5b-Assumption, IMC, Theotokos Ark of New Covenant
Bodily Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
"If the Holy Virgin had died and was buried, her falling asleep would have been surrounded with honour, death would have found her pure, and her crown would have been a virginal one...Had she been martyred according to what is written: ’Thine own soul a sword shall pierce’, then she would shine gloriously among the martyrs, and her holy body would have been declared blessed; for by her, did light come to the world."Epiphanius,Panarion,78:23(A.D. 377),in PG 42:737
"[T]he Apostles took up her body on a bier and placed it in a tomb; and they guarded it, expecting the Lord to come. And behold, again the Lord stood by them; and the holy body having been received, He commanded that it be taken in a cloud into paradise: where now, rejoined to the soul, [Mary] rejoices with the Lord’s chosen ones..." Gregory of Tours, Eight Books of Miracles,1:4(inter A.D. 575-593),in JUR,III:306
"As the most glorious Mother of Christ,our Savior and God and the giver of life and immortality, has been endowed with life by him, she has received an eternal incorruptibility of the body together with him who has raised her up from the tomb and has taken her up to himself in a way known only to him." Modestus of Jerusalem,Encomium in dormitionnem Sanctissimae Dominae nostrae Deiparae semperque Virginis Mariae(PG 86-II,3306),(ante A.D. 634) from Munificentis simus Deus
"It was fitting ... that the most holy-body of Mary, God-bearing body, receptacle of God, divinised, incorruptible, illuminated by divine grace and full glory ... should be entrusted to the earth for a little while and raised up to heaven in glory, with her soul pleasing to God."Theoteknos of Livias,Homily on the Assumption(ante A.D. 650),in THEO,57
"You are she who, as it is written, appears in beauty, and your virginal body is all holy, all chaste, entirely the dewlling place of God, so that it is henceforth completely exempt from dissoultion into dust. Though still human, it is changed into the heavenly life of incorruptibility, truly living and glorious, undamaged and sharing in perfect life." Germanus of Constantinople,Sermon I(PG 98,346),(ante A.D. 733),from Munificentis simus Deus
"It was fitting that the she, who had kept her virginity intact in childbirth, should keep her own body free from all corruption even after death. It was fitting that she, who had carried the Creator as a child at her breast, should dwell in the divine tabernacles. It was fitting that the spouse, whom the Father had taken to himself, should live in the divine mansions. It was fitting that she, who had seen her Son upon the cross and who had thereby received into her heart the sword of sorrow which she had escaped when giving birth to him, should look upon him as he sits with the Father, It was fitting that God’s Mother should possess what belongs to her Son, and that she should be honored by every creature as the Mother and as the handmaid of God" John of Damascene,Dormition of Mary(PG 96,741),(ante A.D. 749) from Munificentis simus Deus
" ’St. Juvenal, Bishop of Jerusalem, at the Council of Chalcedon (451), made known to the Emperor Marcian and Pulcheria, who wished to possess the body of the Mother of God, that Mary died in the presence of all the Apostles, but that her tomb, when opened upon the request of St. Thomas, was found empty; wherefrom the Apostles concluded that the body was taken up to heaven.’ " John of Damascene,PG(96:1)(A.D. 747-751)
"Venerable to us, O Lord, is the festivity of this day on which the holy Mother of God suffered temporal death, but still could not be kept down by the bonds of death, who has begotten Thy Son our Lord incarnate from herself." Gregorian Sacramentary,Veneranda(ante A.D. 795), from Munificentis simus Deus
"[A]n effable mystery all the more worthy of praise as the Virgin’s Assumption is something unique among men." Gallican Sacramentary, from Munificentis simus Deus
"God, the King of the universe, has granted you favors that surpass nature. As he kept you virgin in childbirth, thus he kept your body incorrupt in the tomb and has glorified it by his divine act of transferring it from the tomb." Byzantine Liturgy, from Munificentis simus Deus
"[T]he virgin is up to now immortal, as He who lived, translated her into the place of reception" Timotheus of Jerusalem(6th-8th century),in OTT,208 This text may downloaded and viewed for private reading only. This text may not be used by another Web site or published, electronically or otherwise, without the written permission of the copyright holder.
Joseph A. Gallegos © 1999 All Rights Reserved.
Immaculate Conception
Irenaeus of Lyons: "Consequently, then, Mary the Virgin is found to be obedient, saying, `Behold, O Lord, your handmaid; be it done to me according to your word.’ Eve, however, was disobedient, and, when yet a virgin, she did not obey., was made the cause of death for herself and for the whole human race; so also Mary, betrothed to a man but nevertheless still a virgin, being obedient, was made thecause of salvationfor herself and for thewhole human race..(mediatrix) Thus, the knot of Eve’s disobedience was loosed by the obedience of Mary. What the virgin Eve had bound in unbelief, the Virgin Mary loosed through faith" (Against Heresies 3:22:24 [A.D. 189]).
Tertullian: Likewise through a Virgin the Word of God was introduced to set up a structure of life. Thus what had been laid waste in ruin by this Eve was by Mary re-established in salvation.(mediatrix) Eve had believed the serpent; Mary believed Gabriel. That which the one destroyed by believing, the other, by believing, set straight" (The Flesh of Christ 17:4 [A.D.210].
Tertullian:As Eve had believed the serpent, so Mary believed the angel. Eve at all events conceived; for the devil’s word afterwards became as seed to her that she should conceive as an outcast, and bring forth in sorrow. Indeed she gave birth to a fratricidal devil; whilst Mary, on the contrary, bare one who was one day to secure salvation to Israel,(mediatrix) (On the Flesh of Christ Chapt XVII Similarity in the circumstance between the first and second Adam and between Eve and Mary)
Tertullian: Because Eve, contrary to the assurance she had received from God, believed the serpent, she brought death in the world: but ourQueen, because she believed the angel when he said that she, remaining a virgin would become the mother of God, brought salvation into the world(Crediderat Eva Serpenti, Maria Gabrielli: ) St Athanasius states:If the Son is King, the Mother who begot Him is rightly and truly considereda Queenand sovereign.
