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Mediatrix

May 08, 2024

See also: Mediatrix of all graces

Mediatrix is a title given to Mary, mother of Jesus in Christianity. It refers to the intercessory role of the Blessed Virgin Mary as a mediator in the salvific redemption by her son Jesus Christ and that he bestows graces through her. Mediatrix is an ancient title that has been used by many saints since at least the 5th century. Its use grew during the Middle Ages and reached its height in the writings of saints Louis de Montfort and Alphonsus Liguori in the 18th century.[1]

A general role of intercession is attributed to Mary in Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Oriental Orthodoxy,[2] and the term "Mediatrix" was applied to her in the dogmatic constitution Lumen gentium of the Second Vatican Council. "This, however, is to be so understood that it neither takes away from nor adds anything to the dignity and efficaciousness of Christ the one Mediator."[3]

The use of the title Mediatrix and the doctrine of Mary having a higher level of saintly intercession (owing to her special relationship with her son Jesus) is distinct from the theological issues involved in the establishment of Mediatrix of all graces as a dogma.

History edit

Early history edit

Mediatrix is an ancient title.[1] A prayer attributed to Ephrem the Syrian in the 4th century calls her "after the mediator, you (Mary) are the mediatrix of the whole world."[4] The title was also used in the 5th century by Basil of Seleucia. By the 8th century, the title Mediatrix found common use and Andrew of Crete and saint John of Damascus used it.[1]

These early notions place Mary's mediation on a higher level than that of other forms of the intercession of saints. Her position as the mother of Jesus Christ the redeemer and source of grace makes her preeminent among others who might be called mediators.[4]

Later Middle Ages edit

The use of the Mediatrix title continued to grow in the Middle Ages, and Bernard of Clairvaux (12th century), Bonaventure, and Bernardino of Siena (15th century) frequently used it.[1]

In the 13th century, Saint Thomas Aquinas noted that only Jesus Christ can be the perfect mediator between God and humankind. However, this does not hinder that others may be called mediators, in some respect, between God and man, because they assist and prepare union between God and man.[5]

The same notion was stated in the 16th century by the Council of Trent, which declared "that the saints, who reign together with Christ, offer up their own prayers to God for men; that it is good and useful suppliantly to invoke them, and to have recourse to their prayers, aid, (and) help for obtaining benefits from God, through His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who is our alone Redeemer and Saviour; but that they think impiously, who deny that the saints, who enjoy eternal happiness in heaven, are to be invocated; or who assert either that they do not pray for men; or, that the invocation of them to pray for each of us even in particular, is idolatry; or, that it is repugnant to the word of God; and is opposed to the honour of the one mediator of God and men, Christ Jesus; or, that it is foolish to supplicate, vocally, or mentally, those who reign in heaven".[6]

17th–18th centuries edit

Reliance on the intercession of Mary grew and reached its height in the writings of saints Louis de Montfort and Alphonsus Liguori in the 18th century.[1]

Louis de Montfort's approach (which later influenced Pope John Paul II) emphasized that Mary is the natural path to approaching Jesus because of her special relationship with him.[7] This reliance on the intercession of Mary is based on the general Montfortean formula:[8] "…to do all our actions by Mary, with Mary, in Mary and for Mary so that we may do them all the more perfectly by Jesus, with Jesus, in Jesus and for Jesus…"

In his book Treatise on Prayer, Alphonsus Liguori reviewed the writings of Thomas Aquinas and Bernard of Clairvaux on the intercession of saints and Mary's role as Mediatrix and strongly supported the title.[9][10]

19th–21st centuries edit

Several popes have used the title Mediatrix. Leo XIII used it in 1896 and Pius X in 1904. This continued in the 20th century with Benedict XV and Pius XI.[1] However, Pius XII avoided the use of the title, although he urged reliance on the intercession of Mary.[1]

Pope John Paul II used the title Mediatrix a number of times and in his encyclical Redemptoris Mater wrote:

"The maternal role of Mary towards people in no way obscures or diminishes the unique mediation of Christ, but rather shows its power": it is mediation in Christ. …Mary's mediation is intimately linked with her motherhood… through this fullness of grace and supernatural life she was especially predisposed to cooperation with Christ, the one Mediator of human salvation. And such cooperation is precisely this mediation subordinated to the mediation of Christ.[11]

In September 2012, during the Feast of the Nativity of Mary, claimant visionnaire Emma de Guzman stated that the Virgin Mary revealed her maternal role as "Mediatrix before the Mediator," a special Marian title associated by many Filipino Catholics in reference to Our Lady Mediatrix of All Graces.[12]

