Perhaps you have seen the film: “The gods must be crazy!” The story line began with a family of natives that stumbled at an empty coke bottle. The fascination about, and the quest to unravel the “mystery” behind this strange material plunged the hero and his children into a search. Along the line the event turned out to be a scattered family that was searching for its member, the result was adventurous encounters and a happy end!
The story of Mary is also fascinating, even more than an empty bottle of coke among primitive natives. And so, there is the natural human quest and search to unravel the mystery behind the Mother of God.
WHO IS MARY
First of all who is Mary? According to the teaching of the Church, Mary of Nazareth was an obscure Jewish maiden chosen from all eternity and formed to the Divine plan from the first moment of her existence, she was exempted from any stain of the original sin. She cooperates with the will of God for the salvation of Man. By this most significant fact, the Church made it clear indeed that the conception of Mary is to be venerated She was called Mary which signifies “light Giver” for she gave birth to the light of the world, Also Mary means “lady”, since she gave birth to the lord. She is the Mother of God thereby mother of the church. Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix.
God drew Mary to himself when he sent a message to her through Angel Gabriel thus: “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” (cf., Luke 1:28). Mary’s response to the angels message, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38) inspired the Council Fathers to assert that:
This motherhood of Mary in the order of grace continues uninterruptedly from the consent which she loyally gave at the Annunciation and which she sustained without wavering beneath the cross, until the eternal fulfillment of all the elect. Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this saving office but by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation.
As a result, the Church in her wisdom seeks Mary’s inspiration and intercession because she lived a life of faith perfectly well as she accompanies her Son in the salvific work of redemption. This work aims at expounding the relation between Mary and the Church as taught by the Council Fathers in Lumen Gentium.
HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT DEVOTION TO MARY
Over the years, Scholars and Theologian had argued for and against, devotion to Mary. The veneration of Mary was essentially included in the rites of adoration of her son from the first century. However, this century only witnessed indirect testimonies of the Marian cult. Among them are, the archaeological remains of the catacombs, that demonstrate the veneration of the first Christians towards Mary, another magnificent demonstration of the Marian cult is the prayer “ sub tuum praesidium” (we fly to your patronage) that dates back to the third century, to illustrates the intercession of Mary. St Ignatius of Antioch was the first to write about Mary among the church fathers, (c 110) he defended the veracity of the humanity of Christ against the Docetists by affirming that Jesus pertained to the line of David because he was born of Mary. furthermore, St Justin in his book “Dialogue with Trypho” (c 167) insists on the reality of the human nature of Jesus, to prove this, he also insisted on the maternity of Mary over Jesus, he based his Marian reflection on the Eve and Mary parallelism as the passage of the book of Genesis suggest (Gen: 3:15) his Mariology serve as the basis of the Marian theological reflection of the latter church fathers.
The use of “Theotokos” (Mother of God) became more wide spread during the third century, first apply by Origen and latter used by Alexander of Alexandria in opposition to the doctrine of Arius. This truth of the divine maternity of Mary was proclaimed a dogma in the council of Ephesus in 431 AD.
MARY’S RELATION WITH THE CHURCH
According to some people Mary cannot be considered a member of the Church, since the privileges conferred on her, the Immaculate Conception, her divine motherhood and her unique cooperation in the work of salvation, place her in a condition of superiority with respect to the community of believers. The Second Vatican Council, however, does not hesitate to present Mary as a member of the Church, nevertheless specifying that she is “pre-eminent and … wholly unique” (Lumen gentium , n. 53) in the words of John Paul II “Aware of the gift she has received, Mary shares with believers the attitudes of filial obedience and heartfelt gratitude, encouraging each one to recognize the signs of divine benevolence in his/her own life.”
