The Blessed Virgin Mary was born of the saintly parents, Joachim and Anne. ‘Tradition has it that at an early age she was consecrated to God and that she made a solemn vow of virginity.
The Jews of that time entered into marriage at a very early age. Two separate ceremonies were required for entering the married state. The first was the espousals. The espousals formed the legal marriage. After this at least a year elapsed before the ceremony of marriage proper was celebrated. It was only after this second ceremony that they began their cohabitation. It was undoubtedly after her marriage proper that the Blessed Virgin Mary conceived of the Holy Ghost. “Whereupon Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing publicly to expose her, was minded to put her away. But while he thought on these things, behold the angel of the Lord appeared to him in sleep, saying: Joseph, son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her, is of the
Holy Ghost. “Now all that was done that it might be fulfilled which the Lord spoke by the prophet, saying: Behold a virgin shall be with child, and bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us . . . and Joseph rising up from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him, and took unto him his wife. And he knew her not till she had brought forth her first-born son; and he called his name
Jesus.’” |
Mary was, both before and after the birth of Christ, a spotless virgin. Though the Gospel says that St. Joseph “knew her not till she had brought forth her first-born son,”it does not
mean that he “knew her’ afterwards. There is abundant proof in the New Testament for the perpetual virginity of the blessed Mother of our Saviour. The least shadow of doubt to the contrary makes every true Christian heart shudder. It is sad to know that there have been men so base as to question this prerogative of Christ’s holy Mother.
“The Angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee, called Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary." “And the angel said to her: Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth a son; and thou shalt call his name Jesus. . . . And Mary said to the angel: How shall this be done, because I know not man’ And the angel answering, said to her: The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the most High shall overshadow thee, And therefore the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.’
Many indeed supposed that Jesus was the son of Joseph. However, this was but natural since they did not know the mystery of the Incarnation. It is related in the Gospel: “And Jesus . . . being (as it was supposed) the Son of Joseph.’
The words of Christ dying on the cross, clearly show that the Blessed Virgin would be left alone after His death. Christ, moved with tenderness towards her, asks St. John to care for His Blessed Mother and be like a son to her: “When Jesus therefore had seen His Mother and the disciple standing whom he loved, he saith to His mother: Woman, behold thy son.
After that he saith to the disciple: Behold thy mother. And from that hour, the disciple took her for his own.”
The early Fathers of the Church, with one accord, proclaim the perpetual virginity of Mary. “Can I not quote against you a whole array of ancient writers, Ignatius, Polycarp, Ireneus, Justin the martyr, and many other apostolic and eloquent men?’’ Thus cried out St. Jerome against Helvidius who sought to question the perpetual virginity of Mary.
The Fathers applied the words of Ezechiel to Mary: “This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall pass through it: because the Lord the God of Israel hath entered in by it, and it shall be shut.” “Helvidius’ error is indeed detestable,” says St. Thomas, “‘he was so rash as to say that St. Joseph begot other children of Christ’s mother after the birth of Christ. This is derogatory to the perfection of Christ. By His divine nature, He is the only Begotten of the Father as the perfect Son in all things. Thus it was but becoming that He should be the only child of His mother as the all-perfect fruit of her womb.
“In the second place, this error insults the Holy Ghost, whose sanctuary was the virgin womb in which He formed the body of Christ. Wherefore it would be unbecoming that it should be violated by mere human generation.
“In the third place, it is not becoming the dignity and sanctity of God’s mother to think that she should desire other children after having given birth to such a son.... Nor could such presumption be imputed to Joseph. . . . Wherefore we simply declare that the mother of God as a virgin, conceived and brought forth her Son and remains a virgin forever.’”
The Blessed Virgin Mary is really the Mother of God. Jesus Christ is both God and man. Both His divine and His human nature are united in one person. Hence, the mother of Jesus Christ is the mother of God. For Jesus Christ is true God. Elizabeth calls the Blessed Virgin “the mother of my Lord." St. Ambrose says: “‘What is more noble than the mother of God?’’
The title, “Mother of God,” has been commonly given to the Blessed Virgin since the early centuries of the Church. In the “Hail Mary" the Church teaches us to say: “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners.”
Jesus Christ was indeed begotten of the Father as God from all eternity. Yet He is the same person that was born of the Blessed Virgin in Bethlehem. He was born in eternity as God and in time as man. God is His eternal Father as God, and as man Mary is His mother. Mary is the mother of the God-man, Jesus Christ. Because of her sublime dignity, Mary has been honored by the Church from the beginning. No higher dignity could be conceived amongst creatures than that held by the Blessed Virgin Mary. “God Himself could not have made a greater creature than she,” says St. Bonaventure, “God could make a greater world; He could make a greater heaven; but He could not make a greater mother than the Mother of God.”
