Virgin Mary
That source of gratitude to Mary and Jesus Christ is, consequently, gratitude to Jesus Christ for showing us the way to self-salvation by human beings. Some would say that the existing human being chose to take the time to learn the way to open up the future. To that choice, God responded with the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Normally, a child is given by a married couple, but Mary alone gave birth to a child because she accepted the holy word of the Annunciation. I felt that this, as a result, implied the path to man’s self-salvation by Jesus Christ. Although she was alone in giving birth, she and Joseph raised the child together.
The importance of accepting Mary and Jesus Christ is necessary for man to realize that he, that is, he himself, is not evolved from monkeys. How can one recognize that one is the heir of Jesus Christ, God on earth? It is done through God’s salvation. It depends on one’s understanding of one’s relationship to Jesus Christ and to oneself. It depends on whether or not you will willingly enter into a relationship with yourself, not your ancestors, and not automatically when you are born into this world. You must make your own declaration. This is the covenant with God. We have the heart that Mary is the spiritual mother of the believers and that she is always with the risen Jesus Christ.
Decouverte Gallimard: La vierge, femme au visage divin author Sylvie Barnay
Translation Yukari Endo Supervised by Hiroki Funamoto, Sogensha Inc.
I refer to this book for a quote from the text of the text.
From the beginning, even before the world began, God, who is too holy to be mentioned, chose a mother for His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. And when the time came for the coming of the blissful Messiah, he made arrangements for him to be born into the world in human form from his mother’s womb.
God showed this mother His surpassing favor in a very special way, by pouring out on her more love by far than He does on all His creatures. In other words, God took out of His treasure His grace toward mankind in heaven and gave her much more than He does toward all angels and saints. He also made her more beautiful and perfect, constantly protecting her from every stain of sin.
She is so full of purity and holiness that, under God, man could not have a greater being than she, and no one but God can think of her in his heart. And the reason she had to shine always with the most divine light that could ever shine, and be completely protected from the stain of original sin, was to achieve an impeccable victory over the serpent that had once plunged mankind into sin.
We declare, state and define that the doctrine that the Blessed Virgin Mary, by the special favor and grace of Almighty God, for the sake of Jesus Christ, the Savior of mankind, was protected from every stain of original sin at the moment of her conception, was revealed by God and must be constantly and unreservedly believed by all believers.
This was followed on December 8, 1854, by Pope Pius IX’s declaration that he would establish as doctrine the “Immaculate Conception” that “Mary was conceived free from original sin.”
In this text, consequently, the first woman in the Old Testament, Eve, was a “disobedient virgin” who disobeyed God’s will, while the first woman in the New Testament, Mary, was a “submissive virgin” who obeyed God’s will.
By the way, Mary, the “mother of Jesus,” is not a goddess. Nor is she a mythical woman. Mary is a historical figure who gave birth to a son named Jesus about 2,000 years ago. That son later came to be revered as the founder of Christianity, and Mary was deified along with him.
Logically, Mary was responsible for transforming the intangible being of God into a human entity. Mary was the foundation of Jesus Christ. In order to conceive the Son of God, without original sin, a virgin body, without original sin, was necessary. The Fathers of the early Christian Church linked Mary’s existence to the history of God’s salvation of mankind, the New Testament was initiated by Mary, and Mary’s acceptance of the holy words of the Annunciation led to the establishment of a new covenant between God and man.
There is no denying the similarity between the virgin conception of Mary and those of the goddesses of Egyptian and Greek mythology. However, there is a difference between the two. Mary received the Annunciation by word and consented to it by word, not by physical communion with God. In other words, the scene unfolds in an entirely spiritual context, completely devoid of sensuality. The only certainty we have is that the legend of the virgin conception was widespread throughout ancient society. It was believed that the virgin conception was a metaphorical symbol of divine tradition. Mary’s complete detachment from the sexual act was regarded as the ultimate expression of female sanctity, and without this aspect, Mary would never have been given the status of mother of Jesus Christ.
Looking back in history, the 15th~16th century French humanists who advocated a return to biblical origins, and religious reformers such as Zwingli (died 1531) and Calvin (died 1564) in Switzerland and Luther (died 1546) in Germany, condemned the Marian cult as superstition and idolatry. They condemned Mary as superstitious and idolatrous. The Reformers were heirs of the Humanists, who placed the highest priority on the biblical Gospels. They placed value on “the Bible alone” and insisted that Mary’s role be limited to what was written in the Gospels and that no other elements should be added to it. Thus, in their view, Mary never played an active role in the history of human salvation. They also denied the “Assumption of the Blessed Virgin” and the “Immaculate Conception” because they are not mentioned in the Bible. However, the Reformers praised Mary as a woman who lived her faith as the “Handmaid” of God.
As time went on, around 1720, the Catholic Church, which had become more “rational,” established ever stricter standards to determine whether the miracles and apparitions of Mary reported in various places were “genuine. And in European society after 1750, when rationality was demanded in everything, the “light of reason” came to guide people instead of the “light of God,” and the belief in Mary was no longer centered on miracles.
In 1950, Pope Pius XII exercised his prerogative of “papal infallibility” and dogmatically declared the doctrine of the “Assumption of the Blessed Virgin.”
In the history of Christianity, the role of Mary has long been controversial. But beyond the various arguments, one thing can be said with certainty. That is that the image of Mary certainly reflects the image of God that human beings have continued to seek. That is why icons, or sacred images and statues, around the world depicting Mary are filled with the radiance of divine beauty.
By His death, Jesus Christ conquered the sin of existing mankind and His own death. Those who are supernaturally born again through baptism also conquer sin and death, just as Jesus Christ did. As a general rule, however, God does not recognize the complete victory of the righteous over death until the end of the world. Therefore, even the bodies of the righteous rot after death, and only at the time of the end of the world are they united with their glorified souls.
God, however, wanted the Blessed Virgin Mary to be exempt from this universal law. The exceptionally privileged Virgin Mary, having conquered sin through the “Immaculate Conception”, was not to be subject to the law of corruption in the tomb either. For it was impossible for Jesus Christ, the impeccable keeper of God’s law, not to honor His Mother, whom He loved above all else, as well as His Eternal Father. He was able to adorn her with the utmost honor and thus protected her from rotting in the grave. Therefore, we must believe that this is an event actually performed by Jesus Christ.
Therefore, we declare, state and define that it is a doctrine posted by God that Mary, the eternal virgin, the spotless Mother of God, was raised to heavenly glory, both soul and body, when she ended her life on earth.
From the Collections of Church Documents