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Mary, the Redeemer
Pope
John Paul II intends to declare Mary the Co-Redemptrix, Mediatrix, and
Advocate of humanity. This will make it the fifth official Catholic
Marian dogma, or article of faith. Here are all five: 1
- Mary is the Mother of God. 2
- Mary was Ever-Virgin. 3
- Mary was immaculately conceived, without stain of sin. 4
- Mary was assumed (translated) to Heaven, and there crowned Queen
of Heaven and Earth. 5
- Mary is the Mediatrix of all Graces, Co-Redemptrix, and
Advocate between man and God. Some believed that
the pope was going to issue this declaration at the World Congress of
Ecclesial Movements, meeting on May 27-29, 1998, at Rome, immediately
prior to the Pentecost festival. Indeed, a major petition drive by
Marian zealots urged him to do just that. But it is more likely that he
will do it in the year 2000. As an article of
faith, every Catholic throughout the world would be bound to accept and
believe this ex-cathedra (infallible) pronouncement of the pope, on pain
of losing his salvation if he were to reject it. According
to papal teaching, to reject an ex-cathedra declaration of the pope is
to reject the infallibly declared word of God. It is maintained that
such statements have the same authority as if God Himself declared them. These
titles, Co-Redemptrix, Mediatrix, and Advocate have a very
significant meaning: They would indicate that no one in the world can
have salvation except through Mary. They cannot obtain it direct from
Jesus Christ. Yet,
in reality, this concept has been taught for centuries in various
church-approved statements, journals, and books, by Catholic writers,
editors, councils, and popes. Here are several
major statements by popes; many more could be cited: If in all this
series of Mysteries, Venerable Brethren, are developed the counsels of
God in regard to us, counsels of wisdom and of tenderness,
according to St. Bernard, not less apparent is the greatness of the
benefits for which we are debtors to the Virgin Mother. No man can
meditate upon these without feeling a new awakening in his heart of
confidence that he will certainly obtain through Mary the fullness of
the mercies of God. And
to this end, vocal prayer chimes well with the Mysteries. First, as is
meet and right comes the Lords prayer, addressed to Our Father in
Heaven; and having, with the elect, petitions dictated by Our Divine
Master, called upon the Father, from the throne of His Majesty, we turn
our prayerful voices to Mary. Thus
is confirmed that law of merciful meditation of which We have spoken,
and which St. Bernardine of Siena thus expresses: Every grace
granted man has three degrees in order; for by God it is communicated to
Christ, from Christ it passes to the Virgin, and from the Virgin it
descends to us. Pope Leo XIII, Encyclical, promulgated on
September 8, 1894, quoted in Iucunda Semper Expectatione (On the
Rosary). At Cana in
Galilee there is shown only one concrete aspect of human need,
apparently a small one of little importance. [They have no wine.]
But it has a symbolic value: this coming to the aid of human needs
means, at the same time, bringing those needs within the radius of
Christ's messianic mission and salvific power. Thus
there is a mediation: Mary places herself between her Son and mankind in
the reality of their wants, needs and sufferings. She puts herself in
the middle; that is to say, she acts as mediatrix not as an outsider,
but in her position as a mother. She
knows that, as such, she can point out to her Son the needs of mankind,
and in fact, she has the right to do so. Her mediation is thus in
the nature of intercession: Mary intercedes for mankind. Pope
John Paul II, Encyclical, promulgated on March 15, 1987, quoted in
Redemptoris Mater (On the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Life of the
Pilgrim Church). The following
Vatican press release quotes from a papal address: The heavenly
Father has wished to unite to the priestly intercession of the
Redeemer the maternal intercession of the Virgin. It is a function that
she exercises to the benefit of those who are in danger and need
temporal favors, and above all, eternal salvation. The
titles with which the Christian people address the Mother of the Lord
help in understanding better the nature of her intervention in the
life of the Church and of each of the faithful. As
Advocate, she defends her children and protects them from the
damage caused by their own faults. Christians invoke Mary as help of
Christians, recognizing her motherly love that sees the needs of her
children, and that she is prepared to intervene to help them, especially
when eternal salvation is at stake. She
receives the title of Helper because she is near all
those who suffer or find themselves in situations of grave danger. Finally,
as maternal Mediator, Mary presents Christ with our wishes,
our supplications, and transmits to us His divine gifts, interceding
continually in our favor. Vatican Information Services press
release, quoting Pope John Paul II, statement made in general audience
in Vatican Square, September 24, 1997 [emphasis theirs]. Pope John Paul II
recalled that Vatican Council II gave Mary the title of Mediatrix,
which affirms that with her multiple intercession she continues to
obtain for us the gift of eternal salvation.
Despite the fact that some council fathers did not fully agree
with the attribution of this title to Mary, it was nonetheless
included in the dogmatic constitution of the Church to confirm that
value of the truth that it expresses. However, they avoided joining it
to any particular theology of mediation, and it was only included
among the other titles recognized as Mary's. Vatican
Information Service, quoting John Paul II at a general audience in St.
