HEBREW 10:10 10By this “will,” we have been consecrated through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.g THE FIRST INTENTION OF THE REDEMPTIVE SACRIFICE WAS CONCERNED, ACCORDING TO THE DIVINE PLAN, WITH THE RANSOM OF MARY, ACCOMPLISHED IN VIEW OF OUR RANSOM...THUS, WHILE SHE WAS ASSOCIATED IN THE SACRIFICE OF CALVARY, MARY ALREADY BENEFITED IN ADVANCE, FROM THE FRUITS OF THE SACRIFICE AND ACTED IN THE CAPACITY OF A RANSOMED CREATURE. BUT SHE TRULY COOPERATED IN THE OBJECTIVE REDEMPTION, IN THE ACQUISITION OF THE GRACES OF SALVATION FOR ALL OF MANKIND. HER REDEMPTION WAS PURCHASED BEFORE THAT OF OTHER HUMAN BEINGS. MARY WAS RANSOMED ONLY BY CHRIST, SO THAT MANKIND COULD BE RANSOMED WITH THE COLLABORATION OF HIS MOTHER.... HENCE, THE IS NO CONTRADICTION: MARIAN CO-REDEMPTION IMPLIES THE FORESEEN REDEMPTION OF MARY, BUT NOT THE FULFILLMENT OF THE REDEMPTION OF MANKIND; IT EXPRESSES THE UNIQUE SITUATION OF THE MOTHER WHO, WHILE HAVING RECEIVED A SINGULAR GRACE FROM HER OWN SON, COOPERATES WITH HIM IN THE ATTAINMENT OF SALVATION FOR ALL. THE UNPARALLELED PRODIGY OF GRACE GRANTED BY THE ETERNAL FATHER, IS (ALONG WITH HER DIVINE MATERNITY), THE FOUNDATION FOR ALL OF THE SUBSEQUENT ROLES ASSIGNED HER BY THE TRINITY FOR THE BENEFIT OF HUMANITY. INDEED, THE HUMBLE VIRGIN OF NAZARETH IS THE CO-REDEMPTRIX NOT ONLY BECAUSE SHE IS THE MOTHER OF GOD, BUT ALSO BECAUSE SHE IS THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. STAINLESS, FULL OF GRACE, AND IN TOTAL ENMITY WITH SATAN AND HIS SEED OF EVIL AND SIN, THE IMMACULATE ONE IS CREATED BY THE FATHER, IN VIEW OF THE MERITS OF THE SON, PRECISELY TO BE THE PERFECT HUMAN COOPERATOR WITH JESUS IN THE HISTORIC WORK OF HUMAN SALVATION. ANY SIN ON MARYS PART, ORIGINAL OR PERSONAL, WOULD ESTABLISH A BOND OR UNION WITH SATAN, THE HISTORIC FOE OF THE REDEEMER. MARY, THEN, WOULD BECOME A TYPE OF DOUBLE-AGENT - WORKING WITH JESUS, BUT ALSO HAVING AN ASSOCIATION WITH HIS ADVERSARY, THE VERY PERSON AND POWER FROM WHICH JESUS SEEKS TO BUY BACK HUMANITY. NO, THE WOMAN CHOSEN TO BE HUMANITYS REPRESENTATIVE, TO PARTICIPATE INTIMATELY AND PROXIMATELY WITH GOD HIMSELF IN RESTORING SUPERNATURAL LIFE TO SOULS, MUST BE WITHOUT ANY UNION THROUGH SIN WITH THE ENSLAVER AND DEFILER OF HUMANITY. THUS WAS SHE CREATED IMMACULATE BY GOD THE FATHER OF ALL MANKIND CRAFTED FROM INCORRUPTIBLE WOOD SO AS TO BE THE NEW ARK OF THE NEW COVENANT, CARRYING THE REDEEMER OF THE WORLD IN HER IMMACULATE WOMB AND DYING WITH HIM IN HER IMMACULATE HEART FOR THE REDEMPTION OF THE WORLD (cf. LUMEN GENTIUM 58, 61). POPE JOHN PAUL II TEACHES THE ESSENTIAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION AND OUR LADYS CO-REDEMPTIVE ROLE WITH JESUS IN SALVATION AND EXPLAINS THAT HER COMPLETE IMMUNITY FROM ALL SIN ALLOWED FOR THE PERFECT FULFILLMENT OF THIS CO-WORKING ROLE IN REDEMPTION: WE MUST ABOVE ALL NOTE THAT MARY WAS CREATED IMMACULATE IN ORDER TO BE BETTER ABLE TO ACT ON OUR BEHALF. THE FULLNESS OF GRACE ALLOWED HER TO FULFILL PERFECTLY HER MISSION OF COLLABORATION WITH THE WORK OF SALVATION; IT GAVE THE MAXIMUM VALUE TO HER COOPERATION IN THE SACRIFICE. WHEN MARY PRESENTED TO THE FATHER HER SON NAILED TO THE CROSS, HER PAINFUL SUFFERING WAS ENTIRELY PURE. WE DO NOT SEEK MEDIATION FROM ONE WHO IS HIMSELF AT ODDS WITH THE PERSON WITH WHOM WE DESIRE TO BE RECONCILED. WE DO NOT SEEK RELIEF FROM A DEBT BY ASKING ASSISTANCE FROM SOMEONE WHO IS HIMSELF IN A STATE OF DEBT TO THE PERSON WE OWE. THIS IS WHY THE FATHER IN HIS INFINITE WISDOM, IN ASSIGNING TO THE VIRGIN DAUGHTER THE PROVIDENTIAL ROLE OF CO-REDEMPTRIX AND ITS CONSEQUENTIAL ROLES AS MEDIATRIX OF ALL GRACES AND ADVOCATE FOR ALL HUMANITY, CREATED HER IN FULL UNION WITH THE REDEEMER, WITH NO ASSOCIATION IN ANY DIMENSION WITH THE ENEMY, AND IN ABSOLUTE SEGREGATION FROM SIN. IN THIS WAY, MARY IMMACULATE BECOMES THE CO-REDEMPTRIX WITH JESUS THE DIVINE REDEEMER IN THE HISTORIC WORK OF REDEMPTION, WHICH INDEED BUYS US BACK (redimere - to buy back). SHE BECOMES THE IMMACULATE MEDIATRIX OF ALL GRACE, WHO WITH THE ONE MEDIATOR BRINGS US THE GIFTS OF ETERNAL SALVATION. SHE BECOMES THE ALL-PURE ADVOCATE WHO PRESENTS OUR PETITIONS TO OUR DIVINE JUDGE AND KING. THERE IS YET ANOTHER SENSE IN WHICH THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION BRINGS CLARITY TO MARYS COREDEMPTIVE MISSION. THE OBJECTION IS SOMETIMES RAISED, HOW CAN MARY BE A CO-REDEMPTRIX IF SHE HERSELF WAS IN NEED OF REDEMPTION? THE ANSWER IS FOUND IN A PROPER UNDERSTANDING OF HER IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. INDEED, IT IS TRUE THAT MARY NEEDED TO HE REDEEMED FOR HER OWN SALVATION, AND IN ORDER TO ACTIVELY PARTICIPATE IN THE PROCESS OF HUMAN REDEMPTION FOR THE REST OF HUMANITY. IN THE PAPAL DEFINITION OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, BL. POPE PIUS IX STATES THAT MARY, FROM THE FIRST INSTANT OF HER CONCEPTION WAS FREED FROM ORIGINAL SIN AND ALL ITS EFFECTS IN VIEW OF THE