† Mary, Mother of God † (January 1)

† Feast of the Day †

(January 1)

✠ Mary, Mother of God ✠

Feast Day: January 1

The simple sound of the name “Mary” opens up very different views in peoples’ hearts and minds.

For some, she was what the New Testament says she was: a young Jewish woman who was chosen by God to supernaturally conceive and give birth to Jesus, thus becoming part of the way in which the Son of God became a man. This group, not without their own doubts and setbacks, believes her biblical portrayal indicates that she was also a member of the first community of men and women who followed Jesus. She is soberly respected, yet she does not occupy center stage in their overall Christian experience.

For others, Mary deeply shapes their whole spirituality and entire life. She is prayed to and venerated, surrounded by a vast array of “Marian” devotions, such as rosaries, processions, pilgrimages. The titles with which she is referred to (Heavenly Queen, Mediatrix, Advocate) resemble those ascribed to her son, Jesus Christ. She looks like an altogether different person than the one the previous group perceives she was.

There’s Something About Mary:
The process through which Mary became so venerated was long and not linear. It accumulated different viewpoints, devotions, and doctrinal formulations that eventually led to a body of beliefs and practices centered on Mary but beyond biblical boundaries. The real, biblical Mary became an idealized Mary.

Some apocryphal (literally “obscure”) gospels (e.g., The Protoevangelium of James) elaborated on traditions that tried to embellish the gospel story at the expense of its authenticity. Whereas the canonical gospels are realistic, the apocryphal ones are excessive in their attention to Mary’s life.

Besides the influence of these writings, the spiritual framework that gave us Mariology was generated by popular piety. Liturgies centered on Mary, prayers addressed to her, devotions to honor her—this is the religious milieu of the Mariological crescendo. It was through the practice of devotional prayer that Mary was transformed from being a model of faith to becoming an object-subject of faith addressed in prayer and praised in the context of Christian worship.

Against this background, the Council of Ephesus (AD 431) gave Mary the title “Mother of God.” The “motherhood” of Mary that first related to Jesus Christ was extended to her motherhood of other areas—mother of the church and mother of the human race.

Marian Dogmas and Devotions:
In nations and cultures where Roman Catholicism is prevalent, Marianism largely defines the religious experience of Roman Catholics who pray to her and are devoutly committed to her. The Catechism of the Catholic Church goes as far as to say, “The Church’s devotion to the Blessed Virgin is intrinsic to Christian worship” (section 971).

To call devotion to Mary “intrinsic” means there can be no proper worship without devotion to her. It also implies that when dealing with Marian devotion, one touches a central nerve of the whole of Catholic spirituality. It’s not something that can be dealt with independently.

Marian Prayers and Rosaries:
Prayer to Mary quintessentially defines Marian spirituality. She is perhaps the most invoked figure in many religious quarters. Acclaimed as a mother, she is sought to give help and strength. She is approached with reverence and awe. Mary can be approached confidently because she can obtain for us from her divine Son anything she asks for.

Against the background of such deep theological and devotional vision, the list of prayers mirrors a Marian-centered spirituality: “Hail Holy Queen,” “Regina Coeli” (Queen of Heaven), Ave Maris Stella (Hail Star of the Ocean) are only a few of the most common Marian prayers. Another significant form of Marian prayer is the Rosary, which means “crown of roses.”

The conviction behind this expression is that each time people say a “Hail Mary” prayer in the Rosary, they give her a rose. And each complete Rosary makes her a crown of roses. The Holy Rosary is considered by those adherents to be a perfect prayer because within it lies the story of salvation retold in a way that highlights Mary’s central role in redemption.

Instead of inculcating salvation history as the Bible tells it, the Rosary is a powerful tool to shape one’s own imagination in terms of the pervasive presence and agency of Mary in whatever the Triune God is and does. The whole orientation of Roman Catholic “biblical theology” is inherently Marian, in that Mary is thought of as sharing the prerogatives and roles of the Son. This is totally contrary to the gospel whereby all that is said in the Scriptures needs to be seen in the light of Jesus Christ (Luke 24:27) and that there is no mediator apart from Christ for our salvation and prayers (1 Tim. 2:5).

Marian Shrines and Apparitions:
Apart from shaping the life of prayer and the overall spiritual understanding of salvation history for Catholics, Mariology is also a determining factor for the arrangement of worship in its spatial dimension. Thousands of church buildings around the world are dedicated to Mary, thus forging the minds and hearts of millions of people.

Aside from huge church buildings and sanctuaries, Marian devotion marks its territory in the form of small shrines disseminated in crossroads, hospitals, schools, apartment blocks, and offices to signify the nearness of Mary in everyday life and in every place.

The strong Marian emphasis on Roman Catholicism has also been enriched by alleged apparitions of Mary throughout the centuries, with an increase of these episodes since the nineteenth century when Marian piety pushed the Church to promote the dogma of Mary’s immaculate conception. Each apparition generated the rise of more devotional practices, such as pilgrimages and shrines to the memory of the apparition and to further its message. The most famous Marian apparitions are those associated with Guadalupe in Mexico, in Lourdes, France, and in Portugal.

