In Defence of Mary

Michael Puljic explains the true role of the mother of Jesus in the Catholic Church.

Mary, the mother of Jesus, or Our Lady, as Catholics call her, is a figure who is seen by quite a few as a real obstacle towards full Christian unity. Yet her role in the Catholic church is one which large numbers of Christians misunderstand, including unfortunately some Catholics. Hopefully this article will be able to clarify what I believe as a Catholic, therefore, dispelling the misconceptions. Since the topic is so vast, I will only be able to give a small ‘slice’.

Our Lady is venerated in the Catholic church, not worshipped. However, we still pray to her to intercede for us as our advocate before God. In Numbers 21:4b–9 there is a similar parallel:

On the way the people lost patience. They spoke against God and against Moses, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt to die in this wilderness? For there is neither bread nor water here; we are sick of this unsatisfying food.” At this God sent fiery serpents among the people; their bite brought death to many in Israel. The people came and said to Moses, “We have sinned by speaking against Yahweh and against you. Intercede for us with Yahweh to save us from these serpents.” Moses interceded for the people, and Yahweh answered him, “Make a fiery serpent and put it on a standard. If anyone is bitten and looks at it, he shall live.” So Moses fashioned a bronze serpent which he put on a standard, and if anyone was bitten by a serpent, he looked at the bronze serpent and lived.

In this passage Moses was asked by the Jewish people to intercede for them to God. A similar thing is found in the Hail Mary prayer: “Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.” Moses fashioned the bronze serpent for the people to look to for their cure. In the same way Mary fully complies with God’s instructions and in her humility leads us to look to the cross, giving all the glory to God, keeping none for herself.

God never leaves a job half-finished. In Genesis we find it is Adam and Eve who both sin resulting in a barrier between us and God. In order to heal this, there had to be a new Adam and a new Eve, both free from original sin. (This is why Mary had to be immaculately conceived, so that she would be the same as Eve was before she sinned. Like her Son and Lord, she also didn’t sin throughout her entire life.) Jesus is the new Adam, Mary is the new Eve. In order to undo Adam and Eve’s sin it required action from both Jesus and Mary. (Mary is certainly not equal to Jesus — Jesus is infinitely greater.) When the angel Gabriel asked for Mary’s consent to conceive Jesus, her ‘Yes’ to God cancelled Eve’s disobedience to the will of God. The redemption of mankind had begun.

At this point I would like to correct what seems to be quite a widespread error — the idea that when Jesus was born Mary and Joseph were not married. This error derives from lack of knowledge of the Jewish custom for a wedding at the time. Effectively marriage came in two stages: the first was ‘the engagement’ which involved the couple going to the temple to be married. After this they lived apart for a period of time. The second stage involved the couple coming to live together, when they were ‘married’. Following this Matthew 1:18b–20 makes sense:

His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph; but before they came to live together she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a man of honour and wanting to spare her publicity, decided to divorce her informally. He had made up his mind to do this when the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife.”

Throughout her life Mary was joyful at the numbers of people that followed Jesus, but also had much to suffer at seeing him rejected. This rejection was prophesied by Simeon in Luke 2:34–35

Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “You see this child: he is destined for the fall and for the rising of many in Israel, destined to be a sign that is rejected — and a sword will pierce your own soul too — so that the secret thoughts of many may be laid bare.”

This rejection reached a climax at the point of Jesus’ crucifixion on Calvary. More sorrowful to a mother than her own death is to witness the death of her own Son. Mary was there on Calvary and her sufferings were intimately shared with those of her Son. The purer we are the more able we are to share in the cross of Christ. Mary, therefore, played a fairly large role in the redemption of mankind as co-redemptorix (‘co’ not implying equal, with redemptorix being the female version of redeemer).

The words of a dying man are often considered important, and since a great effort would be needed to speak during crucifixion, everything that Jesus said from the cross was important. In John 19:26–27a, we read:

Seeing his mother and the disciple he loved standing near her, Jesus said to his mother, “Woman, this is your son”. Then to the disciple he said, “This is your mother.”