MERITS OF JESUS CHRIST. THIS REFERS TO THE HIGHER OR MORE SUBLIME MANNER IN WHICH MARY WAS REDEEMED, BEYOND ALL OTHER CHILDREN OF ADAM AND EVE. IN MARYS REDEMPTION, SHE DID NOT HAVE TO SUFFER THE EXPERIENCE OF ORIGINAL SIN AND ITS EFFECTS AND LATER BE CLEANSED THROUGH SACRAMENTAL BAPTISM, BUT RATHER BY AN APPLICATION OF THE FORESEEN MERITS OF JESUS CHRIST AT CALVARY. PRESERVED FROM ANY EXPERIENCE OR EFFECT OF ORIGINAL SIN, SHE IS REDEEMED IN A MORE SUBLIME MANNER THAN THE REST OF HUMANITY. FOR THIS REASON, THE IMMACULATELY CONCEIVED MOTHER OWES MORE TO HER SAVING SONS REDEMPTION THAN ANY OTHER REDEEMED CREATURE. HOW THEN, IS MARYS REDEMPTION ENACTED SO AS TO ALLOW HER TO PARTICIPATE IN THE HISTORIC ACCOMPLISHMENT OF REDEMPTION AT CALVARY? THIS HIGHER FORM OF REDEMPTION IS EFFECTED AT CALVARY IN THE FIRST INTENTION OF THE REDEMPTIVE SACRIFICE OF JESUS CHRIST, WHICH IS PRECISELY TO REDEEM MARY. THE GRACES OF THE FIRST INTENTION ARE APPLIED TO MARY AT THE MOMENT OF HER CONCEPTION, WHICH IN TURN ALLOWS HER TO BECOME SINLESS CO-REDEMPTRIX IN UNION WITH THE UNIVERSAL REDEEMER IN REDEMPTION OF THE REST OF THE HUMAN FAMILY - BOTH IN INTENTION AND ACCOMPLISHMENT - AT CALVARY. THERE IS NO CONTRADICTION IN THE HISTORIC ROLE OF THE CO-REDEMPTRIX IN THE PARTICIPATION OF THE REDEMPTION AND MARYS OWN PERSONAL NEED AND RECEPTION OF THE GRACES OF REDEMPTION. GOD, WHO IS OUTSIDE OF TIME, INDEED WHO IS THE CREATOR OF THE TEMPORAL ORDER, IS NOT LIMITED BY HISTORICAL NECESSITIES, STILL LESS IS HE RESTRAINED BY OUR LIMITED UNDERSTANDING OF HIS PURPOSES. HE CAN DO AS HE WILLS. AND IN THE ABSOLUTELY UNIQUE GIFT OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, HE HAS DONE SO. AS VATICAN THEOLOGICAL CONSULTOR, FR. JEAN GALOT SUMMARIZES: THE FIRST INTENTION OF THE REDEMPTIVE SACRIFICE WAS CONCERNED, ACCORDING TO THE DIVINE PLAN, WITH THE RANSOM OF MARY, ACCOMPLISHED IN VIEW OF OUR RANSOM...THUS, WHILE SHE WAS ASSOCIATED IN THE SACRIFICE OF CALVARY, MARY ALREADY BENEFITED IN ADVANCE, FROM THE FRUITS OF THE SACRIFICE AND ACTED IN THE CAPACITY OF A RANSOMED CREATURE. BUT SHE TRULY COOPERATED IN THE OBJECTIVE REDEMPTION, IN THE ACQUISITION OF THE GRACES OF SALVATION FOR ALL OF MANKIND. HER REDEMPTION WAS PURCHASED BEFORE THAT OF OTHER HUMAN BEINGS. MARY WAS RANSOMED ONLY BY CHRIST, SO THAT MANKIND COULD BE RANSOMED WITH THE COLLABORATION OF HIS MOTHER.... HENCE, THE IS NO CONTRADICTION: MARIAN CO-REDEMPTION IMPLIES THE FORESEEN REDEMPTION OF MARY, BUT NOT THE FULFILLMENT OF THE REDEMPTION OF MANKIND; IT EXPRESSES THE UNIQUE SITUATION OF THE MOTHER WHO, WHILE HAVING RECEIVED A SINGULAR GRACE FROM HER OWN SON, COOPERATES WITH HIM IN THE ATTAINMENT OF SALVATION FOR ALL. DOES THIS PRIMORDIAL INTENTION OF JESUS TO REDEEM HIS MOTHER AND THEN, AS SUBSEQUENT INTENTION, THE REST OF HUMANITY VIOLATE THE ONE SACRIFICE OF JESUS CHRIST OFFERED FOR ALL AS DISCUSSED IN HEBREWS (cf. Heb.10:10)? IT DOES NOT, AS THE REDEMPTION REMAINS ONE, ALTHOUGH ITS INTENTIONS AND EFFICACIOUS APPLICATIONS ARE TWOFOLD. THE ONE REDEMPTIVE SACRIFICE OF JESUS CHRIST AT CALVARY DOES NOT CONSTITUTE TWO REDEMPTIONS, BUT ONE SUBLIME REDEMPTION WITH TWO SAVING APPLICATIONS: THE FIRST APPLICATION EFFECTING THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF MARY AND THUS PREPARING HER TO BE THE CO-REDEMPTRIX IN HER COOPERATION IN OBJECTIVE REDEMPTION; THE SECOND APPLICATION EFFECTING THE REDEMPTION OF THE HUMAN FAMILY ACCOMPLISHED WITH THE CO-REDEMPTRIX. WE CAN SEE THEN HOW FOUNDATIONAL WAS THE GRACE OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. INDEED, MARY IS THE CO-REDEMPTRIX BECAUSE SHE WAS FIRST THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. THE FOLLOWING ARE LISTS OF PAPAL BULL RELATIVE TO THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION - PARALLELS IN DOCTRINAL DEVELOPMENT...THE HOLY SPIRIT GUIDES AND AND NURTURES A SEED OF REVELATION FOUND IN THE WORD OF GOD, WRITTEN OR HANDED DOWN, SO THAT IT TAKES ROOT AND GROWS GRADUALLY TO FULL BLOSSOM AND BEAUTY WITHIN THE GARDEN OF THE CHURCH IN THE FORM OF A DEFINED DOGMA. AS THE SPIRIT IS ONE, SO ARE HIS WAYS SIMILAR AND DETECTABLE WITHIN THE PROCESS OF THIS DEVELOPMENT OF DOCTRINE. WHILE THERE IS ALWAYS SOME DIMENSION OF THE BEAUTY OF DIVERSITY WITHIN THE MOVEMENTS OF THE SPIRIT, SO TOO IS THERE A CERTAIN UNIFORMITY AND PATTERN. THE COUNCIL OF BASLE 1439 WHICH CONVENES IN THE MID-FIFTEENTH CENTURY (SEPT 17, 1439) ATTEMPTS TO DEFINE THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION DOCTRINE IN THEIR DECLARATION FROM THE 37th SESSION, WHICH STATES: We define and declare that the doctrine according to which the glorious Virgin Mary, Mother of God, by a special effect of divine preventing and operating grace, was never stained with original sin, but has always been holy and immaculate, is a pious doctrine, conformable to the cult of the Church, to Catholic faith, to right reason, and Sacred Scripture; it must be approved, held