Catholic Mariology on Assumption

 

Catholic Mariology is the systematic study of the person of Mary, mother of Jesus, and of her place in the Economy of Salvation in Catholic theology. According to the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception taught by the Catholic Church, Mary was conceived and born without sin, hence she is seen as having a singular dignity above the saints, receiving a higher level of veneration than all angelic spirits and blessed souls in heaven. Catholic Mariology thus studies not only her life but also the veneration of her in daily life, prayer, hymns, art, music, and architecture in modern and ancient Christianity throughout the ages.

The four Marian dogmas of Mother of God, Immaculate Conception, perpetual virginity, and Assumption form the basis of Mariology. However, a number of other Catholic doctrines about the Virgin Mary have been developed by reference to sacred scripture, theological reasoning and church tradition. The development of Mariology is ongoing and since the beginnings it has continued to be shaped by theological analyses, writings of saints, and papal statements, e.g. while two of the dogmas are ancient, the other two were defined in the 19th and 20th centuries; and papal teachings on Mary have continued to appear in recent times.

In parallel to the traditional views, since the late 19th century, as Marian devotion became more pronounced in the Catholic Church, a number of other perspectives have been presented as a challenge to Catholic Mariology. Other Christian views see Catholic Mariology as unbiblical and a denial of the uniqueness of Christ as redeemer and mediator,and modern psychological interpretations see Mary as similar to mythical goddesses ranging from Diana to Guan Yin. Nonetheless, Christians in the Catholic Church, the Old Catholic Churches, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox Church, the Assyrian Church of the East, the Ancient Church of the East, the Independent Sacramental Movement, Anglo-Catholicism, and other High church Protestants continue to revere Mary as the greatest saint.

Marian Catholic dogmas present church teachings about Mary and her relation to Jesus Christ, held by the church to be infallible, and reflect the role of Mary in the economy of salvation.

De Fide Definita or De Fide Credenda doctrines have the highest degree of dogmatic certainty. These doctrines come in several forms, namely the sacred scriptures and apostolic tradition and teachings which have been specifically defined as revealed by an extraordinary definition by a pope or ecumenical council (extraordinary universal Magisterium), or those teachings infallibly taught to be revealed by the ordinary universal Magisterium. As in the case of the Immaculate Conception or the Assumption, these doctrines were held by the church prior to the date of official definition, but open for discussion. From the date of definition, they must be accepted by all members of the Catholic Church as contained specifically in the Deposit of Faith and owed supernatural faith in itself (de fide credenda).

There are four Marian dogmas specifically defined by the Magisterium among a large number of other dogmas and doctrines about the Virgin Mary – for example, the Annunciation of Mary is dogma because it is in the scriptures, but it has not been formally defined by the Magisterium. These four Marian dogmas include:

Mother of God Council of Ephesus (431)Mother of God, not that the nature of the Word or his divinity received the beginning of its existence from the holy Virgin, but that, since the holy body, animated by a rational soul, which the Word of God united to himself according to the hypostasis, was born from her, the Word is said to be born according to the flesh.

Perpetual virginity Second Council of Constantinople (553) and Lateran Synod (649) 'Perpetual virginity of Mary', means that Mary was a virgin before, during and after giving birth.

Immaculate  Conception Pope Pius IX (1854)Mary, at her conception, was preserved immaculate from Original Sin.

Assumption into heaven Pope Pius XII (1950)Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.

Mary's motherhood of God (Deipara in Latin) is a dogma of the Catholic Church.The term "Mother of God" appears within the oldest known prayer to Mary, the Sub tuum praesidium, which dates to around 250 AD: "Under thy protection we seek refuge, Holy Mother of God". This was the first specifically Marian doctrine to be formally defined by the church, formally affirmed at the Third Ecumenical Council held at Ephesus in 431. This refuted the objection raised by Patriarch Nestorius of Constantinople.

Scriptural basis for the dogma is found in John 1:14 which states "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us" and in Galatians 4:4 which states "God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law". Luke 1:35 further affirms divine maternity by stating: "The holy Spirit will come upon you. ... Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God."

The dogmatic constitution Lumen gentium at the Second Vatican Council affirmed Mary as the Mother of God. "The Virgin Mary, who at the message of the angel received the Word of God in her heart and in her body and gave Life to the world, is acknowledged and honored as being truly the Mother of God and Mother of the Redeemer."

This dogma is inherently related to the Christological dogma of the hypostatic union which relates the divine and human natures of Jesus Christ. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that "Mary is truly 'Mother of God' since she is the mother of the eternal Son of God made man, who is God himself."According to Catholic teaching, sourced in the John 1:1-14, Mary did not create the divine person of Jesus, who existed with the Father from all eternity.

