Apologetics Session 6: Mary - Part 2

We cannot describe the beauty of Mary in two classes. We can only touch on some of the mysteries that seem to have separated our brothers and sisters from her and us. Before looking at Mary's sinlessness, her perpetual virginity, her Assumption into heaven and her title as Mediatrix, as promised, we need to go back and review the Church's teaching on the Communion of Saints because it is so basic to why we pray to Mary (and the saints), and why statues and medals, relics and other sacramentals can help us.

Question: Why do Catholics pray to Mary and the saints?
Answer: We believe in the communion of saints, of whom Mary is the highest and most to be honored. We continue in charity the truth of the gospel; "They had everything in common" (Acts 4:32) and the command of Christ to "love one another" (Jn. 15:12). Especially with regard to Mary, we obey His words, "Behold your Mother." (Jn 19:27)

Scriptures that may help in the dialogue:

1 Cor 12:26-27: "If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the Body of Christ and individually members of it."
Rom 14:7 "None of us lives to himself and none of us dies to himself."
Acts 3: 6 - 7 "But Peter said, 'I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give you; in the name f Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk. And he took him by the right hand and raised him up and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong.

Question: Why should we pray to anyone but Christ? Why call Mary Mediatrix?

Answer:

CCC 970 "Mary's function as mother of men in no way obscures or diminishes this unique mediation of Christ, but rather shows its power. But the Blessed Virgin's salutary influence on men . . . flows forth from the superabundance of the merits of Christ, rests on his mediation, depends entirely on it, and draws all its power from it."<LG 60> "No creature could ever be counted along with the Incarnate Word and Redeemer; but just as the priesthood of Christ is shared in various ways both by his ministers and the faithful, and as the one goodness of God is radiated in different ways among his creatures, so also the unique mediation of the Redeemer does not exclude but rather gives rise to a manifold cooperation which is but a sharing in this one source."<LG 62>

Listening to what may be unsaid
It is impossible for one human heart to read another or a human mind to know for sure what another is thinking, nevertheless, we can hope to have some understanding of why persons ask certain questions. In the reluctance to accept any mediation between God and themselves, except Christ, there can be a misunderstanding of how God has ordered us to union. There can be a misunderstanding of the dignity He has given us and certainly calls us to achieve in Christ. Mary and the saints glorify God and show us our call to holiness. Prayer to and with them for others brings us closer to Christ not further away from Him. Of course, the test of our prayer is the reflection of Christ's holiness that we live every day.

Question: What about religious articles? Aren't they idols? Why use rosary beads? They aren't in Scripture.

Answer: Pictures, medals, statues are not idols. The Rosary is not mere jewelry. None are superstitions or magic charms. Sacramentals are "sacred signs which bear a resemblance to the sacraments. They signify effects, particularly of a spiritual nature, which are obtained through the intercession of the Church." (See CCC 1667 -1679)
The Mysteries of the Rosary are certainly in scripture and meditating on the mysteries is at the heart of the Rosary. The Rosary is truly an "epitome of the gospel" ( CCC 971)

Once more, we need to distinguish between what the Church teaches and what some Catholics may practice. Some Catholics may go to extremes in the way they use sacramentals, but that does not change the truth of the blessings which God intends to give through the right use of these blessed objects and practices.
(Transfiguration, Introduction to the Contemplation of Icons by Maria Giovanna Muzj, gives more insight into this question)
A Historical Note: Some questions, such as this unbelief in sacramentals, are part of age-old disputes. The year 726 marked the beginning of the iconoclast schism which lasted for more than 100 years and filled the east with confusion. The Seventh Ecumenical Council in 787 defined the veneration of images. (Reference: Church History by Fr. John Laux, M.A.)

Question: Why do Catholics believe Mary was sinless? Wasn't she born in sin like everybody else?
Answer: CCC 492 The "splendor of an entirely unique holiness" by which Mary is "enriched from the very first instant of her conception" comes wholly from Christ: she is redeemed in a more exalted fashion, by reason of the merits of her Son.

Scriptures which may help in the dialog

Gen 3:15 "I will put enmity between you and the woman. . ."
Luke 1: 28 "Hail, full of grace. . ."

The Father blessed Mary more than any other created person "in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places" and chose her "in Christ before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before him in love." (quotes from Eph. 1: 3-4 and CCC 492)

Question: Why does the Catholic Church insist on the perpetual virginity of Mary?
Answer: CCC 510 Mary "remained a Virgin in conceiving her Son, a virgin in giving birth to him, a virgin in carrying him, a virgin in nursing him at her breast, always a virgin" (St. Augustine, Serm.186. . .) with her whole being she is "the handmaid of the Lord" (Luke 1:38)

CCC 496 From the first formulations of her faith, the Church has confessed that Jesus was conceived solely by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary…The Fathers see in the virginal conception the sign that it truly was the Son of God who came in a humanity like our own.

The references to Mary's Virginity in the Catechism are really beautiful. Take time to read CCC 496 - 511.

Question: Why does the Catholic Church say that Mary was assumed into heaven? Why do you call her Queen? None of that is in the bible.
Answer: Not everything to be believed could be contained in the bible. Oral Tradition and the Magisterium of the Church are given as well by the Holy Spirit.

Scriptures which can help in the dialog

(Rev.12:1) "And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; "
(Rev.22:17) "The Spirit and the Bride say "Come'"

The book of Revelation is filled with symbol, yet we can see how these two images can be applied to Mary. The 12th chapter of Revelation continues the promise of enmity between Satan and the Woman, and between her seed and his. The Church has further seen Mary as an Image of the Church, the Bride of Christ. In all the mysteries of her life Mary is united with her Son.

CCC 964 Mary's role in the Church is inseparable from her union with Christ and flows from it.
CCC 966 "Finally 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, so that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords and conqueror of sin and death. The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is a singular participation in her Son's Resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians.

For Catholics, our present Holy Father has given us good example how one can, with Mary, truly ponder the Face of Christ and like her grow in transforming union with Him.