Marian dogmas
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In Roman Catholicism, there are currently four dogmas about the Blessed Virgin Mary: that of her being the Mother of God, that of her Perpetual Virginity, that of her Immaculate Conception, and that of her Assumption. The Fifth Marian Dogma, that of her status as Co-Redemptrix, has not yet been dogmatically defined.
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[edit] Five Marian dogmas
[edit] The Mother of God
The dogma of Mary's status as the Mother of God is the cornerstone of Mariology is because all the other dogmas find their source and goal in this one, i.e., it was because of and for Mary's divine maternity that she was conceived immaculate, ever-virgin, and assumed into heaven to be crowned Queen.
Mary was the Mother of God not because she gave the Lord his divinity but his flesh and blood. As St. Augustine says, "Her blood is his blood and her heart is his heart." The Lord assumed human nature in Mary's womb, but he did not assume a human person, for Christ was a divine person in whom is united the human and divine natures, being truly God and truly Man, i.e., the God-Man.
Moreover, Mary truly and really gave birth to Christ, but whether or not she had birth pains has been debated since the early times of the Catholic Church. The two arguments can be summarized as follows. On the one hand, it has been argued that Mary could not have had birth pains since these are the result of original sin, and Mary had no original sin. Therefore, since she did not have a share in original sin, she could not have had a share in a result of original sin, namley birth pains. On the other hand, it has been argued that Mary could indeed have had birth pains as these are the natural result of giving birth to a baby. Moreover, if Mary could suffer at the foot of the Cross with her Son, then certainly she could also suffer during birth.
Finally, in Mary's divine maternity is found a symbol and most perfect realization of womanhood.
[edit] The Perpetual Virginity
The dogma of the Perpetual Virginity of Mary defines that Mary was always a virgin, even after giving birth to Christ--in fact, Christ's birth sanctified his mother's virginity.
Mary had made a vow of perpetual chastity (virginity) at a young age, and God did not dishonor her vow by predestining her to be the mother of his Son, for she did not give birth by sexual relations but by the power of the Holy Spirit, i.e., a miracle.
After giving birth to Christ, Mary did not dishonor her vow of chastity; she had no sexual relations. The Brothers of Christ refers to are believed to be Josephs children, children he had with a previous wife who died prior to his engagement to Mary.
[edit] The Immaculate Conception
The dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Mary defines that Mary was without original sin and actual sin, being filled with all grace and virtue, from conception unto her Assumption.
The dogmas of the Church always embrace both faith and reason; for example, the reason why Mary had to be Immaculate Conception--Mary had to be the mother of Christ, the Holy One of Israel, and so how could anyone but a holy soul, holy since conception and throughout her whole life (especially since she taught Christ many things as his mother), be chosen by God to be his Son's mother?
Moreover, Mary was filled with every grace because she bore in her womb the fountain of all graces, Jesus Christ.
And the Immaculate Conception was not something Mary received outside the economy of salvation, but--because she was the first to benefit from the redemptive sacrifice of her Son as his mother, and because the sacrifice of Christ encompasses all time since to the Lord all time is one and nothing is impossible for him--Mary, by the grace of God, was saved from original sin and all actual sin.
[edit] The Assumption
Of all the dogmas of Mary, it is the Assumption that has been made into a mystery of the rosary--the fourth of the five Glorious Mysteries, to be precise (of course, the other three dogmas of Mary can be found in the first three Joyous Mysteries, i.e., the Annunciation, Visitation, and Nativity).
The dogma of the Assumption of Mary defines that Mary, after sharing in the Passion of Christ, seeing Christ risen, witnessing Christ ascend into heaven, being with the Apostles during Pentecost, and helping out the Church with her prayers, she was brought body and soul into heaven, reunited with Christ and fulfilling her share in the Paschal Mysteries, i.e., the Death, Resurrection, and Ascension of Christ.
The Assumption was Mary's share in the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ.
Oddly enough, some theologians believe that the Ascension of Christ took place shortly after, and thus connected to, the Resurrection--this argument would most certainly defend the fact that Mary shared in both the Resurrection and the Ascension just in her Assumption. But most believe the Ascension took place a month after Christ's Resurrection, and so the defense of Mary's Assumption becomes harder--but not impossible to be understood. There are three arguments in place:
- If by the grace of God Mary was preserved from all sin and filled with every grace, and if it was by the power of God that she was the mother of God, than certainly, by the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit she could share in the Ascension and Resurrection.
- If Christ was in heaven, than couldn't and wouldn't Mary, a figure and type of his Church, his Mystical Bride and Body, be with him in heaven, as an eschatological sign of the Church?
- If Mary, as a figure and type of the Church, shared in the Passion, than why couldn't and shouldn't she share in the Ascension and Resurrection, and if not together with Christ at the same time, than why not all at once in a single great mystery?
The defense of Mary's Queenship goes along the same lines:
- by the grace and power of God she is Queen of everything.
- by her union to Christ the King, she is Queen in fashion after his Kingship.
- as an eschatological sign of the Church, she is triumphant over all things, the Queen of the King, i.e., Bride of Christ.
By her Queenship, Mary is the most powerful after the Lord--as humble as she was, so as powerful she is. As Christ said, "the humble are exalted." Of course, Mary's omnipotence is not infinite, nor is it her own, but rather, through, with, and in her as the mother and bride of Christ (and since the bride of Christ, than also, in a sense, his body (cf. Gn 2:24), and so, she being both his mother and his bride is not incest, but the power of the Holy Spirit, and indeed, a mystery) does God work--just as through, with, and in her as the mother of God he accomplished the salvation of men by her co-operating with Christ's person and work by her Fiat, allowing him to be born, and sharing in his life, being a figure and type of the Church.
[edit] Co-Redemptrix
The fifth Marian dogma is not dogmatically defined yet (unlike the other four Marian dogmas). It has been proposed, and is subject to discussion.
It would dogmatically define that Mary co-operated in the Redemption, because of her free participation in the birth of Christ. Should she have refused participation, there would have been no birth of Christ, and consequently no redemption. Thus she was an alternative Eve, who of her own free will carried out the will of God, and so doing contributed as a necessary, but not in itself sufficient, instrument in the redemption process of Christ.