and professed by all Catholics; furthermore, it is no longer allowed to preach or teach anything contrary to it. CUM PRAECELSA 1477, THE FIRST MAJOR BULL ISSUED BY THE FRANCISCAN POPE, SIXTUS IV (1471-1484), THE FIRST PONTIFF TO MAKE AN OFFICIAL MAGISTERIAL PRONOUNCEMENT RELATIVE TO THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION AND ISSUE SIXTEEN CONSTITUTIONS WITH REFERENCE TO MARYS CONCEPTION. IN THIS BULL, THE PONTIFF OFFICIALLY APPROVES THE PRAYERS OF THE OFFICE OF THE CONCEPTION, AND GRANTS INDULGENCES FOR THOSE WHO RECITE THE OFFICE OR ATTEND MASS IN ITS HONOR. THE ATMOSPHERE AT THE TIME THE BULL IS PROMULGATED INVOLVES AN INTENSE THEOLOGICAL BATTLE OVER THE ISSUE, ESSENTIALLY BETWEEN THE DOMINICAN AND FRANCISCAN ORDERS. DOMINICAN THEOLOGIAN VINCENT BANDELLI HAD WRITTEN A BOOK TWO YEARS PRIOR IN WHICH HE STRONGLY ATTACKED THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION DOCTRINE AS IMPIOUS, HERETICAL, CONTRARY TO THE TEACHING OF THE CHURCH, AND TO SOUND REASON. THIS LEADS SIXTUS IV TO ORDER A PUBLIC DISPUTATION ON THE ISSUE IN HIS PRESENCE IN ROME IN EARLY 1477. FR. BANDELLI DEFENDS HIS MACULIST POSITION, AND THE MINISTER GENERAL OF THE FRANCISCANS, FRANCIS INSUBER OF BRESCIA ARTICULATES THE IMMACULIST STANCE. THE IMMACULATE POSITION PROVES VICTORIOUS, WHICH LEADS SIXTUS IV TO IMMEDIATELY GRANT OFFICIAL APPROVAL TO THE MASS AND OFFICE OF THE CONCEPTION OF MARY. THE PAPALLY APPROVED FEAST IS CLEARLY AND SPECIFICALLY IMMACULIST, WITH OUR LADY BEING REFERRED TO AS IMMACULATE TEN TIMES, AND WITH SOME THIRTY REFERENCES TO HER HAVING BEEN CONCEIVED WITHOUT ORIGINAL SIN, USING PHRASES SUCH AS: You are all beautiful, O Mary, and the stain of original sin is not in thee [2nd Antiphon of 1st Vesp]. AND: Today is the Immaculate Conception of the Holy Virgin Mary. God who, by the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin, did prepare a worthy dwelling...grant, we beseech thee, who by his foreseen death did preserve her from all stain of sin... [Collect of the Mass and Oration of the Office]. BUT THE PAPAL SANCTION DOES NOT END THE CONTROVERSY. BANDELLI AUTHORS ANOTHER BOOK IN 1481, IN WHICH HE SEEKS TO INTERPRET THE POPES DOCUMENT AS REFERRING TO MARYS SANCTIFICATION AFTER THE INSTANCE OF ANIMATION, THUS INTERFERING THAT IT TEACHES HER SPIRITUAL CONCEPTION AND NOT HER NATURAL IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. MOREOVER, OPPONENTS DO NOT CELEBRATE THE PAPALLY APPROVED FEAST, BUT RATHER RETURN TO THE MORE GENERIC FEAST OF MARYS SANCTIFICATION. GRAVE NIMIS 1482 IS A RESPONSE OF SIXTUS IV IN WHICH HE THREATENS TO EXCOMMUNICATE THE OBJECTORS AND ALSO THOSE WHO CHARGE THEIR OPPONENTS WITH HERESY. HE ALSO CONDEMNS ANY WHO CLAIM THAT THE HOLY SEE WAS REFERRING ONLY TO THE SPIRITUAL CONCEPTION OF MARY OR THE GENERAL SANCTIFICATION OF MARY. BUT, IN THE SECOND ISSUE OF THE BULL, GRAVE NIMIS (POSTERIOR) IN 1484, THE PONTIFF ALSO FORBIDS THE IMMACULISTS TO ACCUSE THEIR OPPONENTS OF BEING GUILTY OF THE CRIME OF HERESY OR OF MORTAL SIN, SINCE THE MATTER HAS NOT BEEN DECIDED AS YET BY THE ROMAN CHURCH AND THE APOSTOLIC SEE. BECAUSE THE CHURCH HAS NOT YET FORMALLY DECIDED THE DOCTRINAL QUESTION, PROPONENTS AND OPPONENTS OF THE FEAST ALIKE CANNOT BE DECLARED HERETICAL OR IN GRAVE SIN PER SE. CONSIDERING THE CLARITY AND FIRMNESS OF SIXTUS IVs INTERVENTION, ONE CAN IMAGINE THAT THE PIOUS BELIEF OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION (AS IT WAS TERMED) WOULD BE ESSENTIALLY FREE FROM ANY ACCUSATION OF HERESY, AND THAT DOCTRINAL DEVELOPMENT LEADING TO THE DEFINITION IN 1854 WOULD PROCEED IN A FUNDAMENTALLY PEACEFUL PROCESS. INTER INNUMERA 1489, IN THIS BULL, iNNOCENT VIII, SIXTUS SUCCESSOR, IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWS HIS PREDECESSORS INITIATIVES BY APPROVING A RELIGIOUS CONGREGATION FROM SPAIN WITH A TITLE, RELIGIOUS OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF MARY. HOWEVER, THE NEXT THREE CENTURIES WOULD WITNESS UBIQUITOUS THEOLOGICAL STANDOFFS, STRONG PAPAL INTERVENTIONS, AND SERIOUS ECCLESIASTICAL CENSURES, ALL OF WHICH WOULD CONSTITUTE TUMULTUOUS JOURNEY OF THIS DOCTRINE IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY SOLEMN DEFINITION. THE COUNCIL OF TRENT 1546 SOUGHT IN GENERAL TO RESTRICT ITS DOCTRINAL TREATMENT TO THE SPECIFIC AREAS BROUGHT INTO QUESTION BY PROTESTANT OBJECTIONS. NONETHELESS, WHEN THE SUBJECT OF THE UNIVERSALITY OF ORIGINAL SIN IS BROUGHT UP DURING 5TH SESSION IN 1546, THE ISSUE IS RAISED AS TO WHETHER OR NOT THE MOTHER OF JESUS WAS SUBJECT TO THE UNIVERSAL LAW. IMMEDIATELY, A NUMBER OF THEOLOGICAL DEBATES ENSUE. AFTER MUCH DISCUSSION, THE COUNCIL CONCLUDES WITH THE FOLLOWING DECLARATION: This same holy synod declares that it is not its intention to include in this decree, where there is question of original sin, the blessed and Immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of God. Rather, the constitutions of Sixtus of