Dogma Of Mary As Mother Of God

The first Marian Dogma that Mary is the Mother of God was declared by the Church at the Council of Ephesus in the year 431 (Lk 1:31-35, Lk 1:43, Mt 1:21).

See The Council of Ephesus where more than 200 bishops, presided over by St. Cyril of Alexandria representing Pope Celestine l, defined the true personal unity of Christ, declared Mary the Mother of God (theotokos) against Nestorius, Bishop of Constantinople, and renewed the condemnation of Pelagius...

These are the words of the Council about the Mother of God:

"Therefore, because the holy virgin bore in the flesh God who was united hypostatically with the flesh, for that reason we call her mother of God, not as though the nature of the Word had the beginning of its existence from the flesh (for "the Word was in the beginning and the Word was God and the Word was with God", and he made the ages and is coeternal with the Father and craftsman of all things), but because, as we have said, he united to himself hypostatically the human and underwent a birth according to the flesh from her womb". (Third letter of Cyril to Nestorius)...

... "1. If anyone does not confess that Emmanuel is God in truth, and therefore that the holy virgin is the mother of God (for she bore in a fleshly way the Word of God become flesh), let him be anathema"
(the first of 12 anathemas).

Mary is called Theotokos, meaning "God-bearer" or "the Mother of God", because she bore the Son of God in her womb and from her He took His humanity. Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, in the Bible, recognized this reality when she called Mary, "the Mother of my Lord" (Luke 1:43).

The Bible also says in the words of Mary herself: "All generations shall call me blessed" (Luke 1:48)...

... So most Christians in our generation, call her blessed, praise her. Mary lived a chaste and holy life, and we honor her highly as the model of holiness, the Mother of the new humanity in her Son. It is bewildering that some professing Christians who claim to believe the Bible never call Mary blessed nor honor her who bore and raised God the Son in His human flesh.

The Bible gives Mary many beautiful titles, but the most important is "Mother of Jesus, Mother of God". See Immaculate Conception

The Prophecy of the Bible about the Mary:

The Bible makes a prophecy about Mary in Luke 1:48: "For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed".

It is the same prophecy made by the Holy Spirit in Psalm 45, the Psalm of the King and the Queen, in the last verse says: "I will cause your name to be celebrated in all generations; therefore the peoples will praise you for ever and ever".

This prophecy has been fulfilled during the last 2000 years, and in superabundance!:

- The Mother of God has been the woman on earth to whom more paintings and poems and songs have been dedicated, by the best artists of the six continents, to praise her with all kind of art... and those poems and songs have been song daily by millions of Christians... and those paintings are in millions of homes to honor her, praise the Lord and the Bible!.

- Mary is the woman to whom more sculptures and chapels have been dedicated in these 2000 years, and more temples, and cathedrals, and basilicas.. by the best artists...to praise her with the sculpture and architecture!...and millions of persons have those sculptures at home to honor her, and go periodically to those chapels and cathedrals o praise the Mother of Jesus, our Savior, praise the Lord!.

- Millions of people were daily her medals and scapulars, to praise her as Mother!... and millions of persons pray the Rosary daily, to praise the Mother of Jesus, including the Popes, the Cardinals, the thousands of bishops, the millions of pastors and priests and deacons and nuns, during every day for the last 2000 years, and millions of faithful laymen Christians... and every day that legion increases, praise God.

- In fact, every second literally, of every day, for the last 2000 years, some one has been repeating the words of the Bible in some part of the world, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus"...

... Indeed this prophecy of the Bible on the Mother of Jesus has been overwhelmingly fulfilled, as all the prophecies of the Bible that are fulfilled to the letter and in superabundance, praise Jesus!.

Let me ask: What about you and your church?... if only you and your church were on earth, would the prophecy of the Bible on Mary would be fulfilled today?...

... Indeed, it is bewildering that some professing Christians who claim to believe the Bible never call Mary blessed nor honor her who bore and raised God the Son in His human flesh.

The most intimate praise to Jesus in the Bible:

The Hail Mary is the most intimate and most poetic praise to Jesus in the whole Bible:

1- The most intimate, because what gets deeper into the heart of a man is to tell him, "blessed be your mother"... and to Jesus we say with the words of the Bible, in Lk.1:42, "Your mother is the most blessed among women"!, praise Jesus!.

