Mary,

The Mother of
God
Lawrence Quijano
Roma Sorra
Mae Bayobo
Mary
➔ St. Mary the Virgin

➔ The Blessed Virgin Mary

➔ Saint Mary

➔ Mary Mother of God

➔ The Virgin Mary

Mary
● Traditionally, she was declared the daughter
of Sts. Joachim and Anne.
● Born in Jerusalem, Mary was presented in the
Temple and took a vow of virginity.
● She lived in Nazareth in Galilee.
● She was the cousin of Elizabeth, the mother of
John, the Baptist.
Mary
● She was believed to be the greatest of all
Christian Saints.
● The holiest of all creatures.
● The main events of her life are celebrated as
liturgical feasts of the universal Church.
● Mary's life and role in the history of salvation
is foreshadowed in the Old Testament, while
the events of her life are recorded in the New
Testament.
Mary
● She was betrothed (engaged) to Joseph when
the Angel Gabriel came to her: “Hail, favored
one! The Lord is with you” (Luke 1:28).
● The Angel announced that she was to be the
mother of Jesus, the Mother of God.
● Acknowledged by Elizabeth as the Mother of
God, Mary intoned the Magnificat.
Key Ideas
● The Blessed Virgin Mary has a singular
place in salvation history because of the
unique graces given to her as Mother of
God.

● Due to her free consent to God’s will,

the Blessed Virgin Mary is truly the
Mother of God because her Son is
divine: the Second Person of the
Blessed Trinity.
Key Ideas
● The Immaculate Conception is the defined doctrine that from the moment of
her conception, the Blessed Virgin Mary—by a singular grace of God and by
virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ—was preserved from all stain of Original
Sin.
● The Assumption is the dogma that recognizes the Blessed Virgin Mary’s
singular participation in her Son’s Resurrection by which she was taken up
body and soul into heavenly glory when the course of her earthly life was
finished.
● The Perpetual Virginity is the dogma which recognizes the Blessed Virgin
Mary’s virginity before, during, and after the conception and Birth of Christ.
Key Ideas
● The Blessed Virgin Mary is the Mother of the Church because she is the
Mother of Christ, whose Body is the Church, and because Christ made all his
disciples her children when he gave her to St. John at the foot of the Cross.
● As a good Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary is always concerned for her
children and intercedes for them.
● As the Mother of the King, the Blessed Virgin Mary is Queen of Heaven, an
archetype of the Church perfected.
Mary in God’s Plan of Salvation
● God’s plan of salvation begin to unfold immediately after Adam and Eve’s
original sin.
● In the Protoevangelium, or “First Gospel” (Gn 3:15), God foretold to the
serpent that he will “put enmity between you and the woman, and
between your seed and her seed.” The woman and her seed refer to the
Blessed Virgin Mary and her Son, Jesus.
● Just as the story of salvation history began with three characters—Adam,
Eve, and the serpent it ends with Christ, the New Adam; the Blessed
Virgin Mary, the New Eve; and Satan, who is defeated by the Cross.
Mary in God’s Plan of Salvation
● This special role of Mary in salvation history is clearly shown in the
Gospel where she is seen constantly at her son's side during his
soteriological mission. Because of this role, exemplified by her
acceptance of Christ into her womb, her offering of him to God at the
Temple, her urging him to perform his first miracle, and her standing at
the foot of the Cross at Calvary Mary was joined fully in the sacrifice by
Christ of himself.
Marian Dogmas
➔ Perpetual Virginity