happy memory are to be followed. TRENT, THEREFORE, REFERS TO THE MOTHER OF JESUS AS IMMACULATE DOES NOT INCLUDE HER WITHIN THE UNIVERSAL LAW OF ORIGINAL SIN; AND REFERS TO POPE SIXTUS AND HIS DEFENSE OF THE IMMACULIST POSITION. AS BL. PIUS IX COMMENTS IN Ineffabilis Deus, THE COUNCIL OF TRENT sufficiently insinuated by this declaration that the Blessed Virgin Mary was free from original stain. AND YET ANOTHER CONTROVERSY CONTINUES. IN 1567, THE GREAT MARIAN PONTIFF, ST. PIUS V CONDEMNS ONE OF THE PROPOSITIONS OF BAIUS, WHICH READS: No one but Christ was without original sin, and therefore the Blessed Virgin died in consequence of the sin contracted through Adam... . SUPER SPECULAM 1570, ST. PIUS V, THE DOMINICAN PONTIFF ISSUES THIS BULL IN WHICH HE SPEAKS OF THE EVIL EFFECTS OF THE CONTROVERSY WHICH CONTINUES TO RAGE OVER THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. IN AN EFFORT TO PREVENT THE PRESENT SCANDAL FROM INFECTING THE FAITHFUL, ST. PIUS V RENEWS THE TEACHING AND CENSURES OF SIXTUS IV, THE COUNCIL OF TRENT, AND ADDS THE FOLLOWING NEW RESTRICTIONS: ...NO ONE IS ALLOWED TO DISCUSS EITHER OF THE OPINIONS IN SERMONS GIVEN BEFORE THE PEOPLE...OR TO WRITE OR DICTATE ANYTHING IN THE VERNACULAR ON THE QUESTION. NOTE THE PATERNAL CHARACTER OF PIUS VS ACTION. HE ACTS AS A GOOD FATHER OF THE FAMILY WHO ENTERS INTO A HEATED FAMILY CONFLICT, AND INTERVENES BY FIRST REITERATING THE TRUTH AND THEN BY CALLING A HALT TO ANY FURTHER DISCUSSION UNTIL EMOTIONS SETTLE. THE SPECIFIC CONCERN OF PIUS WAS THE SCANDAL BEING CAUSED AMIDST THE COMMON FAITHFUL. WE WILL REPEATEDLY SEE THE IMPORTANCE OF THE SENSUS FIDELIUM IN THIS HISTORICAL DRAMA. REGIS PACIFICI 1616, POPE PAUL V ISSUES THIS BULL TO THE DEFENSE OF THE DOCTRINE IN WHICH HE RECALLS THE PRONOUNCEMENT OF SIXTUS IV, TRENT, AND PIUS V, BUT NOTES THAT THESE DID NOT SUFFICE TO STOP THE CONFLICT. PAUL V THEREFORE REITERATES THE APOSTOLIC POWER HIS PREDECESSORS TEACHINGS, BUT WITH ADDITIONAL PUNISHMENTS FOR OFFENDERS. A YEAR LATER, THE ECCLESIAL STORM STILL CONTINUES, AND PAUL V ISSUES A DECREE, SANCTISSIMUS (SEPT 12, 1617) WHEREBY THE ROMAN PONTIFF FOR THE FIRST TIME OFFICIALLY FORBIDS ANYONE FROM DENYING THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION IN PUBLIC. THE EXPRESSED REASON FOR THE PAPAL ACTION IS THE SCANDAL, QUARRELS, AND DISSENSIONS CAUSED AMONG THE COMMON FAITHFUL WHENEVER PUBLIC SERMONS OR TEACHINGS DENY THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OR POSITIVELY TEACH THAT SHE WAS CONCEIVED WITH ORIGINAL SIN. IN SHORT, THE DENIAL OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION IS REJECTED BY THE SENSUS FIDELIUM, AND THE VICAR OF CHRIST RESPECTS AND PROTECTS THE SPIRIT ACTING THROUGH THEM. A FEW YEARS LATER, POPE GREGORY XV EXTENDS THE PROHIBITIONS OF PAUL V AGAINST THE PUBLIC DENIAL OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION TO THE REALM OF PRIVATE CONVERSATIONS AND WRITINGS AS WELL, UNTIL SUCH TIME AS THE HOLY SEE WOULD RESOLVE THE ISSUE. ONCE AGAIN, THIS PAPAL DIRECTIVE REQUIRING ABSOLUTE SILENCE FOR THOSE DENYING THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION IS PROMPTED BY THE REACTION OF THE COMMON CONSENSUS OF THE FAITHFUL. IT IS ALSO NOTEWORTHY AT THIS TIME THAT HEADS OF STATE BEGIN REQUESTING THE HOLY SEE FOR A PAPAL DEFINITION OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, WITH REPEATED PETITIONS COMING FROM THE KINGS OF SPAIN. UNDER THE PONTIFICATE OF URBAN VIII, A PONTIFF WHO ALSO ADVANCES THE CAUSE OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION THROUGH THE GRANTING OF GENEROUS INDULGENCES RELATIVE TO THE DOCTRINE, WE HAVE AN INTERESTING HISTORICAL CASE OF A DECREE CONTRARY TO THE DOCTRINE BEING DRAWN UP BY THE HOLY OFFICE A FEW MONTHS BEFORE URBANS DEATH AND PUBLISHED THREE YEARS AFTER HIS DEATH. THE DECREE FROM THE HOLY OFFICE STATES: IT IS NOT PERMITTED TO ATTRIBUTE THE TITLE OF IMMACULATE TO THE CONCEPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN; ONE MUST SAY THE CONCEPTION OF THE IMMACULATE MARY. IT IS GENERALLY AGREED UPON BY HISTORIANS THAT THE HOLY OFFICE DECREE DID NOT HAVE THE APPROVAL OF THE HOLY FATHER. WE SEE HERE AN INSTANCE OF HOW A DOCTRINAL CONGREGATION CAN ERR ON A DISCIPLINARY MATTER RELATIVE TO A DOCTRINE WHEN IT DOES NOT HAVE DIRECT PONTIFICAL APPROVAL. WITH THE PAPAL ELECTION OF ALEXANDER VIII IN 1661, THE DOCTRINE GAINS ONE OF ITS GREATEST PAPAL CHAMPIONS. SOLLICITUDO OMNIUM ECCLESIARUM 1661, IN THIS BULL, ALEXANDER EXACTS THE NATURE OF THE FEAST OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION AS THE BELIEF OF MARYS IMMUNITY FROM ORIGINAL SIN AT CONCEPTION, REFERS TO THE DOCTRINE AS A PIA SENTENTIA, OR PIOUS BELIEF, (A THEOLOGICAL CATEGORY OF CERTAINTY THAT HAD BEEN PROPOSED BUT NOT APPROVED AT TRENT), AND CONFIRMS AND BROADENS THE CANONICAL PENALTIES OF HIS PAPAL PREDECESSORS FOR THOSE REJECTING THE DOCTRINE. COMMISSI NOBIS 1708, IN THIS BULL, POPE CLEMENT XI