Mary

# Mary, the Redeemer

Pope John Paul II intends to declare Mary the Co-Redemptrix, Mediatrix, and Advocate of humanity. This will make it the fifth official Catholic Marian dogma, or article of faith.

Here are all five:

1 - Mary is the “Mother of God.”

2 - Mary was “Ever-Virgin.”

3 - Mary was “immaculately conceived,” without stain of sin.

4 - Mary was assumed (translated) to Heaven, and there crowned “Queen of Heaven and Earth.”

5 - Mary is the “Mediatrix of all Graces, Co-Redemptrix, and Advocate” between man and God.

Some believed that the pope was going to issue this declaration at the World Congress of Ecclesial Movements, meeting on May 27-29, 1998, at Rome, immediately prior to the Pentecost festival. Indeed, a major petition drive by Marian zealots urged him to do just that. But it is more likely that he will do it in the year 2000.

As an article of faith, every Catholic throughout the world would be bound to accept and believe this ex-cathedra (infallible) pronouncement of the pope, on pain of losing his salvation if he were to reject it.

According to papal teaching, to reject an ex-cathedra declaration of the pope is to reject the infallibly declared word of God. It is maintained that such statements have the same authority as if God Himself declared them.

These titles, “Co-Redemptrix, Mediatrix, and Advocate” have a very significant meaning: They would indicate that no one in the world can have salvation except through Mary. They cannot obtain it direct from Jesus Christ.

Yet, in reality, this concept has been taught for centuries in various church-approved statements, journals, and books—by Catholic writers, editors, councils, and popes.

Here are several major statements by popes; many more could be cited:

“If in all this series of Mysteries, Venerable Brethren, are developed the counsels of God in regard to us—‘counsels of wisdom and of tenderness,’ according to St. Bernard—not less apparent is the greatness of the benefits for which we are debtors to the Virgin Mother. No man can meditate upon these without feeling a new awakening in his heart of confidence that he will certainly obtain through Mary the fullness of the mercies of God.

“And to this end, vocal prayer chimes well with the Mysteries. First, as is meet and right comes the Lord’s prayer, addressed to Our Father in Heaven; and having, with the elect, petitions dictated by Our Divine Master, called upon the Father, from the throne of His Majesty—we turn our prayerful voices to Mary.

“Thus is confirmed that law of merciful meditation of which We have spoken, and which St. Bernardine of Siena thus expresses: ‘Every grace granted man has three degrees in order; for by God it is communicated to Christ, from Christ it passes to the Virgin, and from the Virgin it descends to us.”—Pope Leo XIII, Encyclical, promulgated on September 8, 1894, quoted in Iucunda Semper Expectatione (On the Rosary).

“At Cana in Galilee there is shown only one concrete aspect of human need, apparently a small one of little importance. [‘They have no wine.’] But it has a symbolic value: this coming to the aid of human needs means, at the same time, bringing those needs within the radius of Christ’s messianic mission and salvific power.

“Thus there is a mediation: Mary places herself between her Son and mankind in the reality of their wants, needs and sufferings. She puts herself ‘in the middle;’ that is to say, she acts as mediatrix not as an outsider, but in her position as a mother.

“She knows that, as such, she can point out to her Son the needs of mankind, and in fact, she ‘has the right’ to do so. Her mediation is thus in the nature of intercession: Mary ‘intercedes’ for mankind.”—Pope John Paul II, Encyclical, promulgated on March 15, 1987, quoted in Redemptoris Mater (On the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Life of the Pilgrim Church).

The following Vatican press release quotes from a papal address:

“The heavenly Father has wished to unite ‘to the priestly intercession of the Redeemer the maternal intercession of the Virgin. It is a function that she exercises to the benefit of those who are in danger and need temporal favors, and above all, eternal salvation.’

“The titles with which the Christian people address the Mother of the Lord ‘help in understanding better the nature of her intervention in the life of the Church and of each of the faithful.’

“As ‘Advocate, she defends her children and protects them from the damage caused by their own faults. Christians invoke Mary as help of Christians, recognizing her motherly love that sees the needs of her children, and that she is prepared to intervene to help them, especially when eternal salvation is at stake.’

“She receives the title of ‘Helper’ because ‘she is near all those who suffer or find themselves in situations of grave danger.’

“Finally, ‘as maternal Mediator, Mary presents Christ with our wishes, our supplications, and transmits to us His divine gifts, interceding continually in our favor.’ ”—Vatican Information Services press release, quoting Pope John Paul II, statement made in general audience in Vatican Square, September 24, 1997 [emphasis theirs].

“Pope John Paul II recalled that Vatican Council II gave Mary the title of ‘Mediatrix,’ which affirms that ‘with her multiple intercession she continues to obtain for us the gift of eternal salvation.’

“ ‘Despite the fact that some council fathers did not fully agree with’ the attribution of this title to Mary, ‘it was nonetheless included in the dogmatic constitution of the Church to confirm that value of the truth that it expresses. However, they avoided joining it to any particular theology of mediation, and it was only included among the other titles recognized as Mary’s.’ ”—Vatican Information Service, quoting John Paul II at a general audience in St. Peter’s Square, October 1, 1997.

