Mary as Co-Redemptrix

[PatienceAndLove]

In another thread, someone brought up Mary as Co-Redemptrix.
I was under the impression that this was not part of the deposit of faith, and is, therefore, not a binding belief/dogma/tradition within the Church.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

 

[misslollipops]

In another thread, someone brought up Mary as Co-Redemptrix.
I was under the impression that this was not part of the deposit of faith, and is, therefore, not a binding belief/dogma/tradition within the Church.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

It is not official dogma as of yet but I heard there is a movement within the church to make it so.
I heard there was a petition made by church members and sent to the vatican. Could be hearsay though.
One or two of the apparitions of Mary claim that she is co-redeemer. Maybe that is where the idea came from.

 

[Leopard]

This is obliquely refered to in the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church from Vatican II:
Lumen Gentium:

…62. This maternity of Mary in the order of grace began with the consent which she gave in faith at the Annunciation and which she sustained without wavering beneath the cross, and lasts until The eternal fulfillment of all the elect. Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this salvific duty, but by her constant intercession continued to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation.(15*) By her maternal charity, she cares for the brethren of her Son, who still journey on earth surrounded by dangers and cultics, until they are led into the happiness of their true home. Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked by the Church under the titles of Advocate, Auxiliatrix, Adjutrix, and Mediatrix.(16*) This, however, is to be so understood that it neither takes away from nor adds anything to the dignity and efficaciousness of Christ the one Mediator.(17*)

**For no creature could ever be counted as equal with the Incarnate Word and Redeemer. Just as the priesthood of Christ is shared in various ways both by the ministers and by the faithful, and as the one goodness of God is really communicated in different ways to 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.

The Church does not hesitate to profess this subordinate role of Mary. It knows it through unfailing experience of it and commends it to the hearts of the faithful, so that encouraged by this maternal help they may the more intimately adhere to the Mediator and Redeemer**…

(emphasis mine)

 

[Hlafdige]

It is not official dogma as of yet but I heard there is a movement within the church to make it so.
I heard there was a petition made by church members and sent to the vatican. Could be hearsay though.
One or two of the apparitions of Mary claim that she is co-redeemer. Maybe that is where the idea came from.

Ida Peerdeman, the recipient of these alleged apparitions, was in close cahoots with Marie-Paule Giguere, whose „Army of Mary“ has been flouting Church authority for years and whose adherents, including six U.S. nuns, were recently excommunicated.

Pope Benedict XVI, like his predecessor, has refused to define a dogma regarding the titles of Mediatrix, Co-Redemptrix, Advocata. Correctly understood, these are legitimate Marian titles, but there is no more theological reason to declare them dogma than any other of Our Lady‘s titles, e.g. those contained in the Litany of Loreto. For other good reasons for the Popes‘ hesitations about this proposed dogma, see catholicplanet.com/CMA/delay-dogma.htm

 

[Biblioassistant]

I love Mary dearly, but that is a title I am deeply uncomfortable with. I’ve read quite a bit, about it but I remain unconvinced.

 

[LilyM]

I love Mary dearly, but that is a title I am deeply uncomfortable with. I’ve read quite a bit, about it but I remain unconvinced.

Obviously so was/is Rome, since they didn’t grant the petition. Don’t let it worry you, I doubt it will be adopted if its origins are as dubious as they appear to be.

 

[Andruschak]

In another thread, someone brought up Mary as Co-Redemptrix.
I was under the impression that this was not part of the deposit of faith, and is, therefore, not a binding belief/dogma/tradition within the Church.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

News to me. I have my copy of THE LITTLE OFFICE OF THE BVM opened to page 153, part of The Office Of Readings. I’m not going to quote it, but it makes no mention of Mary as Co-Redemptrix. None whatever. It does mention that she is invoked under her lesser titles of Advocate, Auxiliatrix, Adjutrix, and Mediatrix. Lesser then those of Jesus. A good passage to meditate on, and you should get a copy of this book if you have not already done so:yup:

 

[sweetchuck]

I would like to quote Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, the great Thomistic scholar (and doctoral adviser to John Paul II). He has a whole section on Mary Co-redemptrix in his book “The Mother of the Saviour and Our Interior Life” (Tan, 1994). He writes:

