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!.