ST Peter Chrysologus CalledMary the spouse of the Holy Spirit "He was the ark formed of incorruptible wood. For by this is signified that His tabernacle was exempt from putridity and corruption." Hippolytus,Orat. Inillud, Dominus pascit me(ante A.D. 235),in ULL,94 "This Virgin Mother of the Only-begotten of God, is called Mary, worthy of God, immaculate of the immaculate, one of the one." Origen,Homily 1(A.D. 244),in ULL,94 "Let woman praise Her, the pure Mary." Ephraim,Hymns on the Nativity,15:23(A.D. 370),in NPNF2,XIII:254
"Thou alone and thy Mother are in all things fair, there is no flaw in thee and no stain in thy Mother." "Ephraem,Nisibene Hymns,27:8(A.D. 370),in THEO,132 Epiphanius of Salamis
"We believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of all things, both visible and invisible; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God . . . who for us men and for our salvation came down and took flesh, that is, was born perfectly of theholyever-virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit." (The Man Well-Anchored 120 [A.D. 374]).
Epiphanius of Salamis
"And to holy Mary, [the title] ’Virgin’ is invariably added, for that holy woman remains undefiled" (Medicine Chest Against All Heresies 78:6 [A.D. 375]).
"Mary, a Virgin not onlyundefiledbut a Virgin whom grace has madeinviolate, free of every stain of sin."
Ambrose,Sermon 22:30(A.D. 388),in JUR,II:166
"We must except the Holy Virgin Mary, concerning whom I wish to raise no question when it touches the subject of sins, out of honour to the Lord; for from Him we know what abundance of grace for overcoming sin in every particular was conferred upon her who had the merit to conceive and bear Him who undoubtedly had no sin." Augustine,Nature and Grace,42[36](A.D.415),in NPNF1,V:135 inher sacred wombwas wrought that most sacred mystery whereby, on account of the singular and unique unity of Person, as the Word in flesh is flesh, so Man in God is God." Vincent of Lerins,Commonitories,15 (A.D. 434),in NPNF2,XI:142-143 As he formed her without my stain of her own,so He proceeded from her contracting no stain." Proclus of Constantinople,Homily 1(ante A.D. 446), in ULL,97
"A virgin, innocent, spotless, free of all defect, untouched, unsullied, holy in soul and body, like a lily sprouting among thorns." Theodotus of Ancrya,Homily VI:11(ante A.D. 446), in THEO,339
"The angel took not the Virgin from Joseph, but gave her to Christ, to whom she was pledged from Joseph, but gave her to Christ, to whom she was pledged in the womb, when she was made." Peter Chrysologus,Sermon 140(A.D. 449),in ULL,97 Council of Constantinople II
"If anyone will not confess that the Word of God . . . came down from the heavens and was made flesh of holy and glorious Mary, mother of God and ever-virgin, and was born from her, let him be anathema" (Anathemas Against the ’Three Chapters’ 2 [A.D. 553]).
"[T]he very fact that God has elected her provesthat none was ever holierthan Mary, if any stain had disfigured her soul, if any other virgin had been purer and holier, God would have selected her and rejected Mary." Jacob of Sarug(ante A.D. 521),in CE
"She is born like the cherubim, she who is of a pure, immaculate clay" Theotoknos of Livias,Panegyric for the feast of the Assumption, 5:6(ante A.D. 650),in THEO,180
"Today humanity, in all the radiance of her immaculate nobility, receives its ancient beauty. The shame of sin had darkened the splendour and attraction of human nature; but when the Mother of the Fair One par excellence is born, this nature regains in her person its ancient privileges and is fashioned according to a perfect model truly worthy of God.... The reform of our nature begins today and the aged world, subjected to a wholly divine transformation, receives the first fruits of the second creation" Andrew of Crete,Sermon I,On the Birth of Mary(A.D. 733),in THEO,180
"[T]ruly elect, and superior to all,not by the altitude of lofty structures, but as ecelling all in the greatness and purity of sublime and divine virtues, and having no affinity with sin whatever." Germanus of Constantinople,Marracci in S. Germani Mariali(ante A.D. 733),in ULL,98 "O most blessed loins of Joachim from which came forth a spotless seed! O glorious womb of Anne in which a most holy offspring grew." John of Damascus,Homily I in Nativ.(ante A.D. 749),in THEO,200 This text may downloaded and viewed for private reading only. This text may not be used by another Web site or published, electronically or otherwise, without the written permission of the copyright holder.
Joseph A. Gallegos © 1999 All Rights Reserved.
Mary: Ark of the New Covanent (Early Church Fathers) *Courtesy of Steve Ray St. Proclus (died 446 or 447)
“Let the woman haste hither, for the woman shows not the tree of death, but brings forth the tree of life: the virgins...the mothers also, for the Virgin Mother has amended the tree of disobedience by the tree of life. The female sex is no longer in execration, for it has obtained whereby it shall surpass even the angels in glory. Eve has been healed...and Mary is venerated (adored), because she has become mother and handmaid, cloud and chamber, and ark of the Lord....For this cause let us say to her: Blessed art thou amongst women, who alone hast healed the grief of Eve; who alone hast borne the world’s price” (Orat.iv.and v. In Natal. Dom. P.G. Tom. 65, p.710) (Blessed Virgin, p. 58).
St. Ephrem (c. 306-373)
“With the rib that was drawn out of Adam, the wicked one drew out the heart of Adam. There arose from the rib [i.e., Mary], a hidden power which cut off Satan as Dagon. For in that ark [Mary again], a book was hidden that cried and proclaimed the Conqueror. There was then a mystery revealed, in that Dagon was brought low in his own place of refuge. The accomplishment came after the type, in that the wicked one was brought low wherein he trusted....Fulfilled was the mystery. Blessed is He who by the true Lamb redeemed us, and destroyed our destroyer as He did Dagon” (S. Ephrem, Rhythm iii, On the Nativity, Morris, p.20) ((Blessed Virgin, p. 66).
Chrysippus
“An ark truly royal, an ark most precious is the ever-Virgin Mother of God, an ark which received the treasure of entire sanctification. Not that ark wherein were all kinds of animals, as in the ark of Noe, which escaped the shipwreck of the whole drowning world. Not that ark in which were the tables of stone, as in the ark that journeyed in company with Israel throughout the desert; but an ark whose architect and inhabitant, pilot and merchant, companion of the way, and leader, was the Creator of all creatures, all which He bears in Himself, but by all is not contained” (Chrysippus, Orat. de laudib. Deip. (Blessed Virgin, p. 74).
