Mary is a central figure in the Catholic Faith and her life illustrates how our Almighty Father works in our lives. Mary came from a simple background and yet she was called by God to fulfill a very extraordinary role; that of becoming the mother of Jesus Christ.
This role was no easy feat. Second, when Jesus was born, King Herod ordered infants everywhere to be slaughtered so Mary had to flee to Egypt to escape the massacre and save her child.
In our Catholic Faith, we are taught the three core values of Mary. These were embodied by the Holy Mother in the way she lived her life. As her children, we, too, should aspire to embrace these values in our own lives and in the way we treat others. Humility is one of the most fundamental values we should have as Christians. We can only receive Christ when we are humble and meek.
Mary teaches us that pride and selfishness is something that we must avoid. She had an extraordinary role as the Mother of God and yet she remained humble in her ways and continued to serve the Lord with devotion. We live in a world that is self-obsessed and this makes us be self-centered in our decisions. We do things that make us happy even if it hurts others. Being humble is not always easy. The Marian value of humility teaches us to put others first. When we are humble, we let go of our selfish, human ways and become in tune with the ways and will of God.
Mary lived her life in the simplest way. Despite having found favor in the Lord, she accepted what was given to her with grace and humility. Our world puts a premium on material wealth. We become blinded by material pursuits, the latest gadgets, fancy cars and expensive vacations.
There were 11 Apostles at the time. So that puts us up to 30 or 40 or so. It is hard to argue that Mary had 80 or 90 children. More on the Blessed Virgin Mary. Pelikan assesses the ways Protestants, Catholics, Jews, and Muslims, artists, musicians, and writers, and men and women everywhere have depicted, venerated, and been inspired by Mary, a symbol of hope and solace for all generations.
Patrick Madrid explains in a clear, easy-to-follow style why Catholics pray to and honor Mary and the saints. Using the Bible and the testimony of the early Church Fathers, he provides a concise overview of the biblical and historical foundations of this often misunderstood Catholic doctrine. He also walks you through the standard anti-Catholic arguments against praying to Mary and the saints and demonstrates from the Bible why these arguments are themselves unbiblical.
Most Christians know that the life of Jesus is foreshadowed throughout the Old Testament. Building on these scriptural and historical foundations, Hahn presents a new look at the Marian doctrines: Her Immaculate Conception, Perpetual Virginity, Assumption, and Coronation. As he guides modern-day readers through passages filled with mysteries and poetry, Hahn helps them rediscover the ancient art and science of reading the Scriptures and gain a more profound understanding of their truthfulness and relevance to faith and the practice of religion in the contemporary world.
A challenging read that will bear much fruit for those seeking to grow in knowledge of Scripture. The Project is sponsored by the St. Sheen Fulton J. It also includes a Scriptural Rosary that offers ten Bible texts suitable for meditation on each mystery. Prayers including a visual and spiritual journey that illuminates the teachings of the New Testament follow in the second section.
Voices of the Saints by Bert Ghezzi provides readers with many convenient ways to look up Catholic saints: chronologically, alphabetically, by feast day, even by theme. The voice of each Catholic saint comes through clearly in quotations drawn from their own writings, the recollection of witnesses, and the careful work of biographers. A prayer or Scripture verse concludes each entry. Using this official Catechism, the highly-regarded author and professor Peter Kreeft presents a complete compendium of all the major beliefs of Catholicism written in his readable and concise style.
Since the Catechism of the Catholic Church was written for the express purpose of grounding and fostering catechisms based on it for local needs and ordinary readers, Kreeft does just that, offering a thorough summary of Catholic doctrine, morality, and worship in a popular format with less technical language.
This book is the most thorough, complete and popular catechetical summary of Catholic belief in print that is based on the universal Catechism.
The evangelist supplies us here with the information that, "when he was twelve years old, they going up into Jerusalem , according to the custom of the feast, and having fulfilled the days, when they returned, the child Jesus remained in Jerusalem , and his parents knew it not" Luke Probably it was after the second festal day that Joseph and Mary returned with the other Galilean pilgrims; the law did not require a longer sojourn in the Holy City. On the first day the caravan usually made a four hours' journey, and rested for the night in Beroth on the northern boundary of the former Kingdom of Juda.
The crusaders built in this place a beautiful Gothic church to commemorate Our Lady's sorrow when she "sought him [her child] among their kinsfolks and acquaintance, and not finding him,.
