THEOLOGY OF MARIAN

MYSTERY

Introduction
A. A Characteristic of Catholicism
- The center of Catholicism is
Jesus with His mother Mary.
- Mary is seen from the
Annunciation, birth of Jesus, in His
ministry, suffering, death and
resurrection.
- Marian hymns have influenced
the Catholic Church through the
years.

B. The Place of Mary in

Catholic Theology
- No theological and
doctrinal presentation of
Catholicism could claim to
be at once comprehensive
and complete, i.e., Catholic,
if it were to leave out the
BVM and the saints.

I. The Status of Women in

Patriarchal Judaism
- Judaism was the religious/cultural
context of the life of Mary.
- For many years, the Jewishness of
Jesus, of His mother, of His
disciples, of the primitive Church,
was lost from view.
- Vatican II opened up a new period
of Catholic-Jewish endeavors.

B. Woman in the Family

- A Jewish woman is
under the authority of at
least two men, one each
at a time.
- The figure of the father
is so powerful in the
family.

C. Woman in Marriage
- Love is very important
in marriage for the
Israelites.
- A woman is a property.
- A married woman who
cannot bear a child is a
failure.

D. Woman in Society
- Women shared with men the
grace of God as members of the
covenant community and in
exceptional cases even assumed
roles of leadership.
- Women are second class
citizens.
- A woman is considered unclean
during her monthly purification.

- Women are voiceless in

society.
- Women were considered liars.
- Unchastity and adultery must
be avoided.
- A woman must behave
decently so as not to look
seductive.
- Since the female is weak, she
is susceptible to the devils
promptings.

E. Excursus: Woman and Christian

Faith
1. Women in the ministry of Jesus
- Hastily, one might see in the
Gospels that Jesus is another
advocate of patriarchal society.
- But Jesus accepted women openly
and they were His disciples and
companions.
- Jesus family extends beyond
physical bonds and connections.

2. Women in Pauline
communities
- The patriarchal structure is
now Christianized.
- Ones identity is not on blood
relations but on the family of
faith.
- To belong to Christ does not
depent on sexual, racial or
marital status.
- Paul prefers the single status.

3. Women in Luke and

John
- In Luke, men and
women are equal in the
eyes of God.
- In John, women are
progressively growing in
their struggle to become
Jesus disciples.

II. The Feminine

Symbolism in the Old
Testament
A. Genesis
- Mary is prophesied as
mother of the Redeemer
- Gen. 3:15 is the classic
text of Mariology

B. The Prophets
1. Isaiah
- Is. 7:14 is considered
as Messianic Prophecy
2. Micah
- Micah 5:2-4 is
considered as Marian in
content.

III. Mary in the New Testament

A. Marian Texts in the Gospels and the
New Testament
1. Mary in Luke and Acts
a. Mary in Luke
- Mary is highly favored daughter, mother
of the Savior, servant of the Lord, hearer
of Gods word and model of faith.

b. Mary in the Acts of the

Apostles
- Mary was present in
Jesus final instructions
and ascension.
- The disciples gathered
in faith with Mary.
- Faith is open to all.

2. Mary in Mark and Matthew

a. Mary in Mark
- Only after the choice of the
twelve that Mary was
introduced in the Gospel of
Mark.
- Rather than identifying Mary,
Mark gives more evidence on
Jesus and His family.

b. Mary in Matthew
- Jesus is the Messiah and
Son of God.
- The virgin is part of
Gods plan.

3. Mary in the Writings

of John
- Mary is the symbol of
Christian community

- Mary in the 7 signs of Johns

Gospel
1) Wedding at Cana(2:1-12)
2) The restoration of the dying son (4:4654)
3) The Sabbath healing at Bethsaida
(5:1-16)
4) The multiplication of loaves (6:1-71)
5) The Sabbath healing of the blind
(9:1-41)
6) The restoration of Lazarus to life
(11:1-44)
7) The great hour of Jesus (19:25-37)

B. Theological Experience of Mary,

Icon of the Trinity
1. The work of the Trinity in Mary
- The revelatory event of the Trinity
is the Paschal mystery where the
disciples saw the initiative of the
Father, the story of the Son,
conqueror of death and the work of
the Spirit who gives life
- The Trinity is also revealed in the
Annunciation

2. Vital response of Mary

to the Persons of the
Trinity
a. Mary and the
experience of God the
Father
- Mary experienced God
as the God of
transcendence, of mercy

b. Mary and the journey

of faith in Jesus Christ
- Mary is the mother of
Jesus.
- Mary is a type of a
believing Christian.
- The faith of Mary was
under the crucible to
be purified.

c. The communion of
Mary with the Holy Spirit
- The incarnation was
realized through the
Holy Spirit.
- The protopentecost is
actualized in the Virgin
of Nazareth.
- Mary becomes the
personal transparency of
the Holy Spirit.

