Christian views of Mary
The oldest-known image of Mary depicts her nursing the
Infant Jesus.
Catacomb of Priscilla,
Rome (2nd century)
Roman Catholic,
Eastern Orthodox,
Oriental Orthodox,
Anglican, and
Lutheran, as well as some
Methodist Christians
venerate Mary. This veneration especially takes the form of
prayer for intercession with her Son, Jesus Christ. The
Hail Mary prayer is one such example. Additionally it includes composing poems and songs in Mary's honor, painting icons or carving statues of her, and conferring titles on Mary that reflect her position among the saints. She is also one of the most highly venerated
saints in both the Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox Churches; and several major feast days of the
liturgical year are devoted to her.
Virgin and Child. Wall painting from the
catacombs, Rome (4th century).
By contrast, certain documents of the Second Vatican Council, such as chapter VIII of the Dogmatic Constitution
Lumen Gentium [41] describe Mary as higher than all other created beings, even angels: "she far surpasses all creatures, both in heaven and on earth"; but still in the final analysis, a created being, solely human – not divine – in her nature. On this showing, Catholic traditionalists would argue that there is no conflation
[42] of the human and divine levels in their veneration of Mary.
The major origin and impetus of veneration of Mary comes from the Christological controversies of the early church – many debates denying in some way the divinity or humanity of Jesus Christ. So not only would one side affirm that Jesus was indeed God, but would assert the conclusion that Mary was "Mother of God", although some Protestants prefer to use the term "God-bearer".[
citation needed] Catholics and Protestants agree however, that "Mother of God" is not intended to imply that Mary in any way gave Jesus his divinity.
Both Catholics and Orthodox, and especially Anglicans, make a clear distinction between such veneration (which is also due to the other saints) and
adoration which is due to God alone. (The term
worship is used by some theologians to subsume both sacrificial worship and worship of praise,
e.g. Orestes Brownson in his book
Saint Worship. The word "worship", while commonly used in place of "adoration" in the modern
English vernacular, strictly speaking implies nothing more than the acknowledgement of "worth-ship" or worthiness, and thus means no more than the giving of honor where honor is due (
e.g. the use of "Your Worship" as a form of address to
judges in certain
English legal traditions). "Worship" has never been used in this sense in Catholic literature when referring to the veneration of the Blessed Virgin). Mary, they point out, is not divine, and has only such powers to help as are granted to her by God in response to her prayers. Such miracles as may occur through Mary's intercession are ultimately the result of God's love and omnipotence. Traditionally, Catholic theologians have distinguished three forms of honor:
latria, due only to God, and usually translated by the English word
adoration;
hyperdulia, accorded only to the Blessed Virgin Mary, usually translated simply as
veneration; and
dulia, accorded to the rest of the saints, also usually translated as
veneration. The Orthodox distinguish between worship and veneration but do not use the "hyper"-veneration terminology when speaking of the Theotokos. Protestants tend to consider "dulia" too similar to "latria".
making the
Annunciation to Mary. Painting by
El Greco (1575)
The surge in the veneration of Mary in the High Middle Ages owes some of its initial impetus to
Bernard of Clairvaux. Bernard expanded upon
Anselm of Canterbury's role in transmuting the sacramental ritual Christianity of the Early Middle Ages into a new, more personally held, faith, with the life of Christ as a model and a new emphasis on the Virgin Mary. In opposition to the rationalist approach to divine understanding that the schoolmen adopted, Bernard preached an immediate faith, in which the intercessor was the Virgin Mary; "the Virgin that is the royal way, by which the Savior comes to us." Bernard played the leading role in the development of the Virgin cult, which is one of the most important manifestations of the popular piety of the 12th century. In early medieval thought the Virgin Mary had played a minor role, and it was only with the rise of emotional Christianity in the 11th century that she became the prime intercessor for humanity with the deity. (Cantor 1993 p 341)