The Child was not found among the pilgrims who had come to Beroth on their first day's journey; nor was He found on the second day, when Joseph and Mary returned to Jerusalem ; it was only on the third day that they "found him [ Jesus ] in the temple , sitting in the midst of the doctors , hearing them, and asking them questions.
And seeing him, they wondered. And his mother said to him: Son, why hast thou done so to us? Mary's faith did not allow her to fear a mere accident for her Divine Son ; but she felt that His behaviour had changed entirely from His customary exhibition of docility and subjection. The feeling caused the question, why Jesus had treated His parents in such a way.
Jesus simply answered: "How is it that you sought me? Neither Joseph nor Mary understood these words as a rebuke; "they understood not the word that he spoke to them" Luke It has been suggested by a recent writer that the last clause may be understood as meaning, "they [i. The remainder of Our Lord's youth After this, Jesus "went down with them, and came to Nazareth " where He began a life of work and poverty , eighteen years of which are summed up by the Evangelist in the few words, and he "was subject to them, and.
The interior life of Mary is briefly indicated by the inspired writer in the expression, "and his mother kept all these words in her heart " Luke A similar expression had been used in , "Mary kept all these words, pondering them in her heart ". Thus Mary observed the daily life of her Divine Son , and grew in His knowledge and love by meditating on what she saw and heard. It has been pointed out by certain writers that the Evangelist here indicates the last source from which he derived the material contained in his first two chapters.
Mary's perpetual virginity In connection with the study of Mary during Our Lord's hidden life, we meet the questions of her perpetual virginity , of her Divine motherhood, and of her personal sanctity.
Her spotless virginity has been sufficiently considered in the article on the Virgin Birth. The authorities there cited maintain that Mary remained a virgin when she conceived and gave birth to her Divine Son , as well as after the birth of Jesus.
Mary's question Luke , the angel's answer Luke , Joseph's way of behaving in his doubt Matthew , Christ's words addressed to the Jews John show that Mary retained her virginity during the conception of her Divine Son. Matthew's expressions "before they came together" , "her firstborn son " , nor by the fact that the New Testament books repeatedly refer to the "brothers of Jesus".
Finally, the "brothers of Jesus" are neither the sons of Mary, nor the brothers of Our Lord in the proper sense of the word, but they are His cousins or the more or less near relatives. The Fathers express themselves in similar language concerning this privilege of Mary. Matthew testifies that Mary "brought forth her first-born son " and that He was called Jesus. As Mary was truly the mother of Jesus , and as Jesus was truly God from the first moment of His conception, Mary is truly the mother of God.
Even the earliest Fathers did not hesitate to draw this conclusion as may be seen in the writings of St. Ignatius [72], St. Irenaeus [73], and Tertullian [74]. The contention of Nestorius denying to Mary the title "Mother of God" [75] was followed by the teaching of the Council of Ephesus proclaiming Mary to be Theotokos in the true sense of the word.
Basil , e. John Chrysostom is of opinion that Mary would have felt fear and trouble, unless the angel had explained the mystery of the Incarnation to her, and that she showed some vainglory at the marriage feast in Cana and on visiting her Son during His public life together with the brothers of the Lord. Cyril of Alexandria [80] speaks of Mary's doubt and discouragement at the foot of the cross.
But these Greek writers cannot be said to express an Apostolic tradition , when they express their private and singular opinions. Scripture and tradition agree in ascribing to Mary the greatest personal sanctity ; she is conceived without the stain of original sin ; she shows the greatest humility and patience in her daily life Luke , 48 ; she exhibits an heroic patience under the most trying circumstances Luke , 35, 48 ; John When there is question of sin , Mary must always be excepted.
Moreover, the Fathers , at least since the fifth century, almost unanimously maintain that the Blessed Virgin never experienced the motions of concupiscence. The miracle in Cana The evangelists connect Mary's name with three different events in Our Lord's public life : with the miracle in Cana , with His preaching, and with His passion.
The first of these incidents is related in John There was a marriage feast in Cana of Galilee. And Jesus also was invited, and his disciples , to the marriage. And the wine failing, the mother of Jesus saith to him: They have no wine. And Jesus saith to her: Woman, what is that to me and to thee? One naturally supposes that one of the contracting parties was related to Mary, and that Jesus had been invited on account of his mother's relationship.
The couple must have been rather poor , since the wine was actually failing. Mary wishes to save her friends from the shame of not being able to provide properly for the guests, and has recourse to her Divine Son. She merely states their need, without adding any further petition. In addressing women , Jesus uniformly employs the word "woman" Matthew ; Luke ; John ; ; ; , an expression used by classical writers as a respectful and honourable address. The clause "what is that to me and to thee" renders the Greek ti emoi kai soi , which in its turn corresponds to the Hebrew phrase mah li walakh.
