Mary, mediator of graces

Mary, Mediator of Graces, stained glass window in the Notre-Dame de L'Épine basilica

Maria, mediator of graces ( Latin mediatrix gratiarum ), also mediator of all graces or Maria mediatrix , is an attribute or invocation used within the Catholic Church for Mary , the mother of Jesus .

meaning

The Second Vatican Council called in the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium Mary as Mediatrix: "By her maternal charity, she cares for the brethren of her Son who are still on the journey on earth surrounded by dangers and difficulties, until they reach the blessed homeland. That is why the Blessed Virgin is called upon in the Church under the attribute of intercessor, helper, supporter and mediator. But this is to be understood in such a way that it does not diminish or add anything to the dignity and effectiveness of Christ, the only mediator (paragraph number 62) ”and with regard to the attribute“ mediator ”it refers to documents of Popes Leo XIII. , Pius X. , Pius XI. and Pius XII.

In the Catholic Church there were various appeals to the Holy See to proclaim the mediation of Mary as dogma , for example on the occasion of the Second Vatican Council. This was rejected, but prompted Pope Paul VI. to call to mind the old Marian honorary title of Mary Mother of the Church .

There was also always the desire to give Mary, as the Mother of God and Mediator, the designation of the co-redeemer , up to and including the request to clarify this dogmatically or to proclaim a new dogma. Stefano de Fiores of the International Pontifical Marian Academy takes the opposite position . The desire for a dogmatic specification had been found by the Holy See, especially without the involvement of the Orthodox, to be not advisable at the moment. It must also be very clear that it is a matter of “participation, dependence in salvation”, not equality with Christ.

As the biblical basis of all statements about Mary's participation in the event of redemption, Lumen Gentium (No. 56) names her fiat ("[be] done to me", Lk 1.38  EU ), with which she was the first of all people to give her free consent to the God's plan of salvation.

“From the first moment of her conception, in the splendor of a unique holiness, the Virgin of Nazareth is greeted by the angel at the message at God's command as 'full of grace' (cf. Lk 1:28), and she answers the messenger of heaven: 'Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; it may be done to me according to your word' (Lk 1:38). The Holy Fathers are rightly convinced that Mary worked for the salvation of men in free faith and obedience. Saint Irenaeus says that 'in her obedience she became the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race'. That is why not a few of the old fathers like to say in their sermons, 'that the knot of Eve's disobedience was undone by the obedience of Mary; and what the virgin Eve bound through unbelief, the virgin Mary loosed through faith '. In comparison with Eve, they call Mary 'the mother of the living' and they often emphasize: 'Death came through Eve, life through Mary.' "

literature

• Ludwig Ott: Grundriss der Katholischen Dogmatik , 10th edition, Herder: Freiburg 1981 (1. A. 1952) p. 257. ISBN 3-451-13541-8
• Gloria Falcão Dodd: The Virgin Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces: History and Theology of the Movement for a Dogmatic Definition from 1896–1964 , Academy of the Immaculate, 2012
• Erwin Panofsky: "Imago Pietatis". A contribution to the type history of the “pain man” and the “Maria Mediatrix” , in: Festschrift for Max J. Friedländer on his 60th birthday, Leipzig 1927, pp. 261–308.

swell

1. ↑ Leo XIII., Encyclical Adiutricem Populi of September 5, 1895, No. 303; Pius X., Encyclical Ad diem illum of February 2, 1904 No. 154 and Denzinger 1978 a (3370); Pius XI, encyclical Miserentissimus Redemptor, May 8, 1928, No. 178; Pius XII., Radio message of May 13, 1946 No. 266
2. ↑ cf. Lauretan litany
3. ↑ The title "Maria Miterlöserin" - a legitimate wish? , Zenit of December 8, 2009 ( Memento of February 23, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (accessed on February 17, 2011)
4. ↑ P. Georges Cottier, The Co-redeemer
5. ↑ Petition for the proclamation of a fifth dogma of Mary ( Memento of the original from March 18, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
6. ↑ Maria Co-redeemer? A new dogma is not appropriate
7. ↑ New dogma: Maria Miterlöserin ?, Kath.net of October 23, 2002 (accessed on February 17, 2011)
8. ↑ Lumen Gentium, No. 56