2- The most poetic, because then we add with the words of the Bible, "and blessed is Jesus, the fruit of your womb", and that's poetry!, praise the Lord.

And then, we ask Mary to pray for us sinners, for me and my family and friends and enemies, in the two most important hours of our life: Now, and at the hour of our death.

Do you want to learn to pray the Hail Mary?.

The Rosary:

The Rosary is an avalanche of roses we throw to May and Jesus and the Father and the Holy Spirit... and it is an anticipation of what we will be doing in Heaven:

John saw Heaven through an open door, in Revelation 4, and what he saw was millions of people full of joy and love and peace, all of them repeating constantly, day and night the same routine: "Holy, holy, holy"... (Rev.4:8)... and that's what the Rosary is, an anticipation if what we will do in Heaven day and night for millions of centuries...

... Of course, it is a very week experience compared to Heaven, but it is Heaven!... the preferred prayer of all the Popes of the last centuries, and of all the Cardinals, and of all the bishops, and priests, and deacons, and nuns, and the faithful laymen...

... The family that prays together, stays together!... the rosary is the most treasure prayer of millions of
Christian families, every day, together!... The Rosary is an "epitome of the whole Gospel", says the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

It was given by Mary to St. Dominic of Spain in 1205.

Do you want to learn to pray the Rosary

The Scapular:

It is a most simple and effective weapon, delicacies of a Mother!.

It was given by Our Lady of Carmen to St. Simon Stock in Aylesford, the outskirts of London, in 1251, with great promise by the Mother of God: "The one who dies with the Scapular, will not go to the fires of Hell".

You can't offer more for doing less!... things of a Mother!... I know it carries deep theological arguments... but the Mother of God should know!...

... The fact is that since 1251 all the Popes have ware the Scapular, including John Pope II, and the Cardinals, and Bishops, and priest and nuns, and millions and millions of faithful laymen...

Do you want to get an Scapular: Go to any Catholic Church and ask for it, that simple!... give it to your child and husband and wife and best friend... my mother gave it to me while a baby, and I still wear it, praise the Lord!.

The Medals of Mary:

It is another easy but efficient gift of the Mother of God and our Mother.

When Mary appeared in Paris to St. Catherine Labouré in 1830, she gave her Miraculous Medal... there were so many miracles with the Medal that in 5 years 10 million medals were distributed...

Try it!... Her rosary, her Scapular, her medal... easy things of a mother!... but very effective for earth and for Heaven... use them, even if you don't believe in them... I promise you will see wonders as I have seen them...

... And they are very modern objects, ask the hippies, the occultists, the New Agers... ask those who plan political campaigns, or the sport fans, or the movie goers....

... Anyway, use them, they cost you really nothing, and the day least expected you will find yourself in Heaven, giving a kiss to the Mother of God, who is your Mother!, praise the Lord!.

Dogma of the Assumption of Mary

Heaven.

The Assumption became a feast day celebrated by the Church every year. What it brings to mind is the height to which the Church has elevated this special woman. This revelation did not just occur to Pope Pius XII in 1950. Rather, his announcement made formal what had been believed for centuries. The beliefs about Mary go beyond assumption and include doctrines about her Immaculate Conception; she was born free from sin, her perpetual virginity and her action as co-redeemer with Christ.

Whereas non-Catholic Christianity tends to view the Bible as God’s last revelation to mankind, the Roman Catholic Church sees itself as an instrument of God receiving new revelations from the Holy Spirit. So this new revelation about Mary was confirmed in 1950 without a visible ripple. The doctrine of the Assumption fits right in to orthodox Catholic thinking.

The term “assumption” does not appear in the Bible but Enoch and Elijah went to be with God without experiencing death. Bishop Theoteknos of Livias (c. 550-650) was one Catholic theologian who believed that Mary, above all, deserved at least the same treatment. In his sermon he states:

"For Christ took His immaculate flesh from the immaculate flesh of Mary; and if He had prepared a place in heaven for the Apostles, how much more for His mother. If Enoch had been translated and Elijah had gone to heaven, how much more Mary, who like the moon in the midst of the stars shines forth and excels among the prophets and Apostles? For even though her God-bearing body tasted death, it did not undergo corruption, but was preserved incorrupt and undefiled and taken up into heaven with its pure and spotless soul."

