Mary in the Early Church

Along with the impact of devotion to Mary on Western civilization, the fruitful effects of Marian devotion on the proper dignity of woman has also been historically verified. The noted historian, William Lecky (neither Catholic nor Christian but a self-professed rationalist), offered these comments about the influence of Mary on the West:

As no other besides her Son, the Mother of Jesus and the rightful doctrine and devotion granted to her from Scripture and the early Church, and further developed throughout the ages, has borne fruit in a proper respect for person, a proper respect for the unique dignity of woman, and a new cultivation of all that is good in Western civilization.

We conclude with the words of Dante from the classic The Divine Comedy, which typifies well the strength of devotion to the Blessed Virgin that has been evidenced throughout the history of the Church, based on the truth about her as revealed in the Bible and Apostolic Tradition:

With living mortals you are a living spring of hope. Lady, you are so great and have such worth, that if anyone seeks out grace and flies not to thee, his longing is like flight without wings. (14)

This article was excerpted from Introduction to Mary: The Heart of Marian Doctrine and Devotion, Queenship, Third Edition, June 2006, and is available from Queenship Publishing at 1-800-647-9882, www.queenship.org., or PO Box 220, Goleta, California, 93116, U.S.A.

Notes

(1) Cf. John Murphy, "Origin and Nature of Marian Cult" in Juniper Carol, O.F.M., ed., Mariology, Vol. III, Milwaukee: Bruce, 1961, pp. 4-5.

(2) Ibid., pp. 3ff.

(3) St. Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, ch. 100, Patrologia Graeca (PG) Migne, 6, 709-712.

(4) St. Irenaeus, Adversus haereses, Bk. 3, pg. 32, I; PG 7, 958-959.

(5) St. Ambrose, Epist. 63, No. 33, Patrologia Latina (PL) Migne, 16, 1249-1250; Sermon 45, No. 4; PL, 17, 716.

(6) St. Jerome, Epist. 22, No. 21, PL 22, 408; cf. Walter Burghart, S.J. "Mary in Western Patristic Thought," in Carol, ed., Mariology, Vol. I, Bruce, 1955.

(7) St. Irenaeus, in J. Barthulot, Saint Irénée: Démonstration de la Prédication Apostolique, traduite de l'Arménien et annotée, in R. Graffin and F. Nau, Patrologia Orientalis (PO), vol. 12, Paris, 1919, pp. 772 et seq.

(8) Murphy, "Origin and Nature of Marian Cult," Mariology, Vol. III, p. 6.

(9) PG 35, 1181; Murphy, "Origin and Nature of Marian Cult," Mariology, Vol. III, p. 6.

(10) Cf. Ambrose, De virginibus, lib. 2, cap. 2; PL 16, 221ff; De instit. virginis, nn. 86-88; PL 16, 339-340; Epiphanius, Adv. haer., 3, t. 2; PG 42, 735, 742; Murphy, "Origin and Nature of Marian Cult," Mariology, Vol. III, p. 6.

(11) Cf. John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation Christifidelis Laici, December 30, 1988, end of closing prayer.

(12) Kenneth Clark, Civilization, as quoted in Dan Lyons, The Role of Mary Through the Centuries, Washington, New Jersey, World Apostolate of Fatima.

(13) Cf. Lyons, The Role of Mary Through the Centuries.

(14) Dante, "Paradise" in The Divine Comedy, Canto 33.