Is Mary a Co-Redeemer?

[aball1035]

Is this heretical, or is there a place for it?

 

[R_C]

She is also honored as co-redemptrix by the Church.

This article is on the topic, addresses “common objections”, and carries the imprimatur of a Cardinal

 

[triumphguy]

co-redemptrix =/= co redeemer

 

[Ctomlin]

If Mary is Redeemer than we have to add one to the Trinity.

So answer is indeed no., though some treat her as deity

 

[JKhoa]

Yes she is, in an especial way!

 

[JerryZ]

If Mary is Redeemer than we have to add one to the Trinity.

So answer is indeed no., though some treat her as deity

No we cannot add anythingg to the Trinity but the plain truth is that Redemption without Her is simply NOT POSSIBLE!
GOD took our nature by becoming human Through HER.
That does not make Her a GOD but a Collaborator OF GOD

Isn’t that what co-redeemer means? She collaborated with GOD’s redemption plan.

 

[po18guy]

Since Jesus fIrst concevied of Mary in the Divine intellect, then created her to be His mother, and since she, in return, willingly gave flesh to Christ - the Flesh that redeemed the world - Mary is inextricably involved in God’s plan of redemption of mankind. It is her “fiat”, her “yes” to God that brought Christ’s flesh from plan to perfection. She is integrally involved in mankind’s redemption, not because of anything the Church has believed, or ruled on, or declared, but because of the will of God Himself.

That so many doubt this today is evidence only that the evil one is not yet powerless.

 

[Ctomlin]

No we cannot add anythingg to the Trinity but the plain truth is that Redemption without Her is simply NOT POSSIBLE!
GOD took our nature by becoming human Through HER.
That does not make Her a GOD but a Collaborator OF GOD

Isn’t that what co-redeemer means? She collaborated with GOD’s redemption plan.

That is 100% wrong, Mary is simply God or she is not. She deserves praise but yet she is not God like the Trinity.

 

[Ctomlin]

Why Catholic teaching shows us that Mary is not to be considered Co-Redemptrix or Co-Redeemer

-Bro. Peter

This discussion answers objections on this point, including how the title could be contrary to Catholic teaching if it seems to have been used by a pope.

A long time back we posted the dogmatic definitions from the Councils of Florence and Trent which constitute the chief reasons why Mary should not be called “Co-Redemptrix.” These are infallible definitions.

Pope Pius IV, Council of Trent, Sess. 25, On Invocation, Veneration and Relics of Saints, and on Sacred Images, ex cathedra: “… the saints, who reign with Christ, offer up their prayers to God for men; and that it is good and useful to invoke them suppliantly and, in order to obtain favors from God through His Son JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD, WHO ALONE IS OUR REDEEMER and Savior… And they must also teach that images of Christ, the virgin mother of God and the other saints should be set up and kept… But if anyone should teach or maintain anything contrary to these decrees, let him be anathema.” (Denz. 984)

Here we see that Jesus Christ alone is our Redeemer. Notice that this definition even mentions Mary. So, in the very context of mentioning the Blessed Virgin and the saints, the Council of Trent declares that Christ alone is the Redeemer.

Pope Eugene IV, Council of Florence, “Cantate Domino” 1441, ex cathedra: “The Holy Roman Church firmly believes, professes, and teaches that no one conceived of man and woman was ever freed of the domination of the Devil, except through the merit of the mediator between God and men, our Lord Jesus Christ; He who was conceived without sin, was born and died, THROUGH HIS DEATH ALONE LAID LOW THE ENEMY OF THE HUMAN RACE BY DESTROYING OUR SINS, and opened the entrance to the kingdom of heaven, which the first man by his own sin had lost with all succession…” (Denz. 711)

These should be sufficient for a believing Catholic to see that Mary should not be called Co-Redeemer or…

 

[R_C]

If Mary is Redeemer than we have to add one to the Trinity.

So answer is indeed no., though some treat her as deity

This idea you express has nothing to do with Catholic teaching.

Holy Church honors the Blessed Virgin as co-redemptrix, and rightfully so. You may want to find out more about the Sacred Tradition on this matter.

I have found that the book “True devotion to Mary” is one of the best - if not the best - to understand why the Church honors the Blessed Virgin as we do.

She is not a deity, in fact, as a creature she is almost nothing compared to God. But as the Blessed Virgin, Spouse of the Holy Spirit, Mother of God, she has reached the highest level of divinization a human being will ever reach, second only to Jesus Christ, the God-man.

This should be no matter of scandal, for many Church Fathers openly wrote what is now part of our Sacred Tradition:

God became man so that man may become God.

 

[R_C]

Why Catholic teaching shows us that Mary is not to be considered Co-Redemptrix or Co-Redeemer
-Bro. Peter
…]
These should be sufficient for a believing Catholic to see that Mary should not be called Co-Redeemer or…

Ok, you are dismissing a document with the imprimatur of a Cardinal Bishop of Holy Church in exchange for the heretic writings of a sedvacantist?