➔ Mother of God

➔ Immaculate Conception

➔ Assumption
Church Dogmas About Mary
● Dogma - a solemn definition of one of the Church’s doctrines.
● The basis of the church’s dogmas about the Blessed Virgin Mary are the
result of the Church’s continued reflections on the Deposit of Faith in
regard to the person of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the privileges given to
her by Christ, her Son.
1. Mother of God
● The Blessed Virgin Mary show her
consent to becoming the Mother of Christ
when she said to the Archangel Gabriel,
“Let it be [done] to me according to your
word.”
● In the gospels, the people call the Blessed
Virgin Mary as The Mother of Jesus.
● The custom of calling the Blessed Virgin
Mary the “Mother of God” begin in the
early centuries of the Eastern Churches.
1. Mother of God
● God give the Blessed Virgin Mary the unique grace of being preserved from
Original Sin so that she could faithfully respond to what he was going to ask
of her, to be the Mother of his Son.
● Theotokos (Greek word) = “Bearer of God”
● St. Elizabeth’s greeting, which is recorded in St. Luke’s Gospel, imply that the
Blessed Virgin Mary is the Mother of God when St. Elizabeth calls her cousin
“the mother of my Lord.”
1. Mother of God
● The Blessed Virgin Mary’s Motherhood is different from every other
mother’s because she conceived her Son not by a physical marriage act
but by the consent that she gave to God.
● Rather than praising her biological motherhood, Jesus praised her
Mother’s obedience to the will of God, saying, “Blessed rather are those
who hear the word of God and keep it.”
● Of all people, it is Christ’s Mother who hears the Word of God and keeps
it most perfectly.
The Blessed Virgin Mary as
Advocate, Helper, Benefactress,
and Mediatrix

Just as she brought grace into the world by

saying yes to God, a consent she sustained
even at the foot of the Cross, she continues
to bring grace to the world through her
intercession in Heaven.
The “Yes” of Mary
● At the Annunciation, the Blessed Virgin Mary was able to respond with the
obedience of faith to God’s eternal plan for human salvation through the
Incarnation of the Word.
● According to Pope Bl. John Paul II, the Annunciation herald a new relationship
between God and human beings when Christ, as divine Bridegroom, joins
humanity to himself and calls everyone to be his Church, as the universal
People of the New Covenant.
● The Blessed Virgin Mary and the Church share the same qualities:
Virgin and Mother.
2. The Immaculate Conception
“Immaculate Conception”
The Blessed Virgin Mary was preserved from
all stain of Original Sin from the moment of
her conception. *It does not refer to her
Virgin Birth.

The Blessed Virgin Mary is the New Eve and

Christ the New Adam. Christ hailed her as the
New Eve, whose obedience helps to restore
what the first Eve lost through her
disobedience.
2. The Immaculate Conception
● The Church has always understood Archangel Gabriel’s words, “full of grace”
as an insight into the Blessed Virgin Mary’s nature, namely, that Christ
preserved her from the effects of Original Sin from the first instant of her
existence.
● The grace that the Blessed Virgin Mary received at her Immaculate
Conception is different from the grace we receive at Baptism. Our Baptism
makes us children of God and gives us grace; however, it does not remove the
effects of Original Sin. The Blessed Virgin Mary was preserved even from this
and given the fullness of salvation that Christ offers to everyone.
3. Assumption
The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception
support the idea that the Blessed Virgin Mary
could not die. She was preserved from all stain
of—including the effects of— Original Sin from
the moment of her conception and, in
addition, she never committed an actual sin.
Thus, she is free from the punishments of
Original Sin, including death.
3. Assumption
● At the end of Mary’s life, her body was not subject to physical decay, but she
was assumed body and soul into Heaven.
● The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a singular participation in her
Son’s Resurrection, and she received in advance what we await: a resurrected,
glorified body.
● Christians in the Eastern Churches call the Assumption the Dormition, or
“falling asleep.”
● In the Feast of Assumption, we are pilgrims because we are on a journey to
Heaven and await a bodily resurrection. She is a pioneer because, like Christ,
she has already gone ahead to Heaven with a resurrected body.
4. Perpetual Virginity of Mary
The perpetual virginity of Mary of Nazareth
is expressed in 3 parts:
● virginitas antepartum: virginity before

birth, in her virginal conception of

Christ
● virginitas in partu: virginity during

birth, in giving birth to Christ

● virtinitas postpartum: virginity after

birth, in her continuing virginity after

His birth
4. Perpetual Virginity of Mary
● Virgin Birth refers to the doctrine that Christ was conceived and born of a
virgin, the Blessed Virgin Mary.

