Mariology of the saints
Throughout history, Catholic Mariology has been influenced by a number of saints who have attested to the central role of Mary in God's plan of salvation. The analysis of Early Church Fathers continues to be reflected in modern encyclicals. Irenaeus vigorously defended the title of "Theotokos" or Mother of God. The views of Anthony of Padua, Robert Bellarmine and others supported the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, which was declared a dogma in 1850.
Writings of the saints have contributed to both popular piety and a greater understanding of Mary's role in salvation history.
Part of a series on the |
Mariology of the Catholic Church |
---|
Catholicism portal |
Early saints
Irenaeus of Lyons
One of the earliest images of Mary in Christian tradition is that of the "New Eve".
According to Irenaeus, Christ, being born out of the
Ambrose of Milan
Saint
In 390 he defended the doctrine of the perpetual virginity of Mary, rejected by Jovinian. He also disputed the teaching of Bonosus of Sardica that Mary had other children after Jesus, citing John 19: 25-26 and arguing that if that were so, Jesus would not have entrusted his mother to John. He addressed this further in De Institutione Virginis.[1]
Augustine of Hippo
The cultus of Mary was not as strong in North Africa during the time of Augustine (354–430) as compared with that of recent martyrs. Augustine died the year before the Council of Ephesus in 431 declared Mary to be the Mother of God, which prompted a more indepth consideration of Mary's role. He did not develop an independent Mariology, but his statements on Mary surpass in number and depth those of other early writers.[6] His main themes are discussed in De santa virginitate (“On holy virginity”), where he explains that, like the church, Mary is both virgin and mother, both physically and spiritually.[7]
Augustine said that Mary was more blessed in accepting faith in Christ than in conceiving the flesh of Christ.[8] Augustine's interest in Mary's maternity was Christ-centred and underscored both the full humanity and full divinity of Christ.[7]
Cyril of Alexandria
Cyril of Alexandria (412–444) presided over the Third Ecumenical Council held in 431 at Ephesus which defined it as an article of faith that Mary was truly the Mother of God. This arose from an apparent Christological dispute pitting Cyril against Nestorius of Constantinople.[9]
Veneration of Mary as “Theotokos” (God bearer) supported the doctrine of the incarnation, and Christ's status as equal to the God the Father. Cyril believed that Nestorius' preference for the term “Christotokos” (Christ-bearer) undermined this and suggested that Christ was distinct persons: one fully human and born of Mary, the other fully divine and not subject to birth or death.[10] The Council endorsed the name "Theotokos", which in the West is translated as Mother of God.
Saints of the Middle Ages
Bernard of Clairvaux
Bernard of Clairvaux was one of the influential churchmen of his time. In the "Sermon on the Sunday in the Octave of the Assumption" he described Mary's participation in redemption.[11] Bernard's Praises on the Virgin Mother" was a small but complete treatise on Mariology.[12]
Bernard wrote of Mary under the title "Our Lady, Star of the Sea".
When the storms of temptation burst upon you, when you see yourself driven upon the rocks of tribulation, look at the star, call upon Mary. When swallowed by pride or ambition, or hatred, or jealousy, look at the star, call upon Mary. Should anger, or avarice, or fleshly desire violently assail the frail vessel of your soul, look at the star, call upon Mary. If troubled on account of the heinousness of your sins, distressed at the filthy state of your conscience, and terrified at the thought of the awful judgment to come, you are beginning to sink into the bottomless gulf of sadness and to be swallowed in the abyss of despair, then think of Mary. In dangers, in doubts, in difficulties, think of Mary, call upon Mary. Let not her name leave thy lips, never suffer it to leave your heart.[13]
In 1953, on the eighth centenary of Bernard's death, Pope Pius XII issued the encyclical Doctor Mellifluus on St. Bernard of Clairvaux.