This article you quote is from the “Most Holy Family Monastery”, by one of their “founders”, Peter Dimmond. This article clarifies the meaning of sedvacantist:

the sedvacantists …] excommunicated themselves by heresy or apostasy

 

[NeedImprovement]

From the perspective of suffering , we can all be little co-redeemers in Christ :

An excerpt from Blessed John Paul II’s *The Meaning of Suffering in the Light of Christ’s Passion *, General Audience Nov. 9, 1988 :

Thanks to Christ, the meaning of suffering changes radically. It no longer suffices to see in it a punishment for sin. One must discern in it the redemptive, salvific power of love. The evil of suffering, in the mystery of Christ’s redemption, is overcome and in every case transformed. It becomes a force of liberation from evil, for the victory of the good. All human sufferings, united to that of Christ, complete “what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body” (cf. Col 1:24). The body is the Church as the universal community of salvation

LINK

Furthermore, from a perspective of suffering, it is doubtful that any other human being ever suffered more or united their suffering more transparently to our Blessed Lord’s Passion and Death than our Blessed Mother Mary did at the foot of the Cross on Calvary.

 

[NeedImprovement]

Looks to me like JerryZ’s post # 6 is about 100% right -

Excerpt from Mary’s Role In Our Salvation

Co-redemptrix

  The title “Co-redemptrix” is a term that refers to Mary’s unique and intimate cooperation with her divine Son in redeeming the human family. The title is rooted in Genesis 3:15, where Mary is “prophetically foreshadowed in the promise of victory over the serpent” (LG 55). This passage foreshadows the divine work of redemption brought about by Jesus as the Savior of the world, with the Mother of the Redeemer’s intimate cooperation.

  The prefix “co” in the title “Co-redemptrix” does not imply an equality with the one Redeemer, Jesus Christ, who alone could reconcile humanity with the Father in His divinity and humanity. The prefix “co” is derived from the Latin word cum, which means “with,” and not “equal to.” Jesus as true God and true man redeems the human family, and Mary as “Co-redemptrix” participates with the divine Redeemer in a completely subordinate and dependent way. Nonetheless, though subordinate and dependent, Mary’s human participation remains a uniquely privileged and exalted one, one that was entirely contingent upon her free and meritorious “yes” in her words, “[L]et it be to me according to your word” (Lk. 1:38).

  As explained by Pope John Paul II:

Crucified spiritually with her crucified Son (cf. Gal. 2:20), she contemplated with heroic love the death of her God, she “lovingly consented to the immolation of this Victim which she herself had brought forth” (LG 58) … as she was in a special way close to the Cross of her Son, she also had to have a privileged experience of his Resurrection. In fact, Mary’s role as co-redemptrix did not cease with the glorification of her Son.[1]

  Through faith and Baptism, we become God’s children by adoption and participate in the divine life. As new creations in Christ, we cooperate in His redemptive work. While this is true of all Christians, it is most perfectly true of Mary, who was never wounded or enslaved by sin and therefore was perfectly free to give herself completely to Christ.

Mediatrix of All Graces

  Mary is called “Mediatrix” (Catechism, no. 969) because all grace comes from Christ, and Christ comes only through Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit.  . . .

 

[Joe_5859]

Is this heretical, or is there a place for it?

It is not heretical, but has not yet been raised to the level of dogma.

So yes, there’s a place for it. But if you don’t like the term, there’s nothing currenty preventing one from disregarding it either.

It is basically just the term some currently use in their articulation of the manner in which Mary cooperated with our redemption. That’s not really novel theology. Some people are uncomfortable with the term, though.

 

[Joe_5859]

co-redemptrix =/= co redeemer

Isn’t co-redemptrix just the feminine form of co-redeemer?

 

[Ctomlin]

It is not heretical, but has not yet been raised to the level of dogma.

So yes, there’s a place for it. But if you don’t like the term, there’s nothing currenty preventing one from disregarding it either.

It is basically just the term some currently use in their articulation of the manner in which Mary cooperated with our redemption. That’s not really novel theology. Some people are uncomfortable with the term, though.

well said.

 

[aball1035]

It is not heretical, but has not yet been raised to the level of dogma.

So yes, there’s a place for it. But if you don’t like the term, there’s nothing currenty preventing one from disregarding it either.

It is basically just the term some currently use in their articulation of the manner in which Mary cooperated with our redemption. That’s not really novel theology. Some people are uncomfortable with the term, though.

Wouldn’t we all technicallly be co-redeemers if we simply cooperate with redemption? Also, how has it been raised to the level of dogma?

 

[Joe_5859]

Wouldn’t we all technicallly be co-redeemers if we simply cooperate with redemption? Also, how has it been raised to the level of dogma?

Well, yes, there is certainly a sense in which we can all cooperate with the redemption. But of course Mary does this most perfectly.

It has not been raised to the level of dogma. Some are lobbying for a “fifth Marian dogma” on Mary’s maternal mediation, which includes her three-fold role as Co-redemptrix, Advocate, and Mediatrix of all graces. But it hasn’t happened yet.

 

[JerryZ]

That is 100% wrong, Mary is simply God or she is not. She deserves praise but yet she is not God like the Trinity.

Mary is NOT GOD nor A PART of GOD. She is fully human so she cannot be a PART of the Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Ghost).

The Redemption (Jesus) however Passed Through Her directly. So she deserves a special place in our heart. Is it not the SON’s flesh coming from her own??
She is an integral part of the plan of salvation and was Chosen by GOD not us.

 

[Jerome7]

I think that Mary’s role in redemption is fundamentally different from Jesus’ role, so the word co-redeemer might be misleading. She assists Jesus in His work of redemption. She is an assistant redeemer.