So Mary is above and beyond anyone who ever lived with the exception of her son, Jesus. It is a firm belief among Catholics that from her conception, Mary was free of original sin, the sin that we all inherit from Adam. The angel Gabriel, in announcing to Mary her imminent pregnancy, called her “highly favored one” “the Lord is with you” and “blessed are you among women”. So Mary is chosen to be the mother of God incarnate, through a virgin birth by the power of the Holy Spirit.

No one knows exactly where, when or how Mary died. Apostolic Tradition Points to a time between three and fifteen years after the Ascension of Jesus. There are conflicting claims as to her place of death, either Jerusalem or Ephesus. There is a tomb of Mary in Jerusalem but it only became known after the sixth century AD. St. Juvenal, Bishop of Jerusalem let it be known in 451 that Mary died in the presence of all the Apostles. Her tomb was opened at the request of St. Thomas (did he doubt that she was there?) and found to be empty. The Apostles concluded that she had been taken up to Heaven, body and soul.

There are some apocryphal writings from the early church that mention the Assumption of Mary but most of these documents are flawed and suspect. There is a letter bearing the name of St. John which mentions Mary’s bodily assumption into Heaven but it has been dated to the fourth or fifth century AD. “De Transitu Virginis”, a letter falsely ascribed to St. Denis the Areopagite, also mentions it. Genuine writings from St. Andrew of Crete, St. John of Damascene and others also make mention of Mary’s bodily assumption. Sermons previously attributed to St. Jerome and St. Augustine that support the Assumption have been shown to be counterfeit.

The belief in Mary’s bodily assumption is universal in eastern and western Catholic Churches of today. Why wasn’t the Assumption a part of Catholic doctrine long ago? Why was it adopted so long after the fact? Catholic apologists say that the early Church had too many questions to resolve surrounding who Christ was and what He meant to us and did not have a particular set of doctrines to deal with Mary until many of the other questions were dealt with.

The Church evolved an entire theology surrounding Mary. She got new names: Blessed Virgin, Mother of God, Immaculate Mother, Queen of Heaven, Queen of Angels, among many others. The doctrine of The Immaculate Conception defines Mary as conceived without original sin and having lived a sinless life. She is the New Eve, perpetually a virgin. Through the Rosary, she is prayed to and Mary is sought as the intercessor between the faithful and Jesus. Would Jesus say no to his mother? At the wedding at Cana (John 2), Jesus obeyed his mother when she asked him to make wine.

All of these beliefs about Mary form the basis from which belief in the Assumption grew. Mary stood at the foot of Jesus’ cross when all of the disciples, save John, had fled. She was with the Apostles at Pentecost when the gift of the Holy Spirit was given. Mary shared in the most intimate details of Jesus life: His birth, life, death and resurrection.

Catholics generally believe, those that take the trouble to investigate it, that the promises of Christ as far as eternal life and resurrection of the body were fulfilled in Mary. If Mary was free of original sin, then she should not have had to suffer the consequences of that sin, namely, death. There is ongoing debate as to whether Mary ever died or was just “assumed” into God’s presence. If she died was that unjust? Did she share in Jesus bodily resurrection and glorification at her death?

The National Conference of Catholic Bishops said in their 1973 letter: "Behold Your Mother," "Christ has risen from the dead, we need no further assurance of our faith. Mary assumed into heaven serves rather as a gracious reminder to the Church that our Lord wishes all whom the Father has given Him to be raised with Him. In Mary taken to glory, to union with Christ, the Church sees herself answering the invitation of the heavenly Bridegroom."

At the heart of the belief in the Assumption is a deep unconditional love and devotion for Mary. Devotees have trouble accepting the fact that at her death her body would have suffered corruption in a grave. The reward for what she did and the role she played must be higher than the rest of us get and so, the Assumption is her reward as well as life everlasting with her Son, the Savior.

The Feast of the Assumption, celebrated August 15, every year is a reminder of the faith and obedience of Mary in saying “yes” to God. She and Joseph faithfully raised the young man Jesus so as to prepare him for ministry. She stood by him throughout his life and death and is receiving a just reward.

Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal - Paris, France (1830)

In the summer of 1830, a 24 year old novice of the Sisters of Charity was awakened by a young child, about five years old, dressed in white who called to her:

"Catherine, Catherine, wake up. Come to the chapel; the Blessed Virgin is waiting for you."

Catherine Laboure, who had expressed a strong desire to meet the Blessed Virgin, decided to follow the child down to the chapel. The candles were burning as if at a midnight Mass. About a half-hour later, at midnight, she heard a noise that sounded like the rustle of a silk dress. When she looked up she saw a beautiful young woman surrounded by a blaze of white light sitting in the Father Director's chair. The child who brought her to the chapel told her: "Here is the Blessed Virgin!" Catherine fell to her knees and placed her hands on Mary's lap. Mary tod her:

"My child, the good God wishes to charge you with a mission. You will have much to suffer, but you will rise above these sufferings by reflecting that what you do is for the glory of God. You will know what the good God wants. You will be tormented until you have told him who is in charged with directing you. You will be contradicted, but do not fear, you will have grace. Tell with confidence all that passes within you. Tell it with simplicity. Have confidence. Do not be afraid."

During this discourse with the Blessed Mother, Catherine was warned of dire future occurrences. Mary told her:

"The times are very evil. Sorrows will befall France; the throne will be overturned. The whole world will be plunged into every kind of misery."

After this apparition Catherine had written down "in forty years" when referring to this prophecy. Five months later, in November, Catherine experienced another apparition. In this event Mary appeared dressed entirely in white holding a ball topped with a little golden cross. The ball, she was told, represented the whole world, especially France, and each person in particular. Mary stood on a white globe with a green serpent under her feet on the globe. After a moment, an oval shape formed around the Blessed Virgin, and on it were written these words in gold: `O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.' Upon seeing this vision, Catherine heard a voice say: "Have a medal struck after this model. Those who wear it will receive great graces; abundant graces will be given to those who have confidence." At this point, the oval seemed to turn and Catherine saw the reverse of the medal: the letter M surmounted by a cross, and below it two hearts, one crowned with a crown of thorns, and the other pierced by a sword.

After hearing all of her accounts of these apparitions, her spiritual director, Father Aladel, still had doubts as to their veracity. He met with the local archbishop and after due deliberation the archbishop authorized that the medals be struck since he found nothing contrary to the Faith in anything Catherine said or experienced. Within months there were a flood of reported cures and spiritual conversions attributed to the medal; so much so that it came to be called the Miraculous Medal. Catherine went back to a life of obscurity in the Sisters of Charity once the medal had been fashioned and died in 1876. By the time of her death there were millions of Miraculous Medals being worn by the devout all over the world.

Our Lady Of Knock

County Mayo was in the center of a region of Ireland that had suffered great distress in the 1870's. Various famines and economic dislocations produced by forced evictions had created yet another wave of Irish immigration. It was into this environment that the Lord again sent His Mother to visit with His oppressed children.

August 21st, 1879 was another rain-swept day in County Mayo. As evening arrived, Margaret Beirne, a resident of the village of Cnoc Mhuire, was sent by her brother to lock up the local church for the evening. After she had completed this task, as she was returning home she noticed a strange brightness covering the church. However, preoccupied with other thoughts, she mentioned this to no one else.

At about this time, another member of the Beirne family, Mary, had just completed a visit with the church's housekeeper, Mary McLoughlin. As they were walking down the road they came to a location where they could clearly see the church and its gables, at which time Mary O'Beirne turned to her companion and said, "O look at the statues! Why didn't you tell me the priest had got new statues for the chapel?"

Her companion responded that she had heard nothing about new statues but she decided to look more closely. As they approached the church, Mary Beirne remarked, "But they are not statues, they're moving. It's the Blessed Virgin."

What they and thirteen others saw in the still-bright day was a beautiful woman, clothed in white garments, wearing a large brilliant crown. Her hands were raised as if in prayer. This woman was understood by all who saw her to be Mary, the Mother of Jesus and the Queen of the Angels.

