Recently I met a friend who had found Jesus in another denomination. We had a great conversation about Jesus and about the faith. When I mentioned Mary, an icy chill arose and he told me: “I do not pray to dead people.”

I think he was referring to Deuteronomy 18:10-12. Martin Luther said: “There can be no doubt that Mary is in heaven” (Sermon, Feast of the Visitation, 1537). Catholics believe that heaven is a place of the living (not of the dead), full of praise and prayer. Catholics think that Mary in heaven also prays to Our Lord and Savior.

Did Catholics “inflate” the subject of Mary around 1800?

There are those who say that Catholics inflated (“made up,” “magnified”) these matters about Mary in the last century or so; that what concerns her was not part of primitive Christianity. Paradoxically, there is another large group of people who dismiss Mary by identifying her with the ancient pagan goddess Gaia (the “Mother Earth”), who, by far, is much earlier than Christ. Some evangelicals seem to go very far in explaining the relationship Catholics have with Mary. Catholics think that the best place to look into this subject is the Bible and the Early Church.

Only a few hundred years have passed since the last challenge to the validity of Mary. A simple look at medieval paintings will verify that she has always been part of the scene in Christianity.

The book: “The Blessed Virgin in the Fathers of the First Six Centuries” (“The Blessed Virgin in the Fathers of the First Six Centuries,” by Thomas Livius, published by Burns & Oates) contains abundant testimony to devotion to Mary among the first Christians. In the year 130 Irenaeus wrote about her; he was familiar with those who had been close to Peter and Paul and with those who “still have the preaching of the blessed apostles sounding in their ears.” He says:

“As Eve was seduced by the speech of an angel and had to flee from God after transgressing his word, so Mary also received the good news through the speech of an angel, so that she might bear God within her, being obedient to his word. And whereas one disobeyed God, the other drew near to him by obedience; from that virgin Eve, the Virgin Mary became an advocate and, as through a virgin the human race was bound to death, through a virgin it has been saved; the balance has been preserved — the disobedience of one virgin by the obedience of another virgin —” (Against Heresies, 3, 19) (A.D. 130).

Saint Justin, in A.D. 110-165, writes:

Whereas Eve, still a virgin and pure, by conceiving the word that came from the serpent, gave birth to disobedience and death; the Virgin Mary, receiving with faith and joy, at the moment when the Angel announced to her the good news that the Spirit of the Lord would come upon her and the power of the Most High would overshadow her, and thus the Holy One would be born of her and would be the Son of God, answered: let it be done to me according to your word. And through her He was born, concerning whom we have shown that many Scriptures have spoken; through whom God destroys the serpent and those angels and men who have become like it; and, on the other hand, works deliverance from death for those who repent of their evil deeds and believe in Him. (Dialogue with Trypho, A.D. 100)

St. Epiphanius, Against Eighty Heresies, 78,9:

Eve was called the mother of the living… after the fall this title was given to her. This is true… the whole human race on earth was born of Eve, but in reality it is from Mary that Life was truly born for the world. Thus, by giving birth to the Living One, Mary became the Mother of all the Living.

One of the most ancient catacombs contains a drawing of the Mother and Child, dated to the second century, and the oldest prayer of petition addressed to Mary, the “Sub Tuum Praesidium,” comes from A.D. 300!

We fly to your patronage, O holy Theotokos2;
do not despise our petition in our necessities,
but always deliver us from every danger,
O ever glorious and blessed Virgin

2Theotokos means “God-bearer” (Mother of God). This is a title that arose very early in Christianity. It simply says that from her was born Jesus, whom all Christians agree is God.

There is also evidence of the celebration in memory of the Assumption of Mary in Antioch in A.D. 380.

Let us look at the origin of the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, the Assumption, and Mary’s traditional role as Co-redemptrix and Mediatrix in the Early Church. I now present references to Mary from other Fathers of the Church.