At this juncture in that speech, John Paul cleverly sidesteps the clear statement of 1 Timothy 2:5.

“ ‘In proclaiming Christ the one mediator, the text of the Letter of Saint Paul to Timothy excludes any parallel mediation, but not a subordinate mediation . . It is possible to participate in Christ’s mediation in different spheres of the work of salvation . . In this will [desire] to stir participation in the unique mediation of Christ, the free love of God, who wants to share what He possesses, is manifested.”—Ibid.

Such remarks clearly present Mary as Co-Redemptrix and Mediatrix. (Keep in mind that not only Mary, but the pope and the priests are mediators between the soul and God and extend forgiveness to men.)

On May 13, 1983, an assassination attempt was made on John Paul II in St. Peter’s Square. That date was an anniversary of the first appearance of the so-called apparition of Our Lady of Fatima on May 13, 1917, in Portugal.

During his recovery, the pope credited his survival to the direct intervention of Mary. On the first May 13 after his recovery, he made a pilgrimage to Fatima to worship the statue of Mary at the shrine; and, through the statue, he expressed his thanks to Mary for having saved his life.

A primary element in Christianity is believing that God is good, that He loves you, and that you can come to Him in repentance and be reconciled.

But Roman Catholicism is a distorted system which denies all these truths! It teaches that God the Father is full of vengeful hatred; that Christ the Son cares little for you; and only Mary is good, loving, and the only one through whom you can repent and be reconciled with Heaven.

Here are several additional statements about Mary as the only means of salvation:

THE ROMAN CHANNEL OF GRACE

“[Mary is] the first steward in the dispensing of all graces.”—Pius X, quoted in F.J. Sheed, Theology for Beginners, p. 132.

“We have no greater help, no greater hope than you. O Most Pure Virgin; help us, then. For we hope in you, we glory in you. We are your servants, do not disappoint us.”—Novena Prayers in Honor of Our Mother of Perpetual Help (published by Sisters of St. Basil, with imprimatur).

“Christ has taken His seat at the right hand of the Majesty on high . . and Mary as Queen stands at His right hand.”—Pius X, Mary Mediatrix, in Encyclical: Ad Diem Illum.

“Mary is Our Lady and Queen because she, the new Eve, has shared intimately in the redemptive work of Christ, the new Adam, by suffering with Him and offering Him up to the Eternal Father.”—Ludwig Ott, Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, p. 211 (1974).

Alphonsus de Liguori wrote two books in lavish praise of Mary (The Glories of Mary, 1750) and Catholic priests (The Duties and Dignities of the Priest). He was rewarded with sainthood. Because he was canonized, his statements are infallible.

“With reason does an ancient writer call her ‘the only hope of sinners’; for by her help alone can we hope for the remission of sins.”—De Liguori, The Glories of Mary (ed. Eugene Grimm: Redemptorist Fathers, 1931), p. 83.

“ ‘Many things,’ says Nicephorus, ‘are asked from God, and are not granted; they are asked from Mary, and are obtained.’ ”—Op. cit., p. 137.

“If God is angry with a sinner, and Mary takes him under her protection, she withholds the avenging arm of her Son, and saves him.”—Op. cit., p. 124.

“[Prayer of St. Ephram:] ‘O Immaculate Virgin, we are under thy protection . . we beseech thee to prevent thy beloved Son, who is irritated by our sins, from abandoning us to the power of the devil.’”—Op. cit., p. 273.

“ ‘At the command of Mary all obey—even God.’ St. Bernardine fears not to utter this sentence; meaning indeed, to say that God grants the prayers of Mary as if they were commands . . Since the Mother, then, should have the same power as the Son, rightly has Jesus, who is omnipotent, made of Mary, also omnipotent.”—Op. cit., p. 82.

“Because men acknowledge and fear the divine Majesty, which is in him [Christ] as God, for this reason it was necessary to assign us another advocate, to whom we might have recourse with less fear and more confidence, and this advocate is Mary, whom we cannot find one more powerful with his divine majesty, or one more merciful towards ourselves . . A mediator, then, was needed with the mediator himself.”—Op. cit., pp. 180-182.

“Nothing whatever of that immense treasure of all graces, which the Lord brought us . . is granted to us save through Mary, so that, just as no one can come to the Father on high except through the Son, so almost in the same manner, no one can come to Christ except through his Mother.”—Leo XIII, Magnae Dei Matris.

“She [Mary] remains forever associated to Him [Christ], with an almost unlimited power, in the distribution of the graces which flow from the Redemption. Jesus is King throughout all eternity by nature and by right of conquest; through Him, with Him and subordinate to Him, Mary is Queen by grace, by divine relationship, by right of conquest and by singular election. And her kingdom is as vast as that of her son and God, since nothing is excluded from her dominion.”—Pius XII, quoted in E.R. Carrol (ed.), Mariology, Vol. 1, p. 49 (1955).

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