Theological issues edit

Among Catholic theologians, it is undisputed that Jesus Christ is the only mediator between God and the human race, especially in the salvific role of redemption as exhibited by the crucifixion on Mount Calvary.[13] Accordingly, the word "mediator" in the strict sense fits Jesus alone in relation to God, but in a subordinate sense, Christians exercise a mediation "that is effective through, with, and in Christ. The subordinate mediator never stands alone, but is always dependent on Jesus."[14]

With special reference to Mary, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, quoting the Second Vatican Council, which in its document Lumen gentium referred to Mary as "'Advocate, Auxiliatrix, Adjutrix and Mediatrix," says:

Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this saving office but by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation. ...Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix [Lumen gentium, 62]. Mary's function as mother of men in no way obscures or diminishes this unique mediation of Christ, but rather shows its power. But the Blessed Virgin's salutary influence on men ... flows forth from the superabundance of the merits of Christ, rests on his mediation, depends entirely on it, and draws all its power from it [Lumen gentium, 60]. No creature could ever be counted along with the Incarnate Word and Redeemer; but just as the priesthood of Christ is shared in various ways both by his ministers and the faithful, and as the one goodness of God is radiated in different ways among his creatures, so also the unique mediation of the Redeemer does not exclude but rather gives rise to a manifold cooperation which is but a sharing in this one source [Lumen gentium, 62].[15]

At a Mariological Congress held at Czestochowa in August 1996, a commission was established in response to a request, by the Holy See, which had asked to know the opinion of the scholars present at the Congress on the possibility of defining a new dogma of faith regarding Mary as Coredemptrix, Mediatrix and Advocate. (In recent years, the Pope and various dicasteries of the Holy See had received petitions requesting such a definition.) The response of the commission, deliberately brief, was unanimous and precise: It found that the titles, as proposed, were ambiguous, as they can be understood in very different ways.[16] It also held that it was not opportune to abandon the path marked out by the Second Vatican Council and proceed to the definition of a new dogma.[17]

Mediatrix of all graces edit

Main article: Mediatrix of all graces

Going further than expressing belief in Mary as Mediatrix, proposals have been made to declare that Mary is the Mediatrix of all graces. Pope Benedict XV allowed the dioceses of Belgium to celebrate the feast of Mary Mediatrix of all graces on May 31 each year.[18] In printings of the Roman Missal from that date until 1961, the Mass of Mary Mediatrix of All Graces was found in the appendix Missae pro aliquibus locis (Masses for Some Places), but not in the general calendar for use wherever the Roman Rite is celebrated.[19] Other Masses authorized for celebration in different places on the same day were those of the Blessed Virgin Mary Queen of All Saints and Mother of Fair Love and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The Belgian celebration has now been replaced by an optional memorial on 31 August of the Virgin Mary Mediatrix.[20]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Antoine Nachef (Sep 1, 2000) Mary's Pope: John Paul II, Mary, and the Church ISBN 1-58051077-9 pp. 179–80
  2. ^ McGurkin, John Anthony 2011. The Encyclopedia of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, ISBN 1-40518539-2 p. 597
  3. ^ Second Vatican Council, Lumen gentium, §62, November 21, 1964.
  4. ^ a b Mark Miravalle, 1993, Introduction to Mary, Queenship Publishing ISBN 978-1-882972-06-7, p. 104
  5. ^ Thomas Aquinas, Summa, III, 26,1, New advent.
  6. ^ Council of Trent, Session XXV, U. Hanover.
  7. ^ Mark Miravalle, 1993, Introduction to Mary, Queenship Publishing ISBN 978-1-882972-06-7, p. 156
  8. ^ Mark Miravalle, 1993, Introduction to Mary, Queenship Publishing ISBN 978-1-882972-06-7 p. 175
  9. ^ St Alphonsus Liguori (Jun 7, 2009) Treatise on Prayer ISBN 0-98199010-X p. 26
  10. ^ Paul Haffner (2004) The Mystery of Mary ISBN 0-85244650-0 p. 260
  11. ^ Pope John Paul II's encyclical Redemptoris Mater, Part III, "Maternal Mediation" On the Blessed Virgin Mary in the life of the Pilgrim Church
  12. ^ Castro, June Keithley. "Messages from Mama Mary", Inquirer.
  13. ^ 1 Timothy 2:5
  14. ^ The Intercession of Saints
  15. ^ Catechism of the Catholic Church, 969–970
  16. ^ "Declaration of the Theological Commission of the Pontifical International Marian Academy", L'Osservatore Romano
  17. ^ L'Osservatore Romano, Weekly ed in English, 25 June 1997, p.10
  18. ^ Mark Miravalle, 2008, Mariology: A Guide for Priests, Deacons, seminarians, and Consecrated Persons, Queenship Publishing ISBN 1-57918-355-7 page 448
  19. ^ See, for instance, the 1957 printing and a late-1920s printing. 2020-03-01 at the Wayback Machine
  20. ^ Calendrier liturgique francophone 2010-2011