This latter occurs in Judges ; 2 Samuel ; ; 1 Kings ; 2 Kings ; ; 2 Chronicles The meaning of the phrase varies according to the character of the speakers, ranging from a most pronounced opposition to a courteous compliance. Such a variable meaning makes it hard for the translator to find an equally variable equivalent.
In general, the words seem to refer to well or ill-meant importunity which they endeavour to remove.
The last part of Our Lord's answer presents less difficulty to the interpreter: "my hour is not yet come", cannot refer to the precise moment at which the need of wine will require the miraculous intervention of Jesus ; for in the language of St. John "my hour" or "the hour" denotes the time preordained for some important event John ; ; ; ; ; ; ; Hence the meaning of Our Lord's answer is: "Why are you troubling me by asking me for such an intervention? The divinely appointed time for such a manifestation has not yet come"; or, "why are you worrying?
There can be no question of explaining Jesus' answer in the sense of a refusal. Mary during the apostolic life of Our Lord During the apostolic life of Jesus , Mary effaced herself almost completely. Not being called to aid her Son directly in His ministry, she did not wish to interfere with His work by her untimely presence.
In Nazareth she was regarded as a common Jewish mother; St. Matthew ; cf. Mark introduces the people of the town as saying: "Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary, and his brethren James , and Joseph, and Simon , and Jude : and his sisters, are they not all with us?
The parallel passage of St. Mark reads, "Is not this the carpenter? Joseph , we may infer that he had died before this episode took place. When He was told: "Behold thy mother and thy brethren stand without, seeking thee", He answered: "Who is my mother, and who are my brethren?
And stretching forth his hand towards his disciples , he said: Behold my mother and my brethren. For whosoever shall do the will of my Father , that is in heaven , he is my brother, and my sister, and my mother" Matthew ; cf. Mark ; Luke On another occasion, "a certain woman from the crowd, lifting up her voice, said to him: Blessed is the womb that bore thee, and the paps that gave thee suck. But he said: Yea rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God , and keep it" Luke In reality, Jesus in both these passages places the bond that unites the soul with God above the natural bond of parentage which unites the Mother of God with her Divine Son.
The latter dignity is not belittled; as men naturally appreciate it more easily, it is employed by Our Lord as a means to make known the real value of holiness. Jesus , therefore, really, praises His mother in a most emphatic way; for she excelled the rest of men in holiness not less than in dignity.
Luke ; the Evangelists do not mention any other public appearance of Mary during the time of Jesus's journeys through Galilee or Judea. But we must remember that when the sun appears, even the brightest stars become invisible. Simeon's prophecy found its fulfilment principally during the time of Our Lord's suffering. The Itinerarium of the Pilgrim of Bordeaux describes the memorable sites which the writer visited A.
John the Baptist with the inscription "Pasm. During the course of the fourteenth century Christians began to locate the spots consecrated by the Passion of Christ , and among these was the place where Mary is said to have fainted at the sight of her suffering Son. Mary's spiritual motherhood While Jesus was hanging on the cross , "there stood by the cross of Jesus , his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary Cleophas , and Mary Magdalen. When Jesus therefore had seen his mother and the disciple standing whom he loved , he saith to his mother: Woman, behold thy son.
After that, he saith to the disciple : Behold thy mother. And from that hour, the disciple took her to his own" John The darkening of the sun and the other extraordinary phenomena in nature must have frightened the enemies of Our Lord sufficiently so as not to interfere with His mother and His few friends standing at the foot of the cross.
In the meantime, Jesus had prayed for His enemies, and had promised pardon to the penitent thief; now, He took compassion on His desolate mother, and provided for her future. If St. Joseph had been still alive, or if Mary had been the mother of those who are called Our Lord's brethren or sisters in the gospels , such a provision would not have been necessary.
Jesus uses the same respectful title with which he had addressed his mother at the marriage feast in Cana. Then he commits Mary to John as his mother, and wishes Mary to consider John as her son. Among the early writers , Origen is the only one who considers Mary's motherhood of all the faithful in this connection.
According to him, Christ lives in his perfect followers, and as Mary is the Mother of Christ , so she is mother of him in whom Christ lives. Hence, according to Origen , man has an indirect right to claim Mary as his mother, in so far as he identifies himself with Jesus by the life of grace. In the twelfth century Rupert of Deutz explained Our Lord's words as establishing Mary's spiritual motherhood of men , though St.