The Blessed Virgin is venerated in the Church as the most powerful intercessor with God, amongst all the angels and saints of Heaven. In every church there is an altar on which is found a statue of the Blessed Virgin. Her picture adorns the walls of every sacred edifice. It is but natural that we should find statues and pictures of a loving mother in the house of such a loving Son. Yea, and her picture hangs on the walls of every true Christian home. It would be strange indeed were it not so; for she is our Mother.
How well those prophetic words of Christ’s holy mother have been fulfilled: "Behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.’’ She is honored in the liturgy of the Church. Many feasts are celebrated in her honor. The month of May is especially set aside for devotions to the Blessed Virgin. Three hundred million Christian hearts are lifted up each day in that beautiful prayer called the Angelical Salutation. And who can count the Rosaries and Litanies that are offered up throughout the world, day by day, to the Blessed Mother of our Divine Saviour. The appeal that we make to Christ through the veneration of His Blessed Mother is twofold. It touches His love for us and His love for Her.
Little is known of the Blessed Virgin’s death. It is held in the Church that she was taken body and soul into Heaven. Yet this is not defined as of Faith. Since the body of Christ was
formed from the body of the Blessed Virgin, they are, in a certain sense, one flesh.
Christ saw fit to preserve His Own body from corruption. Hence, we can not suppose that He would permit His Blessed Mother’s body to decay upon earth. Surely the flesh from which the Saviour of the world was formed would not be permitted to return to dust. Indeed it is but becoming that her all-pure body which never knew the slightest taint of sin should be taken into Heaven. No other creature ever received such graces as were bestowed upon Mary. She possessed privileges that were far greater than that of having her body preserved from corruption and taken into Heaven.
The Blessed Virgin Mary enjoys more glory in Heaven than all the other saints and angels. In our prayers she is styled the “Queen of Heaven, Queen of Angels, Queen of All Saints.”
Mary is, of all creatures, the most holy, the most pure, the best beloved of God. In Mary is found the closest union that could exist between God and His creatures. She has been elevated by her Divine Maternity to the very borderland, as it were, of Divinity. She is indeed “Our Life, Our Sweetness, and Our Hope.” Through her our blessed Redeemer came into the world. She is in truth “The Cause of our Joy.”
Source: Catholic Library - Dogmatic Series, Volume V, Imprimatur 1915
The Jews of that time entered into marriage at a very early age. Two separate ceremonies were required for entering the married state. The first was the espousals. The espousals formed the legal marriage. After this at least a year elapsed before the ceremony of marriage proper was celebrated. It was only after this second ceremony that they began their cohabitation. It was undoubtedly after her marriage proper that the Blessed Virgin Mary conceived of the Holy Ghost. “Whereupon Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing publicly to expose her, was minded to put her away. But while he thought on these things, behold the angel of the Lord appeared to him in sleep, saying: Joseph, son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her, is of the
Holy Ghost. “Now all that was done that it might be fulfilled which the Lord spoke by the prophet, saying: Behold a virgin shall be with child, and bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us . . . and Joseph rising up from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him, and took unto him his wife. And he knew her not till she had brought forth her first-born son; and he called his name
Jesus.’” |
Mary was, both before and after the birth of Christ, a spotless virgin. Though the Gospel says that St. Joseph “knew her not till she had brought forth her first-born son,”it does not
mean that he “knew her’ afterwards. There is abundant proof in the New Testament for the perpetual virginity of the blessed Mother of our Saviour. The least shadow of doubt to the contrary makes every true Christian heart shudder. It is sad to know that there have been men so base as to question this prerogative of Christ’s holy Mother.
“The Angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee, called Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary." “And the angel said to her: Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth a son; and thou shalt call his name Jesus. . . . And Mary said to the angel: How shall this be done, because I know not man’ And the angel answering, said to her: The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the most High shall overshadow thee, And therefore the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.’
Many indeed supposed that Jesus was the son of Joseph. However, this was but natural since they did not know the mystery of the Incarnation. It is related in the Gospel: “And Jesus . . . being (as it was supposed) the Son of Joseph.’
The words of Christ dying on the cross, clearly show that the Blessed Virgin would be left alone after His death. Christ, moved with tenderness towards her, asks St. John to care for His Blessed Mother and be like a son to her: “When Jesus therefore had seen His Mother and the disciple standing whom he loved, he saith to His mother: Woman, behold thy son.
After that he saith to the disciple: Behold thy mother. And from that hour, the disciple took her for his own.”