“Mary’s sufferings have the character of satisfaction from the fact that like Jesus and in union with Him, she suffered because of sin or of the offence it offers to God. This suffering of hers was measured by her love of God whom sin offended, by her love of Jesus crucified for our sins, and by her love of us whom sin had brought to spiritual ruin. In other words, it was measured by her fullness of grace, which had never ceased to increase from the time of the Immaculate Conception. Already Mary had merited more by the easiest acts than the martyrs in their torments because of her greater love. What must have been the value of her sufferings at the foot of the Cross, granted the understanding she then had of the mystery of the Redemption!”
There have also been a number of popes to write about Mary’s co-redemption. Pope Leo XIII in the Encyclical Jucunda Semper wrote that she was associated with Christ in the painful work of redemption. Pope Pius X in the Encyclical Ad Diem Illum calls her “reparatrix of the fallen world.” Did he believe that she, not Christ, repaired the world? No. She, in Christ’s one reparation, became reparatrix of the fallen world. Lumen Gentium 58 lays out the theology of co-redemption without using the word “Co-redemptrix”:

“The Blessed Virgin advanced in her pilgrimage of faith, and faithfully persevered in her union with her Son unto the cross, where she stood, in keeping with the divine plan, grieving exceedingly with her only begotten Son, uniting herself with a maternal heart with His sacrifice, and lovingly consenting to the immolation of this Victim which she herself had brought forth.” (my emphasis)
Every Catholic deep down in their heart of hearts knows that the Blessed Mother played a role in his or her redemption. This is why we share in her sorrows on every Friday during Lent as we sing the Stabat Mater. This is doctrine and belief in the Catholic faith. She takes away nothing from the one redemption of Christ, nor is she separate from it. But God the Father himself willed that as death came through a woman’s yes to the devil, so life should come through a woman’s yes to God (Lumen Gentium 56).

The doctrinal weight of the teaching, present in encyclicals and ecumenical councils, is not negligible. It is present in the prayers of the Church and the writings of popes. John Paul II himself used the term “Co-redemptrix” at least six times in reference to Mary during his pontificate. These are the very things that comprise doctrine. I truly believe this will eventually be defined as a dogma of faith.

 

[RoyJr]

Our Blessed Mother, although I do love her above all women, did not die for our sins on the croos at Calvary.

Yes, she was conceived without sin, but she is in no way divine.

Yes, had she rejected God’s plan (which she had free will to do), Christ would not have come into the world. Thanks be to God she did not say no, she said “Yes”.

Her last recorded words in the Gospels are “Do whatever He tells you.” Jn 2:4

We should all obey, since she “spoke to the servers”.

She is essential in God’s redemption of this world, but she is not the Redeemer.

 

[DebChris]

I love Mary dearly, but that is a title I am deeply uncomfortable with. I’ve read quite a bit, about it but I remain unconvinced.

I have the same concerns about the title being misintrepreted as Mary being equal to our Saviour when she is not. We acknowledge Mary as a creature the same as us in everything but sin. The meaning of the term co-redemptorist would have to be continually explained lest it lead to error.
I like the role that St. Louis deMontfont assigns Mary as mediatrix of intercession. In Mary, we see “our pure nature” as the reflection of God. Jesus is our Mediator of Redemption. No one goes to the Father except through Jesus.

 

[PatienceAndLove]

This is why I am still so confused.
I just don’t understand the Co-Redemtrix bit. She was not the one on the Cross.
Yes, I realize Christ shares in her nature being of her flesh, but she is not God and therefore, cannot redeem us.

 

[DebChris]

This is why I am still so confused.
I just don’t understand the Co-Redemtrix bit. She was not the one on the Cross.
Yes, I realize Christ shares in her nature being of her flesh, but she is not God and therefore, cannot redeem us.

The analogy I read is that of co-pilot, not as co-equal.

 

[Belle10]

Our Blessed Mother, although I do love her above all women, did not die for our sins on the croos at Calvary.

Yes, she was conceived without sin, but she is in no way divine.

Yes, had she rejected God’s plan (which she had free will to do), Christ would not have come into the world. Thanks be to God she did not say no, she said “Yes”.

Her last recorded words in the Gospels are “Do whatever He tells you.” Jn 2:4

We should all obey, since she “spoke to the servers”.

She is essential in God’s redemption of this world, but she is not the Redeemer.

Very well said. Mary is due our respect and honor, but she is not divine, not a co-redeemer. This is one of the very misunderstandings that cause other Christians to think we Catholics worship her, when we do not.

I have only recently begun to ask Mary’s intercession for my family, and while I find great comfort in knowing she is holding us close to her and bringing us to her son, I do not seek anything from her other than intercession. Jesus is the only redeemer, and I would guess that Mary doesn’t want to take any of our attention away from Him.

Just my thoughts…God bless.