PROVIDES FURTHER MAGISTERIAL FOUNDATION FOR AN EVENTUAL DEFINITION BY ESTABLISHING THE FEAST OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION AS A HOLY DAY OF OBLIGATION FOR THE ENTIRE CATHOLIC CHURCH. LITTLE MORE THAN A CENTURY LATER, POPE GREGORY XVI, THE IMMEDIATE PREDECESSOR OF BL. PIUS IX, GRANTS PERMISSION FOR AN ADDITIONAL PETITION TO THE LITANY OF LORETO TO READ: QUEEN, CONCEIVED WITHOUT ORIGINAL SIN, PRAY FOR US. BY THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, THE HOLY SEE HAS RECEIVED AND CONTINUES TO RECEIVE NUMEROUS PETITIONS FOR THE SOLEMN DEFINITION, BOTH FROM THE HIERARCHY AND FROM THE COMMON FAITHFUL. SO SIGNIFICANT IS THE FACTOR OF PETITIONS FROM THE PEOPLE OF GOD TO THE PONTIFF IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THIS MARIAN DOCTRINE THAT BL. PIUS IX REFERS TO THE POSITIVE ROLE OF PETITIONS AS ONE OF THE LEGITIMATE CRITERION FOR ITS SOLEMN DEFINITION IN Ineffabilis Deus. FAR FROM THE MISTAKEN NOTION THAT PETITIONS DIRECTED TO ROME ARE MERELY A CONTEMPORARY INVENTION FOR DEMOCRATIZED PRESSURE WITHIN THE CHURCH, PETITIONS FROM THE HIERARCHY AND THE COMMON FAITHFUL COMPRISE A SUBSTANTIAL ELEMENT IN THE TRUE PAPAL DISCERNMENT FOR SOLEMN DEFINITIONS. ANOTHER POSITIVE INFLUENCE FOR BL. PIUS IX IN HIS DISCERNMENT FOR THE INFALLIBLE DECLARATION IS THE CHURCH-APPROVED APPARITIONS OF OUR LADY OF GRACE RECEIVED BY ST. CATHERINE LABOURE IN 1830, IN WHICH THE MEDAL OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION IS REVEALED BY OUR LADY AND SWIFTLY SPREADS THROUGHOUT EUROPE AND BEYOND. THE PETITION SURROUNDING THE MIRACULOUS MEDAL, AS IT WAS SPONTANEOUSLY REFERRED TO BY THE FAITHFUL, READS O MARY CONCEIVED WITHOUT ORIGINAL SIN, PRAY FOR US WHO HAVE RECOURSE TO THEE. THE IMMEDIATE AND UNIVERSAL ACCEPTANCE OF THIS MEDAL SO ESSENTIALLY LINKED TO THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION DOCTRINE AND THE PLETHORA OF MIRACLES ASSOCIATED WITH IT, MAKE A STRONG POSITIVE IMPRESSION ON PIUS IX. IN SUMMATION, CENTURIES OF FIERCE THEOLOGICAL BATTLES MODERATED BY PAPAL INTERVENTIONS JUXTAPOSED WITH A PERSEVERING LITURGICAL, THEOLOGICAL, AND DEVOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT, SERVE AS THE HISTORICAL PLATFORM UPON WHICH BL. PIUS IX COURAGEOUSLY CROWNS THE VIRGIN MOTHER OF GOD WITH THE DOGMATIC DEFINITION OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION ON DECEMBER 8, 1854. THE HISTORICAL TEMPEST WHICH PRECEDES THE DEFINITION SEEMS TO SYMBOLICALLY MANIFEST ITSELF ON THE ACTUAL DAY OF THE DEFINITION BY A VIOLENT STORM OUTSIDE OF ST. PETERS BASILICA. AS SARDI, THE RESPECTED DOCUMENTER OF THE HISTORY AND ACTS CONCERNING THE DEFINITION, THEN DESCRIBES: At the precise moment His Holiness was going to define the dogma, a light breeze lifted the drape in front of the great window above the altar of the Chapel of Most Holy Mary of the Pillar, and a sunbeam lit up the person of the Holy Father and his pontifical throne. Many marveled at this event because of the solemn moment when it occurred... . IN THIS LIGHT, WE FIND AT LEAST SEVEN SIMILARITIES, TRUE PARALLELS OF DOCTRINAL MATURATION IN THE DEVELOPMENT IF CO-REDEMPTRIX DOCTRINE: • LONG STANDING FEAST OF OUR LADY OF SORROWS OF GREAT SIGNIFICANCE IS THE PAPAL APPROVAL OF THE FEAST OF THE CONCEPTION OF MARY BY SIXTUS IV in 1477 AND ITS CRITICAL ROLE IN THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTIONS DOCTRINAL PROGRESSION. IN THE CASE OF MARY CO-REDEMPTRIX, WE ALSO HAVE A LITURGICAL FEAST CELEBRATED IN ROME WHICH LIKEWISE DATES BACK TO THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY, THE FEAST OF OUR LADY OF SORROWS. IN FACT, UNTIL 1960, THE ROLE OF MARY CO-REDEMPTRIX WAS LITURGICALLY CELEBRATED TWICE A YEAR. THE FIRST FEAST FOCUSED UPON THE COMPASSION OR CO-SUFFERING OF MARY AT CALVARY AND WAS CELEBRATED ON THE FRIDAY BEFORE OUR PRESENT PALM SUNDAY. THE SECOND FEAST, HISTORICALLY PROMOTED BY THE SERVITES OF MARY AND CELEBRATED ON SEPTEMBER 15, ACCENTUATES THE ENTIRE COREDEMPTIVE LIFE OF THE VIRGIN AS HIGHLIGHTED IN SEVEN SCRIPTURAL AND TRADITIONAL EVENTS OR SORROWS: 1) SIMEONS PROPHECY IN THE TEMPLE; 2) THE FLIGHT OF THE FAMILY INTO EGYPT; 3) THE LOSS OF THE CHRIST CHILD IN THE TEMPLE; 4) THE ENCOUNTER OF MARY WITH JESUS ON THE WAY OF THE CROSS; 5) HER SUFFERING DURING THE CRUCIFIXION AND DEATH OF JESUS; 6) THE TAKING DOWN OF JESUS FROM THE CROSS; 7) THE BURIAL OF JESUS IN THE TOMB. MOREOVER, THE FIRST OFFICIAL USE OF THE CO-REDEMPTRIX TITLE BY THE HOLY SEE COMES ON MAY 13, 1908, IN A DOCUMENT BY THE CONGREGATION OF RITES IN REFERENCE TO THE FEAST OF THE SEVEN SORROWS. IN POSITIVE RESPONSE TO A PETITION SEEKING TO RAISE THE RANK OF THE FEAST OF THE SEVEN SORROWS OF MARY TO A DOUBLE RITE OF SECOND CLASS FOR THE UNIVERSAL CHURCH, THE CONGREGATION OF RITES EXPRESSES ITS HOPE THAT THE DEVOTION OF THE SORROWFUL MOTHER MAY INCREASE AND THE PIETY OF THE FAITHFUL AND THEIR GRATITUDE TOWARD THE MERCIFUL CO-REDEMPTRIX