Thesis 5: THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

“The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph; and the virgin’s name was
Mary” (Lk 1:26-27).

I. The Place of the Virgin Mary in the History of Salvation

At the beginning, after the sin of Adam and Eve, God’s revealed His plan of salvation when He promised that a
child, born of a woman, will crush the head of the serpent (Gen 3:15).1 Being prefigured by the woman in the
passage, Mary’s role in the history of salvation already began at this point. This promise increased in the
prophets especially in Isaiah 7:14: “The virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him
Immanuel.” In the OT, some women, like Hannah, are inserted in order to prefigure the image of Mary in the
history of salvation.2

To fulfill the promise, the angel Gabriel had to come and ask Mary’s “fiat” (which refers to her acceptance of
God’s will). Her “fiat” is important inasmuch as without it God’s son will not be conceived in her womb. The
“yes” of Mary brought about salvation to humanity.

Mary was always with Jesus in all the important events of His life: the annunciation, the presentation in the
Temple, the losing and finding in the Temple, the first miracle at Cana, the death of Jesus (which is the
culmination of her participation in Jesus’ work of salvation), at the beginning of the Church (in prayer room in
the gathering of the apostles [Acts 1:14]). She was always in coordination with Jesus. Her place in the history of
salvation is due to the fact that she is the mother of Jesus. This is the reason why God endowed her with so
many graces to fulfill her role.

II. The Role of the Virgin Mary in the Life of the Church

Since Mary has a very important role in Jesus, who is the Head of the Body (the Church), she also has a very
important role in the Church. She, who was present at the beginning of the Church, plays two roles in the life of
the Church: as an intercessor3 and as a model.

Mary’s intercession is a participation in the role of Jesus as mediator. She does not take it away from Him. Her
intercession cannot replace the role of Jesus. In fact, her role flows from the role of Jesus. Now, this role comes
from Mary’s motherhood (a mother always intercedes to the father for her children) – since she is the mother of
the Church also (which includes interceding for her children). Put simply, her role as intercessor is that of
participation and is subordinate to the role of Jesus.

Secondly, she becomes a model for the Church in her holiness (because of her close union with Jesus). The
Church, as the Body of Christ, should also have close union with Jesus, the Head, just as Mary is close to Jesus.
Just as her holiness comes from Jesus, so also should the Church’s holiness come Him. There are two ways in
dealing with Mary’s role as model in the Church: 1) she is presented to the Church as a whole as its type in both
her virginity (the Church must be a spotless bride like Mary) and motherhood (the Church should become the
1
The passage is known as the “protoevangelium” (Gr. “first gospel”) which is understood as the first promise of salvation.
2
Remember that we cannot speak of Mary without speaking about Jesus. There is an inseparable link between Mary and Jesus. This
can be seen, for example, in Genesis 3:15 and Isaiah 7:14.
3
It must be clear that only Jesus is the mediator between God and man. “For there is only one God, and there is only one mediator
between God and humanity, himself a human being, Christ Jesus” (1 Tim 2:5).
mother of all people just as Mary is the mother of Jesus) & 2) she is presented as the model for all of us in the
way of holiness (due to her close union with Jesus).

In Mary, we contemplate the Church in her fulfillment in heaven (eschatology). The image of the Church is a
bride (the spouse of Jesus). The Church, in her pilgrimage, looks at Mary’s close ties with the Son as her own
fulfillment at the end of time.

Because of her important role in the history of salvation and the Church, she “was enriched by God with gifts
appropriate to such role” (LG 56). By this, we speak of the four dogmas concerning Mary: 1) Immaculate
Conception, 2) Divine Motherhood, 3) Perpetual Virginity, 4) and Assumption into heaven.

III. The Immaculate Conception of Mary (proclaimed by a pope)

The question concerning this dogma is not biological (mother’s womb only), but theological. Because this
dogma is linked with her role with Jesus, it is a question of theology. The term “conception” is defined as the
“absolute origination of a person in the plan of God.” It not by human desire but by God’s will. There are three
stages in the conception of Mary: 1) Mary was already conceived in the mind of God at the beginning, 2) in
history, Mary was conceived in the people of God (Israel), 3) Mary was conceived in her family (in her
mother’s womb).

As the mother of Jesus, Mary had to be endowed with the graces appropriate to that role (LG 56). In order to
conceive Jesus who will free us from sin,4 God has to give Mary the grace of being conceived free from sin. For
how could someone who is tainted with sin, free from sin? That is why it is made clear that Jesus is like us in
everything (Phil 2:7) except sin (Heb 4:15). It follows then that Mary, from whom Jesus comes, should not also
be tainted with sin.