St. Hippolytus (c. 170-c. 236)
“At that time, the Savior coming from the Virgin, the Ark, brought forth His own Body into the world from that Ark, which was gilded with pure gold within by the Word, and without by the Holy Ghost; so that the truth was shown forth, and the Ark was manifested....And the Savior came into the world bearing the incorruptible Ark, that is to say His own body” (S. Hippolytus, In Dan.vi., Patr. Gr., Tom. 10, p. 648) (Blessed Virgin, p. 77).
St. Ambrose (c. 339-397)
“The prophet David danced before the Ark. Now what else should we say the Ark was but holy Mary? The Ark bore within it the tables of the Testament, but Mary bore the Heir of the same Testament itself. The former contained in it the Law, the latter the Gospel. The one had the voice of God, the other His Word. The Ark, indeed, was radiant within and without with the glitter of gold, but holy Mary shone within and without with the splendor of virginity. The one was adorned with earthly gold, the other with heavenly” (Serm. xlii. 6, Int. Opp., S. Ambrosii) (Blessed Virgin, p. 77).
St. Cyril (315-387?)
“The Ark would be the type and image of Christ : for if we look back to the way of the Incarnation of the Only-begotten, we shall see that it is in the temple of the Virgin, as in an ark that the Word of God took up His abode. For in Him dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, as the Scripture saith. But the testimonies in the ark were the word of God, and the wood of it was imperishable, and with pure and choicest gold was it beautified within and without” (St. Cyril, De ador. In Spir. Et Verit, p. 293, St. Maximus of Turin and other Fathers apply the Ark of the Covenant to the Blessed Virgin Mary) (Blessed Virgin, p. 76).
Breviarium in Psalterium
“Christ in Mary as though the Bridegroom in the bride chamber, and the body of Mary as though the tabernacle” (Breviarium in Psalterium) (Blessed Virgin, p. 78).
St. Athanasius (c. 296-373; the main defender of the Trinity and the deity of Christ against the 2nd century Arian heretics.)
“Be mindful of us, most holy virgin, who after childbirth didst remain virgin; and grant to us for these small words great gifts from the riches of they graces, O thou full of grace. Accept them as though they were true and adequate praises in they honor; and if there is in them any virtue and any praise, we offer them as a hymn from ourselves and from all creatures to thee, full of grace, Lady, Queen, Mistress, Mother of God, and Ark of sanctification” (Orat. In Deip. Annuntiat, nn. 13, 14. Int. Opp. S. Athanasii) (Blessed Virgin, p. 80).
“O noble Virgin, truly you are greater than any other greatness. For who is your equal in greatness, O dwelling place of God the Word? To whom among all creatures shall I compare you, O Virgin? You are greater than them all O (Ark of the) Covenant, clothed with purity instead of gold! You are the Ark in which is found the golden vessel containing the true manna, that is, the flesh in which Divinity resides.” Homily of the Papyrus of Turin.
St. Dionysius (died 264)
“As Christ our priest was not chosen by hand of man, so neither was His tabernacle framed by men, but was established by the Holy Ghost; and by the power of God is that tabernacle protected, to be had in everlasting remembrance, Mary, God’s Virgin Mother” (S. Dionysius of Alexandria, Respons. ad Quoest. v. Pauli Samos) (Blessed Virgin, p. 81).
“Not in a servant did He dwell, but in His holy tabernacle not made with hands, which is Mary the Mother of God” (Ib. ad Quoest. vii. In calling Mary ?????????????? ?, the Saint implies that she was of an election and origin altogether singular and exceptional. The word occurs three times in the New Testament (Mark xiv. 58, 2 Cor. v. 1, Col. Ii. 11), and in each case denotes what is of singular and divine origin. See also Heb. ix. 11, 24) (Blessed Virgin, p. 81).
St. Gregory Thaumaturgus (c. 213-c. 270)
“The ark is verily the holy Virgin, gilded within and without, who received the treasure of universal sanctification. Arise, O Lord, from the Father’s bosom, to raise up again the ruined race of our first parent” (Orat. in Deip. Annunciat. Int. Opp. S. Greg. Thaumaturg) (Blessed Virgin, p. 89).
Another translation renders this: “Let us chant the melody which has been taught us by the inspired harp of David, and say, “Arise, O Lord, into Thy rest; Thou, and the Ark of Thy sanctuary.” For the holy Virgin is in truth an Ark, wrought with gold both within and without, that has received the whole treasury of the sanctuary
“The tenor of his message was as follows. I am moved by My compassion to descend to earth in order to recover the lost Adam. Sin made him to decay who was made to My image, and hath corrupted the work of My hands, and obscured the beauty which I formed....Go therefore to the Virgin Mary. Pass thou on to the animate city whereof the prophet spake these words: Glorious things are said of thee, O city of God. Go, then, to My rational paradise, to the Gate of the East, to the place of sojourn that is worthy of My Word, that hath appeared as a heaven upon earth ; go to the light cloud, and announce to it the shower of My coming ; go to the sanctuary prepared for Me, to the hall of the Incarnation, to the pure chamber of My generation according to the flesh. Speak in the ears of My rational ark, so as to prepare for Me the accesses of hearing. But disturb not nor vex the soul of Mary. Manifest thyself in such wise as becomes that sanctuary, and salute her first with the voice of gladness” (Homilies, il, ii., iii. On the Annunciation, Int. Opp. S. Greg. Thaum., 5th century) (Blessed Virgin, p. 123).