OF THE HUMAN RACE MAY INTENSIFY. THESE LITURGICAL CELEBRATION OF THE CO-REDEMPTRIX DOCTRINE MAKES CLEAR THAT THE ROLE HAS BEEN BELIEVED AND VENERATED FOR OVER A HALF MILLENNIUM IN THE LITURGICAL LIFE OF THE CHURCH. • CONCILIAR TEACHING ON MARIAN COREDEMPTION THE CONCILIAR TEACHING OF TRENT ON THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION DOCTRINE, HOWEVER IMPLICIT, NONETHELESS CLEARLY ESTABLISHED THE DOCTRINAL INTEGRITY OF THE POSITION. IN ADDITION, THERE WERE THOSE AT TRENT WHO DESIRED A SOLEMN DEFINITION OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, BUT THE COUNCIL SAW IT SUFFICIENT FOR THAT TIME TO REFLECT THE LEGITIMACY OF THE DOCTRINE IN ITS OTHER TEACHINGS. THE SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL IN ITS PREPARATORY STAGE SIMILARLY RECEIVED 450 PETITIONS FOR THE SOLEMN DEFINITION OF THE MARY CO-REDEMPTRIX AND HER SUBSEQUENT ROLE AS MEDIATRIX OF ALL GRACES AND DEEMED IT SUFFICIENT FOR THE PURPOSES OF A NON-DEFINING PASTORAL COUNCIL TO PRESENT A CERTAIN TEACHING ON MARIAN COREDEMPTION. THE COUNCIL DID SO IN ITS DOGMATIC CONSTITUTION ON THE CHURCH, Lumen Gentium. IN THE EIGHT CHAPTER, WHICH IS DEDICATED TO OUR LADY, THE FATHERS CLEARLY TEACH HER COREDEMPTIVE ROLE: Committing herself whole-heartedly and impeded by no sin to Gods saving will, she devoted herself totally, as s handmaid of the Lord, to the person and work of her Son, under and with him, serving the mystery of redemption...(LG,56). AND: Thus 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, enduring with her only begotten Son the intensity of his suffering, associated herself with his sacrifice in her mothers heart, and lovingly consenting to the immolation of this victim which was born of her. Finally, she was given by the same Christ Jesus dying in the cross as a mother to his disciple, with these words: Woman, behold thy son (JN 19:26-27) (LG,58). AND FURTHER: She conceived, brought forth, and nourished Christ, she presented him to the Father in the temple, shared her Sons sufferings as he died on the cross. Thus, in a wholly singular way she cooperated by her obedience, faith, hope and burning charity in the work of the Savior in restoring supernatural life to souls. For this reason she is a mother to us in the order of grace (LG, 61). THE FACT THAT THE SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL, WHICH WAS PASTORAL BY NATURE (as determined at its outset by St. John XXIII), DID NOT DEFINE THE COREDEMPTION DOCTRINE CANNOT BE USED AS A VALID ARGUMENT AGAINST ITS DEFINABILITY. TRENT DID NOT DEFINE THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, NOR DID VATICAN I DEFINE THE ASSUMPTION, ALTHOUGH IT HAD RECEIVED FROM PARTICIPATING FATHERS NUMEROUS PETITIONS TO DO SO. RATHER, THE SOLID CONCILIAR TEACHING ON THE TRUTH OF THE CO-REDEMPTRIX ROLE REFLECTS AN UNQUESTIONABLE THEOLOGICAL BASIS IN THE SOURCES OF REVELATION FOR A POTENTIAL DEFINITION. • PETITIONS FROM THE FAITHFUL, HIERARCHY, AND HEADS OF STATE BL. PIUS IXs ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF THE NUMEROUS PETITIONS FROM TGE HIERARCHY, COMMON FAITHFUL, AND EVEN HEAD OF STATES RECEIVED BY THE HOLY SEE FOR THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTIONS DEFINITION ILLUSTRATES THE PAPAL RESPECT GIVEN TO THE SENSUS FIDELIUM IN THE PROCESS OF DISCERNING THE TIMELINESS AND APPROPRIATENESS OF INFALLIBLE DECLARATIONS. PIUS XII MADE THE SAME ACKNOWLEDGEMENT FOR THE VAST NUMBER OF PETITIONS RECEIVED IN FAVOR OF THE DOGMA OF THE ASSUMPTION. THE LARGEST NUMBER OF PER ANNUM PETITIONS RECEIVED BY THE HOLY SEE FOR ANY SINGLE CAUSE IN THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH HAS BEEN FOR THE SOLEMN DEFINITION OF MARY CO-REDEMPTRIX. IN THE LAST TEN YEARS, OVER SEVEN MILLION PETITIONS HAVE BEEN RECEIVED BY THE HOLY SEE FROM OVER ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY COUNTRIES IN SUPPORT OF THIS INFALLIBLE DECLARATION. MORE THAN FIVE HUNDRED AND FIFTY BISHOPS, INCLUDING 46 CARDINALS, HAVE ALSO JOINED IN THE PETITION DURING THE PAST TEN YEARS. AS SPAIN WAS FOREMOST IN NATIONAL SUPPORT OF THE DOGMA OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, THE PHILIPPINES AND MEXICO ARE LEADERS IN THE NATIONAL CALLS FOR THE DEFINITION OF MARY CO-REDEMPTRIX. OVER SEVENTY PERCENT OF THE MEXICAN HIERARCHY HAS PETITIONED THE HOLY FATHER FOR THE DEFINITION. THE PHILIPPINES HAVE PRODUCED THE LARGEST NUMBER OF LAY PETITIONS. FORMER PHILIPPINES PRESIDENT, MRS. CORAZON AQUINO, PETITIONED THE HOLY SEE FOR THE DOGMATIC PROCLAMATION WHILE IN OFFICE. • INDULGENCED PRAYERS IN RELATION TO MARY CO-REDEMPTRIX Lex orandi, lex credendi - AS THE CHURCH PRAYS, SO SHE BELIEVES. THE INDULGENCES APPROVED BY THE HOLY SEE FOR PRAYERS ASSOCIATED WITH THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION ALSO FINDS ITS PARALLEL WITH THE CO-REDEMPTRIX DOCTRINE. ON JUNE 26, 1913, THE HOLY OFFICE ISSUED A DOCUMENT EXPRESSING THE CONGREGATIONS