Virgin Mary: Our Lady and the Oppositions Against Her - Part One

by Fr. Tony Okolo C.S.Sp., V.F.  |  12/15/2024  |  Weekly Reflection

Beloved Parishioners,

As we begin our preparation for Christmas, which is centered on the mystery of Incarnation, God coming in human form to be one of us through the virgin’s birth. I wish to share my reflection on some opposition to Our Blessed Mother Mary.

Am sure many of us may have encountered many other Christians who hated us Catholics because of our devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. It did not start today but no one can take away the honor given to Mary by God himself.

As far back as the 5th century, a theologian named Nestorius, proposed a distinction between the divine and human natures of Christ to the extent that he denied Mary the title Theotokos (God-bearer), arguing instead that she should be called Christotokos (Christ-bearer). This false teaching became known as Nestorianism. However, during the Council of Ephesus held in 431, Nestorianism was condemned as heretical at this Council which affirmed the unity of Christ's two natures in one person and upheld the title of Theotokos for Mary. Again, another group of theologians rose in the 5th century arguing that Christ has only one nature, which is either divine or a synthesis of divine and human. This view diminished Mary's significance as the Mother of God, focusing instead on Christ's divinity alone. This view thus became known as Monophysitism and was condemned in the Council of Chalcedon held in 451. The Council of Chalcedon affirmed the doctrine of dyophysitism—teaching that Christ exists in two natures, fully divine and fully human, united in one person thus Mary is the Mother of God.

Further, during the Protestant Reformation which began on October 31, 1517, when Martin Luther famously posted his Ninety-Five Theses on the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church and which spanned through the 16th Century and beyond, many reformers critiqued the Catholic veneration of Mary, leading to a denigration of her role in Christian faith. They rejected the idea of Mary as a mediatrix or intercessor, arguing that Christ is the sole mediator between God and humanity, and they further contested that doctrines such as the Immaculate Conception and perpetual virginity were excessive and unfounded. Accordingly, at the Council of Trent (1545-1563) which was a pivotal ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church that responded to the Protestant Reformation, the Church highlighted that both Scripture and Sacred Tradition are essential for understanding Mary's role, thus supporting doctrines like her Immaculate Conception and Assumption based on biblical foundations and Church teachings; the Church upheld Mary’s role as a mediatrix of grace, emphasizing that her intercession does not replace Christ’s unique mediatorship but complements it; and finally the Church struck a distinction between veneration (hyperdulia) given to Mary and worship (latria) given to God, clarifying that while Mary is honored, only God is worshipped, thus addressing concerns about idolatry.

The rest of this reflection will be concluded next week. However, I want to say something briefly on the virtue for this month Modesty which comes from the Latin word Modestus, which literally translates as “keeping due measure” knowing the correct measure of oneself is modesty “when someone praises you too much, your modesty might kick in and make you tell them to be quiet”. Modesty means you keep things decent and not too outrageous, like wearing clothes that hide your skin, or painting your walls beige instead of covering them with glow-in-the-dark diamond wallpaper. Modesty is the quality of being decent, unassuming, freedom from vanity, boastfulness and humble behavior.