luk 1:26-28

And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee, called Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel being come in, said unto her: Hail, FULL OF GRACE, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

Immaculate conception: biblical source Luk 1:26-28

The phrase full of grace is from the Greek word kecharitomene, which means that she is already found to be with grace

The medieval Franciscan theologian BLESSED DUNS SCOTUS offers pointed out that the privilege of total immunization that preserved Mary from all sin represents the most glorious result of Christs work.

3. PERPETUAL VIRGINITY

Perpetual Virginity: description & definition

From the first formulations of her faith, the Church has confessed that Jesus was conceived solely by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary, affirming also the corporeal aspect of this event: Jesus was conceived "by the Holy Spirit without human seed".

Did Mary have brothers and sisters!?!

Against this doctrine the objection is sometimes raised that the Bible mentions brothers and sisters of Jesus.

Mark 3: 31-35
31

His mother and his brothers arrived. Standing outside they sent word to him and called him. 32 A crowd seated around him told him, "Your mother and your brothers and your sisters are outside asking for you." 33 But he said to them in reply, "Who are my mother and my brothers?" 34 And looking around at those seated in the circle he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. 35 For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother."

The truth is
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". They are close relations of Jesus: i.e. cousins, relatives, or kinsmen, etc.

4. MARYS ASSUMPTION
The dogma of the Assumption by Po pe Pius XII on November 1, 1950, in the Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus Deus

Assumption: description and definition

Official definition: the Immaculate Mother of God, Mary ever Virgin, when the course of her earthly life was ended, was assumed body and soul into the glory of heaven.

Assumption: description and definition

While we see in Mary a loving mother who can rightly show us the way to God, we also realize in her what awaits us at the end of times: she is the the most excellent fruit of the redemptiona faultless model.

Summary
The Four Marian Dogmas: 1) Theotokos, Mary is the Mother of God: January 1 2) Immaculate Conception, Mary was conceived without sin: December 8 3) Perpetual Virginity: that Mary was evervirgini.e. before, during and after the birth of Jesus 4) Marys Assumption, Mary was assumed into heaven body and soul: August 15

Question and Answer

CONCLUSION
In life we have to surrender completely to a gracious and welcoming divine providence because there is life after death. Mary, the saint of all saints, teaches us that in doing whatever Jesus, her son, tells us we can arrive at perfect union with Christ. This is a heritage of a loving Mother who only wants what is best for us. Her motherly affection moves us to admire, contemplate and emulate her as we continue with our earthly pilgrimage towards a personal and unutterably blissful communion with God in eternity.