VATICAN II Independent or Integrated Marian Schema

A MARIOLOGICAL RENEWAL - Debate to clarify on October 24, 1963

- Cardinal Santos of Manila (independent schema)
CHAPTER VIII OF LUMEN GENTIUM o Began by calling the attention to the none-
disagreement among the Father about Marys
Aggiornamento Return to the sources Scriptures and Tradition role in the Church:
- Renewal; sign of modern concern with evolution and involvement in its beginning and
history continuous nourishment
Chapter VIII of Lumen Gentium honor as the most blessed mother of
fundamental document on our Blessed Mother Christ the redeemer, from all of her
Circumstances children in the Church
- Pope Pius XII age of Mary Pontificate o Highlighted the Trinitarian way of seeing Mary:
o Pointed out the dangers and the need for a solid Daughter of the Father, mother of the
theological approach Son, Spouse of the Holy Spirit
- Pope John XXIII tame and without much exaggeration Salvation of the people of God
Marian devotion; sober-minded Queen and Teacher of the apostles
How many years was it formed? Exemplar of perfection
- More than five years from May 17, 1959 November 21, Help of Christians called to holiness
1964 o Council should award her a separate schema
Ante-preparatory Phase Because of her great dignity and unique
- Inquiry circulated for its content role in the Church
- Pre-conciliar Fathers headed by Fr. Charles Balic on July So that her singular preeminence and
1961 gave text on Marian schema: Mary, Mother of Jesus dignity might be highlighted
and Mother of the Church o Mary does not fit into the distinction between
o Discussed at Antonianum on September 1961 the hierarchy and the laity does not do justice
o Presented to the bishops Above the Church albeit a member
Archbishop Dubois Passive redemption as preservative is
Bishop Griffiths different from liberative redemption.
Monsignors Philips o The document was principally about the pilgrim
Colombo Church upon earth.
Fenton o He did not think that Mariology ought to be
Lattanzi reduced to Ecclesiology, Christology, and
Fathers Laurentin Soteriology.
Gagnebet The Ecclesia was already complicated
Congar enough and to add the Councils
Tromp Marian teaching would require a
Garcia Garces reworking of the whole material.
Bertetto - Cardinal Knig of Vienna (integrated schema)
Philip of holy Trinity and o Began by asserting that in no way was he about
Salaveri to contradict the statements of Cardinal Santos,
- Uncertain whether it was to be an independent document either doctrinally or devotionally.
or not o First theological reason: (Relationship)
- January 20, 1962 Completed text to the theological Church is the central theme
commission Mary is fittingly part because of her
o Revised and new title: Mother of God and intimate relationship with the Church
Mother of Men. o Second reason: (Reaction)
Council Phase Separate Marian schema would create
- Opened on October 11, 1962 a reaction that Vatican II was intending
- Given nihil obstat by the central commission on November to define a new Marian dogma
1962 o Third reason: (Preeminent member)
- Marian schema not discussed on the first and second The Blessed Virgin Mary ought to be
session placed within the schema on the
- New title: De Beata Maria virgine, Matre Ecclesiae (On Church as the preeminent member of
the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church) the people of God.
o Employed by Cardinal Suenens and Cardinal Both an integral Ecclesiology and
Martini of Milan integral Mariology are interdependent
- Pro-integration of Marian Schema: o Fourth reason (Exemplar to Salvation)
o Cardinal Frings She is related to the unique mediator
o Bishop Ferrero di Cavallerleone Jesus Christ as the Mother of God.
o Gargitter She typifies as an exemplar, also a way
o Elchinger of salvation.
o Arceo o Fifth and Final reason (Balance)
- Anti-integration: Balanced understanding of the mystery
o Cardinal Arriba of the Church
o Cardinal Castro Mary as cooperator with Christ

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 o Three Historical Reasons
o First, Marian Devotion was an outcome of
contemplating the Church as a mother
Even though her privileges are truly
personal, they bear an ecclesiological
dimension.