Bernard , Rupert's illustrious contemporary, does not enumerate this privilege among Our Lady's numerous titles.
Again, Mary's spiritual motherhood rests on the fact that Christ is our brother, being "the firstborn among many brethren" Romans She became our mother at the moment she consented to the Incarnation of the Word , the Head of the mystical body whose members we are; and she sealed her motherhood by consenting to the bloody sacrifice on the cross which is the source of our supernatural life. Mary and the holy women Matthew ; Mark ; Luke ; John assisted at the death of Jesus on the cross ; she probably remained during the taking down of His sacred body and during His funeral.
The following Sabbath was for her a time of grief and hope. The eleventh canon of a council held in Cologne , in , instituted against the Hussites the feast of the Dolours of Our Blessed Lady , placing it on the Friday following the third Sunday after Easter.
Whether they lived in the city of Jerusalem or elsewhere, cannot be determined from the Gospels. Mary and Our Lord's Resurrection The inspired record of the incidents connected with Christ's Resurrection do not mention Mary; but neither do they pretend to give a complete account of all that Jesus did or said. The Fathers too are silent as to Mary's share in the joys of her Son's triumph over death.
Still, St. Ambrose [95] states expressly: "Mary therefore saw the Resurrection of the Lord ; she was the first who saw it and believed. Mary Magdalen too saw it, though she still wavered".
George of Nicomedia [96] infers from Mary's share in Our Lord's sufferings that before all others and more than all she must have shared in the triumph of her Son. Bernardin of Siena [99], St.
Ignatius of Loyola [], Suarez [], Maldonado [], etc. Though the Gospels do not expressly tell us so, we may suppose that Mary was present when Jesus showed himself to a number of disciples in Galilee and at the time of His Ascension cf. Matthew , 10, 16 ; Mark Moreover, it is not improbable that Jesus visited His Blessed Mother repeatedly during the forty days after His Resurrection.
Mary in other books of the New Testament Acts According to the Book of Acts , after Christ's Ascension into Heaven the apostles "went up into an upper room", and: "all these were persevering with one mind in prayer with the women , and Mary the mother of Jesus , and with his brethren ".
In spite of her exalted dignity it was not Mary, but Peter who acted as head of the assembly Mary behaved in the upper room in Jerusalem as she had behaved in the grotto at Bethlehem ; in Bethlehem she had carried for the Infant Jesus , in Jerusalem she nurtured the infant Church.
The friends of Jesus remained in the upper room till "the days of the Pentecost ", when with "a sound from heaven , as of a mighty wind coming. Though the Holy Ghost had descended upon Mary in a special way at the time of the Incarnation , He now communicated to her a new degree of grace. Perhaps, this Pentecostal grace gave to Mary the strength of properly fulfilling her duties to the nascent Church and to her spiritual children.
Galatians As to the Epistles , the only direct reference to Mary is found in Galatians : "But when the fulness of time was come, God sent his Son , made of a woman , made under the law ". Some Greek and Latin manuscripts , followed by several Fathers , read gennomenon ek gynaikos instead of genomenon ek gynaikos , "born of a woman " instead of "made of a woman ".
But this variant reading cannot be accepted. For gennomenon is the present participle, and must be rendered, "being born of a woman ", so that it does not fit into the context. Bede [] rejects it, on account of its less appropriate sense. In Romans , which is to a certain extent a parallel of Galatians , St. Paul writes genomenos ek stermatos Daveid kata sarka , i.
Tertullian [] points out that the word "made" implies more than the word "born"; for it calls to mind the " Word made flesh", and establishes the reality of the flesh made of the Virgin. Furthermore, the Apostle employs the word "woman" in the phrase under consideration, because he wishes to indicate merely the sex, without any ulterior connotation.
In reality, however, the idea of a man made of a woman alone, suggests the virginal conception of the Son of God. Paul seems to emphasize the true idea of the Incarnation of the Word ; a true understanding of this mystery safeguards both the Divinity and the real humanity of Jesus Christ.
In his last hour, Jesus had established the relation of mother and son between Mary and John , and a child does not usually address his mother by her first name. Apocalypse In the Apocalypse occurs a passage singularly applicable to Our Blessed Mother: And a great sign appeared in heaven : A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; and being with child, she cried travailing in birth, and was in pain to be delivered.
