When did the Catholic Church adopt the theology of VIRGIN MARY?

Hence, it is not impossible that the practice of invoking the aid of the Mother of Christ had become more familiar to the more simple faithful some time before we discover any plain expression of it in the writings of the Fathers. Some such hypothesis would help to explain the fact that the evidence afforded by the catatcombs and by the apocryphal literature of the early centuries seems chronologically in advance of that which is preserved in the contemporaneous writings of those who were the authoritative mouthpieces of Christian tradition. Be this however as it may, the firm theological basis, upon which was afterwards reared the edifice of Marian devotion, began to be laid in the first century of our era. It is not without significance that we are told of the Apostles after the Ascension of Christ, that "all these were persevering with one mind in prayer with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren" (Acts 1:14). Also attention has rightly been called to the fact that St. Mark, though he tells us nothing of our Christ's childhood, nevertheless describes Him as "the son of Mary" (Mark 6:3), a circumstance which, in view of certain known peculiarities of the Second Evangelist, greatly emphasises his belief in the Virgin Birth.

The same mystery is insisted upon by St. Ignatius of Antioch, who, after describing Jesus as "Son of Mary and Son of God", goes on to tell the Ephesians (7, 18, and 19) that "our God, Jesus Christ, was conceived in the womb of Mary according to a dispensation of the seed of David but also of the Holy Ghost," and he adds: "Hidden from the prince of this world were the virginity of Mary and her childbearing and likewise also the death of the Lord -- three mysteries to be cried aloud". Aristides and St. Justin also use explicit language concerning the Virgin Birth, but it is St. Irenaeus more especially who has deserved to be called the first theologian of the Virgin Mother. Thus he has drawn out the parallel between Eve and Mary, urging that, "as the former was led astray by an angel's discourse to fly from God after transgressing His word, so the latter by an angel's discourse had the Gospel preached unto her that she might bear God, obeying His word. And if the former had disobeyed God, yet the other was persuaded to obey God: that the Virgin Mary might become an advocate for the virgin Eve. And as mankind was bound unto death through a virgin, it is saved a through virgin; by the obedience of a virgin the disobedience of a virgin is compensated" (Irenaeus, V, 19). No one again disputes that the clause "born of the Virgin Mary" formed part of the primitive redaction of the Creed, and the language of Tertullian, Hippolytus, Origen, etc., is in thorough conformity with that of Irenaeus; further, though writers like Tertullian, Hevidius, and possibly Hegesippus disputed the perpetual virginity of Mary, their more orthodox contemporaries affirmed it.

It was natural then that in this atmosphere we should find a continually developing veneration for the sanctity and exalted privileges of Mary. In the paintings of the catacombs more particularly, we appreciate the exceptional position that she began, from an early period, to occupy in the thoughts of the faithful. Some of these frescoes, representing the prophecy of Isaias, are believed to date from the first half of the second century. Three others which represent the adoration of the Magi are a century later. There is also a remarkable but very much mutilated bas-relief, found at Carthage, which may be probably assigned to the time of Constantine.

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In any case, the evidence of the Syriac manuscripts proved beyond all question that in the East before the end of the sixth century, and probably very much earlier, devotion to the Blessed Virgin had assumed all those developments which are usually associated with the later Middle Ages. In some manuscripts of the "Transitus Mariae" -- dating from the late fifth century -- we find mention of three annual feasts of the Blessed Virgin:

• one two days after the feast of the Nativity,
• another on the 15th day of Iyar, corresponding more or less to May, and
• a third on the 13th (or 15th) day of Ab (roughly August), which probably is the origin of our present feast of the Assumption.

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Turning to another Eastern land, we find a very remarkable monument of Marian devotion among the Coptic Ostraca (p. 3), dated to about A. D. 600. This fragment bears in Greek the words: "Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, because thou didst conceive Christ, the Son of God, the Redeemer of our souls". This oriental variant of the Ave Maria was apparently intended for liturgical use, much as the earliest form of the Hail Mary in the West took the shape of an antiphon employed in the Mass and Office of the Blessed Virgin. Relatively late as this fragment may seem, it is the more valuable because the direct mention of the Blessed Virgin in our earliest liturgical form is of rare occurrence

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Julian Pyke said:

Still, Mary did not die as a virgin.

The Bible specifically says that Mary had more kids then jesus (Jesus was the only one consieved not by sex.)

But, the question I raise, WHERE in the Bible does it order Catholics to pray to Mary?

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Julian Pyke said:

Still, Mary did not die as a virgin.

The Bible specifically says that Mary had more kids then jesus (Jesus was the only one consieved not by sex.)

But, the question I raise, WHERE in the Bible does it order Catholics to pray to Mary?

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angellous_evangellous said:

A convincing argument for the perpetual virginity of Mary as a Christian doctrine is found at http://www.religiousforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9198&highlight=perpetual+virginity.

It appears to me that the perpetual virginity of Mary is an early Christian doctrine, and no, we don't know definitively that Mary did not die a virgin because the Greek supports both translations. It is quite possible that the EO and Catholics are right on this one. The thread should address any matters of interpretation or questions in the Greek that are likely to appear on this thread.

Happy reading,
Angellous

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No*s said:

Beat me to the punch will you, and best me by linking to another thread. Why, if I could, I'd punish you with frubals .

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