The veneration of Mary in the Catholic Church encompasses various devotions which include prayer, pious acts, visual arts, poetry, and music devoted to her. Popes have encouraged it, while also taking steps to reform some manifestations of it.For example, on March 12, 1969, Pope Paul VI reduced and rearranged the number of Marian feast days in Sanctitas clarior. Several of his predecessors did similarly. The Holy See has insisted on the importance of distinguishing "true from false devotion, and authentic doctrine from its deformations by excess or defect". There are significantly more titles, feasts, and venerative Marian practices among Catholics than in other Western Christian traditions. The term hyperdulia indicates the special veneration due to Mary, greater than the ordinary dulia for other saints, but utterly unlike the latria due only to God.
Belief in the incarnation of God the Son through Mary is the basis for calling her the Mother of God, which was declared a dogma at the Council of Ephesus in 431. At the Second Vatican Council and in Pope John Paul II's encyclical Redemptoris mater, she is spoken of also as Mother of the Church.
Growth of Catholic veneration of Mary and Mariology has often come not from official declarations, but from Marian writings of the saints, popular devotion, and at times reported Marian apparitions. The Holy See approves only a select few as worthy of belief, the most recent being the 2008 approval of certain apparitions from 1665.
Further pious veneration of Mary encouraged by Popes are exhibited in the canonical coronations granted to popular Marian images venerated in a particular locality all over the world, while Marian movements and societies with millions of members have arisen from belief in events such as Guadalupe, Lourdes, Fátima, Akita, and other reasons.
From Christ to Mary in the Catholic tradition
In Catholic teachings, the veneration of Mary is a natural consequence of Christology: Jesus and Mary are son and mother, redeemer and redeemed. This sentiment was expressed by Pope John Paul II in his encyclical Redemptoris mater: "At the centre of this mystery, in the midst of this wonderment of faith, stands Mary. As the loving Mother of the Redeemer, she was the first to experience it: 'To the wonderment of nature you bore your Creator'!"
In the Catholic tradition Mariology is seen as Christology developed to its full potential.See Pope Pius XII, Mystici corporis Christi; John Henry Cardinal Newman: Mariology is always christocentric, in Michael Testa, Mary: The Virgin Mary in the Life and Writings of John Henry Newman (2001); and Mariology Is Christology in Vittorio Messori, "The Mary Hypothesis" (Rome, 2005). Mary is seen as contributing to a fuller understanding of the life of Jesus. In this view, a Christology without Mary is not based on the total revelation of the Bible. Traces of this parallel interpretation go back to the early days of Christianity and numerous saints have since focused on it.
The development of this approach continued into the 20th century. In his 1946 publication Compendium Mariologiae, Mariologist Gabriel Roschini explained that Mary not only participated in the birth of the physical Jesus, but, with conception, she entered with him into a spiritual union. The divine salvation plan, being not only material, includes a permanent spiritual unity with Christ. Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) wrote: "It is necessary to go back to Mary if we want to return to that 'truth about Jesus Christ,' 'truth about the Church' and 'truth about man' that John Paul II proposed as a program to all of Christianity," in order to ensure an authentic approach to Christology via a return to the "whole truth about Mary".
From veneration to theology It is possible that the practice of invoking the aid of the Mother of Christ had become more familiar to the faithful some time before any expression of it in the writings of the Early Church Fathers. Christians' love for Mary intuited, frequently in anticipation, certain aspects of the mystery of the Blessed Virgin, calling the attention of theologians and pastors to them. Venerative and devotional practices have often preceded formal theological declarations by the Magisterium.
The veneration of the Blessed Virgin takes place in various ways. Marian prayers and hymns usually begin with veneration (honor) of her, followed by petitions. The number of Marian titles continued to grow as of the 3rd century, and many titles existed by the 5th century, growing especially during the Middle Ages.Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages, Volume 2 by André Vauchez et al 2001 page 919
Theological basis for the veneration of Mary Veneration for Mary is based on the reference in the Gospel of Luke to Mary as the selected handmaid of the Lord who is greeted and praised by both Elizabeth and the angel Gabriel. God's work is further illuminated in the Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church such as the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption, and are, in the Catholic view, part of the apostolic tradition and divine revelation.McNally, Terrence, What Every Catholic Should Know about Mary p. 132Bäumer, 597 Catholics distinguish veneration from worship.