Peters Square, October 1, 1997. At this juncture
in that speech, John Paul cleverly sidesteps the clear statement of 1
Timothy 2:5. In
proclaiming Christ the one mediator, the text of the Letter of Saint
Paul to Timothy excludes any parallel mediation, but not a subordinate
mediation . . It is
possible to participate in Christ's mediation in different spheres of
the work of salvation . . In this will [desire] to stir participation in
the unique mediation of Christ, the free love of God, who wants to share
what He possesses, is manifested. Ibid. Such remarks clearly
present Mary as Co-Redemptrix
and Mediatrix. (Keep in mind that not only Mary, but the pope and
the priests are mediators between the soul and God and extend
forgiveness to men.) On May 13, 1983, an
assassination attempt was made on John Paul II in St. Peters Square.
That date was an anniversary of the first appearance of the so-called
apparition of Our Lady of Fatima on May 13, 1917, in Portugal. During
his recovery, the pope credited his survival to the direct intervention
of Mary. On the first May 13 after his recovery, he made a pilgrimage to
Fatima to worship the statue of Mary at the shrine; and, through the
statue, he expressed his thanks to Mary for having saved his life. A primary element in
Christianity is believing that God is good, that He loves you, and that
you can come to Him in repentance and be reconciled. But
Roman Catholicism is a distorted system which denies all these truths!
It teaches that God the Father is full of vengeful hatred; that Christ
the Son cares little for you; and only Mary is good, loving, and the
only one through whom you can repent and be reconciled with Heaven. [Mary is] the first
steward in the dispensing of all graces. Pius X, quoted in F.J.
Sheed, Theology for Beginners, p. 132. We have no greater
help, no greater hope than you. O
Most Pure Virgin; help us, then. For we hope in you, we glory in you. We
are your servants, do not disappoint us. Novena Prayers in Honor
of Our Mother of Perpetual Help (published by Sisters of St. Basil, with
imprimatur). Christ has taken His
seat at the right hand of the Majesty on high . . and Mary as Queen
stands at His right hand. Pius X, Mary Mediatrix, in Encyclical:
Ad Diem Illum. Mary is Our Lady and
Queen because she, the new Eve, has shared intimately in the redemptive
work of Christ, the new Adam, by suffering with Him and offering Him up
to the Eternal Father. Ludwig Ott, Fundamentals of Catholic
Dogma, p. 211 (1974). Alphonsus de Liguori
wrote two books in lavish praise of Mary (The Glories of Mary, 1750)
and Catholic priests (The Duties and Dignities of the Priest). He
was rewarded with sainthood. Because he was canonized, his statements
are infallible. With reason does an
ancient writer call her the only hope of sinners; for by her help
alone can we hope for the remission of sins. De Liguori, The
Glories of Mary (ed. Eugene Grimm: Redemptorist Fathers, 1931), p. 83. Many things,
says Nicephorus, are asked from God, and are not granted; they are
asked from Mary, and are obtained. Op. cit., p. 137. If God is angry with
a sinner, and Mary takes him under her protection, she withholds the
avenging arm of her Son, and saves him.Op. cit., p. 124. [Prayer of St.
Ephram:] O Immaculate Virgin, we are under thy protection . . we
beseech thee to prevent thy beloved Son, who is irritated by our sins,
from abandoning us to the power of the devil. Op. cit., p.
273. At the command
of Mary all obey--even God. St. Bernardine fears not to utter this
sentence; meaning indeed, to say that God grants the prayers of Mary as
if they were commands . . Since the Mother, then, should have the same
power as the Son, rightly has Jesus, who is omnipotent, made of Mary,
also omnipotent. Op. cit., p. 82. Because men
acknowledge and fear the divine Majesty, which is in him [Christ] as
God, for this reason it was necessary to assign us another advocate, to
whom we might have recourse with less fear and more confidence, and this
advocate is Mary, whom we cannot find one more powerful with his divine
majesty, or one more merciful towards ourselves . . A mediator, then,
was needed with the mediator himself. Op. cit., pp.
180-182. Nothing whatever of
that immense treasure of all graces, which the Lord brought us . . is
granted to us save through Mary, so that, just as no one can come to the
Father on high except through the Son, so almost in the same manner, no
one can come to Christ except through his Mother. Leo XIII,
Magnae Dei Matris. She [Mary] remains forever associated to Him [Christ], with an almost unlimited power, in the distribution of the graces which flow from the Redemption. Jesus is King throughout all eternity by nature and by right of conquest; through Him, with Him and subordinate to Him, Mary is Queen by grace, by divine relationship, by right of conquest and by singular election. And her kingdom is as vast as that of her son and God, since nothing is excluded from her dominion. Pius XII, quoted in E.R. Carrol (ed.), Mariology, Vol. 1, p. 49 (1955). |