● The doctrine of the Perpetual Virginity of the Blessed Virgin Mary: She
remained a virgin for her entire life: before, during, and after the Birth of
Christ.
St. Joseph
● St Joseph is honored as one of the greatest
of all saints.
● St. Joseph was entrusted with the care of
Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary because
of his complete obedience to the will of
God.
● St. Joseph is honored as the patron of the
universal Church, protector of the entire
Family of God. He watches over and
protects Christ’s Mystical Body, that is, the
Church.
DID JESUS HAVE BROTHERS AND SISTERS?

When the New Testament mentions

Christ’s brothers and sisters, they are
referring to close relations of Christ
according to an Old Testament expression.
Hebrew and Aramaic did not have a word
for “cousin,” so they would use a word such
as “brother” to designate any member of
one’s close relatives, clan, or tribe.
 Doctrines of Christ and Mary Compared

Christ Mary

Virgin Birth Jesus was Immaculate Mary was preserved

conceived in the Conception from Original Sin
womb of his mother, from the moment of
Mary, without a her conception.
human father.

Ascension After his Assumption At the moment of

Resurrection, Jesus her death, Mary was
ascended into brought to heaven,
heaven with his body and soul
glorified body and together.
soul, by his own
power.
Blessed Virgin Mary
➔ Mother of the Church

➔ Help of Christians

➔ Queen of Heaven
Mary, Mother of the Church
● It was through Mary’s “yes” to the
Father that the Church came into
being.

● The Blessed Virgin Mary is the Mother

of Christ, whose Mystical Body is the
Church. Therefore, Mary is the Mother
of the Church, too.
Mary, Mother of the Church
● As the generous associate and humble handmaid of the Lord, she conceived,
gave birth to, and nourished Christ, presented him to the Father in the
Temple, and was united with him by compassion as he died on the Cross. Thus
she cooperated by her obedience, faith, hope, and burning charity in the work
of the Savior in giving back supernatural life to souls.
● Christ indicated that the Blessed Virgin Mary is the mother of St. John and the
Mother of all who would be united in his Mystical Body, the Church.
● The Church herself is a Mother because it gives supernatural life to her
children through the Sacraments.
Mary, Help of Christians
● The Blessed Virgin Mary always is concerned
for all Christians because we are members of
the Church and she is the Mother of the
Church, we are her children. And because
she is perfect, she will never lose patience
with her children or reject us no matter
what.
● We can foster a close relationship with the
Blessed Virgin Mary through prayer: for
example, the Memorare, the Hail Holy
Queen, or the Holy Rosary.
Queen of Heaven
● The Book of Revelation describe the
Blessed Virgin Mary as Queen of Heaven
and Earth. She is depicted as “a woman
clothed with the sun, with the moon
under her feet, and on her head a crown
of twelve stars [whose son] is to rule all
the nations.” *The mother of a king is
called a queen mother.
Queen of Heaven
● Mary possesses a unique relationship with all three Persons of the Trinity,
thereby giving her a claim to the title of Queenship. She was chosen by God
the Father to be the Mother of his Son; God the Holy Spirit chose her to be his
virginal spouse for the Incarnation of the Son; and God the Son chose her to
be his mother, the means of incarnating into the world for the purposes of the
redemption of humanity.
● The Blessed Virgin Mary is not a type but an archetype of the Church. A type
is a foreshadowing of something, whereas an archetype is a perfect model.
She does not foreshadow what the entire Church will become, but she is
already an example of what the Church will be.
Conclusions
● The Blessed Virgin Mary is honored by the Church in an altogether different
way than the worship offered to God; her honor is a greater form than is
offered to the angels and other saints.

● The precise Greek terms the Church uses are latria for the adoration of God,
dulia for the honor given to the angels and saints, and hyperdulia, or extreme
honor, given to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
References