And there was seen another sign in heaven : and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads, and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems; and his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven ; and cast them to the earth; and the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to be delivered; that when she should be delivered, he might devour her son. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with an iron rod; and her son was taken up to God , and to his throne.
And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared by God , that there they should feed her a thousand two hundred sixty days. The applicability of this passage to Mary is based on the following considerations: At least part of the verses refer to the mother whose son is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; according to Psalm , this is the Son of God , Jesus Christ , Whose mother is Mary.
It was Mary's son that "was taken up to God , and to his throne" at the time of His Ascension into heaven. The dragon, or the devil of the earthly paradise cf. Apocalypse ; , endeavoured to devour Mary's Son from the first moments of His birth, by stirring up the jealousy of Herod and, later on, the enmities of the Jews. Owing to her unspeakable privileges, Mary may well be described as "clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars".
It is true that commentators generally understand the whole passage as applying literally to the Church , and that part of the verses is better suited to the Church than to Mary. But it must be kept in mind that Mary is both a figure of the Church , and its most prominent member. What is said of the Church , is in its own way true of Mary. Hence the passage of the Apocalypse does not refer to Mary merely by way of accommodation [], but applies to her in a truly literal sense which appears to be partly limited to her, and partly extended to the whole Church.
Mary's relation to the Church is well summed up in the expression "collum corporis mystici" applied to Our Lady by St. Bernardin of Siena. As to the first exception, the eminent writer says: Christians have never gone to Scripture for proof of their doctrines , till there was actual need, from the pressure of controversy; if in those times the Blessed Virgin's dignity was unchallenged on all hands, as a matter of doctrine , Scripture , as far as its argumentative matter was concerned, was likely to remain a sealed book to them.
After developing this answer at length, the cardinal continues: As to the second objection which I have supposed, so far from allowing it, I consider that it is built upon a mere imaginary fact, and that the truth of the matter lies in the very contrary direction.
The Virgin and Child is not a mere modern idea ; on the contrary, it is represented again and again, as every visitor to Rome is aware, in the paintings of the Catacombs. Mary is there drawn with the Divine Infant in her lap, she with hands extended in prayer , he with his hand in the attitude of blessing. Thus far we have appealed to the writings or the remains of the early Christian era in as far as they explain or illustrate the teaching of the Old Testament or the New , concerning the Blessed Virgin.
In the few following paragraphs we shall have to draw attention to the fact that these same sources, to a certain extent, supplement the Scriptural doctrine.
In this respect they are the basis of tradition ; whether the evidence they supply suffices, in any given case, to guarantee their contents as a genuine part of Divine revelation , must be determined according to the ordinary scientific criteria followed by theologians. Without entering on these purely theological questions, we shall present this traditional material, first, in as far as it throws light on the life of Mary after the day of Pentecost ; secondly, in as far as it gives evidence of the early Christian attitude to the Mother of God.
No doubt, the words of St. John , "and from that hour the disciple took her to his own", refer not merely to the time between Easter and Pentecost , but they extend to the whole of Mary's later life. Still, the care of Mary did not interfere with John's Apostolic ministry. Even the inspired records Acts ; Galatians ; Acts show that the apostle was absent from Jerusalem on several occasions, though he must have taken part in the Council of Jerusalem, A.
We may also suppose that in Mary especially were verified the words of Acts : "And they were persevering in the doctrine of the apostles , and in the communication of the breaking of bread , and in prayers ". Thus Mary was an example and a source of encouragement to the early Christian community. At the same time, it must be confessed that we do not possess any authentic documents bearing directly on Mary's post-Pentecostal life.
Place of her life, death, and burial As to tradition , there is some testimony for Mary's temporary residence in or near Ephesus, but the evidence for her permanent home in Jerusalem is much stronger. Arguments for Ephesus Mary's Ephesian residence rests on the following evidence: 1 A passage in the synodal letter of the Council of Ephesus [] reads: "Wherefore also Nestorius , the instigator of the impious heresy , when he had come to the city of the Ephesians, where John the Theologian and the Virgin Mother of God St.
Mary, estranging himself of his own accord from the gathering of the holy Fathers and Bishops. John had lived in Ephesus and had been buried there [], it has been inferred that the ellipsis of the synodal letter means either, "where John. Mary lived", or, "where John. Mary lived and are buried ". John took the Blessed Virgin with him to Patmos , then founded the Church of Ephesus, and buried Mary no one knows where.