Mary, you are the vessel and tabernacle that contains all mysteries. You know what the Patriarchs did not know; you have experienced what was never revealed to the Angels; you have heard what the prophets never heard. In a word, everything that was hidden from preceding generations was known to you, and even more, most of those wonders depended on you. (A.D. 270, Saint Gregory Thaumaturgus)

Blessed Virgin, immaculate and pure you are, the sinless Mother of your Son, the mighty Lord of the Universe. You are holy and inviolate, the hope of the hopeless and of sinners; we sing your praises. We praise you because you are the one full of grace who brought the God-Man. We all venerate you, invoke you and implore your help… Holy and Immaculate Virgin… be our intercessor and advocate at the hour of death and judgment… you are holy in the eyes of God, to whom be honor, glory, majesty and power forever. (A.D. 373, Saint Ephrem of Edessa)

Remember us, you who are near the One who has given you all graces; you are the Mother of God and our Queen. Help us by the merits of the King, Lord, God and Master who was born of you. For this reason you are called “full of Grace”… (A.D. 373, Saint Athanasius)

Blessed Virgin Mary, who can worthily repay you with praise and thanksgiving for having rescued a fallen world by your generous consent?… accept, then, such poor thanksgiving as we offer you, though it is unequal to your merits. Receive our gratitude and obtain by your prayers the forgiveness of our sins. Take our prayers into the sanctuary of heaven and bring them to the peace of God… Holy Mary, help the miserable, strengthen the discouraged, comfort the suffering, pray for your people, plead for the clergy, intercede for all women consecrated to God. May all who venerate you now feel your assistance and protection… Give your continual care to the people of God, you who have been blessed by God and made worthy to bear in your womb the Redeemer of the world, who lives and reigns forever. (Saint Augustine, A.D. 450)

Something important that we should notice in all these quotations is the clear reference to God/Jesus as Savior and to Mary’s intercessory role. Mary is a helper. There is no sin in asking someone for help. Most of us at some point have asked our pastor or a friend to intercede for us. This is what the Fathers of the Church do.

The Catholic Church is explicit about Mary’s role as helper. Around A.D. 350-450 there existed a heresy called Collyridianism, in which a group of women adored Mary as a deity. They were not Catholics. A representative of the Church, St. Epiphanius, destroyed this heresy with his apologetic work, the Panarion.

For those who think that the Marian elements in the Catholic Church are related to ancient pagan practices, I suggest See this article

Conclusion

Apart from everything presented here, the reason I believe Mary is in heaven helping us is that I had an experience with Mary that I cannot deny. No one can tell me that she is dead; for me that is as clear as the light of day. She is a friend who prays for me and has shown me truly cool things about her Son. I believe that if today I am a better Christian, it is because of Mary.

If you are afraid to speak about Mary, I invite you to pray to Jesus about Mary. I am sure that no evangelical could deny that it is perfectly safe and good to pray to Jesus about anything. Ask Jesus what is going on with Mary and give him time to answer you. I pray that you may live the same experience that has led me to an intimate conviction about the value of Mary as the help of the defenseless and a great warrior of prayer.

Biblical passages that Catholics relate to Mary

  • Genesis 3:15; 24:43-46 – Rebecca, 28:12 – Jacob’s ladder 28:12
  • Exodus 3:11-12; 13:2; 13:14 (Magnificat), 15:20; 21, 26 (Magnificat), 25:8 Ark 34:19-20
  • Leviticus 12:2; 8 Purification
  • Numbers 18:15 Presentation
  • Judges 6:12; 15 Annunciation
  • I Samuel 2:1-10 (Magnificat)
  • Isaiah 7:14 (Birth from a Virgin)
  • Ezekiel 44:2 (Perpetual virginity of Mary)
  • Matthew 1:16; 18-25 (Mary with her Child: 2:11, 13-14, 20-23 Flight into Egypt 12:46-50 Who is my mother? 13:55 Is not Mary his mother?
  • Mark 3:31-35 His mother was outside 6:3 Is this not the son of Mary?
  • Luke 1:26-56 Annunciation, visitation and magnificat 2:5-7; 16-19; 22; 33-35; 39; 41-51 Nativity, the shepherds, the presentation, the finding in the temple 8:19-21. Your mother is outside 11:27-28 Blessed is the womb that bore you…
  • John 1:14 incarnation 2:1-5 Cana 6:42 We know his mother 19:25-27
  • Acts 1:14 Gathered in prayer with Mary – Galatians 4:4 God sent his Son born of woman
  • Colossians 1:15; 18 firstborn, Head of the Body
  • Revelation 11:19 Ark in heaven 12:1-17 The Woman clothed with the sun.

Author: David McDonald

Source: Davidmacd.com

©2002 David MacDonald
Spanish translation: Margot Zunino

Lord Jesus, we ask you for the unity of Christians
that it may come about in Your way
we have absolute confidence
that you can gather your people.

We give you absolute permission to act
Amen

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