Rather than promoting a Bible-based, Christ-centered faith, all these messages have reinforced Marian practices and venerations. Although Marian apparitions may at times seem like fanciful tales to non-Catholic observers, their impact has been significant. They’ve led to the conversion of millions to Roman Catholicism, the building of some of the largest Marian shrines around the world, the formation of Marian movements dedicated to the spreading of Marian devotions, encouragement for the development of Mariological doctrines, and the drawing of hundreds of millions of pilgrims to Marian sites.

What is at Stake?:
In all its theological force and devotional ramifications, Mariology is an inescapable, all-embracing, and fundamental tenet of Roman Catholic theology and practice. For all Bible-believing Christians, Mariology is a big source of puzzlement. They love Mary, but they cannot come to terms with what happened to the memory of the young lady called by God the Father to be the bearer of the person of the Lord Jesus. They don’t see how the biblical Mary can be reconciled with the hypertrophic Mary of subsequent Mariology. Its development seems to respond to rules and criteria that go way beyond what is written in the Bible.

Mariology, as it stands, needs to go through a process of radically biblical deconstruction if it wants to become a biblically defined and viable Christian option. All the stratified accumulation of Marian suggestions, expansions, and developments should go through the healthy refinement of clear biblical teaching in order to be given Scriptural shape. Pointing our attention to the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ—this was Mary’s way.

Mary is one of the most admired biblical figures. Her willingness to be a vessel for God's Messiah is inspirational, especially when you consider the confusion associated with a young, unmarried woman showing up pregnant—and the pain of watching your grown child be tried and crucified.

Here are three lessons we can learn from Mary's life:

1. Devotion is about obedience:
Too often, we mistake religious feelings with devotion. But real devotion is about obedience. It's about being faithful to God and our conscience. We see this clearly in Mary's story:

      "In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, 'Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.'

      Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.'

      'How will this be,' Mary asked the angel, 'since I am a virgin?'

      The angel answered, 'The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.'

      'I am the Lord's servant,' Mary answered. 'May your word to me be fulfilled.' Then the angel left her" (Luke 1:26–38).

Despite being greatly troubled at the words of this angel, Mary's response shows great faithfulness. She's not afraid to voice her questions, but in the end, she chooses obedience.

Like Mary, we don’t need to have all the answers to say, "I am the Lord’s servant." In fact, faith is all about stepping out in obedience even when we don't.

2. Sometimes obedience requires sacrifice
Mary was betrothed to Joseph when the angel, Gabriel, visited her. Her pregnancy caused some static with her fiancé. Joseph was considering sending her away when God intervened with a vision (Matthew 1:18–25). But this was only the beginning of the difficulties Mary would face.

When Joseph and Mary take the infant, Jesus, to be presented at the temple, they meet a man named Simeon. God had promised this righteous man that he'd live to see the Messiah, and because the Spirit prompts him, Simeon appears in time to hold Jesus.

Simeon prays a prayer of thanksgiving, and then he addresses Joseph and Mary:

      "Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: 'This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too'" (Luke 2:34–35).

As Simeon prophesied, Jesus's ministry turns Jerusalem (and eventually the world) on its head. But his last comment hits close to home. For Jesus to fulfill his destiny, Mary would have to suffer.

Mary may have understood the role Jesus was meant to play, but she didn't understand the script. She probably heard the angel's words about all that Jesus would be and would accomplish, and presumed she knew what that looked like.

She probably didn't understand that Jerusalem's religious elite would turn against Him. She couldn't have guessed that what awaited Him was a cross and a borrowed grave. To her credit, Mary was there for her child's crucifixion—but, as Simeon told her, her soul was pierced through.

Sometimes walking with Jesus means walking down some scary paths. And it almost always requires some form of sacrifice—even when that sacrifice is simply giving up on the expectations you’ve been carrying.

3. Have faith that Jesus will come through:
Before Jesus officially kicked off His ministry, Mary, Jesus, and some of His disciples went to a wedding in a town called Cana. The wedding ran out of wine early (a massive faux pas for a wedding reception), and Mary turned to Jesus.

Jesus' response was a noncommittal, "Why do you involve me? My time has not yet come" (John 2:4). But that didn't seem to trouble Mary. She just went to the servants and told them, "do whatever He tells you."

John explains what happened next:

      “Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.

      "Jesus said to the servants, 'Fill the jars with water'; so they filled them to the brim.

      "Then he told them, 'Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.'

      "They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, 'Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now'" (John 2:6–10).

Sometimes you hear Jesus' response to Mary interpreted with a little bit of annoyance, but that doesn't seem to be the case. It reads more like he's testing her. But there isn't a moment when her faith that he's going to save the day falters.

This wine situation is important to the bride and groom, and it means a lot to Mary that they not be humiliated. She trusts that it’s important to Jesus, too.

We should demonstrate the same trust that what's important to us is important to Jesus, and have the faith to ask Him to intervene.

Simple obedience and faith:
Mary demonstrates the power of pure faith. When you look at her accomplishments, it might not seem like she did very much. But her obedience changed the course of history. Sometimes the most profound thing we can do with our lives is to wholeheartedly say, "I am the Lord’s servant."