This wasn’t just Jesus saying to John, “By the way, whilst I’m gone look after Mary”;, but something far more important. Jesus gave to all Christians (whom John represents) his own mother. As it is written in Deuteronomy 5:16, “Honour your father and your mother, as Yahweh your God has commanded you, so that you may have a long life and may prosper in the land that Yahweh your God gives you.” We also have a further parallel with Genesis at this point, linking in with Mary as the new Eve: “The man named his wife ‘Eve’ because she was the mother of all those who live.” (Genesis 3:20).

Following on from Christ’s passion and death, St. Louis de Montfort said in his book, True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, “God the Son imparted to his mother all that he gained by his life and death … through her he transmits his virtues and distributes his graces. … No heavenly gift is given to men which does not pass through her virginal hands … Such are the views of the Church and the early [Church] Fathers.”

Mary is mediator of all graces and also mediator between us and her Son. One Croatian hymn refers to this with the words: “Intercede for us to your Son; mother of peace, pray for us.” This in no way conflicts with St. Paul who said we have only one mediator between God (the father) and man, Jesus Christ.

At the end of her life on earth, being free from all sin, Our Lady did not have to undergo the pains of death. The Catholic teaching is on the assumption that she ascended into heaven, first in soul and then in body, prefiguring us all who will first ascend in soul and later be reunited with “copies of Christ’s glorified body”. This is what is referred to in the Apostles’ Creed where it says: “I believe in … the resurrection of the body.”

Naturally, I don’t expect every reader to agree with what I have written, but I hope to have clarified Catholic teaching and veneration of Mary. Mary is not my end and goal. God is. The Catholic church has a motto: “Ad Iesus per Mariam” — to Jesus through Mary. Mary is the humble servant of the Lord who leads us to Jesus. Any form of ‘Mary worship’ would be considered by the Catholic church as grave heresy.

Michael Puljic

If you have an opinion on this issue or any other featured in Christis write to us at editor@christis.org.uk

More on Mary …

By Michael Puljic

Mary, the mother of Jesus, or Our Lady, as Catholics call her, is a figure who is seen by quite a few as a real obstacle towards full Christian unity. Yet her role in the Catholic church is one which large numbers of Christians misunderstand, including unfortunately some Catholics. Hopefully this article will be able to clarify what I believe as a Catholic, therefore, dispelling the misconceptions. Since the topic is so vast, I will only be able to give a small ‘slice’.

Our Lady is venerated in the Catholic church, not worshipped. However, we still pray to her to intercede for us as our advocate before God. In Numbers 21:4b–9 there is a similar parallel:

On the way the people lost patience. They spoke against God and against Moses, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt to die in this wilderness? For there is neither bread nor water here; we are sick of this unsatisfying food.” At this God sent fiery serpents among the people; their bite brought death to many in Israel. The people came and said to Moses, “We have sinned by speaking against Yahweh and against you. Intercede for us with Yahweh to save us from these serpents.” Moses interceded for the people, and Yahweh answered him, “Make a fiery serpent and put it on a standard. If anyone is bitten and looks at it, he shall live.” So Moses fashioned a bronze serpent which he put on a standard, and if anyone was bitten by a serpent, he looked at the bronze serpent and lived.

In this passage Moses was asked by the Jewish people to intercede for them to God. A similar thing is found in the Hail Mary prayer: “Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.” Moses fashioned the bronze serpent for the people to look to for their cure. In the same way Mary fully complies with God’s instructions and in her humility leads us to look to the cross, giving all the glory to God, keeping none for herself.

God never leaves a job half-finished. In Genesis we find it is Adam and Eve who both sin resulting in a barrier between us and God. In order to heal this, there had to be a new Adam and a new Eve, both free from original sin. (This is why Mary had to be immaculately conceived, so that she would be the same as Eve was before she sinned. Like her Son and Lord, she also didn’t sin throughout her entire life.) Jesus is the new Adam, Mary is the new Eve. In order to undo Adam and Eve’s sin it required action from both Jesus and Mary. (Mary is certainly not equal to Jesus — Jesus is infinitely greater.) When the angel Gabriel asked for Mary’s consent to conceive Jesus, her ‘Yes’ to God cancelled Eve’s disobedience to the will of God. The redemption of mankind had begun.