On her right stood St. Joseph, his head inclined towards her. On her left stood St. John the Evangelist, dressed as a bishop. To the left of St. John was an altar on which stood a lamb and a cross surrounded by angels. All of this was seen on the gable wall of the church in a cloud of light and lasted for about two hours. Other villagers, who were not involved with the apparition, nonetheless reported seeing a very bright light illuminating the area around where the church was located. There were subsequent reports of inexplicable healings associated with visits to the church at Knock.

The Church response to this series of events was typically circumspect. A commission was formed to gather testimonies of those claiming to see the apparition and then a record of purported cures and devotional material was maintained until 1936. At that time, the head of the diocese of Tuam, Archbishop Gilmartin, authorized the publication of a pamphlet supporting devotion to the apparition at Knock.

Our Lady Of Knock Had Largely Unknown Connection To Souls In Purgatory

By Susan Tassone

It was earlier this month that we celebrated the anniversary of a major Marian appearance. At about eight o’clock on the Thursday evening of the 21st of August, 1879, the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Joseph, and St. John the Evangelist appeared at the south gable of the church at Knock, County Mayo, Ireland. Beside them and a little to the right were an altar with a Cross and the figure of a lamb, around which angels hovered.

There were fifteen official witnesses to the apparition -- young and old. They watched it for two hours in pouring rain and recited the Rosary. Today, Knock ranks among the world’s major Marian shrines with the full approval of the Church. Pope John Paul II visited the shrine on September 30, 1979, presenting the Golden Rose to this Shrine.

Not everyone is aware, however, that the marvelous appearance on the gable of the Knock Church came on the day when the parish priest, Archdeacon Cavanagh, finished offering, as he had promised, 100 consecutive Masses for the suffering souls in purgatory! A few months before the apparition the Archdeacon began to offer 100 Masses for the poor souls whom Our Lady wished most to release. It was on the day of the one hundredth Mass was offered Our Lady came to visit Knock.

Surely, that extraordinary devotion to the Holy Souls had a part to play in the gift of the vision from Heaven. If such a response came from Heaven to Archdeacon Cavanagh, then surely Our Lady wants to encourage us all to remove the torment of our dead. Our Lady is the mother of her children, above all her suffering children. She is the Refuge of Sinners on earth and in purgatory.

Indeed, we can dig deeper there for a link with our own day regarding this apparition. The reason the parish priest turned in this way to the Holy Souls was a painful problem similar to what affects many countries today. A secret organization resorting to violence had threatened the priest by letter for preaching against their tactics. They resented his condemnation of violence, which prevented them from gaining recruits in the Knock parish. In his distress, he turned to the suffering souls and called on his parishioners to fill the church for 100 days of these offered Masses. And what an answer he was given from Heaven!

This clearly tells us that the Holy Souls stopped the violence through Our Lady’s intercession at Knock. This applies to our day with the unspeakable violence and terrorist attacks around the world. Now is the time to act! Here are some powerful means to help:

I encourage you to ask a priest (perhaps one who is retired) to offer 100 Masses for the Holy Souls for the intention of world peace. We have done this in Chicago, Texas, and Philadelphia. Attend Mass and receive Holy Communion for 100 days. If that is not possible, offer 100 Masses (or four sets of Gregorian Masses) for the souls in purgatory for World Peace. Several people can go in together for the Mass stipend for these Masses. Visit our website at: www.spiritualtreasury.org for Mass Offerings and Gregorian Masses. Can you imagine the power we have to stop the violence and wars with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, fasting, and prayer!

Today, many are discovering how the Eucharist not only purifies the souls of those who have died but also heals the living as one deepens his relationship with Jesus.

A British psychiatrist named Dr. Kenneth McCall collected over a thousand cases of emotional or physical healing of clients when they offered a Mass for their deceased loved ones. The Mass heals the living and the dead!

The Holy Souls in purgatory are pleading for our Masses and prayers. The Mass is the greatest prayer to give the Holy Souls to behold the face of God! Make their desire your desire. St. John Chrysostom tells us, “Christ is the victim that gives solace to the dead.” And remember the priests and nuns in purgatory. We have only two months remaining during this historic Year of the Eucharist. Offer and attend Mass as much as possible for the priests and consecrated religious. Their intercession is very powerful.

A Holy Soul said the following: “You the living can do everything for us, and we can do everything for you. It is an exchange of prayers.”

Our Lady of Knock, pray for us!