1 / 15

Mary in the life of the church

Mary in the life of the church. Introduction to Catholicism Fr. Llane Briese. The Early Church Councils. The Trinitarian Controversy: How can there be only one God, but yet the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit be equally divine? Nicaea I (325) Constantinople I (381)

milly
Download Presentation

Mary in the life of the church

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Mary in the life of the church Introduction to Catholicism Fr. Llane Briese

  2. The Early Church Councils • The Trinitarian Controversy: How can there be only one God, but yet the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit be equally divine? • Nicaea I (325) • Constantinople I (381) • The Christological Controversy: How can we account both for Jesus’ humanity and his divinity? • Solution: More Councils!

  3. The Council of Ephesus (431) • Two Theological “Schools”: • Antioch (m.d. Syria): Emphasized “low Christology” and the distinction between the humanity and divinity and preferred the Synoptic Gospels. • St. John Chrysostom. • Alexandria (m.d. Egypt): Emphasized “high Christology” and the unity of the person of Christ and preferred John’s Gospel. • St. Cyril of Alexandria.

  4. The Council of Ephesus (431) • The controversy began when the Bishop of Constantinople (Nestorius) preached that Mary was not theotokos (“Mother of God”), but only theodochos (“receiver of God”). • Nestorianism: The idea that Jesus is both a human person in whom the Divine Word indwells. Hence, for Nestorius, in Jesus are two sons. • “That which was formed in the womb is not in itself God. That which was created by the Spirit was not in itself God. That which was buried in the tomb was not itself God.” (Nestorius, “First Sermon against the Theotokos”)

  5. The Council of Ephesus (431) • Nestorius’ teaching was repugnant to St. Cyril, the bishop of Alexandria. • Council of Ephesus (431): Plenty of drama! • Question at Ephesus (431): If Jesus is truly God, then is Mary the Mother of God (Theotokos) or only the Christ-bearer (Christotokos)? • Answer: Yes! • Important Point: The Church’s teaching on Mary is a direct consequence of her teaching about Jesus!

  6. The Council of Ephesus (431) • Key dogmatic points: • The human and divine natures of Christ are united “in one Christ and Son, not because the distinction of natures was destroyed by the union, but rather because the divine nature and the human nature formed one Lord and Christ for us, through a marvelous and mystical concurrence of unity […]” • The child born of Mary was “no common man”, but truly divine from the womb. • Therefore, Mary is rightly called Theotokos, the Mother of God.

  7. The Council of Chalcedon (451) • 433: Formula of Reunion: St. Cyril (Alexandria) made peace with the Antiochenes. • Antioch: Conceded that Mary was Mother of God (theotokos). • Alexandria: Cyril agrees to use the language of “two natures” with attributes proper to each. • 444: St. Cyril dies. • Far from solving all the problems, further antagonism continued between Antioch and Alexandria.

  8. The Council of Chalcedon (451) • Eutyches: Alexandrian figure who in 448 opposed Nestorianism so strongly that he fell into the opposite heresy of Monophysitism which confused the two natures to the point that Jesus’ divinity subsumed his humanity. • “One nature after the union.” • Has been called “a loyal, dogmatic—but ill-instructed—defender of the Alexandrian tradition. • Pope St. Leo the Great (449): Letter (Tome) to Bishop Flavian of Constantinople: • Affirmed that Christ was one “person” with two natures.

  9. The Council of Chalcedon (451) • In order to sort out all the disagreement, the Emperor Marcian insisted on a council. • Chalcedon: • Immediately deposed the bishop of Alexandria (Dioscorus) who supported Eutyches. • Anathematized Nestorianism and Monophysitism (as well as a few other heretical views). • Defined the dogma of one Son with two natures: one human and one divine. He is “consubstantial with the Father as to his divinity and consubstantial with us as to his humanity; ‘like us in all things but sin.’”

  10. The Council of Chalcedon (451) How did the insights of both the Antiochene and Alexandrian “schools” contribute to this affirmation? • “We confess that one and the same Christ, Lord, and only-begotten Son, is to be acknowledged in two natures without confusion, change, division, or separation. The distinction between the natures was never abolished by their union, but rather the character proper to each of the two natures was preserved as they came together in one person (prosopon) and one hypostasis.”

  11. Further Developments • Constantinople II (553) and Constantinople III (681) would deal with further Christological issues. • Nicaea II (787) dealt with iconoclasm. • John Paul II (1978-2005) dealt heavily with Christology is his first encyclical Redemptorhominis (1979): • “Human nature, by the very fact that is was assumed, not absorbed, in him, has been raised in us also to a dignity beyond compare. For, by his Incarnation, he, the son of God, in a certain way united himself with each man. He worked with human hands, he thought with a human mind. He acted with a human will, and with a human heart he loved. Born of the Virgin Mary, he has truly been made one of us, like to us in all things except sin", he, the Redeemer of man.” (no. 8)

  12. Back to Mary … • Axiom: What the Church teaches about Mary is directly related to what the Church teaches about Jesus. • Specific Teachings: • Theotokos (Mother of God)—January 1 (Holy Day) • Perpetual Virginity of Mary • Celebrated as part of March 25, the Solemnity of the Annunciation. • Immaculate Conception—December 8 (Holy Day) • Assumption—August 15 (Holy Day)

  13. Titles of Mary • This list could be quite exhaustive, but some of the most important are: • Theotokos (Mother of God) • Queen of Heaven and Earth • Mediatrix • Co-Redemptrix • Our Lady of Sorrows • The Immaculate Conception (from apparition at Lourdes, France) • Immaculate Heart of Mary (principal patroness of the Archdiocese of Atlanta)

  14. Marian Piety • Catholics look to Mary to be an intercessor in Heaven. • Idea of Intercessory Prayer • Litanies • Apparitions: • Guadalupe, Mexico • Lourdes, France • Fatima, Portugal • Kibeho, Rwanda • Knock, Ireland

  15. The Rosary • A perfect example of how the Incarnation ties together the Church’s understanding of Mary and Jesus. • 4 sets of mysteries: • The Joyful Mysteries: The Annunciation, Visitation, Nativity, Presentation of the Lord, Finding of Jesus in the Temple • The Luminous Mysteries (new in 2002): Baptism of the Lord, The Wedding at Cana, the Proclamation of the Kingdom, the Transfiguration, the Institution of the Eucharist. • The Sorrowful Mysteries: The Agony in the Garden, Scourging at the Pillar, Crowning with Thorns, Carrying of the Cross, Crucifixion. • The Glorious Mysteries: The Resurrection, Ascension, Descent of the Holy Spirit, Assumption, and Coronation of Mary.

More Related