C. The Image of Mary in the NT

1. The silent testimony of Mary in the
NT
- The mention of Mary in the NT is
considerably scarce.
- Christology and the Trinity
developed first than Mariology.
- The impact of the Paschal mystery
and the discrimination of women
are some of the other reasons why
there was no mention of Mary in the
early kerygma.

2. The exaltation of Mary

- Jesus has exalted the
role of Mary as Mother of
God.
- Marys role as mother is
exalted through her
obedience and as bearer
of the Word of God.

IV. Relationship of Marian Teachings with

Ecclesiology and Christology
A. Brief history on the veneration of Mary
- There was less discussion on Mary in
the second century except that of
Nestorius who rejected the title
Theotokos as Mary is Christotokos.
- In the middle ages, Mary is known to be
the intercessor.
- The Hail Mary became the usual and
ordinary prayer of the common masses.

B. Mary in Some Important

Teachings of the Church
1. The Council of Ephesus (431)
- For Nestorius, the man Jesus is not
the Word of God made man became
man but the Word was present in
the man Jesus, thus Mary is
Khristotokos and not Theotokos.
- But Cyril says that the Word of
God personally became man, the
Word was born according to the
flesh.

2. The Immaculate Conception

- Pope Pius IX solemnly defined this dogma
in his Apostolic Constitution Ineffabilis
Deus on Dec. 8, 1854.
- We declare, pronounce and define that
the doctrine which holds that the Most
BVM, in the first instance of her
conception, by a singular grace and
privilege granted by Almighty God in view
of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of
the human race, was preserved free from
all stain of original sin, is a doctrine
revealed by God and therefore to be
believed firmly and constantly by all the
faithful.

3. The virginal conception

- For McBrien, the virginal
conception is a theologoumenon
(that which is said about God): Jesus
did not become one with God as
time went on. Jesus was one with
god from the time of His conception.
- What is at issue here is the belief
that Jesus was conceived in the
womb of a virgin, Mary, without the
intervention of human father
(virginitas ante partum).

- This is about Jesus first and only

secondarily about Mary.
- Christ did not follow the ordinary
laws of procreation but was the
fruit of a special action by the Holy
Spirit.
- OCollins: The fact that He was
born of a woman pointed to His
humanity. The fact that He was
conceived and born of a virgin
pointed to His divinity and His
eternal, personal origin as the Son
of God.

4. The Assumption
- This is the greatest of
all her feasts.
- The immediate reason
is her divine motherhood
and the formal reason is
her immunity from
original sin.

- Munificentissimus Deus is
the Papal Bull published by
Pope Pius XII on Nov. 1, 1950
promulgating this dogma.
- The dogmas of he
Immaculate Conception,
Motherhood of God, and
Perpetual Virginity are all
contained in the subject of
this definition.

- We pronounce,
declare, and define it to
be a divinely revealed
dogma: that the
Immaculate Mother of
God, the ever Virgin
Mary, having completed
the course of her earthly
life, was assumed body
and soul into heavenly

C. The Mariology of Vat.

II
- Her response, asked for
by God and freely
offered by her, is the
core of Marian mystery,
and the starting point of
Mariology.

- Mary is a type of the

Church by her faith,
charity and perfect union
with Christ (LG 63).
- All Christians should
venerate Mary who is
exalted above angels and
men to a place second
only to her Son.

V. Mary in the Liturgy

A. Mary and the
Eucharist

B. Liturgical celebrations
in honor of the BVM
- Saturday Masses can
be used in honor of the
BVM.

Conclusion: Mary and PCP II

- Mary is the model disciple.
- She is the first to be
evangelized.
- She is the first evangelizer.
- In the midst of attacks,
devotion to the BVM has to
be fostered in subordination
to the primacy of Christ.