May 08, 2024
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See also Mediatrix of all graces Mediatrix is a title given to Mary mother of Jesus in Christianity It refers to the intercessory role of the Blessed Virgin Mary as a mediator in the salvific redemption by her son Jesus Christ and that he bestows graces through her Mediatrix is an ancient title that has been used by many saints since at least the 5th century Its use grew during the Middle Ages and reached its height in the writings of saints Louis de Montfort and Alphonsus Liguori in the 18th century 1 A general role of intercession is attributed to Mary in Catholicism Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy 2 and the term Mediatrix was applied to her in the dogmatic constitution Lumen gentium of the Second Vatican Council This however is to be so understood that it neither takes away from nor adds anything to the dignity and efficaciousness of Christ the one Mediator 3 The use of the title Mediatrix and the doctrine of Mary having a higher level of saintly intercession owing to her special relationship with her son Jesus is distinct from the theological issues involved in the establishment of Mediatrix of all graces as a dogma Contents 1 History 1 1 Early history 1 2 Later Middle Ages 1 3 17th 18th centuries 1 4 19th 21st centuries 2 Theological issues 3 Mediatrix of all graces 4 See also 5 ReferencesHistory editEarly history edit Mediatrix is an ancient title 1 A prayer attributed to Ephrem the Syrian in the 4th century calls her after the mediator you Mary are the mediatrix of the whole world 4 The title was also used in the 5th century by Basil of Seleucia By the 8th century the title Mediatrix found common use and Andrew of Crete and saint John of Damascus used it 1 These early notions place Mary s mediation on a higher level than that of other forms of the intercession of saints Her position as the mother of Jesus Christ the redeemer and source of grace makes her preeminent among others who might be called mediators 4 Later Middle Ages edit The use of the Mediatrix title continued to grow in the Middle Ages and Bernard of Clairvaux 12th century Bonaventure and Bernardino of Siena 15th century frequently used it 1 In the 13th century Saint Thomas Aquinas noted that only Jesus Christ can be the perfect mediator between God and humankind However this does not hinder that others may be called mediators in some respect between God and man because they assist and prepare union between God and man 5 The same notion was stated in the 16th century by the Council of Trent which declared that the saints who reign together with Christ offer up their own prayers to God for men that it is good and useful suppliantly to invoke them and to have recourse to their prayers aid and help for obtaining benefits from God through His Son Jesus Christ our Lord who is our alone Redeemer and Saviour but that they think impiously who deny that the saints who enjoy eternal happiness in heaven are to be invocated or who assert either that they do not pray for men or that the invocation of them to pray for each of us even in particular is idolatry or that it is repugnant to the word of God and is opposed to the honour of the one mediator of God and men Christ Jesus or that it is foolish to supplicate vocally or mentally those who reign in heaven 6 17th 18th centuries edit Reliance on the intercession of Mary grew and reached its height in the writings of saints Louis de Montfort and Alphonsus Liguori in the 18th century 1 Louis de Montfort s approach which later influenced Pope John Paul II emphasized that Mary is the natural path to approaching Jesus because of her special relationship with him 7 This reliance on the intercession of Mary is based on the general Montfortean formula 8 to do all our actions by Mary with Mary in Mary and for Mary so that we may do them all the more perfectly by Jesus with Jesus in Jesus and for Jesus In his book Treatise on Prayer Alphonsus Liguori reviewed the writings of Thomas Aquinas and Bernard of Clairvaux on the intercession of saints and Mary s role as Mediatrix and strongly supported the title 9 10 19th 21st centuries edit Several popes have used the title Mediatrix Leo XIII used it in 1896 and Pius X in 1904 This continued in the 20th century with Benedict XV and Pius XI 1 However Pius XII avoided the use of the title although he urged reliance on the intercession of Mary 1 Pope John Paul II used the title Mediatrix a number of times and in his encyclical Redemptoris Mater wrote The maternal role of Mary towards people in no way obscures or diminishes the unique mediation of Christ but rather shows its power it is mediation in Christ Mary s mediation is intimately linked with her motherhood through this fullness of grace and supernatural life she was especially predisposed to cooperation with Christ the one Mediator of human salvation And such cooperation is precisely this mediation subordinated to the mediation of Christ 11 In September 2012 during the Feast of the Nativity of Mary claimant visionnaire Emma de Guzman stated that the Virgin Mary revealed her maternal role as Mediatrix before the Mediator