The Assumption of Mary by Charles Le Brun, 1835

This dogma states that Mary was assumed into heaven with body and soul. The Catechism (item 966) states:

The Immaculate Virgin, preserved free 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 over all things.

Pope Pius XII discussed the Assumption in Deiparae Virginis Mariae (1946) and declared it a dogma in Munificentissimus Deus (1950).

Although the Assumption was only recently defined as dogma, accounts of the bodily assumption of Mary into heaven have circulated since at least the 5th century, and by the 8th century Andrew of Crete and John of Damascus had declared belief in it.The Book of Revelation (12:1) has been interpreted as referring to it; with her coronation implying her previous bodily assumption to heaven.

Before declaring the Assumption a dogma in Munificentissimus Deus in 1950, in the encyclical Deiparae Virginis Mariae (1946) Pope Pius XII obtained the opinion of Catholic bishops, and based on their overwhelming support (1210 among the 1232 bishops) proceeded with the dogmatic definition.The consensus of Magisterial teaching and liturgy affirms that Mary suffered death before her assumption, but this is not always accepted as settled doctrine. What is most clear is that her body was not left on earth to corrupt.

When responding to Pope Pius XII following the circulation of Deiparae Virginis Mariae, a large number of Catholic bishops pointed to the Book of Genesis (3:15) as a scriptural basis.[69] In Munificentissimus Deus (item 39) Pius XII referred to the "struggle against the infernal foe" as in Genesis 3:15 and to "complete victory over the sin and death" as in the Letters of Paul as a scriptural basis for the dogmatic definition, Mary being assumed into heaven also seems to verify 1 Corinthians 15:54: "Then shall come to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory".

This dogma states that Mary was conceived without original sin. This means that from the first moment of her existence she was preserved by God from the lack of sanctifying grace, and that she was instead filled with divine grace.

The dogma of the Immaculate Conception is distinct from and should not be confused with the perpetual virginity of Mary or the virgin birth of Jesus; for this dogma refers to the conception of Mary by her mother, Saint Anne, and not the conception of Jesus.

The feast of the Immaculate Conception, celebrated on December 8, was established in 1476 by Pope Sixtus IV, but the dogmatic definition came from Pope Pius IX in his constitution Ineffabilis Deus, on December 8, 1854.

The dogma states that Mary possessed sanctifying grace from the first instant of her existence and by a special and unique gift of God was free from the lack of grace caused by the original sin from the beginning of human history.In Fulgens corona (item 10) Pope Pius XII reaffirmed the concept by stating: "Who will dare to doubt that she, who was purer than the angels and at all times pure, was at any moment, even for the briefest instant, not free from every stain of sin?"

Ineffabilis Deus (as well as Pope Pius XII's Munificentissimus Deus on the Assumption) also teaches the predestination of Mary, in that she was preserved from sin due to the role reserved for her in the economy of salvation.This predetermination of Mary's role in salvation was referred to in Lumen gentium (item 61) which stated that she was "Predestined from eternity by that decree of divine providence which determined the incarnation of the Word to be the Mother of God."The definition in Ineffabilis Deus confirms the uniqueness of the Immaculate Conception as a gift from God to Mary, that Jesus might receive his body from one unstained by sin.

The Annunciation by Paolo de Matteis, 1712

This dogma states that Mary was a virgin before, during and after giving birth (de fide). This oldest Marian doctrine, (also held by Lutheran, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox, and many other Christians) affirms Mary's "real and perpetual virginity even in the act of giving birth to the Son of God made Man."Thus, by the teaching of this dogma, the faithful believe that Mary was ever-Virgin (Greek ἀειπάρθενος) for the whole of her life, making Jesus her only biological son, whose conception and birth are held to be miraculous.

The doctrine of perpetual virginity is distinct from the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, which relates to the conception of the Virgin Mary herself without any stain (macula in Latin) of original sin.

Virginity before birth

This means that Mary conceived by the Holy Spirit without participation of any man (de fide). The Greek term Aeiparthenos (i.e. "Ever Virgin") is attested to from the early 4th century. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (item 499) includes the term Aeiparthenos and referring to the dogmatic constitution Lumen gentium (item 57) states: "Christ's birth did not diminish his mother's virginal integrity but sanctified it."

Virginity during birth

This means that Mary gave birth without losing her corporal virginity (de fide) and her corporal integrity was not affected by giving birth.The Catholic Church does not teach how this occurred physically, but insists that virginity during child birth is different from virginity of conception.

Virginity after birth

This means that Mary remained a virgin after giving birth (de fide).This belief of the church was questioned in its early years.The scriptures say little about this, mentioning the brothers of Jesus, but never "sons of Mary", suggesting to the patristic writers a broader family relationship.