13. The Holy Virgin is herself both an honourable temple of God and a shrine made pure, and a golden altar of whole burnt offerings. By reason of her surpassing purity [she is] the Divine incense of oblation ( = ?????????), and oil of the holy grace, and a precious vase bearing in itself the true nard; [yea and] the priestly diadem revealing the good pleasure of God, whom she alone approacheth holy in body and soul. [She is] the door which looks eastward, and by the comings in and goings forth the whole earth is illuminated. The fertile olive from which the Holy Spirit took the fleshly slip (or twig) of the Lord, and saved the suffering race of men. She is the boast of virgins, and the joy of mothers; the declaration of archangels, even as it was spoken: "Be thou glad and rejoice, the Lord with thee"; and again, "from thee"; in order that He may make new once more the dead through sin. |166 Gregory Thaumaturgus, Homily concerning the Holy Mother of God. The Expositor 5th series vol.3 (1896) pp.161-173 Hesychius (lived c. 300)
“The ark is without doubt the Virgin Mother of God. For if Thou art the gem, with reason is she the ark; and because Thou art the sun, the Virgin will necessarily be called heaven: since Thou art the unfading flower, the Virgin must assuredly be the plant of incorruption and paradise of immortality. Which things Isaias, seeing from afar, exclaimed later on: Behold a Virgin shall conceive in her womb, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel. Behold a Virgin. Who is she? The most noble of women, the elect from among virgins, the splendid ornament of our nature, the glory of our mould, who freed Eve from her shame and Adam from the curse, who cut off the bold insolence of the dragon, she whom the smoke of concupiscence touched not, nor the worm of pleasure harmed” (Is.vii. 14). (Hesychius, Orat. De Virginis laudib. Biblioth. PP. Græco-Lat. Tom. ii. p. 423) (Blessed Virgin, p. 89).
“Arise, Lord, into Thy rest, Thou and the Ark of Thy sanctification, which is very evidently the Virgin Mother of God. For if thou are the pearl, with good reason is she the Ark” (Serm. V. De S. Maria Deip. Patr. Gr. Tom. 93, pp. 460-4) (Blessed Virgin, p. 227).
St. Zeno (c. 450-491)
“God, the Son of God, at the time appointed, concealing for the while His majesty, comes forth from His ethereal throne, and prepares for Himself a tabernacle in the temple of the predestined Virgin; wherein He hides Himself, about to become man; and there whilst preserving what He was, He meditates to be what He was not. Mingles thus with human flesh He forms Himself an infant. The womb of Mary swells forth with pride, not by conjugal gift, but by faith; by the Word, not by seed. She knows not the tediousness of the ten months” (Lib. Ii., Tractatus viii. Et ix. Pat. Lat. Tom. 11, pp. 413-417) (Blessed Virgin, p. 126).
St. Methodius (815-8885)
“Hence it was that the Ark of God removed from the stable at Bethlehem . . . and rested upon the mountains of Zion; and receiving into her pure bosom as upon a lofty throne-such as transcends the nature of man-the Monarch of all, she presented Him there to God the Father-the Son joint-partner of His throne, and inseparable from Him-together with that pure and undefiled flesh which He had from her assumed.... She goes up therefore to the temple, she who was more exalted than the temple, clothed with a double glory-the glory, I mean, of undefiled virginity, and that of ineffable child-bearing, the benediction of the Law, and the sanctification of grace....
“Tremendous, verily, is the mystery connected with thee, O Mother Virgin, thou spiritual throne, glorified and made worthy of God. . . . And the lintels of the doors, says the prophet, were raised at the voice of them that cried. By which is signified the veil of the temple overshadowing before the ark of the Covenant which typified thee.... For if to the ark, which was the image and type of thy sanctity, such honor was paid by God, that to no one but to the priestly order was the access to it open, or ingress allowed to behold it-the veil separating it off, and keeping the vestibule as that of a queen-how great, and what sort of veneration is due to thee from us, who are of all the least, to thee who art indeed a Queen ; to thee who art in truth the living Ark of God, the Law-giver; to thee who hast verily become the heaven that contains Him who can be contained of none?” (St. Methodius, Orat. de Simeone et Anna ii. Patr. Graec. Tom. 18, p. 332. (Blessed Virgin, p. 153).
St. Theodotus of Ancyra (died c. 445)
“But what part had the divine Virgin Mother, worthy of all praise, in these things that were taking place? She wondered indeed and with reason at the things that were being said, and kept them, together with those said before, in her heart. To her now Simeon of set purpose speaks: O fair and innocent dove! O sacred tabernacle of our hope, wherein all sanctity and magnificence dwell, He to whom thou hast given birth-thou knowest it not -is set for the ruin and resurrection of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be contradicted. And thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that out of many hearts thoughts may be revealed” (Hom. Iv. In Deip. Et Simeon. N. 13, Patr. Gr. Tom. 74, p. 1410) (Blessed Virgin, p. 161).
“O Dove, all-white and innocent! O holy temple of our hopes, wherein dwells all sanctity and magnificence” (Hom. iv. In S. Deip. et Simeon. Ib., p. 1395) (Blessed Virgin, p. 223).
St. Ambrose (c. 339-397)
“For this cause did the prophet David dance before the Ark. And what shall we say is the Ark, but holy Mary? For as the Ark bore within it the tables of the Testament, so Mary bore the Heir of the same Testament: it preserved within it the Law, she the Gospel; it had the voice, she the word, of God. The Ark, moreover, was radiant within and without with the shining of gold, whilst holy Mary gleamed within and without with the splendor of virginity; it was adorned with earthly gold, she with heavenly” (Serm. xlii., Int. Opp. S. Ambros. The author is uncertain, but there is nothing to show that he is not S. Ambrose. Ed. Maurin,. vol. iv. p. 551) (Blessed Virgin, p. 201).
St. Jerome (c. 345-420)
“Behold one in truth, the handmaid of the Lord. Holy she is, in whom is no guile, all simplicity....The spouse of Christ is the ark of the covenant, within and without overlaid with gold, a keeper of the law of the Lord. As in the ark there was nothing but the tables of the Testament, so too in thee no one from outside should be thought of. Over this propitiatory, as though upon the Cherubim, the Lord is pleased to sit....The Apostle thus defines a virgin, that she should be holy in body and in spirit... (Epist. Xxii., Ad Eustoch. Nn. 18, 19, 21, 24) (Blessed Virgin, p. 216).
Unknown author
“ He made not his dwelling in a slave, but in His Holy Tabernacle not made with hands, which is Mary the Mother of God” (Blessed Virgin, p. 251).
