Third Sunday after Easter—7 May AD 2017
Ave Maria!
Ordinary of the Mass
Latin Mass Text-3rd Sunday
English Mass Text-3rd Sunday
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“Oh Mary conceived without sin,
pray for us who have recourse to thee.”This morning we crowned the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary—Our Lady of Fatima. We do this every year on the first Sunday of May because May is the month dedicated to her. The crown is a symbol of her motherhood—she is the Mother of Christ the King.
It is important to understand that Mary is much more than the mother of the man Jesus Christ. It is altogether correct to call her the mother of God. In fact, the contrary opinion—that Mary was only the mother of the human Christ was condemned by a general council of the Church in 431 A.D. A man named Nestorius, who was then the bishop of Constantinople, had advanced the theory that Mary had given birth merely to the human nature of Jesus Christ. His chief opponent, Saint Cyril, the bishop of Alexandria (in Egypt), insisted that the two nature's of Jesus Christ, the human and the divine, were joined together in such a way that they could not be distinguished. The theologians refer to this as the “hypostatic” union. God and man are united in the Person of Jesus Christ.
The heretic Nestorius urged the Emperor Theodosius II to call a council of the bishops to settle his dispute with Saint Cyril. Over two hundred bishops assembled in the town of Ephesus in the Church of the Virgin Mary. (Ephesus was very appropriate as Mary is known to have lived there in the care of Saint John after the Crucifixion.). The vast majority of bishops agreed with Saint Cyril, and their decision was ratified by Pope Sixtus III. Unfortunately, the bishops of Assyria and Persia sided with Nestorius and broke away from the Catholic Church. They formed a schematic church, today called the Nestorian church (sometimes called the Assyrian church).
It is important to note that when we speak of Mary's divine motherhood, we are absolutely not claiming that Mary existed before God and before creation! Mary was a created being, as are all of God's creatures. Although she had been part of God's plan of creation from all eternity, she was born of two normal parents just shortly before the Christian era. Her conception by these parents was unique, as she was conceived without original sin. She would remain forever sinless,. But otherwise she was a normal child of her era. Normal, yet exceptionally humble. In fact it is said that her humility was so strong that it was what drew God down from heaven.
We know from Sacred Scripture that God was, indeed, drawn down to Mary, so that the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity might take His human form from her:
The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.[1]
Thus Jesus Christ was born—true God and true man—without any human father—taking His human substance entirely from the Blessed Mother, who remained forever a virgin.
The Church has defined that Mary was the Mother of God (Ephesus [Dz113]), was ever‑Virgin (Constantinople II [Dz 214]), was conceived without sin (Pope Pius IX [Dz 1641], and was taken body and soul into Heaven (Pius XII [Dz 2333]). These are often referred to as “the four Marian dogmas.”
There is a tradition in the Church that Mary can also be called “co‑Redemptorix,” and “Mediatrix of all Graces,” About nine years ago (2008) a small group of cardinals petitioned Pope Benedict XVI to declare Mary to be:
[T]he Spiritual Mother of All Humanity, the co-redemptrix with Jesus the redeemer, mediatrix of all graces with Jesus the one mediator, and advocate with Jesus Christ on behalf of the human race.”[2]
A number of reasons for delaying the proclamation have been advanced.[3] To me they all sound like infighting between various theologians and apparition devotees—and, probably, a hope of not “offending” the Protestants. We already have Masses in the Roman Missal acknowledging Mary as “Mediatrix of all Graces,” “Help of Christians,” and “Mother of Perpetual Help.” It is a commonplace that “Mary is the second Eve,” and thus the “spiritual mother of all humanity.” No one denies that Mary suffered immensely at the Crucifixion as she watched her Son be crucified in the flesh—flesh which she had a very real claim to being her own.” History reminds us that Mary has been our advocate down through the centuries—beginning with the bridal couple at Cana, the encouragement of Saint James at a pillar in Spain, lifting the siege of Benevento in 663, the protection of Constantinople from the Moslems in 911, her work to ransom captives beginning in 1218, the conversion of Aztec savages in the 1530s, the naval victory at Lepanto in 1571 and the land battle at Vienna in 1683.
In more modern times we can point to the miracles at Lourdes and Fatima as examples of Mary’s advocacy—the first miracle healing the sick, and the second miracle warning Christendom of the errors of Marxism about to be unleased on the world and predicting the start of the Second World War.
This very year we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Fatima apparitions. This Saturday, May 13th is the anniversary of the first apparition, and I invite as many as possible of you to attend our 8:00 AM Mass in her honor.
You may know that on October 13th the apparitions ended with thousands of people observing the Sun dance around at noontime, drying up the pouring rains and healing the sick—the “Miracle of the Sun.” Even the skeptical, secular, newspaper, O Sèculo reported “Amazing things: As the sun dances at noon in Fatima” and printed a picture of the child visionaries.[4]
This year we are told that there will be an eclipse of the Sun on August 21, the day before the feast of Mary’s Immaculate Heart, and 54 days before the October anniversary. I don’t know whether or not the eclipse has any mystical significance—it may or may not be our “mini‑miracle of the Sun.” But there is a movement afoot to take those days and begin a 54 day rosary novena in honor of the Blessed Virgin, begging her intercession for our troubled world. This “triple novena” consists of saying only 5 decades of the Rosary each day for 27 days in petition, followed by five decades each day for 27 days in thanksgiving.
We’ll have a reminder on the feast of the Assumption (August 15), and I’ll some literature available, and I will ask everyone in this Parish to join in the 54 day novena beginning on the day of the eclipse (August 21).
I propose that our petition be for the return of Christian civilization under Christ the King and Mary His Queen. Mary is our “co‑redemptrix with Jesus the redeemer, mediatrix of all graces with Jesus the one mediator, and advocate with Jesus Christ on behalf of the human race.”
“Oh Mary conceived without sin,
pray for us who have recourse to thee.”
