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The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and its Foundation in Her Role as Coredemptrix

Written by Fr. Jason A. Jones

Saturday, 15 August 2009 00:00

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5. The last reference that we need to look at follows on immediately from the above: “Hence, the revered Mother of God, from all eternity joined in a hidden way with Jesus Christ in one and the same decree of predestination, immaculate in her conception, a most noble associate of the divine Redeemer who has won a complete triumph over sin and its consequences, was finally granted, as the supreme culmination of her privileges, that she should be preserved free from the corruption of the tomb and that, like her own Son, having overcome death, she might be taken up body and soul to the glory of Heaven.”

The Constitution makes it clear to us that the Assumption of our Lady is a sharing in the victory of redemption over sin and death in which she herself has taken an active part by being associated with the Redeemer.

The Complete Victory of Christ the Redeemer Over Sin and Death in the Resurrection, and the Complete Victory of Mary as Co-redemptrix Who Is Assumed into Heaven by the Anticipated Resurrection of Her Body and Soul

Christ was victorious over death, not by not dying, but by not remaining dead, by rising again with a glorified body. St. Paul reminds us that “If Christ is not risen, then our faith is in vain.” (1 Cor. 15:17).

The glorious Resurrection of Christ is an essential part and final sign of victory over the dominion of the devil and its effects. Into this struggle, and associated with the victory, is Our Lady. If the fruits of Christ's death have been applied to her in an anticipatory way by her Immaculate Conception, thus enabling her to co-operate with our salvation, so now Mary, who though subordinate to and dependent upon Christ, acts as our Co-redemptrix and is entitled to share in the full effects of the victory of the resurrection by her own anticipated resurrection in the glorious Assumption. The words of Pius XII in the dogma of the Assumption confirm our argument that our Blessed Lady shared most intimately in the Redeemer’s struggle against the infernal foe. “Consequently, just as the glorious Resurrection of Christ was an essential part, a final sign of this victory, so that struggle which was common to the Blessed Virgin and her divine Son should be brought to a close by the glorification of her virginal body.” Christ and Mary shared the selfsame absolute struggle and complete victory over Satan. Christ’s Resurrection was an essential part of that struggle; therefore, so was Mary’s. The role of our Blessed Lady in the whole process is, of course, entirely subordinated to that of Christ from Whom it derived its very existence and all its efficacy. Christ, then, remains our only Redeemer. It is not a question of a Redeemer and a Redemptrix, but the Redeemer who makes use of the divine plan for Mary in salvation in her role as Co-redemptrix. For Christ, by not needing but allowing His Mother, is dependent upon no other and has destroyed the dominion of Satan and sin and death.

Apart from Munificentissimus Deus which infallibly defines the Assumption, there are some earlier petitions requesting this definition that are likewise based upon the wide belief and acceptance of Mary as the Co-redemptrix. At the time of the first Vatican Council a petition was sent (signed by 113 bishops and archbishops) requesting the definition of our Blessed Lady’s Assumption. It begins as follows: “Most Holy Father: Since according to the apostolic teaching, as recorded in Rom. 5-8; I Cor. 15:24-26, 54-57; Heb 2:14-15 and other texts, the triumph which Christ gained over Satan, the ancient serpent, consists of a threefold victory over sin and it’s effects, concupiscence and death; and since in Gen. 3:15 the Mother of God is shown as being associated in a unique manner in this triumph with her Son, which is also the unanimous opinion of the Fathers, we do not doubt that in the aforesaid prophecy (the Protoevangelium) this same Blessed Virgin was foretold as being prominent by that threefold victory; and therefore, that same passage (Gen. 3:15) foretells her singular triumph over hostile death by an anticipated resurrection similar to that of her Son, the same as it foretells her victory over sin by her Immaculate Conception, and over concupiscence by her virginal Motherhood.” (17) To the above is added two other testimonies petitioning for the Assumption in the first decade of the twentieth century. The first one, endorsed by eighty-six Ordinaries reads “It is evident that the privilege of the Assumption fits in admirably with the title and office of Mary as Coredemptrix of the human race.” (18) The other petition signed by thirty bishops and archbishops is more explicit still. It reads: “The same privilege of the Assumption is implied (continetur) in the revealed doctrine of Mary’s coredemption." (19)

Carol summaries the conclusion “The victory of our Lady it must be remembered is an associated one, in other words she triumphs over Satan (and hence over death) through her close association with Christ, whose Victory she intimately shares. Christ triumphed over death, not by remaining alive, that is, by not dying, but precisely by not remaining dead, i.e., by His anticipated glorious resurrection, according to Romans 6:9. Hence, our Blessed Lady, because of her share in that victory (“arctissimo et indissolubii vinculo,” as Pius IX expressed it) triumphed over death, not by remaining alive, (that is by not dying), but rather by her anticipated glorious resurrection.” (20)

The Post-Conciliar Approach to Mariology and the Confirmation of the Assumption as a Result of Mary’s Cooperation in Redemption

There were two strands within Mariology of the period immediately prior to Vatican II. The predominant strand was to link Mariology with Christology. With the acknowledgement of new movements, both within and outside the Church, the emerging “Marian Model” was that of the “Mary-Church” theme. John XXIII, and subsequently Paul VI, were confronted with a dilemma: some of the council Fathers, rather nervous about the innovations of the Council and about a seeming break with the style of Marian piety of the last two centuries, wanted the Pope to do something that would recall the style and Marian devotion of Pius XII and his predecessors. The arguments were heated, new texts and schemas were written and re-written. The end result was the inclusion of Our Lady in the Schema on the Church in Lumen Gentium.