Hildegard of Bingen
Hildegard of Bingen "presents the most complex Mariology of Medieval German women writers."[14] While following the traditional juxtaposition of Eve and Mary, Adam is depicted in the illustrated Scivias as listening to the tempter, and thus bears equal blame.[14] Of the sixty-three songs in Hildegard's Symphonia, sixteen focus on the role of Mary in salvation history,[14] the most dedicated to any one figure.[15] In Hildegard's Mariology, Mary assumes the status of an essential, active partner in the plan of redemption. A second characteristic Marian theme is that of the Virgin Mother healing the brokenness brought into the world by the first mother, Eve.[15] Hildegard belongs more to the Romanesque than the Gothic Age. Untouched by a new affective style of piety that friars will popularize across Europe, Hildegard's Mary, like her overall spirituality, is monastic.[16]
Saint Dominic
A popular legend holds that
Anthony of Padua
The many sermons of
As a Doctor of the Church the views of Anthony of Padua shaped the Mariological approach of a large number of Franciscans who followed his approach for centuries after his death.[21]
Catherine of Siena
Her writings influenced theologian Charles Journet.[23]
Reformation
Petrus Canisius
Saint
He is credited with adding to the
"Petrus Canisius provided a classical defence of the whole Catholic mariology against Protestantism", as judged three hundred years later by a leading Catholic theologian.[26]
Robert Bellarmine
While the
Francis de Sales
Francis de Sales was about twelve years old when he was to Paris to be educated at the Jesuit Collège de Clermont, where he joined the Sodality of Mary. The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, although still at that time debated, was an important element of Jesuit Marian devotion. In 1584 a personal religious crisis led him to the chapel of Notre Dame de Bonne Deliverance at the Dominican church of St. Etienne des Gres, where he dedicated himself to the Blessed Virgin.[28]
As provost to the Bishop of Geneva, de Sales undertook missionary work in the Calvinist Chablais, recently annexed to Catholic Savoy. Promoting the cult of Mary was part of his evangelizing efforts. As bishop, he erected churches and chapels dedicated to Notre Dame. Many of these were consecrated in honor of the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption, thus giving prominence to these doctrines.[29]
In Introduction to the Devout Life, de Sales' recommended devotion to Mary, especially entrusting oneself to her maternal heart. In The Treatise on the Love of God, he follows Duns Scotus in maintaining that being preordained to be the Mother of God, Mary was, by a singular privilege, preserved from original sin at the moment of her conception. This was done through the prevenient application of Christ's merits to her and thus a preservative redemption. "For him, the reciprocal love of God and humankind is paradigmatically discovered in the union of the hearts of Mary and Jesus."[28]
Modern era
Jean Eudes
The feast of the
Louis de Montfort
Montfort's The
Alphonsus Liguori
Mainly pastoral in nature, the Mariology of Alphonsus Liguori rediscovers, integrates and defends the Mariology of Augustine and Ambrose and other fathers and represents an intellectual defence of Mariology in the eighteenth century.[33] Liguori promoted the doctrine of the bodily Assumption of Mary into Heaven, arguing that Jesus would not have wanted his mother's body corrupted in flesh, for that would have been a dishonour, given that he had himself been born of the Virgin, and hence Mary must have been assumed into Heaven.
In The Glories of Mary, Liguori based his analysis of Mary as the "Gate to Heaven" on Saint Bernard's statement: “No one can enter Heaven unless by Mary, as though through a door.” He also wrote Hail Holy Queen: An Explanation of the Salve Regina.[34]
Thérèse of Lisieux
It is said that for Thérèse of Lisieux "...it was more important for people to imitate Mary than to admire her. She was outspokenly impatient with sermons that exaggerated the Blessed Virgin's privileges – as though Mary did not walk in the darkness that shrouds all true faith."[35] Speaking of Mary, Thérèse said,"She is more Mother than Queen."[36]
Maximillian Kolbe
In 1915, while still in the
See also
- Roman Catholic Mariology
- History of Roman Catholic Mariology
- Mariology of the popes
- Marian devotions
Notes
- ^ ISBN 9781579101954
- ^ Irenaeus, Book V, 19,3
- ^ Ineffabilis Deus Papal Encyclicals Online. Retrieved December 7, 2012
- ^ "Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney - News & Events". www.sydneycatholic.org. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
- ISBN 9780898706864
- ^ Stegmüller, O., Marienkunde, Regensburg, 1967, p.455
- ^ a b "Mary", Augnet Archived 2016-04-15 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ De santa virginitate 3.3
- ^ Pohle, Joseph (1916). Mariology: A Dogmatic Treatise on the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God. Herder. p. 173.