Mary in the church according to the council fathers occupies a place in the Church which is the highest after Christ and also closest to us. Mary’s role in God’s plan of salvation was seen and understood in the tradition of the church as the personification and prophetic image of the church. Mary is seen as the prototype of the Church. She is the most perfect disciple of Christ according to St Luke’s gospel, and she lived in its fullness, the mystery and vocation of the church. This is what the Church; the body of Christ is called to live. The Council Fathers affirms;
“In the meantime the Mother of Jesus in the glory which she possesses in body and soul in heaven is the image and beginning of the Church as it is to be perfected in the world to come. Likewise she shines forth on earth, until the day of the Lord shall come (cf. 2 Pet. 3:10), a sign of certain hope and comfort to the pilgrim People of God.”
Thus the Church finds her own vocation, historically and eschatologicaly in Mary. Mary and the church are both seen as the New Eve, in the sense that Jesus is seen as the new Adam. The Dogmatic Constitution of the Church refers to both Mary and the church as Mother and as Virgin when it says:
“By reason of the gift and role of her divine motherhood, by which she is united with her Son, the Redeemer, and with her unique graces and functions, the Blessed Virgin is also intimately united to the Church. As St. Ambrose taught, the Mother of God is a type of the Church in the order of faith, charity, and perfect union with Christ.(18) For in the mystery of the Church, which is itself rightly called mother and virgin, the Blessed Virgin stands out in eminent and singular fashion as exemplar both of virgin and mother.”
In giving birth to Jesus the head, Mary also gives birth to the body, the Church. This spiritual motherhood of Mary to us in order of grace continues even after the birth of the mystical body of Christ and the Church in turn becomes a mother as Lumen Gentium puts it:
“The Church indeed contemplating her hidden sanctity, imitating her charity and faithfully fulfilling the Father’s will, by receiving the Word of God in faith becomes herself a mother. By preaching and baptism she brings forth sons, who are conceived of 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. Imitating the mother of her Lord, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, she keeps intact faith, firm hope and sincere charity.”
According to John Paul II, the Conciliar teaching finds a significant basis in Sacred Scripture. The Acts of the Apostles show Mary present from the beginning of the primitive community (cf. Acts 1:14), while she shares with the disciples and some women believers the prayerful expectation of the Holy Spirit, who will descend on them. After Pentecost, the Blessed Virgin continues to live in fraternal communion with the community and takes part in the prayers, in listening to the Apostles’ teaching, and in the “breaking of bread”, that is, in the Eucharistic celebration (cf. Acts 2:42). She, who had lived in close union with Jesus in the house of Nazareth, now lives in the Church in intimate communion with her Son, present in the Eucharist.
As a member of the first community, “Mary the Mother of Jesus” (Acts 1:14) is respected and venerated by all. Each one understands the pre-eminence of her who brought forth the Son of God, the one universal Saviour. Furthermore, the virginal character of her motherhood allows her to witness to the extraordinary contribution to the Church’s good offered by the one who, giving up human fruitfulness through docility to the Holy Spirit, puts herself completely at the service of God’s kingdom.
Finally, the Church looks unto Mary for the fulfillment of the Gospel prayer of Jesus ‘that they may be one. According to the fathers:
“The entire body of the faithful pours forth urgent supplications to the Mother of God and of people that she, who aided the beginnings of the Church by her prayers, may now, exalted as she is above all the angels and saints, intercede before her Son in the fellowship of all the saints, until all families of people, whether they are honored with the title of Christian or whether they still do not know the Savior, may be happily gathered together in peace and harmony into one People of God, for the glory of the Most Holy and Undivided Trinity.”
CONCLUSION
Mary being the physical mother of Jesus, who is the head of the Church, is also the spiritual mother of the members of his mystical body, that is, the Church. Consequently, Mary is the mother of the whole Christ, both head and body. Interestingly, she is the mother of the Church as well a daughter and member of the Church. Finally, as a result of her role in the economy of salvation, she is the mother of God and the Church equally invokes her as her own mother also. by her example she encourages the other members of the Church to entrust themselves generously to the mysterious action of the Paraclete, and to live with him in constant communion of love.
Fr law Sdv
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