St. Ephrem (c. 306-373)
“O Virgin Mother of God, Gate of heaven, and Ark, in thee I have a secure salvation. Save me out of the pure mercy (??????, gratis), O Lady” (Precat. ix. Opp. Gr. et Lat. Tom. iii. P. 522) (Blessed Virgin, p. 294).
“Concentration of the hierarchies, crown of all saints and virgins, approached for thy exceeding brightness and splendor, censer of God, lamp most bright, urn must beautiful containing the heavenly manna; table bearing the written law for men, true ark, book of writing most divine, princess, of all most prudent and wise, light-giving Virgin, most holy consoler and directress of all, most sacred Maid. . . (Is. Xxv. 9, vii. 16) (Blessed Virgin, p. 297)
“Hail, most tranquil haven, and most ardently longed for rescuer of the tempest-tossed from billows and storms. Hail, succor of those in danger. Hail, resurrection of our first father Adam. Hail, sweet liberty. Hail, parent of all. Hail, fountain of grace, and of all the solace. Hail, refuge and hospice of sinners. Hail, mercy-seat of the afflicted. Hail, place of sanctuary in Jerusalem. Hail, most glorious throne of our Creator. Hail, most illustrious splendor of the age. Hail, hope of all the good who suffer under affliction. Hail, sweet solace and protection of the converted. Hail, of men and women alike Queen and Patroness. Hail, best mediatress between God and man. (Threni B. V. M. Opp. Gr. et Lat. Tom. iii. p.575 sq) (Blessed Virgin, p. 298)
“The woman ministered before the man, because he is her head. Joseph rose to minister before His Lord, who was in Mary. The priest ministered before Thy Ark by reason of Thy holiness. Moses carried the tables of stone which the Lord wrote, and Joseph bare about the pure Tablet in whom the Son of the Creator was dwelling. The tables had ceased, because the world was filled with Thy doctrine” (Serm. xi., Natali Domini, Opp. Syr. Tom. ii. p. 429. Morris, pp. 51, 52.) (Blessed Virgin, p. 383).
St. Venantius Fortunatus (c. 530-c. 610)
“How blest that Mother in whose shrine, The great Artificer Divine, Whose hand contains the earth and sky, Vouchsafed, as in His ark, to lie! Blest, in the message Gabriel brought, Blest, by the work the Spirit wrought; From whom the great Desire of earth, Took human Flesh and human birth. All honor, laud, and glory be, O Jesu, Virgin-born to Thee! All glory, as is ever meet, To Father and to Paraclete. Amen” (Blessed Virgin, p. 458).
Mary Mediatrix
St. Ephrem (d. 373) said of Mary, in a prayer ascribed to him: "After the Mediator thou art the mediatrix of the whole world" (Oratio IV ad Deiparam. 4th Lesson of the Office of the Feast).
St. Irenaeus (ca. AD 189) stated: "Mary ... by her obedience became the cause of her own salvation and the salvation of the whole human race." (Adv. haer. III 22,4).
St. Jerome said: "By a woman the whole world was saved" (Tract. de Psalms 96:1-13).
Jerome states that "The Eternal Word uses Mary ,as an abitratrix".
She acts as Mediatrix between God and the lowliness of the flesh (Andrew of Crete Homily on Mary’s Nativity 740 AD In other words, the doctrine of Mary as Mediatrix is of such antiquity that it pre-dates the canonization of Scripture.
What about "all graces"??? That is the implication of "whole world." But here’s more explicit doctrine from the Roman Pontiffs and the Patriarch of Constantinople...
Pope Leo XIII: "From the great treasure of all graces, which the Lord has brought, nothing, according to the will of God comes to us except through Mary" (Octobre mensi, 1891)
Pope St. Pius X calls Mary: "the dispenser of all gifts, which Jesus has acquired for us by his death and His blood" (Denzinger 1978 a)
Pope Benedict XV declared: "All gifts which the Author of all good has deigned to communicate to the unhappy posterity of Adam, are, according to the loving resolve of His Divine Providence, dispensed by the hands of the Most Holy Virgin" (AAS 9, 1917, 266) And from an even older source, from the Patriarch of Constantinople for all you Easterners out there...
St. Germanus of Constantinople (d. 733) stated of Mary: "Nobody can achieve salvation except through thee ... O Most Holy One ... nobody can receive a gift of grace except through thee ... O Most Chast One" (Or. 9,5. Lesson of the Office of the Feast, cite by Ott, ibid., p. 214).
Others notable Catholics who have asserted that Mary is the univeral dispenser of grace by her intercession in heaven include St. Bernard of Clairvaux, St. Bernardine of Siena, St. Peter of Canisius, St. Alphonsus Liguori.
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God bless,
St. Ephraim of Syria (ca. AD 306-373) described St. Mary as "dispensatrix of all gifts... Mediatrix of the whole world.” [Sancti Ephraem Syri opera graece et latine, ed. Assemani, Vol. 3 (Rome, 1746), p. 525 and pp. 528-529, cited by Fr. William Most, Mary in Our Life, Garden City, NY: Doubleday Image, 1954, pg. 48]
St. John of Damasus (c. 675-c. 749), "O Mary, whose mediation is never refused, whose prayer is never denied...through you we obtain, as long as we linger in this crumbling world, the means to do good works" [J.P. Migne, ed., Patroligia Greaca, 96:647]
She acts as Mediatrix between God and the lowliness of the flesh (Andrew of Crete Homily on Mary’s Nativity 740 AD According to the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom,
Quote:
"By the intercession of the Theotokos, Saviour, save us....
...May Christ, our true God (who rose from the dead), as a good, loving and merciful God, have mercy upon us, and save us, through the intercession of his most pure and holy Mother."