At this point I would like to correct what seems to be quite a widespread error — the idea that when Jesus was born Mary and Joseph were not married. This error derives from lack of knowledge of the Jewish custom for a wedding at the time. Effectively marriage came in two stages: the first was ‘the engagement’ which involved the couple going to the temple to be married. After this they lived apart for a period of time. The second stage involved the couple coming to live together, when they were ‘married’. Following this Matthew 1:18b–20 makes sense:

His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph; but before they came to live together she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a man of honour and wanting to spare her publicity, decided to divorce her informally. He had made up his mind to do this when the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife.”

Throughout her life Mary was joyful at the numbers of people that followed Jesus, but also had much to suffer at seeing him rejected. This rejection was prophesied by Simeon in Luke 2:34–35

Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “You see this child: he is destined for the fall and for the rising of many in Israel, destined to be a sign that is rejected — and a sword will pierce your own soul too — so that the secret thoughts of many may be laid bare.”

This rejection reached a climax at the point of Jesus’ crucifixion on Calvary. More sorrowful to a mother than her own death is to witness the death of her own Son. Mary was there on Calvary and her sufferings were intimately shared with those of her Son. The purer we are the more able we are to share in the cross of Christ. Mary, therefore, played a fairly large role in the redemption of mankind as co-redemptorix (‘co’ not implying equal, with redemptorix being the female version of redeemer).

The words of a dying man are often considered important, and since a great effort would be needed to speak during crucifixion, everything that Jesus said from the cross was important. In John 19:26–27a, we read:

Seeing his mother and the disciple he loved standing near her, Jesus said to his mother, “Woman, this is your son”. Then to the disciple he said, “This is your mother.”

This wasn’t just Jesus saying to John, “By the way, whilst I’m gone look after Mary”;, but something far more important. Jesus gave to all Christians (whom John represents) his own mother. As it is written in Deuteronomy 5:16, “Honour your father and your mother, as Yahweh your God has commanded you, so that you may have a long life and may prosper in the land that Yahweh your God gives you.” We also have a further parallel with Genesis at this point, linking in with Mary as the new Eve: “The man named his wife ‘Eve’ because she was the mother of all those who live.” (Genesis 3:20).

Following on from Christ’s passion and death, St. Louis de Montfort said in his book, True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, “God the Son imparted to his mother all that he gained by his life and death … through her he transmits his virtues and distributes his graces. … No heavenly gift is given to men which does not pass through her virginal hands … Such are the views of the Church and the early [Church] Fathers.”

Mary is mediator of all graces and also mediator between us and her Son. One Croatian hymn refers to this with the words: “Intercede for us to your Son; mother of peace, pray for us.” This in no way conflicts with St. Paul who said we have only one mediator between God (the father) and man, Jesus Christ.

At the end of her life on earth, being free from all sin, Our Lady did not have to undergo the pains of death. The Catholic teaching is on the assumption that she ascended into heaven, first in soul and then in body, prefiguring us all who will first ascend in soul and later be reunited with “copies of Christ’s glorified body”. This is what is referred to in the Apostles’ Creed where it says: “I believe in … the resurrection of the body.”

Naturally, I don’t expect every reader to agree with what I have written, but I hope to have clarified Catholic teaching and veneration of Mary. Mary is not my end and goal. God is. The Catholic church has a motto: “Ad Iesus per Mariam” — to Jesus through Mary. Mary is the humble servant of the Lord who leads us to Jesus. Any form of ‘Mary worship’ would be considered by the Catholic church as grave heresy.

Michael Puljic

If you have an opinion on this issue or any other featured in Christis write to us at editor@christis.org.uk