Anything under the Sun
Marian dogmas
Last August 15, we observed the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which is one of the four dogmas concerning Our Lady. Here are the dogmas:
1. Mary, the Mother of God
The first Marian dogma was “Mary the Theotokos” (Mother of God) defined in the Council of Ephesus called by Pope Celestinus in 431. It states “The Virgin Mary is the Theotokos.” This was based on the faith of the divinity of Christ.
The biblical proofs of this are: 1. The Annunciation when Angel Gabriel said to Mary: “You will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus, He will be great and he will be called Son of the Most High,” and 2. The Visitation when after Mary entered her house, Elizabeth inspired by the Holy Spirit said: “How does this happen that the Mother of my Lord should come to me?” The title Lord used by Elizabeth or kyrios in Greek , was applied only for God.
2. Virginity of Mary
In 649 A.D. the Lateran Council declares: “If anyone does not confess, according to the Holy Fathers, that properly and truly the Holy Mother of God the ever Virgin, Immaculate Mary, without seed conceived of the Holy Ghost and brought forth her Son incorruptly, her indissoluble virginity remaining even after His birth, let him be condemned.”
This dogma further declares: “The Blessed Virgin Mary remained a Virgin for the whole of her life.” This implies that Jesus was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary, without the intervention of man. As prophesied by Isaiah: “Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son”. This implies, too, that Mary was a virgin before, during and after the birth of Jesus”.
3. Immaculate Conception of Mary
On December 8, 1854, Pope Pius IX in his Ineffabilis Deus officially declared this Dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary:
We declare, proclaim and define that this dogma is revealed by God and therefore, to be firmly and unremittingly believed by all the faithful, namely, the dogma which holds that the Most Blessed Virgin Mary from the first moment of her conception, by a singular privilege from the Almighty God and in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, was kept free from every stain of original sin.”
This dogma is simply a declaration of the traditional faith of the Catholics since the Apostolic times. It originated in Jerusalem as a celebration of the miraculous conception of Mary by her childless parents, Joachim and Anne.
The Catholics believe that Mary had the wonderful gift of total immunity, of complete holiness from the momemt of her conception. In this unique role of Mary in the salvific mission of Christ on earth, we pray: “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.”
4. Assumption of Mary
On Nov. 1, 1950, Pope Pius XII in his papal bull Munificentissimus Dei officially declared this Dogma of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary:
“Having repeatedly raised prayers of urgent supplication to God and having called upon the light of the Spirit of Truth to the glory of Almighty God, Who has bestowed His signal favors to Mary, in honor of His Son, deathless King of all ages and conqueror of sin and death, to increase the glory of the exalted Mother, and to the joy and exaltation of the whole Church by that authority of Our Lord Jesus Christ, by that of the Blessed Apostles, Peter and Paul, and by our own authority, her Son, declare and define to be divinely revealed the dogma of faith that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary on the completion of her earthly life was assumed body and soul into the glory of Heaven.”
The Bull explained: “The Immaculate Virgin preserved from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly life was finished was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen of Heaven over all things so that she might be more fully conformed to her son, the Lord of lords and conqueror of sin and death.”*
