Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God

On December 31st we usher in the New Year with late night champagne, half-baked resolutions and epic movies. But in the midst of this activity the Church asks us to celebrate the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God; a feast day of epic proportions and fulfilled covenants, a dogma that sheds as much light on the nature of Christ as it does on the nature of His mother.

The Church has defined four dogmas pertaining to Mary. They include Mary, the mother of God, her perpetual virginity, Immaculate Conception, and her assumption into heaven. It is because of the first Marian dogma that she has been privileged with the other three. Therefore, it is essential to understand the meaning and implications of this doctrine before attempting to explain the more complicated and controversial Marian dogmas.

This year our store started selling a Christmas card called Kissing the Face of God by Morgan Weistling. The Christmas card sold amazingly well and so it was with great surprise that on two occasions customers called to inquire as to whether or not the title of the painting was printed on the card because they didn't want to scandalize any of their friends. We don't know if their concern had to do with a theological misunderstanding of Jesus as God or if it was just a difference in semantic tradition but it illustrates the Catholic belief that a greater understanding of Mary ultimately leads to a greater understanding of Christ.

The doctrine of Mary as the mother of God finds its roots in the New Testament when the archangel Gabriel says to Mary, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.” Lk 1:35. The Gospel of Matthew also affirms the doctrine in 1:23, “Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel (which means, God with us)”. This dogma was formally defined at the council of Ephesus in 431 when the Church gave Mary the official title Theotokos which literally means Christ-bearer.

The formal definition was issued partly to explain Mary's role in the Church, but primarily to explain the nature of Christ. In the early church certain heresies were spreading that challenged the true relationship between Jesus as God and Jesus as Man. The most powerful heresy was Nestorianism which proclaimed a Christological error stating that Jesus was actually two separate persons; one human, one divine. If this were the case then we could not be sure that it was God the Son who died on the cross for us. Without Jesus' human nature He could not have made an adequate sacrifice for us as a member of the fallen race of Adam and our redemption would be in question. Similarly, if Jesus had two persons then the Incarnation would also be a false doctrine since God the Word would not have actually become man. The Adoptionist heresy made the claim that Jesus was the Son of God by adoption and not by nature, as if he had been born a man and raised to the level of God. A third heresy called Monophysitism said that Jesus was God, but that he only had the appearance of a man. Consequently, Jesus was never “born” and he could not have “died”. We can see that understanding the scriptural interpretations as Mary being the mother of God simplified the task of sorting out the true nature of Christ.

An insufficient understanding of the Theotokos has caused some people think that if Mary is the mother of God, she must have somehow preceded God and and given birth to Divine triplets. This vaguely resembles some pagan beliefs but it certainly is not the Christian understanding of Mary. In fact, this deduction shows a backwards approach the relationship between God and his mother. It is not Mary who entered eternity with the Incarnation, it is God who entered time. We can't elevate Mary to the level of creator because it was God who lowered Himself to be one of the creatures.

We have to ask ourselves, “if not the mother of God, then the mother of whom?” It is essential that we define what we mean by “nature” and “person” when we speak of Jesus being one person with two natures. Nature is the permanent structure of a being and the source of all activities of that being whereas Person defines the self-conscience, rational being that answers the question “Who am I”? Put simply, nature is the source of actions, but person is responsible for them. In Jesus then there are two sources for his actions, one human and one divine, but it is His one person that manifests them. His relationship with His mother is like that of any mother/child relationship in that it is not nature-to-nature, person-to-nature, or nature-to-person. It is a person to person relationship. Just as we would never say, “My mother is the mother of my body”, so Jesus would never say it because Mary was not merely an incubator for a god-creature. John Paul II said, “Mary is the Mother of God's Son, whom she virginally begot according to His human nature and raised with her motherly love, thus contributing to the human growth of the divine person who came to transform the destiny of mankind.”

When we honor Mary we are following the example of Jesus who honored His mother. Scott Hahn said that Jesus fulfilled every letter of the Law. The first of the Ten Commandments that pertain to one's neighbor is to honor your mother and your father. In Hebrew “honor” means “to give glory”. It was not the Church that initiated the honor given to Mary, it was Jesus who bestowed great glory on her first.

Just as the New Year marks a time for new beginnings, so the feast of the Mother of God marks a new beginning for the world. History was split, the Old Covenant was fulfilled and we all became sons and daughters of God.

Bibliography:

Introduction to Mary: The Heart of Marian Doctrine and Devotion by Mark Miravalle.

The Catholic Answer Book of Mary by Very Reverend Peter M.J. Stravinskas

Theotokos: Woman, Mother, Disciple by Pope John Paul II

Refuting the Attack on Mary: A Defense of Marian Doctrines by Father Mateo