Mary's role in salvation and redemption
One of the components of the Catholic veneration of Mary is the focus on her participation in the processes of salvation and redemption.Haffner, Paul. The mystery of Mary, 2004 p. 198 This has been explored by such writers as Edward Schillebeeckx and Adrienne von Speyr.Schillebeeckx, Edward. Mary, mother of the redemption, 1964, ASIN B003KW30VG pp. 82–84Von Speyr, Adrienne, Mary in the Redemption, 2003 pp. 2–7
John's Gospel records her presence at the beginning and end of Jesus' public life. Particularly significant is Mary's presence at the Cross, when she received from her dying Son the charge to be mother to the beloved disciple. Catholics interpret that through the disciple, Christ is giving care of Mary to all Christians. The Acts of the Apostles expressly numbers the Mother of Jesus among the women of the first community awaiting Pentecost. John Eudes wrote that: "The Virgin Mary began to cooperate in the plan of salvation, from the moment she gave her consent to the Incarnation of the Son of God".Spiritual Theology by Jordan Aumann 1980 pp. 62–67
Lumen gentium, the 1964 Dogmatic Constitution of the Church recognized, "all the salvific influence of the Blessed Virgin on men originates, not from some inner necessity, but from the divine pleasure. It flows forth from the superabundance of the merits of Christ, rests on His mediation, depends entirely on it and draws all its power from it."Pope Paul VI. Lumen gentium, §60, 21 November 1964 In a singular way she cooperated by her obedience, faith, hope, and burning charity in the work of the Savior in giving back supernatural life to souls. "Wherefore she is our mother in the order of grace."
One of the first scholars to offer theological foundations on the subject of the Immaculate Conception was the Franciscan Duns Scotus who developed the concept that Mary was preserved from sin by the redemptive virtue of Jesus.Summa Theologiae: Volume 51, Our Lady: 3a. 27–30 by Thomas Aquinas, Thomas R. Heath 2006 page 114Encyclopedia of theology: a concise Sacramentum mundi by Karl Rahner 2004 pages 896–898 The encyclopedia of Christianity, Volume 3 by Erwin Fahlbusch, Geoffrey William Bromiley 2003 page 407 Devotions to and the veneration of the Virgin Mary continued to spread, as she came to be seen as the helpful mother of Christians, and by the 15th century these practices had oriented many Catholic devotions.Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages, Volume 2 by André Vauchez, Richard Barrie Dobson, Adrian Walford, Michael Lapidge 2001 page 919
Veronica Giuliani expressed how Mary's suffering in Calvary united her heart with that of Jesus as she suffered each torment along with him.Mariology: A Guide for Priests, Deacons, Seminarians, and Consecrated Persons by Raymond Burke et al. 2008 pages 372–373 The joint devotion to the hearts was formalized by Jean Eudes who organized the scriptural and theological foundations and developed its liturgical themes.Arthur Calkins, The Theology of the Alliance of the Two Hearts, Missio Immaculatae (English Edition) Year III, N° 4 (May to December 2007) The venerative aspects of the united nature of the two hearts continued through the centuries and in 1985 Pope John Paul II coined the term Alliance of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, and in 1986 addressed the international conference on that topic held at Fátima, Portugal.Proceedings of the International Theological Symposium on the Alliance of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, September 1986, Fatima, Portugal
By the 18th century, the continued growth of Marian veneration had emphasized the role of the Virgin Mary in salvation. The Catholic focus on the role of Mary in salvation and redemption continued with Pope John Paul II's 1987 encyclical Redemptoris mater.
Mary as the masterwork of God The Catechism of the Catholic Church, in paragraphs 721–726, claims that Mary is the first dwelling-place of God in salvation history. As such, she is the masterwork of God and the start of God bringing mankind into communion with Jesus. In Mary's womb, Jesus is the manifestation of God's wonders, the fulfillment of God's plan of loving goodness, and the definitive theophany. As such, Mary is typified by the Burning Bush in the Book of Exodus and by wisdom in the Book of Proverbs.
Mary as protectress and intercessor
It was through Mary's intercession, through compassion for the hosts, at the marriage feast of Cana, that Jesus worked his first miracle.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: "From the most ancient times the Blessed Virgin has been honored with the title of 'Mother of God,' to whose protection the faithful fly in all their dangers and needs." The Eastern Catholic Churches observe the feast of the Intercession of the Theotokos in October.
Catholic views of the Virgin Mary as refuge and advocate of sinners, protector from dangers and powerful intercessor with her Son, Jesus are expressed in prayers, artistic depictions, theology, and popular and devotional writings, as well as in the use of religious articles and images.Bunson, Matthew. Our Sunday Visitor's Catholic Almanac, 2009 p. 122Laughlin, Corinna and Lee, Sara McGinnis. The Catholic Handbook for Visiting the Sick and Homebound2010 p. 4 The earliest known prayer to Mary, the Sub tuum praesidium, ("Under your protection") dates from about the 3rd century, with more recent scholarship dating it from the 6th to 9th century C.E. The artistic depictions of the Virgin of Mercy portray the role of Mary as the protector of Christians, as she shelters them under her mantle. The Virgin of Mercy depictions sometimes include arrows raining from above, with the Virgin's cloak protecting the people.Hall, James. 1983, A History of Ideas and Images in Italian Art page 222
Catholics have continued to seek the protection of Mary as the Mother of Sorrows and relied on her intercession as the Queen of Heaven since the Middle Ages.Campbell, James P., Mary and the Saints: Companions on the Journey, 2001 pp. 41–45 Building on that sentiment, popes have entrusted specific causes to the protection of the Virgin Mary. Pope Benedict XV entrusted the protection of the world through the intercession of Mary Queen of Peace during the First World War.Sri, Edward P., and Hahn, Scott. Queen Mother: A Biblical Theology of Mary's Queenship, 2005 p. 13