Eastern Orthodox St. Gregory Palamas (d. 1359): "No divine gift can reach either angels or men, save through her mediation. As one cannot enjoy the light of a lamp . . . save through the medium of this lamp, so every movement towards God, every impulse towards good coming from him is unrealizable save through the mediation of the Virgin. She does not cease to spread benefits on all creatures..." [J.P. Migne, ed., Patroligia Greaca 151, 472A]
St. Peter Damien (1007-1072) said of St. Mary, "As the Son of God has designed to descend to us through you, so we also must come to him through you." [J.P. Migne, ed., Patroligia Latina, 144, 761B]
St. Bernard of Clairvaux (ca. 1090-1153), "God wished us to have nothing that would not pass through the hands of Mary." [J.P. Migne, ed., Patroligia Latina, 183, 100]; "...every grace that comes from heaven to the world pass through the hands of Mary." [Apud. S. Bernarin. Pro Fest. V. M. s.5, c.8; cited in St. Alphonsus de Liguori, The Glories of Mary, ch. 5, p. 160]
St. Albert the Great (c. 1200-1280) "The Blessed Virgin is very properly called ’gate of heaven,’ for every created or uncreated grace that ever came or will ever come into this world came through her." [Mariale, 147]
Church documents and papal writings speak clearly. The Second Vatican Council states that "the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Auxiliatrix, Adiutrix, and Mediatrix" (Lumen Gentium 62). The Council refers to Pope St. Pius X, who said that Mary is the "dispensatrix of all the gifts and is the ‘neck’ connecting the head of the mystical body to the members. But all power flows through the neck" (Ad Diem Illum 13).
Other popes and prominent saints have taught the same. In Octobri Mense Adventante, Pope Leo XIII wrote:
Nothing at all of that very great treasury of all grace that the Lord brought us-for "grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" [John 1:17]-nothing is imparted to us except through Mary, since God so wills. In Inter Sodalicia, Pope Benedict XV told us:
Every kind of grace we receive from the treasury of the redemption is ministered as it were through the hands of the same sorrowful Virgin.
Pope Pius XI concurred in Ingravescentibus Malis:
We know that all things are imparted to us from God the greatest and best through the hands of the Mother of God.
<http://www.tldm.org> A Father of the Council of Ephesus, Antipater of Bostra, wrote, "Hail, you who acceptably intercede as a Mediatrix for mankind." (In S. Joannem Bapt., PG, 1772C) [5] St. Andrew of Crete (660-740) referred to Mary as the "Mediatrix of the law and grace” and that “she is the mediation between the sublimity of God and the abjection of the flesh.”
Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange cites numerous other references from the early centuries of the Church:
"From the 8th century we may quote the Venerable Bede (homil. I in fest. Annunc. and hom. I in fest. Visit.; P.L., t. XCIV, Colossians 91, 16). St. Andrew of Crete calls Mary Mediatrix of grace, dispenser and cause of life (In Nativit. B. M. , hom. Iv, and in Dormit. S.M., III; P.G.. t. XCVII, cols. 813 and 1108). St. Germanus of Constantinople says that no one has been saved without the cooperation of the Mother of God (In dormit. B.M., P.G., t. XCVIII, c. 349). The title of mediatrix is given by St. John Damascene also, who asserts that we owe to her all the benefits conferred on us by Jesus (In dormit. B.M., hom. 1, 3, 8, 12; 11, 16; P.G., t. XCVI, cols. 705, 713, 717, 744). In the 9th century we find St. Peter Damien teaching that nothing is accomplished in the work of our redemption without her (Serm. 15; P.L. . t. CXLIV, cols. 741, 743). The teaching of St. Anselm (Orat. 47, 52; PL, t. CLVIII, cols. 741, 743), Eadmer, and St. Bernard in the 12th century is the same.” [6]
St. Cyril of Alexandria: "Hail Mary Theotokos, venerable treasure of the whole world, light unextinguished, crown of virginity, sceptre of orthodoxy, indestructible temple, which contains the uncontainable... it is through you that the Holy Trinity is glorified and adored, through you, the precious cross is venerated and adored throughout the whole world, through you that heaven is in gladness, that angels and archangels rejoice that demons are put to flight, through you that the tempter, the devil is cast from heaven, through you that the fallen creature is raised up to heaven, through you that all creation, once imprisoned in idolatry, has reached knowledge of the truth, that the faithful obtain baptism and the oil of joy, churches have been founded in the whole world, that peoples are led to conversion." [7] St. Germanus: Our Lady is “truly a good Mediatrix of all sinners.” (Hom. in Dorm. II, PG 98, 321, 352-3)
St. Tarasius of Constantinople: Our Lady is “the Mediatrix of all who are under Heaven.” (In SS. Deiparae Praesentionem. PG 98, 1499).” [8] St. Bernard of Clairvaux:
· St. Bernard speaks of Mary as “gratiae inventrix, mediatrix, salutis restauratrix saeculorum.” [9]
· "God Has willed that we should have nothing which would not pass through the hands of Mary." (Hom. III in vig. nativit., n. 10, PL 183, 100)
· "God has placed in Mary the plenitude of every good, in order to have us understand that if there is any trace of hope in us, any trace of grace, any trace of salvation, it flows from her." [10]
· "God could have dispensed His graces according to His good pleasure, without making use of this aqueduct (Mary); but it was His wish to provide this means whereby grace would reach you." [11] St. Albert the Great:
· “To her [Mary] alone was given this privilege, namely, a communication in the Passion; to her the Son willed to communicate the merit of the Passion, in order that He could give her the reward; and in order to make her a sharer in the benefit of Redemption. He willed that she be a sharer in the penalty of the Passion, insofar as she might become the Mother of all through re-creation even as she was the adjudtrix of the Redemption by her co-passion. And just as the whole world is bound to God by His supreme Passion, so also it is bound to the Lady of all by her co-passion.” (Mariale, Opera Omnia, v. 37, Q. 150, p. 219) · "… every single grace passes through the hands of Mary.” [12]
· “The Blessed Virgin is very properly called ‘gate of heaven,’ for every created or uncreated grace that ever came or will ever come into this world came through her.” (Mariale 147)
St. Thomas Aquinas writes, "Mary is the whole hope of our salvation,” [13] and "Through the intercession of Mary any souls are in Paradise who would not be there had she not interceded for them, for God has entrusted her with the keys and treasures of the heavenly kingdom.” [14]
St. Gregory Palamas: “No divine gift can reach either angels or men, save through her mediation. As one cannot enjoy the light of a lamp … save through the medium of this lamp, so every movement towards God, every impulse towards good coming from Him is unrealizable save through the mediation of the Virgin. She does not cease to spread benefits on all creatures….” [15]
Theophanes of Nicaea: “[Mary] is the dispenser and distributor of all the wondrous uncreated gifts of the divine Spirit, which make us Christ’s brothers and co-heirs, not only because she is granting the gifts of her natural Son to His brothers in grace, but also because she is bestowing them on these as her own true sons, though not by ties of nature but of grace.” [16] St. Louis De Montfort:
· "To Mary, His faithful spouse, God the Holy Ghost has communicated His unspeakable gifts; and He has chosen her to be the dispensatrix of all He possesses, in such sort that she distributes to whom she wills, as much as she wills, as she wills and when she wills, all His gifts and graces. The Holy Ghost gives no heavenly gift to men which does not pass through her virginal hands." [17]
· “… Mary whom He has appointed to be … treasurer of His riches, Distributor of His graces, Worker of His great miracles, Restorer of the human race, Mediatrix of men, Destroyer of God’s enemies, and faithful Companion of His great works and triumphs.” (W.G. 28)
St. Alphonsus Liguori: "God, who gave us Jesus Christ, wills that all graces that have been, that are, and will be dispensed to men to the end of the world through the merits of Jesus Christ, should be dispensed by the hands and through the intercession of Mary." (The Glories of Mary, Ch. 5). Against the contention that this doctrine is "a pious exaggeration," St. Alphonsus replied, "I consider it as indubitably true that all graces are dispensed by Mary.” [18]
St. John Vianney: "All the saints have a great devotion to Our Lady: no grace comes from Heaven without passing through her hands. We cannot go into a house without speaking to the doorkeeper. Well, the Holy Virgin is the doorkeeper of Heaven.”