The Fathers of the Church saw Mary in the victory of Jesus over sin in Genesis 3:15. For Mary to be part in the
victory over sin, she should not be under the influence of sin. Not all Fathers believed in this. Even Thomas
Aquinas denied the immaculate conception of Mary. It was John Duns Scotus who provided the explanation and
support of this doctrine. According to him, “Mary is redeemed in anticipation and therefore first.” It asserts that
Mary is primarily a member of the humanity that requires redemption; however, for the sake of her Son’s honor,
from the beginning of her conception she was preserved from the stain of original sin through his redemptive
merit and received into the original communion with God. Her redemption (in anticipation) is that of
preservation and not liberation from sin. In other words, Mary has been chosen and given grace for the deepest
living union with Christ; this expresses in a positive manner what preservation from original sin formulates
negatively.

This dogma was proclaimed on Dec. 3, 1854 by Pius IX in his Bull Ineffabilis Deus. But years before that, in
Dec. 8, 1661, it was already declared by Pope Alexander VII in his Bull Sollicitudo Omnium.

This dogma supports the mission of Jesus, which is to establish the kingdom of God and to save mankind
(redemption). Also, this dogma speaks of how Mary was saved.
4
Jesus cannot be born of a person who is affected by sin, because if Mary is affected by sin, then Jesus would also be affected by sin
due to the human nature of Jesus that comes from Mary. Remember that the original sin of Adam affected the whole of human
nature.
IV. The Divine Motherhood of Mary (proclaimed by a council)

The biblical foundation of this is in Genesis 3:15. But the clearest one is when Mary visited Elizabeth: “And
how does this happen to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me” (Lk 1:43)? Since Jesus is not only
true man, but also true God, it is therefore right to call Mary the “Theotokos” (Gr. “God-bearer” = one who
gives birth to God) or the Mother of God. This dogma was declared in the Council of Ephesus (451). Actually,
this question about the mother of God was a Christological question. This dogma was defined as the conclusion
of the controversy between Nestorius of Constantinople and Cyril of Alexandria. Nestorius5 said that Mary
would not be the mother of God, since Mary, being human, cannot give birth to the divinity of Jesus. He
preferred to call her only as “anthropotolos” or “Christotokos.” But the argument against him is that Mary did
just give birth to a nature. She gave birth to a person (Jesus who is true God and true man). Thus Mary is the
mother of God, being the mother of Jesus who is true God (and true man).

This dogma defends the identity of Jesus; that He is God Himself.

V. The Perpetual Virginity of Mary (dogma without clear proclamation)

The divine motherhood of Mary is the intervention of God. In the Scriptures, Mary conceived by the power of
the Holy Spirit (Lk 1:34-35). There is no human intervention. Then even after giving birth to Jesus, Mary
remained a virgin all her life. However, the topic on Mary’s virginal conception of Jesus was originally about
Christology, since it speaks of the origin of Jesus. If we say that Mary lost her virginity when she conceived
Jesus, then she must have conceived through human intervention. Then Jesus will have a human father rather
than God Himself.

There are three things to remember: 1) Mary’s virginity manifests God’s absolute initiative in the Incarnation;
2) Jesus is conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit; 3) it speaks of us later on who will be born in the faith
through the power of the Holy Spirit in baptism.

The virginity of Mary is: before giving birth, during6 giving birth, and after giving birth. The simple reason here
is that there is no human intervention involved. She never had sexual intercourse because of her total dedication
to God.

This dogma defends the divine origin of Jesus and the fatherhood of the Father.

VI. The Assumption of Mary (proclaimed by a pope)

Because of her close link with Jesus, God does not want the corruption of her body. There is no biblical
foundation unlike the other three dogmas. It came from the tradition of the Church. The assumption of Mary is
described in Lumen Gentium 59: “The Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all guilt of original sin, on the
completion of her earthly sojourn, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as
Queen of the universe, that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords and the

5
He came from the Antiochene School, which emphasized the humanity of Jesus and the distinction of the two natures in Him. Cyril
on the other hand came from the Alexandrian School, which emphasized the divinity of Jesus and the oneness of person.
6
Christ birth “did not diminish his mother’s virginal integrity but sanctified it” (LG 57).
conqueror of sin and death.”7 This dogma was proclaimed by Pius the XII on November 1, 1950 in the apostolic
constitution Munificentissimus Deus.

This is a singular participation in the resurrection and ascension of Jesus due to her close link with Him.

7
Different from the ascension of Jesus, the assumption of Mary connotes passivity on her part.