a special Marian title associated by many Filipino Catholics in reference to Our Lady Mediatrix of All Graces 12 Theological issues editAmong Catholic theologians it is undisputed that Jesus Christ is the only mediator between God and the human race especially in the salvific role of redemption as exhibited by the crucifixion on Mount Calvary 13 Accordingly the word mediator in the strict sense fits Jesus alone in relation to God but in a subordinate sense Christians exercise a mediation that is effective through with and in Christ The subordinate mediator never stands alone but is always dependent on Jesus 14 With special reference to Mary the Catechism of the Catholic Church quoting the Second Vatican Council which in its document Lumen gentium referred to Mary as Advocate Auxiliatrix Adjutrix and Mediatrix says Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this saving office but by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate Helper Benefactress and Mediatrix Lumen gentium 62 Mary s function as mother of men in no way obscures or diminishes this unique mediation of Christ but rather shows its power But the Blessed Virgin s salutary influence on men flows forth from the superabundance of the merits of Christ rests on his mediation depends entirely on it and draws all its power from it Lumen gentium 60 No creature could ever be counted along with the Incarnate Word and Redeemer but just as the priesthood of Christ is shared in various ways both by his ministers and the faithful and as the one goodness of God is radiated in different ways among his creatures so also the unique mediation of the Redeemer does not exclude but rather gives rise to a manifold cooperation which is but a sharing in this one source Lumen gentium 62 15 At a Mariological Congress held at Czestochowa in August 1996 a commission was established in response to a request by the Holy See which had asked to know the opinion of the scholars present at the Congress on the possibility of defining a new dogma of faith regarding Mary as Coredemptrix Mediatrix and Advocate In recent years the Pope and various dicasteries of the Holy See had received petitions requesting such a definition The response of the commission deliberately brief was unanimous and precise It found that the titles as proposed were ambiguous as they can be understood in very different ways 16 It also held that it was not opportune to abandon the path marked out by the Second Vatican Council and proceed to the definition of a new dogma 17 Mediatrix of all graces editMain article Mediatrix of all graces Going further than expressing belief in Mary as Mediatrix proposals have been made to declare that Mary is the Mediatrix of all graces Pope Benedict XV allowed the dioceses of Belgium to celebrate the feast of Mary Mediatrix of all graces on May 31 each year 18 In printings of the Roman Missal from that date until 1961 the Mass of Mary Mediatrix of All Graces was found in the appendix Missae pro aliquibus locis Masses for Some Places but not in the general calendar for use wherever the Roman Rite is celebrated 19 Other Masses authorized for celebration in different places on the same day were those of the Blessed Virgin Mary Queen of All Saints and Mother of Fair Love and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart of Jesus The Belgian celebration has now been replaced by an optional memorial on 31 August of the Virgin Mary Mediatrix 20 See also editCo RedemptrixReferences edit a b c d e f g Antoine Nachef Sep 1 2000 Mary s Pope John Paul II Mary and the Church ISBN 1 58051077 9 pp 179 80 McGurkin John Anthony 2011 The Encyclopedia of Eastern Orthodox Christianity ISBN 1 40518539 2 p 597 Second Vatican Council Lumen gentium 62 November 21 1964 a b Mark Miravalle 1993 Introduction to Mary Queenship Publishing ISBN 978 1 882972 06 7 p 104 Thomas Aquinas Summa III 26 1 New advent Council of Trent Session XXV U Hanover Mark Miravalle 1993 Introduction to Mary Queenship Publishing ISBN 978 1 882972 06 7 p 156 Mark Miravalle 1993 Introduction to Mary Queenship Publishing ISBN 978 1 882972 06 7 p 175 St Alphonsus Liguori Jun 7 2009 Treatise on Prayer ISBN 0 98199010 X p 26 Paul Haffner 2004 The Mystery of Mary ISBN 0 85244650 0 p 260 Pope John Paul II s encyclical Redemptoris Mater Part III Maternal Mediation On the Blessed Virgin Mary in the life of the Pilgrim Church Castro June Keithley Messages from Mama Mary Inquirer 1 Timothy 2 5 The Intercession of Saints Catechism of the Catholic Church 969 970 Declaration of the Theological Commission of the Pontifical International Marian Academy L Osservatore Romano L Osservatore Romano Weekly ed in English 25 June 1997 p 10 Mark Miravalle 2008 Mariology A Guide for Priests Deacons seminarians and Consecrated Persons Queenship Publishing ISBN 1 57918 355 7 page 448 See for instance the 1957 printing and a late 1920s printing Archived 2020 03 01 at the Wayback Machine Calendrier liturgique francophone 2010 2011 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Mediatrix amp oldid 1195735435, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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