St. Peter Julian Eymard: "Mankind was unworthy to receive the Word directly from God, so Mary was our Mediatrix in the Incarnation, and she continues to exercise that function. No one comes to the knowledge of Jesus Christ and embraces His holy law except through her; no one obtains the saving gift of faith except by her prayers. Her mission, to which she is ever faithful, is to give us Jesus. He must be received from her hands, and in vain do we seek Him elsewhere." [19] THE EASTERN LITURGIES In one of the tropars of the Coptic liturgy we read that our salvation is insured "because every help come to the faithful through Mary, the Mother of God.” [26] A prayer in the Syriac liturgy read, "How can I praise thee duly, O most chaste Virgin? For thou alone among men art all-holy; and thou givest to all the help and grace they need.” [27] The Armenian liturgy has the following prayer: “Rejoice, 0 Mother of God, throne of salvation and hope of the human race, Mediatrix of law and grace.” [28] And the Chaldean liturgy has this beautiful prayer: “O Queen of queens, all rich, enrich thy servants with benefits, O Mother of the Most High. For He has made thee the dispensatrix of His treasures and the universal Queen. It is in thy bosom that He has placed His treasures, and in thee He has gathered graces as in a sea, and He has made thee the source of life for mortals…” [29] THE FRANCISCAN TRADITION The Franciscan Order, which championed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception through the Franciscan theologian Duns Scotus, has many saints who have promoted devotion to Mary, Mediatrix of all graces:
St. Francis of Assisi:
· "I therefore command all my Brothers, those living now and those to come in the future, to venerate the Holy Mother of God, whom we always implore to be our Protectress, to praise her at all times, in all circumstances of life, with all the means in their power and with the greatest devotion and submission." [30] St. Bonaventure:
· "No one can enter into heaven except through Mary, as entering through a gate.” [31]
· "We believe that Mary opens the abyss of God’s mercy to whomsoever she wills, when she wills, and as she wills; so that there is no sinner however great who is lost if Mary protects him.” [32] St. Bernardine of Siena:
· "Mary is the dispensatrix of all the graces God bestows on man.” [33]
· "This is the process of divine graces: from God they flow to Christ, from Christ to His Mother, and from her to the Church.... I do not hesitate to say that she has received a certain jurisdiction over all graces.... they are administered through her hands....” (Sermon V de nativitate B.M.V., cap. 8: op. omn., v. 4, p. 96) [1] Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P., The Mother of the Savior and Our Interior Life, p. 172.
[2] Ibid., pp. 172-173.
[3] Sayings and Examples of St. Maximilian Kolbe, (Manila: Franciscan Conventual Publication), pp. 141-142.
[4] Sancti Ephraem Syri opera graece et latine,. ed. Assemani, Vol. 3 (Rome, 1746), p. 525 and pp. 528-529.
[5] Mark I. Miravalle, S.T.D., Mary: Coredemptrix, Mediatrix, Advocate, (Santa Barbara, Queenship Publications, 1993), p. 36.
[6] Garrigou-Lagrange, p. 175.
[7] St. Cyril, Homiliae diversae 4; PG 77, 992.
[8] Quoted in Miravalle, p. 37.
[9] Garrigou-Lagrange, p. 175.
[10] Hom. in nativit. B.V.M., n. 6; PL, 183,441.
[11] Hom. in nativit., B.V.M., nn.3-4; PL, 183, 440.
[12] Armand J. Robischaud, S.M., "Mary, Dispensatrix of All Graces," p. 446. Taken from Mariology, Vol. II, edited by Juniper B. Carol, O.F.M., Bruce Publishing Co., Milwaukee, 1957.
[13] "Marian Sermons," Complete Works, Augsburg: 1757, p. 499.
[14] St. Thomas Aquinas, "Exposition of the Salve Regina," IPM 27.
[15] Quoted in Miravalle, p. 136.
[16] Ibid., p. 141.
[17] St. Louis De Montfort, True Devotion to Mary, nn. 24-25.
[18] St. Alphonsus Liguori, The Glories of Mary, p. 32.
[19] St. Peter Julian Eymard, Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament, New York: Eymard League, 1930, pp. 99-100.
[20] Robischaud, p. 431.
[21] Ibid., p. 436.
[22] A.A.S., Vol. 9, 1917, p. 266.
[23] Robischaud, p. 432.
[24] Menti Nostrae, #143, (Apostolic Exhortation of Pope Pius XII to the clergy of the whole world on the development of holiness in priestly life), Sept. 23, 1950.
[25] A.A.S., Vol. 34, 1942, p. 44.
[26] Robischaud, p. 438.
[27] D. Attwater, Prayers from the Eastern Liturgy (London, 1931), p. 20.