Mary is a type of the Church.
o Second, Pope Paul VI homily on October 11, 1963
Mary as the most elite mother and
daughter and sister - a close
relationship between the Church and
the mother of God.
o Third, theme of international Mariological-Marian
Congress held at Lourdes in 1958; Mary and the
Church.
The intimate relationship between
Mary and the Church was in accord
with the spirit of the time and devotion
of the faithful.
o Devotional Life:
Catholics must be instructed in the
right faith about Marys role in the life
and mystery of Christ and of the
Church
o Ecumenical Argument:
Integrating the Marian schema would
help make Mary as the venerable
Theotokos more recognizable to the
Eastern Church.
Also assists non-Catholic Christians for
the basis of Marian devotion.
- Result of Votation on October 29, 1963. 2,193 votes
o Independent schema (Santos) 1,074
o Integrated schema (Knig) 1,114
Very narrow margin only (40 votes).
- Chapter VIII of Lumen Gentium committee:
o Cardinal Santos and Knig
o Bishop Doumith and Bishop Theas of Lourdes
Father Balic and Msgr. Philip assisted
- Final Text approved on October 29, 1964.
o A well-modulated text. Avoids being isolationalist.
Theological Context of its Introduction (#s 52-54)
- Approved title: Virgin Mary, God-Bearer, in the Mystery
of Christ and the Church. in close relationship
- Article 52 Mary at the moment when the appointed time
came. made bearer of salvation
o Jesus Christ is a true man because he was born of
a woman.
o He was a true Son of God because no earthly
Father begot him and the eternal God is his
Father; divinity and humanity are united.
- Article 53 Mary received the word of God in mind and in
heart, giving the logos the human dimension of his person.
o Mary being the daughter of Adam is also
redeemed by Christ.
o Trinitarian dimension: daughter of the Father,
preeminent temple of the Holy Spirit and mother
of the Son of God.
o First believer
- Article 54 gives the very purpose of the schema on Mary:
o to describe her unique vocation in the mystery of
the Incarnate word and of the Church and the
duties of the redeemed toward the Mother of
the redeemer.
Marys Function in the Economy of Salvation (#s 55 59)
- Proper focus on the role of the mother of the Redeemer
- Aim: birds eye view of Marys life and work from Scripture
and Tradition
- To show forth (ostendunt) in the first sentence of article
55 instead of described (describunt) because the subject
are Sacred Scripture and Tradition.
- Article 55 Marys participation in the central events of the
history of salvation.
o Old Testament
She is prophetically foreshadowed in
the promised victory over the serpent.
Protoevangelium: you and the
woman (Gen 3:15)
The virgin is with a child and will soon
give birth to a son who she will call
Emmanuel. (Is 7:14)
She who is to give birth (Micah 5:2)
She is related to the people of Israel as
daughter, daughter of Zion (Zeph 3:
14-17)
o Mary is also shown as the poor one. She is one of
Gods anawim.
o In the light of a further and full revelation.
- Article 56 Mary as the New Eve
o The woman associated with life, the contrast of
that first woman Eve whole association was with
death.
o The core of Marys motherhood is her faith.
o Parallelism between Eve and Mary.
Eve refused; Mary obeyed.
Mary perfect hearer of Gods Word.
- Article 57-58 Biblical events of Mary and Jesus
o Article 57 Mary in the hidden life of Jesus
o Article 58 Public life of Christ
o Mary is associated with Christ in faith and charity.
Charity is based on her exemplary faith.
Union of the work of salvation.
Annunciation (Lk 1:26-38)
Visitation (Lk 1:39-45)
The Birth (Lk 2: 1-20)
Presentation (Lk 2: 22-32)
Finding (Lk 2: 46-52)
o Her life is a pilgrimage of faith.
o Significant appearance publicly
Wedding at Cana (Jn 2: 1-11)
Foot of the Cross (Jn 19: 25-27)
Mary is present at Cana where Jesus
hour has not yet come
foreshadowing his hour at Calvary.
o Her unwavering faith places her as the archetype
of the community of those who hear the word of
God and keep it.