SATISFACTION IN ADDING THE NAME OF MARY TO THE NAME OF JESUS IN THE INDULGENCED GREETING, Praised be Jesus and Mary WHICH IS THEN RESPONDED TO, Now and forever. THE DOCUMENT THEN STATES: There are those Christians whose devotion to the most favored among virgins is so tender as to be unable to recall the name of Jesus without the accompanying name of the Mother, our Co-Redemptrix, the Blessed Virgin Mary. SIX MONTHS LATER, THE SAME HOLY OFFICE GRANTED A PARTIAL INDULGENCE FOR THE RECITATION OF A PRAYER OF REPARATION TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN (Vergine benedetta). THE PRAYER ENDS WITH THE WORDS: I bless thy holy Name, I praise thine exalted privilege of being truly Mother of God, ever Virgin, conceived without stain of sin, Co-Redemptrix of the human race. • RELIGIOUS CONGREGATIONS BEARING THE CO-REDEMPTRIX NAME AS WAS THE CASE WITH INNOCENT VIII AND THE APPROVAL OF THE Religious of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, CONGREGATIONS WITH THE CO-REDEMPTRIX TITLE HAVE RECEIVED CHURCH APPROVAL. THE NORTH VIETNAMESE RELIGIOUS CONGREGATION, The Congregation of the Mother Co-Redemptrix, WHICH WAS APPROVED BY THE LOCAL BISHOP IN 1941 AND APPROVED BY THE HOLY SEE IN 1953, WAS FORCED TO RELOCATE TO SOUTH VIETNAM DUE TO COMMUNIST PERSECUTION, AND LATER EXPANDED TO THE UNITED STATES. PRESENTLY, A RELIGIOUS CONGREGATION OF PRIESTS AND RELIGIOUS FOUND IN ITALY, SLOVAKIA, RUSSIA, THE NETHERLANDS, AND SEVERAL OTHER COUNTRIES, WITH THE NAME OF The Family of Mary Co-Redemptrix IS RAPIDLY GROWING IN VOCATIONS, PARTICULARLY IN EASTERN EUROPE. • PRIVATE REVELATION STIMULATING AND CONFIRMING THE CO-REDEMPTRIX DOCTRINE AS THE Revelations OF ST. BRIDGET AND THE APPARITIONS OF THE MIRACULOUS MEDAL TO ST. CATHERINE LABOURE OFFER STIMULATION AND GROWTH TO THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION DOCTRINE, CONFIRMED IN THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH, SO TOO HAS ECCLESIASTICALLY APPROVED PRIVATE REVELATION SERVED TO CONFIRM THE TRUTH OF MARY CO-REDEMPTRIX AND, SPECIFICALLY, ITS EVENTUAL SOLEMN DEFINITION. FROM THE SAME Revelations GIVEN TO ST. BRIDGET OF SWEDEN, OUR LADY OFFERS A DIRECT TESTIMONY TO HER ROLE AS CO-REDEMPTRIX: My Son and I redeemed the world as with one heart. OUR LORD RE-ITERATES THE SAME TRUTH OF THE CO-REDEMPTRIX DOCTRINE IN HIS OWN WORDS: My Mother and I saved man as with one Heart only. I by suffering in my Heart and my Flesh, She by the sorrow and love of Her Heart. THESE REVELATIONS POSITIVELY INFLUENCED THEOLOGIANS AND POPES ALIKE FOR THE NEXT THREE HUNDRED YEARS AND WERE REPEATEDLY REFERENCED BY THEOLOGIANS AND BISHOPS DURING THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY Golden Age OF MARIAN COREDEMPTION. MORE RECENTLY, A NUMBER OF CONTEMPORARY MARIAN APPARITIONS APPROVED BY THE CHURCH HAVE SPOKEN OF THE COREDEMPTRIX ROLE. THE APPARITIONS OF OUR LADY OF AKITA IN JAPAN (1973), MANIFEST OUR LADYS ONGOING COREDEMPTIVE ROLE IN THE FORM OF MESSAGES AND SCIENTIFICALLY VERIFIED LACRIMATIONS. THE APPARITIONS RECEIVED ECCLESIASTICAL APPROBATION FROM THE LOCAL ORDINARY, BISHOP JOHN ITO (1984). THE RELATED APPARITIONS OF THE LADY OF ALL NATIONS IN AMSTERDAM (1945-1959), WHICH HAS BEEN DECLARED OF SUPERNATURAL ORIGIN BY BISHOP JOSEF PUNT OF HAARLEM, AMSTERDAM (MAY 31, 2002), CONTAINS NUMEROUS MESSAGES FROM OUR LADY WHICH SPEAK OF THE ROLES OF COREDEMPTRIX, MEDIATRIX, ADVOCATE, AND THE EVENTUAL SOLEMN DEFINITION OF THESE ROLES. FOR EXAMPLE, IN THE MESSAGE OF APRIL 29, 1951: I stand here as the Co-Redemptrix and Advocate. Everything should be concentrated on that. Repeat this after me: The new Dogma will be the dogma of the Co-Redemptrix. Notice I lay special emphasis on Co. I have said that it will arouse much controversy. Once again I tell you that the Church, ROME, WILL CARRY IT THROUGH AND SILENCE ALL OBJECTIONS. The Church, ROME, will incur opposition and overcome it. The Church, Rome, will become stronger and mightier in proportion to the resistance she puts up in the struggle. My purpose and my commission to you is none other than to urge the Church, the theologians, to wage this battle. FOR THE FATHER, THE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT WILLS TO SEND THE LADY, CHOSEN TO BEAR THE REDEEMER, INTO THIS WORLD, AS CO-REDEMPTRIX AND ADVOCATE: ... In the sufferings, both spiritual and bodily, the Lady, the Mother has shared. She has always gone before. As soon as the Father has elected her, she was the Co-Redemptrix with the Redeemer, who came into the world as the Man-God. Tell that to your theologians. I know well, the struggle will be hard and bitter (and then the Lady smiles to herself and seems to gaze in the far distance), but the outcome is already assured. TO BE SURE, PRIVATE REVELATION, EVEN THAT WHICH IS APPROVED BY THE CHURCH, CAN NEVER SERVE AS THE THEOLOGICAL FOUNDATION FOR A CHURCH DOCTRINE OR ITS POTENTIAL DEFINITION. NEVERTHELESS, THE