Within Chapter Eight of Lumen Gentium, the Fathers acknowledge that their presentation on Mary is incomplete and that the Mariological teaching prevailing in Catholic thinking up to that time was still viable.

"It (this sacred synod) does not, however, intend to give a complete doctrine on Mary, nor does it wish to decide those questions which the work of theologians has not yet fully clarified. Those opinions therefore may be lawfully retained which are propounded in Catholic schools concerning her, who occupies a place in the Church which is highest after Christ and also closest to us." (21)

The co-operation of Mary is presented in the Constitution, not as a once-only event but as a “role” in the ongoing “working out” of Redemption. Mary remains united to her Son throughout His life, until its climax on Calvary. This Conciliar teaching echoes the previously mentioned papal teaching of Benedict XV in Inter sodalicia, as well as the teaching of Pius XI and Pius XII.

The co-operation and intimate union of Mother and Son in salvation understood in relation to victory over sin and death has been written about by the present Pope in the encyclical Redemptoris Mater and the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

The main Marian work of John Paul II is the 1987 encyclical letter Redemptoris Mater. Throughout it John Paul II refers to his predecessors and their teaching on Mary’s ongoing presence in the mysteries of Redemption. Within the encyclical, there is no mention of the title “Co-redemptrix” (though he has used it on other occasions). Yet the theological understanding of Mary co-operating in Redemption is implied not only in the title, but also in various passages within the text.

John Paul II reminds us of the truth of the Assumption as defined by Pius XII and reaffirmed by the second Vatican Council. In quoting Lumen Gentium, the Pope recognizes the conformity of Mother and Son. “Preserved free from all guilt of original sin, the Immaculate Virgin was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory upon the completion of her earthly sojourn. She was exalted by the Lord as Queen of the Universe, in order that she might be more thoroughly conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords and the conqueror of sin and death.” The Pope continues that “By the mystery of the Assumption into heaven there were definitively accomplished in Mary all the effects of the one Mediation of Christ the Redeemer of the world and Risen Lord: ‘In Christ shall all be made alive, but each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. (I Cor. 15:22-23)’" (22) The Pope throughout this section on the Assumption speaks of the close and indissoluble bond of Mary and Christ. The plan of Redemption was obtained through the singular and unitive collaboration of Mary with (subordinate and dependent upon) Christ the Lord. We can rightly deduce from the teaching of John Paul II, that Mary, who so intimately co-operated with the life and death of Christ, has also partaken and received the definitive effects of His victorious resurrection by an anticipated resurrection of her own body in its Assumption into Heaven. The Pope further confirms this in 1985 in Ecuador. Not only does he call Mary the Co-redemptrix, but “as she was in a special way close to the Cross of her Son, she also had to have a privileged experience of His Resurrection. In fact, Mary’s role as Co-redemptrix did not cease with the glorification of her Son." (23) Therefore, the only way we can understand this is as follows: as the Redeemer has been glorified in His resurrection, then the Co-redemptrix who was united to the work of Redemption also experiences the resurrection in her body through her glorious Assumption.

John Paul II, in other words, continues the teaching of the Magisterium by asserting that, the glorification of Mary in her Assumption is a fulfillment of her singular participation with her Son in Redemption in her role as the Co-redemptrix.

The Catechism of The Catholic Church

The Catechism of the Catholic Church continues previous Magisterial Teaching on the co-operation of Mary in the Redemption. The foundation for this teaching on co-operation is Lumen Gentium and is presented in a section entitled “Wholly united to her Son.” In expounding Lumen Gentium Mary is identified as having a singular co-operation with Redemption that begins at the conception of Christ. This union is manifested above all at the hour of the passion where Mary joins her own suffering to that of her Son and renews the consent of the victim born of her. (24)

The Catechism views the Assumption of Mary in relation to her Son. “The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is a singular participation in her Son’s resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians.” (25)

We can conclude from the Catechism that, Mary is wholly united to her Son especially at the hour of His death and therefore is able to participate in her Son’s Resurrection by her Assumption. If Mary has remained faithful throughout the life of Christ and at His death, then why should she not also share in the new life He has obtained for each one of us? This new life which we hope for, is bestowed on Mary in an anticipated way by her Assumption.

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