- Article 59 Marys faith within the context of the
Pentecost.
o All these joined in continuous prayer, together
with several woman, including Mary the mother
of Jesus and with his brethren. (Acts 1:14)
o Marys presence at the heart of the community
awaiting the gift of the Spirit at Pentecost makes
plain to us her present role at the heart of the
Church.
o Consideration on the teaching of the Immaculate
Conception and the Assumption in an implicit
manner as Marys final conformity to Christ.
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Mary and the Church (#s 60 65)
- Two major parts of equal length with three articles.
- Article 60-62 Her continuing maternal role.
- Article 63-65 Mary as type and model of the Church.
o Marys two-fold role in the Church
Intercession to Christ
Exemplarity Church
- Article 60 1 Tim 2: 5-6:
o For there is only one God, and there is only one
mediator between God and mankind, himself a
man, Christ Jesus.
One Savior, One Lord.
o Marys mediatorial role in salvation.
Flanagan: The absolute sovereign
effectiveness of Christs mediation is
what makes it possible to conceive at
all of lesser ministries within the order
of salvation.
The maternal role of Mary in no sense
stands on the level of Christ.
Her level of participation
belongs to the Church.
She stands with the
redeemed.
She depends absolutely on
the Redeemer, Jesus Christ.
- Article 61 and 62 Marys maternal mission to men within
the context of Christs primacy in salvation.
o Marys continuing participation in the mystery of
the Church.
o The role of Mary is lasting and real.
o Two aspects:
Marys historical, biblical and objective
connection with Christs work
Continuance beyond history of Marys
motherly spiritual care.
o Article 62 - Cooperation of Mary for the salvation
of all, in the initial consent to the incarnation of
the Redeemer
- Article 63 Mary as archetype of the Church as expressly
recorded by St. Ambrose.
o the mother of God is a type of the Church in the
order of faith, charity and perfect union with
Christ.
o Role of Exemplarity; two parts:
As type: Virginity and Motherhood
As exemplar: Model for the faithful in
the Church and virtues of holiness
o While type and exemplar, Mary is also a member
of the Church.
o As exemplar of both virginity and motherhood.
o As type of Church as mother and virgin.
- Article 64 Churchs virginity.
o The Church herself is a virgin who keeps whole
and pure the fidelity she has to her spouse.
o Mary is virgin and mother in body.
o Church is mother and virgin spiritually.
Mother bringing the Christian to birth
through baptism
Virgin possessing the integrity or the
fullness of faith.
o virgin Church the Church being a virgin in
possessing the truth given to her by Christ.
o Taken from Ambrose, Augustine, Venerable
Bede, and Isaac of Stella.
- Article 65 moves from typology to the moral perspective
Mary as the model of virtue
o Mary stands as the image the Church gaze upon
o Marys perfection as ideal to reach the goal.
o Most blessed (beatissima)
o Mary as the Churchs creatural model imitated by
the Church to become more and more like Christ.
Devotion to the Blessed Virgin in the Church (#s 66 67)
- Development from the time of Ephesus
o Rooted in the awareness of her as a
compassionate mother.
o Venerated for her close involvement in the
mysteries of Christ.
- Sub Tuum the oldest Marian prayer from 250 AD
o Discovered in 1917 in Egypt on papyrus
measuring 7 by nearly 4 inches
o We fly to your patronage, O Holy Mother of
God: despite not our petitions in our necessities,
but deliver us from all dangers, O ever glorious
and blessed Virgin.
- Cult remains always relative because it is always in relation
to Christ.
o Mary must be shown more honored than the
angels and other saints, but an honor that
remains essentially on the same plane as theirs,
being different not merely in degree but also in
kind from the adoration that belongs to the three
persons in God.
- Article 67 the value of the cult images.
o A reference to the Second Council of Nicaea in
787 and the Council of Trent 1534-1565
devotion to Mary be highly esteemed and the
degrees be religiously observed.
o The image is an end but a means, a sensible sign
to aid in the worship of God.