John to Ephesus and died there. He intended also to remove from the Breviary those lessons which mention Mary's death in Jerusalem , but died before carrying out his intention.
The house was found, as it had been sought, according to the indications given by Catherine Emmerich in her life of the Blessed Virgin. Arguments against Ephesus On closer inspection these arguments for Mary's residence or burial in Ephesus are not unanswerable. As there was in the city a double church dedicated to the Virgin Mary and to St. John , the incomplete clause of the synodal letter may be completed so as to read, "where John the Theologian and the Virgin.
Mary have a sanctuary". This explanation of the ambiguous phrase is one of the two suggested in the margin in Labbe's Collect. John did not found the Church of Ephesus, nor did he take Mary with him to Patmos. It would not be surprising, therefore, if the writer were wrong in what he says about Mary's burial.
Besides, Bar-Hebraeus belongs to the thirteenth century; the earlier writers had been most anxious about the sacred places in Ephesus; they mention the tomb of St. John and of a daughter of Philip [], but they say nothing about Mary's burying place. Its distance from the city of Ephesus creates a presumption against its being the home of the Apostle St. The historical value of Catherine's visions is not universally admitted. Timoni, Archbishop of Smyrna , writes concerning Panaghia-Kapouli: "Every one is entire free to keep his personal opinion".
Finally the agreement of the condition of the ruined house in Panaghia-Kapouli with Catherine's description does not necessarily prove the truth of her statement as to the history of the building. John did not permanently remain in the Holy City ; secondly, the Jewish Christians are said to have left Jerusalem during the periods of Jewish persecution cf. Acts ; But as St. John cannot be supposed to have taken Our Lady with him on his apostolic expeditions, we may suppose that he left her in the care of his friends or relatives during the periods of his absence.
And there is little doubt that many of the Christians returned to Jerusalem , after the storms of persecution had abated. Arguments for Jerusalem Independently of these considerations, we may appeal to the following reasons in favour of Mary's death and burial in Jerusalem : 1 In Juvenal, Bishop of Jerusalem , testified to the presence of Mary's tomb in Jerusalem.
It is strange that neither St. Jerome , nor the Pilgrim of Bordeaux, nor again pseudo-Silvia give any evidence of such a sacred place. But when the Emperor Marcion and the Empress Pulcheria asked Juvenal to send the sacred remains of the Virgin Mary from their tomb in Gethsemani to Constantinople , where they intended to dedicate a new church to Our Lady, the bishop cited an ancient tradition saying that the sacred body had been assumed into heaven , and sent to Constantinople only the coffin and the winding sheet.
This narrative rests on the authority of a certain Euthymius whose report was inserted into a homily of St. John Damascene [] now read in the second Nocturn of the fourth day within the octave of the Assumption. Scheeben [] is of opinion that Euthymius's words are a later interpolation: they do not fit into the context; they contain an appeal to pseudo-Dionysius [] which are not otherwise cited before the sixth century; and they are suspicious in their connection with the name of Bishop Juvenal, who was charged with forging documents by Pope St.
John for its author. Melito of Sardes. The present church was built by the Latins in the same place in which the old edifice had stood. One must wonder at the late evidence for a tradition which became so general since the seventh century. Olivet where a church is said to commemorate this event. Perhaps the writer tried to connect Mary's passing with the Church of the Assumption as the sister tradition connected it with the cenacle.
At any rate, we may conclude that about the beginning of the fifth century there existed a fairly general tradition that Mary had died in Jerusalem , and had been buried in Gethsemani.
This tradition appears to rest on a more solid basis than the report that Our Lady died and was buried in or near Ephesus. As thus far historical documents are wanting, it would be hard to establish the connection of either tradition with apostolic times.
Though it is more probable that she remained uninterruptedly in or near Jerusalem , she may have resided for a while in the vicinity of Ephesus, and this may have given rise to the tradition of her Ephesian death and burial. There is still less historical information concerning the particular incidents of her life.
Epiphanius [] doubts even the reality of Mary's death; but the universal belief of the Church does not agree with the private opinion of St. Mary's death was not necessarily the effect of violence ; it was undergone neither as an expiation or penalty, nor as the effect of disease from which, like her Divine Son , she was exempt.
Since the Middle Ages the view prevails that she died of love , her great desire to be united to her Son either dissolving the ties of body and soul , or prevailing on God to dissolve them.
Her passing away is a sacrifice of love completing the dolorous sacrifice of her life. It is the death in the kiss of the Lord in osculo Domini , of which the just die.
0コメント