Mariology of St Cyril of Alexandria.
- ^ "St. Cyril Of Alexandria". www.catholicnewsagency.com. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
- ^ "St Bernard of Clairvaux". www.ewtn.com. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
- ISBN 9781615301430
- ^ Hom. II super "Missus est," 17; Migne, P. L., CLXXXIII, 70-b, c, d, 71-a. Quoted in Doctor Mellifluus 31
- ^ ISBN 9781134824465
- ^ a b "Ave Maria, O auctrix vite". www.hildegard-society.org. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
- ^ "Hildegard of Bingen: Voice of the Living Light – Catholic World Report". www.catholicworldreport.com. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
- ^ "Ngoma, Damzio O.P., "Promoting the Rosary", Dominicans of Southern Africa". Archived from the original on 2016-04-14. Retrieved 2016-04-07.
- ISBN 0-85244-650-0page
- ISBN 1-4367-1275-0p. 31
- ^ Huber, Raphael M. “The Mariology of St. Anthony of Padua,” in Studia Mariana 7, Proceedings of the First Franciscan National Marian Congress in Acclamation of the Dogma of the Assumption, October 8–11, 1950 Burlington, Wisconsin
- ISBN 0-415-93930-5p. 40
- ^ Wiseman, Denis Vincent O.P., Chapter 3:"Mary in the Life and Thought of Catherine of Siena","Jesus Crucified and Gentle Mary" Marian Library Studies, n.s.27, 2005, article 5, Pages 199-284
- ^ Buffer,Thomas. "The Mariology of Cardinal Journet (1891-1975) and its influence on some Marian Magisterial Statements,", Marian studies: Vol.54 (2003),article 5
- ^ Streicher, 95,245,267
- ^ Streicher Catechismi, I, 12
- ^ Scheeben, Handbuch der kath. Dogmatic, 1882, 478
- ^ "Munificentissimus Deus (November 1, 1950) | PIUS XII". w2.vatican.va. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
- ^ ISSN 0464-9680.)
{{cite journal}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ^ Carney, Edward, John. The Mariology of St. Francis de Sales, 1963
- ISBN 1-4067-3409-8page 24
- ISBN 1-4097-0537-4p. 215
- ^ "Rosarium Virginis Mariae on the Most Holy Rosary (October 16, 2002) | John Paul II". w2.vatican.va. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
- ^ P Hitz, Alfons v. Liguori, in Marienkunde, 1967 130
- ISBN 9781505105872.
- ^ "Ahern, Patrick V., "The Case for St. Thérèse as a Doctor of the Church", America Magazine, 28 August 1993" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 August 2012. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
- ^ "Letter on 750th Anniversary of the Carmelite Scapular". www.carmelite.org. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
- ISBN 0-89870-969-5page 261
- ISBN 0-8160-5455-Xpp. 409-410
- ISBN 0-8146-3030-8p. 51
- ^ "Militia of the Immaculata". ewtn.com.au. Archived from the original on 2011-07-06. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
References
- Michael Schmaus, Mariologie, Katholische Dogmatik, München Vol V, 1955
- K Algermissen, Boes, Egelhard, Feckes, Michael Schmaus, Lexikon der Marienkunde, Verlag Friedrich Pustet, Regensburg, 1967
- Carney, Edward John. The Mariology of St. Francis de Sales 1963 ASIN B0006CWCFS
- Petrus Canisius, ( ed Friedrich Streicher), Meditaciones seunatae in evangelicas lectiones, 1591.1593, (Fribourg, Switzerland, 1939,1955)
- Otto Stegmüller, Petrus Canisius, in: Marienkunde, Regensburg, 1967
Further reading
- Gambero, Luigi. Mary and the Fathers of the Church: The Blessed Virgin Mary in Patristic Thought, Ignatius Press, 1999 ISBN 9780898706864