HISTORY OF DOGMATIC DEVELOPMENT BEARS OUT THE FACT THAT CERTAIN SUPERNATURAL LIGHTS WHICH IT PLEASES GOD TO DISTRIBUTE TO CERTAIN PRIVILEGED SOULS, TO USE THE WORDS OF ST. JOHN XXIII, HAVE SPARKED AND ASSISTED THE DEVELOPMENT OF CERTAIN DOCTRINES AT KEY HISTORICAL PERIODS OF THE CHURCH. PERHAPS OUR BEST CONTEMPORARY EXAMPLE IS THE NEW ECCLESIAL EMPHASIS ON DIVINE MERCY, WHICH HAS BEEN DIRECTLY STIMULATED THROUGH THE REVELATIONS TO ST. FAUSTINA KOWALSKA, AND HAS INSPIRED THE CHURCH TO THE LITURGICAL DEVELOPMENT OF A UNIVERSAL FEAST OF DIVINE MERCY ON THE SUNDAY FOLLOWING EASTER SUNDAY, AS WELL AS THE DOCTRINAL DEVELOPMENT ON DIVINE MERCY FOR OUR PRESENT TROUBLED AGE AS MANIFESTED IN THE 1982 PAPAL ENCYCLICAL, Dives in Misericordia. • THEOLOGICAL CONTROVERSY AND MARY CO-REDEMPTRIX IF HISTORY TELLS US ANYTHING ABOUT THE JOURNEY OF MARIAN DOGMAS, IT IS THAT THEOLOGICAL CONTROVERSY AND EMOTIONALLY CHARGED DEBATE WILL BE THEIR CONSTANT COMPANIONS. THIS IS VISIBLE IN A DRAMATIC WAY IN THE SEVEN CENTURIES OF BATTLE OVER THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, WITH SOME OF HISTORYS GREATEST THEOLOGIANS, SUCH AS ST. BERNARD, ST. THOMAS AQUINAS, ST. ALBERT THE GREAT, AND ST. BONAVENTURE, FINDING THEMSELVES ON THE OPPOSING SIDE OF THE EVENTUAL DOGMA. THIS IS ALSO EVIDENT IN THE PRIOR DOGMATIC PROCLAMATION OF MARY AS THE God-bearer AT EPHESUS (431), WITH THE HISTORIC CONFRONTATIONS BETWEEN ST. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA, NESTORIUS, AND THEIR RESPECTIVE FOLLOWERS. THEOLOGICAL CONTROVERSY IN ITSELF, THEREFORE, SHOULD NEVER BE USED AS A LEGITIMATE ARGUMENT FOR THE INAPPROPRIATENESS OF A DOCTRINE OR ITS DEFINITION, AS OFTENTIMES THE CONTROVERSY BECOMES THE VERY REASON WHY THE BISHOP OF ROME IS CALLED TO SPEAK DEFINITIVELY AND BRING PEACE TO THE FAMILY OF THE CHURCH UPON THE NECESSARY FOUNDATION OF THE TRUTH. THE FACT THAT THE PAPAL MAGISTERIUM HAS NEVER DEEMED IT NECESSARY TO CALL FOR A PUBLIC PROHIBITION OF THE DISCUSSION OF MARY CO-REDEMPTRIX DUE TO CONTROVERSY AND ITS SUBSEQUENT SCANDAL FOR THE FAITHFUL, LET ALONE PROHIBITING EVEN PRIVATE DISCUSSION AS IT DID FOR THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION DEBATE, SHOULD GIVE A BETTER HISTORICAL CONTEXT IN WHICH TO UNDERSTAND THE ARGUABLY LESSER DEGREE OF THEOLOGICAL DISAGREEMENT OVER MARIAN COREDEMPTION. THIS, OF COURSE, IS DUE IN OUR OWN TIME TO THE AUTHORITATIVE PRESENTATION OF THE DOCTRINE BY THE TWENTIETH AND TWENTY-FIRST PAPAL MAGISTERIUM AND THE SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL. IN LIGHT OF THE CLEAR CHURCH TEACHING ON THE DOCTRINE, THE HUB OF DEBATE IN THE CASE OF MARY CO-REDEMPTRIX FOCUSES MORE UPON THE QUESTION OF ITS POTENTIAL DEFINITION AS A DOGMA OF THE FAITH. THIS WOULD HISTORICALLY PARALLEL WHERE THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION DEVELOPMENT WAS IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. NOW, AS THEN, THE MAGISTERIUM HAS SETTLED THE QUESTION OF DOCTRINAL INTEGRITY, AND THE THEOLOGICAL DISCUSSION IS CENTERED AROUND QUESTIONS OF THE APPROPRIATENESS AND TIMELINESS OF A SOLEMN DEFINITION. WHAT MAKES A MARIAN DOGMA DEFINABLE? IT IS THE ESTABLISHING OF ITS FOUNDATION IN DIVINE REVELATION AND ITS ORGANIC MATURITY IN THAT FAITH, WORSHIP, AND LIFE DIMENSION OF THE CHURCH WHICH WE CALL TRADITION. BOTH MAGISTERIAL AND CONCILIAR TEACHINGS CONFIRM THE FOUNDATIONS OF MARY CO-REDEMPTRIX IN THE SOURCES OF REVELATION. CERTAINLY THE OTHER CRITERIA WHICH, AT THE TIME, HAD INDICATED DOCTRINAL MATURITY FOR THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION ARE LIKEWISE PRESENT FOR THE DOCTRINE OF MARY CO-REDEMPTRIX (i.e., the liturgical celebration of the role, the unprecedented petitions from the sensus fidelium and hierarchy, the private revelational confirmation, etc.), and do in fact offer evidence for its maturity within the Churchs contemporary living Tradition. JOHN PAUL II HAS TAUGHT US THAT MARYS ROLE AS CO-REDEMPTRIX DID NOT CEASE WITH THE GLORIFICATION OF HER SON AND HE HAS RE-ITERATED THE TRUTHS OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION AND MARIAN COREDEMPTION IN HIS FEBRUARY 11, 2004 MESSAGE FOR THE WORLD DAY OF THE SICK: The keystone of history lies here: with the Immaculate Conception of Mary began the great work of Redemption that was brought to fulfillment in the precious blood of Christ...At the foot of the Cross Mary, made Mother of Humanity, suffers in silence, participating in her Sons suffering, ready to intercede so that every person may obtain salvation. THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION & THE CO-REDEMPTRIX MARK I. MIRAVALLE, S.T.D. THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION IN THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH DONALD H. CALLOWAY, MIC (Editor) youtube/playlist?list=PLl6BeUzXcF-nTA_VvC_oH4ihE3AK41cM8
Posted on: Fri, 31 Oct 2014 20:22:22 +0000
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