What do these two doctrines have to do with being a Christian.
The Pope says if you don’t believe them you are anathema.
What do either of these doctrines have to do with the centrality of Jesus as the Savior?
Any help would be appreciated.
We honour Mary and seek her intercession because her primary role in the economy of salvation, according to the Scriptures, is to lead all her children to her divine Son. The Marian prophecy in Genesis 3:15, of the woman and her seed at enmity with the serpent and his seed (original sin), reaches its climax in Revelation 12 where the woman’s seed now includes not just the Son but also all his followers who form the Church. The author of Revelation had already set the groundwork for this profound image of Mary with his Gospel (John 19:25-27) in which our Lord’s beloved disciple (representing all of Jesus’ brethren) is given the Woman as his mother by her Son. In Marian devotion, and in her appearances throughout the world and history, we see the scriptural Mary transpire in the person of the spiritual mother of all believers leading them to salvation.
Cooperating with her Son in His name, Mary is not the Saviour, and she is not the source of salvation. But she serves her Son by leading us to him and salvation. Scripture makes it clear that God has assigned her this role as our Mediatrix, co-Redemptrix, and Advocatrix. The essential theme of Marian devotion is “going to Jesus through Mary”. The choice we face is not: “Do I submit to God directly, or do I go through Mary to God?” Rather we must ask ourselves: “Do I surrender to God through the agency he has established, or do I submit to God through the agency I have set up for myself by removing Mary from God’s scheme of things?” The choice is: “Do I go to God on his terms or mine?” The choice is not: “Do I want to follow Jesus and Mary?” but “Do I want to follow Jesus by going to him through his and our Mother?” For we are the Lord’s brethren. :yup:
We cannot dismiss the fact that Marian devotion has been an essential part of the historic Christian faith for two thousand years. The ‘Sub Tuum’ prayer, which dates back to 250 A.D., and the Marian frescoes in the Christian catacombs of Rome show that Marian devotion had already existed in the early Church by the time of the great persecutions. Also, Marian devotion has has been directly related to the centrality of the person of Christ in the early centuries at the time our Christological doctrines were being formulated and solemnly defined by the Church Councils. Mary’s place has helped secure and protect sound Christology. Marian devotion derives from the surest sources: the testimony of Sacred Scripture, the inerrant interpretation of Scripture handed down to us by the Apostolic teaching authority of the Councils, the teachings of the Church Fathers and the Creeds, and the universal and ancient practice among the pious of venerating Mary and seeking her succour and protection against the powers of darkness: Sacred Tradition. We would be fools to discard our Marian doctrines and devotion just because Jimmy Swaggart :crying: and Dave Hunt disapprove.
Three aspects of Marian devotion are vital here: First, the basic objective of Marian devotion is growth in sanctification on our path to salvation. From Mary came Jesus who brought salvation to the world; through Mary came the first of Jesus’ miracles at the wedding feast wrought by her solicitation and bringing faith to his disciples. Now Mary comes to us from Jesus, who gives her to us as our mother. Scripture tells us that her children are those who keep her Son’s commandments: “Do whatever he tells you.” Second, Marian devotion can only be grasped in relation to the Christian belief in the “communion of saints”. The communion of saints is clearly a scriptural teaching that is emphasized in the NT references to the “cloud of witnesses” and the “mystical Body of Christ.” The awareness of Mary’s intercessory and maternal presence was a firm part of Christian religious experience from earliest times, as the frescoes in the catacombs and the chapels and churches of the East indicate. Third, Marian devotion arises from the realization through Scripture and universal religious experience that the Mother of Jesus will be with us everyday of our lives as we do spiritual battle with our adversary ( John 19, Revelation 12). It is much easier to get to Jesus with our Blessed Mother’s help, guidance, and protection than to try on our own, having presumed for ourselves God is satisfied that we ignore his beloved Daughter and the Mother of his only begotten Son.
“And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?”
{ Luke 1:43 }
Pax vobiscum
Good Fella