The early Fathers of the Church, with one accord, proclaim the perpetual virginity of Mary. “Can I not quote against you a whole array of ancient writers, Ignatius, Polycarp, Ireneus, Justin the martyr, and many other apostolic and eloquent men?’’ Thus cried out St. Jerome against Helvidius who sought to question the perpetual virginity of Mary.
The Fathers applied the words of Ezechiel to Mary: “This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall pass through it: because the Lord the God of Israel hath entered in by it, and it shall be shut.” “Helvidius’ error is indeed detestable,” says St. Thomas, “‘he was so rash as to say that St. Joseph begot other children of Christ’s mother after the birth of Christ. This is derogatory to the perfection of Christ. By His divine nature, He is the only Begotten of the Father as the perfect Son in all things. Thus it was but becoming that He should be the only child of His mother as the all-perfect fruit of her womb.
“In the second place, this error insults the Holy Ghost, whose sanctuary was the virgin womb in which He formed the body of Christ. Wherefore it would be unbecoming that it should be violated by mere human generation.
“In the third place, it is not becoming the dignity and sanctity of God’s mother to think that she should desire other children after having given birth to such a son.... Nor could such presumption be imputed to Joseph. . . . Wherefore we simply declare that the mother of God as a virgin, conceived and brought forth her Son and remains a virgin forever.’”
The Blessed Virgin Mary is really the Mother of God. Jesus Christ is both God and man. Both His divine and His human nature are united in one person. Hence, the mother of Jesus Christ is the mother of God. For Jesus Christ is true God. Elizabeth calls the Blessed Virgin “the mother of my Lord." St. Ambrose says: “‘What is more noble than the mother of God?’’
The title, “Mother of God,” has been commonly given to the Blessed Virgin since the early centuries of the Church. In the “Hail Mary" the Church teaches us to say: “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners.”
Jesus Christ was indeed begotten of the Father as God from all eternity. Yet He is the same person that was born of the Blessed Virgin in Bethlehem. He was born in eternity as God and in time as man. God is His eternal Father as God, and as man Mary is His mother. Mary is the mother of the God-man, Jesus Christ. Because of her sublime dignity, Mary has been honored by the Church from the beginning. No higher dignity could be conceived amongst creatures than that held by the Blessed Virgin Mary. “God Himself could not have made a greater creature than she,” says St. Bonaventure, “God could make a greater world; He could make a greater heaven; but He could not make a greater mother than the Mother of God.”
The Blessed Virgin is venerated in the Church as the most powerful intercessor with God, amongst all the angels and saints of Heaven. In every church there is an altar on which is found a statue of the Blessed Virgin. Her picture adorns the walls of every sacred edifice. It is but natural that we should find statues and pictures of a loving mother in the house of such a loving Son. Yea, and her picture hangs on the walls of every true Christian home. It would be strange indeed were it not so; for she is our Mother.
How well those prophetic words of Christ’s holy mother have been fulfilled: "Behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.’’ She is honored in the liturgy of the Church. Many feasts are celebrated in her honor. The month of May is especially set aside for devotions to the Blessed Virgin. Three hundred million Christian hearts are lifted up each day in that beautiful prayer called the Angelical Salutation. And who can count the Rosaries and Litanies that are offered up throughout the world, day by day, to the Blessed Mother of our Divine Saviour. The appeal that we make to Christ through the veneration of His Blessed Mother is twofold. It touches His love for us and His love for Her.
Little is known of the Blessed Virgin’s death. It is held in the Church that she was taken body and soul into Heaven. Yet this is not defined as of Faith. Since the body of Christ was
formed from the body of the Blessed Virgin, they are, in a certain sense, one flesh.
Christ saw fit to preserve His Own body from corruption. Hence, we can not suppose that He would permit His Blessed Mother’s body to decay upon earth. Surely the flesh from which the Saviour of the world was formed would not be permitted to return to dust. Indeed it is but becoming that her all-pure body which never knew the slightest taint of sin should be taken into Heaven. No other creature ever received such graces as were bestowed upon Mary. She possessed privileges that were far greater than that of having her body preserved from corruption and taken into Heaven.
The Blessed Virgin Mary enjoys more glory in Heaven than all the other saints and angels. In our prayers she is styled the “Queen of Heaven, Queen of Angels, Queen of All Saints.”
Mary is, of all creatures, the most holy, the most pure, the best beloved of God. In Mary is found the closest union that could exist between God and His creatures. She has been elevated by her Divine Maternity to the very borderland, as it were, of Divinity. She is indeed “Our Life, Our Sweetness, and Our Hope.” Through her our blessed Redeemer came into the world. She is in truth “The Cause of our Joy.”
Source: Catholic Library - Dogmatic Series, Volume V, Imprimatur 1915
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