 

[Genesis315]

While the title itself is not mandatory, the truths it signifies are most definitely dogmas of the faith. The problem with the title is that the English version has connotations that the Latin does not and which the title does not intend to convey.

Here is the doctrine in the Catechism, but without the confusing title:

**618 **The cross is the unique sacrifice of Christ, the “one mediator between God and men”.452 But because in his incarnate divine person he has in some way united himself to every man, “the possibility of being made partners, in a way known to God, in the paschal mystery” is offered to all men.453 He calls his disciples to “take up [their] cross and follow [him]”,454 for "Christ also suffered for [us], leaving [us] an example so that [we] should follow in his steps."455 In fact Jesus desires to associate with his redeeming sacrifice those who were to be its first beneficiaries.456 This is achieved supremely in the case of his mother, who was associated more intimately than any other person in the mystery of his redemptive suffering.457

Apart from the cross there is no other ladder by which we may get to heaven.458

452 1 Tim 2:5.
453 GS 22 # 5; cf. # 2.
454 Mt 16:24.
455 I Pt 2:21.
456 Cf Mk 10:39; Jn 21:18-19; Col 1:24.
457 Cf. Lk 2:35.
458 St. Rose of Lima: cf. P. Hansen, Vita mirabilis (Louvain, 1668)

 

[Genesis315]

Here is a great read from Pope John Paul II for anyone who wants to understand how our suffering become redemptive by its union with the suffering of Christ–and not just for ourselves, but for others too.

vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_letters/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_11021984_salvifici-doloris_en.html

Here is a section where he discusses Mary’s special participation in this:

"And again, after the events of her Son’s hidden and public life, events which she must have shared with acute sensitivity, it was on Calvary that Mary’s suffering, beside the suffering of Jesus, reached an intensity which can hardly be imagined from a human point of view but which was mysterious and supernaturally fruitful for the redemption of the world. Her ascent of Calvary and her standing at the foot of the Cross together with the Beloved Disciple were a special sort of sharing in the redeeming death of her Son. And the words which she heard from his lips were a kind of solemn handing-over of this Gospel of suffering so that it could be proclaimed to the whole community of believers.

As a witness *to *her Son’s Passion by her *presence, *and as a sharer in it by her compassion, Mary offered a unique contribution to the Gospel of suffering, by embodying in anticipation the expression of Saint Paul which was quoted at the beginning. She truly has a special title to be able to claim that she “completes in her flesh”—as already in her heart—"what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions ".

**1. Declaring the power of salvific suffering, the Apostle Paul says: “In my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the Church”(1).

(1) Col. 1, 24.

 

[JimR-OCDS]

The meaning of Co-Redemptrix as I understand it, means that Mary, “cooperated” with God’s redemptive act, by saying yes, to His will, in bringing Jesus into the word.

It doesn’t make her equal to God, but co-partnered in his will of redemption for the world.

That being said, the Vatican refused to define the title as dogma.

Jim

 

[blessedstar]

I believe that our Blessed Mother Virgin Mary will be named in dogma as Co-Redemptrix and the reason I believe this is that if not for her fiat God would not have become Incarnate to redeem us. By this I mean she played the key role in the redemption of humanity after Jesus. Our Blessed Mother is the Mother of the Church, she toils as in labour pains to it bringing it forth in Christ Jesus.

We too are to be co-redeemers in Christ Jesus we unite ourselves to Him and work for our salvation and the salvation of others.

It is true none of us not even the Blessed Mother can redeem without the Redeemer Christ Jesus but Co-Redemptrix does not mean that we do so, it means we work for salvation in Christ Jesus.

I do not think we have fully realised the great work our Blessed Virgin Mother Mary has done as the Mother of all children, the Mother of the Church, the new Eve, the Immaculate Conception and her role in the redemption of humanity.

God created our Lady for these reasons as he creates all people with a mission to make up the parts of the Body.

Our Lady knew her mission and she followed it to the letter preserved from all sin and in all grace and obedience, none who are created have contributed to the salvation of humanity as she has.

I believe her perfect Living Prayer is salvific in nature but alone does not suffice to pay the debt; only God could pay the debt to open the door that we may also pay our debt in Him by taking up our daily cross in the Living Prayer of our lives.

The perfect Living Prayer of our Lady is above all the Living Prayer of all created creatures and raises her humanity to the Divine. This is how she is Co-Redemptrix.

I believe it wasn’t declared as dogma because people may confuse Mary as being The Redeemer which would be grave error.

In the Living Prayer of my life