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If Mary isn't the Mother of God then who is Jesus Christ???
Here's a post about something I see popping up occasionally on Internet discussions.
First though, let's review a fundamental belief that all Christians ought to agree upon, be they Catholic or people outside The Church.
- The Hypostatic Union: Jesus Christ is fully God AND fully Man. God gave Mary the power, through the Holy Ghost, to produce a human body for the second person of the Holy Trinity. Jesus has two natures in one person.
The Blessed Virgin Mary is known by many titles, but I've always thought that the most appropriate title may be "Mary, the Mother of God".
Since before I converted from being an Anglican (from birth) to The Catholic Church (at the age of 38) I have been quite puzzled about protestants' reaction to calling Mary "the Mother of God".
I came up with this idea independent from outside sources, as it seems so fundamental to me. The way I personally thought of this special title was that it must have been the early Church ensuring that nobody could argue that Jesus is not God. Since Mary is the mother of Jesus and since Jesus is God, ergo calling Mary The Mother of God is vitally important.
Think also of St. Elizabeth's reaction to Mary visiting her and St. John the baptist leaping in her womb at the sound of Mary's voice. Elizabeth exclaims: And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? (Luke 1:43 Douay-Rheims Bible)
Who is St. Elizabeth's Lord, other than God Almighty?
Fast forward 15+ centuries and we find that, after the Protestant revolt, sorry, Reformation, protestants gradually started to recoil from having any special devotion to Mary, and even began to think that calling her the Mother of God was somewhat blasphemous. (Unfortunately, since then, the Lady that God prepared before time to be His earthly Mother and to give Him a human body is being blasphemed very often.)
I can see where some of this is coming from. About ten or so years before I came home to the Catholic Church while still an Anglican I attended a Catholic retreat. One night I was handed a "finger Rosary". Much to my shock I found that I was expecting it to burn a hole right through my hand! Such is the depth to which Satan has caused people to hate the Virgin Mary, who will crush him in God's time. (God created many creatures, but none so powerful as the Blessed Virgin Mary.)
Do protestants REALLY think that Catholics believe that Mary is a "goddess", that she existed before God Himself???
God the Father created Mary, the Mother of God, so that she could produce a Man's body for the redemption of the world. Why would He not grant her special favours and powers? Why wouldn't Jesus honour His foster father and biological mother even unto this very day?
To think that Catholics consider Mary to be above or even equal to God Almighty is, well, ridiculous.
"Mary, the Mother of God FR. WILLIAM SAUNDERS" :
To understand the title, "Mother of God," we must first clearly understand Mary's role as mother of our Savior, Jesus Christ. As Catholics, we firmly believe in the incarnation of our Lord: Mary conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Cf. Lk 1: 26-38 and Mt 1: 18-25.) Through her, Jesus Christ second person of the Holy Trinity, one-in-being (consubstantial) with the Father, and true God from true God entered this world taking on human flesh and a human soul. Jesus is true God and true man. In His person are united both a divine nature and a human nature. Mary did not create the divine person of Jesus, who existed with the Father from all eternity: "In fact, the One whom she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit, who truly became her Son according to the flesh, was none other than the Father's eternal Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity. Hence the Church confesses that Mary is truly 'Mother of God' (Theotokos)" (Catechism, No. 495). As St. John wrote, "The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us, and we have seen His glory: The glory of an only Son coming from the Father filled with enduring love" (Jn 1: 14).
For this reason, sometime in the early history of the Church, our Blessed Mother was given the title "Mother of God." St. John Chrysostom (d. 407), for example, composed in his Eucharistic Prayer for the Mass an anthem in honor of her: "It is truly just to proclaim you blessed, O Mother of God, who are most blessed, all pure and Mother of our God. We magnify you who are more honorable than the Cherubim and incomparably more glorious than the Seraphim. You who, without losing your virginity, gave birth to the Word of God. You who are truly the Mother of God. "
However, objection to the title "Mother of God" arose in the fifth century due to confusion concerning the mystery of the incarnation. Nestorius, Bishop of Constantinople (428-431), incited a major controversy. He stated that Mary gave birth to Jesus Christ, a regular human person, period. To this human person was united the person of the Word of God (the divine Jesus). This union of two persons the human Christ and the divine Word was "sublime and unique" but merely accidental. The divine person dwelt in the human person "as in a temple. " Following his own reasoning, Nestorious asserted that the human Jesus died on the cross, not the divine Jesus. As such, Mary is not "Mother of God," but simply "Mother of Christ" the human Jesus. Sound confusing? It is, but the result is the splitting of Christ into two persons and the denial of the incarnation.
From https://www.catholiceducation.org/en/culture/catholic-contributions/mary-the-mother-of-god.html
We must learn to give The Blessed Virgin Mary the honour and praise that is due to her. We can even "worship" her in a way, always knowing that, compared to God, she is less than an atom. (That is how St. Louis de Montfort expresses the relationship in the first chapter of his classic True Devotion to Mary)
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Blessed be God.
Blessed be his holy Name.
Blessed be Jesus Christ, true God and true Man.
Blessed be the name of Jesus.
Blessed be his most Sacred Heart.
Blessed be his most Precious Blood.
Blessed be Jesus in the most holy Sacrament of the altar.
Blessed be the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete.
Blessed be the great Mother of God, Mary most holy.
Blessed be her holy and Immaculate Conception.
Blessed be her glorious Assumption.
Blessed be the name of Mary, Virgin and Mother.
Blessed be Saint Joseph, her most chaste spouse.
Blessed be God in his angels and in his saints.