[28] Robischaud, p. 438.
[29] Ibid., pp. 436-439.
[30] St. Francis of Assisi, "Rule of the Friars Minor, cf. I.
[31] St. Bonaventure, "On St. Luke’s Gospel," GM 160, note 4.
[32] St. Bonaventure, GM 238; VOS 145.
[33] St. Bernardine of Siena, "On the Birth of the Blessed Virgin, ch. 8, vol. 4, p. 96, Lyons: 1650. M.J. Scheeben, Mariology, Vol. 2, p. 271, St. Louis: B. Herder, 1948.
[34] H.-M. Manteau-Bonamy, O.P., Immaculate Conception and Holy Spirit, p. 89.
[35] Ibid., p. 97.
[36] Ibid., p. 102.
[37] Savings and Examples of St. St. Maximilian Kolbe, (Manila: Franciscan Conventual Publication), p. 140.
[38] Ibid., p. 142.
Theotokos-- Greek Mother of God "After this, we receive the doctrine of the resurrection from the dead, of which Jesus Christ our Lord became the first-fruits; Who bore a Body, in truth, not in semblance, derived from Mary the mother of God (59) in the fulness of time sojourning among the race, for the remission of sins: who was crucified and died, yet for all this suffered no diminution of His Godhead." Alexander of Alexandria,Epistle to Alexander,12(A.D. 324),in NPNF2,III:40
"And the Angel on his appearance, himself confesses that he has been sent by his Lord; as Gabriel confessed in the case of Zacharias, and also in the case of Mary, bearer of God." Athanasius,Orations III,14(A.D. 362),in NPNF2,IV:401
"Many, my beloved, are the true testimonies concerning Christ. The Father bears witness from heaven of His Son: the Holy Ghost bears witness, descending bodily in likeness of a dove: the Archangel Gabriel bears witness, bringing good tidings to Mary: the Virgin Mother of God bears witness: the blessed place of the manger bears witness." Cyril of Jerusalem,Catechetical Lectures,X:19(c.A.D. 350),in NPNF2,VII:62 "If anyone does not believe that Holy Mary is the Mother of God, he is severed from the Godhead."
Gregory of Nazianzus,To Cledonius,101(A.D. 382),in NPNF2,VII:439
"Just as, in the age of Mary the mother of God, he who had reigned from Adam to her time found, when he came to her and dashed his forces against the fruit of her virginity as against a rock, that he was shattered to pieces upon her, so in every soul which passes through this life in the flesh under the protection of virginity, the strength of death is in a manner broken and annulled, for he does not find the places upon which he may fix his sting."
Gregory of Nyssa,On Virginity,14 (A.D. 370),in NPNF2,V:359-360 "He reshaped man to perfection in Himself, from Mary the Mother of God through the Holy Spirit."
Epiphanius,The man well-anchored,75 (A.D. 374),in JUR,II:70
"Let, then, the life of Mary be as it were virginity itself, set forth in a likeness, from which, as from a mirror, the appearance of chastity and the form of virtue is reflected. From this you may take your pattern of life, showing, as an example, the clear rules of virtue: what you have to correct, to effect, and to hold fast. The first thing which kindles ardour in learning is the greatness of the teacher. What is greater than the Mother of God?" Ambrose,Virginity,II:6 (c.A.D. 378),in NPNF2,X:374
"To the question: ’Is Mary the bearer of Man, or the bearer of God?’ we must answer: ’Of Both’ "
Theodore of Mopsuestia,The Incarnation,15 (ante A.D. 428),in TLCF,168
"AND so you say, O heretic, whoever you may be, who deny that God was born of the Virgin, that Mary the Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ ought not to be called Theotocos, i.e., Mother of God, but Christotocos, i.e., only the Mother of Christ, not of God. For no one, you say, brings forth what is anterior in time. And of this utterly foolish argument whereby you think that the birth of God can be understood by carnal minds, and fancy that the mystery of His Majesty can be accounted for by human reasoning, we will, if God permits, say something later on. In the meanwhile we will now prove by Divine testimonies that Christ is God, and that Mary is the Mother of God." John Cassian,The Incarnation of Christ,II:2 (A.D. 430),in NPNF2,XI:556
"But since the Holy Virgin brought forth after the flesh God personally united to the flesh, for this reason we say of her that she is Theotokos, not as though the nature of the Word had its beginning of being from the flesh, for he was in the beginning, and the Word was God, and the Word was with God....but, as we said before, because having personally united man’s nature to himself..." Cyril of Alexandria,To Nestorius,Epistle 17:11 (A.D. 430),in CCC,306
"If anyone will not confess that the Emmanuel is very God, and that therefore the Holy Virgin is the Mother of God (Theotokos), inasmuch as in the flesh she bore the Word of God made flesh [as it is written, ’The Word was made flesh’: let him be anathema." Council of Ephesus,Anathemas Against Nestorius,I (A.D. 430),in NPNF2,XIV:206
"For by the singular gift of Him who is our Lord and God, and withal, her own son, she is to be confessed most truly and most blessedly--The mother of God ’Theotocos,’ but not in the sense in which it is imagined by a certain impious heresy which maintains, that she is to be called the Mother of God for no other reason than because she gave birth to that man who afterwards became God, just as we speak of a woman as the mother of a priest, or the mother of a bishop, meaning that she was such, not by giving birth to one already a priest or a bishop, but by giving birth to one who afterwards became a priest or a bishop. Not thus, I say, was the holy Mary ’Theotocos,’ the mother of God, but rather, as was said before, because in her sacred womb was wrought that most sacred mystery whereby, on account of the singular and unique unity of Person, as the Word in flesh is flesh, so Man in God is God." Vincent of Lerins,Commonitories,15 (A.D. 434),in NPNF2,XI:142-143
"So then He was both in all things and above all things and also dwelt in the womb of the holy Mother of God, but in it by the energy of the incarnation."John Damascene,Source of Knowledge,III:7 (A.D. 743),in NPNF2,IX:51 This text may downloaded and viewed for private reading only. This text may not be used by another Web site or published, electronically or otherwise, without the written permission of the copyright holder.
Joseph A. Gallegos © 1997 All Rights Reserved.