A worthy sign in two ways:
Conformity to the reality
Conformity with the needs of
those to whom it attempts to
speak
o Vatican II warns against two extremities:
Refrain from false exaggeration
Too summary (narrow) an attitude
o Last part: true devotion proceeds from true faith,
recognizing her excellence, loving her filially, and
imitating her virtues as our spiritual model.
Mary, Figure and Hope of the Church (#s 68 69)
- Mary is the image to be perfected
- Mary as a sure sign of hope for us; her role in unifying the
Christian community.
o She actualizes the communion of glory
- The sign of eschatological hope is Christs Resurrection.
o Mary is a sign of hope, not the sign of hope.
She is the perfect image of what the
Church hopes to become in Christ.
- Last part deals with an ecumenical concern.
o Invitation to prayer for unity
o Its ecumenical dimension situates her within the
body of Christ as a member of the redeemed
humanity.
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RELATED ISSUES
Fundamental Principle of Marian Theology in the Chapter VIII of Lumen
Gentium
- It is governed by the nature of science as part of Theology.
- Principle is a primary truth with which other truths are
logically connected.
- Reason organizes the revealed mystery into a coherent
body of doctrine.
- Primary principle concerning Mary: divine maternity.
o Gospel of Luke: Mary became the Mother of God.
Concrete, historical reality of a Jewish
maiden named Mary.
o Mary gave her full consent without reserve.
The meaning of her consent is
confirmed by Pius X in his encyclical
letter Ad Diem Illum:
The virgin did not conceive the Son of
God solely that, by receiving human
nature from her, He should become
man; but also that, through the human
nature he received from her, He might
become the savior of men. Christ
assumed not only mortal flesh but a
spiritual body as well.
o The divine maternity is the basic principle in
Marys functions.
Her being the mother of God is the
basis of her relationship to Christ.
Characteristics of the Chapter VIII of Lumen Gentium
- Two types of Marian theology
o Ecclesiological Mariology
o Christological Mariology
Difference lies in the manner in which
Marys role in the work of salvation is
perceived.
- Ecclesiological Mariology
o Mary as our sister, eminent, and exemplary
member of the Ecclesial community.
o Mary as the type of the Church, the most perfect
member of the Church.
o Mary stands clearly by the side of humanity,
facing with it their common Redeemer
Has a real chance of becoming the
object of both Catholic and Protestant
thinking. (Napiorkowski)
- Christological Mariology
o Mary so closely on the side of Jesus.
o Mary stands by the side of Christ, facing
humanity with Him.
- Chapter VIII of LG avoids:
o Mariological minimalism
o Mariological maximalism
- A mariological moratorium a kind of cooling-off process.
- Characteristics
1. Christocentric
2. Scriptural
3. It is expressed with Moderation; a balance
4. It is Ecclesial Mary as part of humanity
5. It is Ecumenical looks at same sources of Sacred
Scriptures and Tradition Redemption of all believers
- It is a synthesized way.
- Goal: To bring unity to the whole Christendom.
An Inquiry on the Title of Mary as Mediatrix
- The term mediatrix became the focal point of debate.
- Mediatrix described Marys intercessory role as a mother in
articles 60 62, but never equal to Christs mediatorship.
o Marys function as mother of men in no way
obscures or diminishes this unique mediation of
Christ.
- Quoting Pauls Letter to Timothy on the one Mediator.
- Council considers Marys mediation in the past, during her
life on earth and the present in the communion of saints.
o Mary as Mediatrix in the Annunciation.
Marys motherhood has a mediatorial
character in her obedience to the will
of the Father and her freely yielded fiat.
Mary is rendered as full of grace
o Mary uses intercession at Cana
She brought about by her intercession
the beginning of miracles of Jesus the
Messiah. #58
She acts as catalyst and agent
Christ is the center and the
source of the supply of grace
Mary is an instrument, a
catalyst, and a channel
through which this grace
flows.
o Marys presence at the Foot of the Cross shared
Christs passion and obtained for us the gift of
redemption.
Christ entrusted to Mary as the mother
of the redeemed the rest of humanity
in the person of the beloved disciple.
Marys appearance is a continuous
rolling of her kenosis in faith, a
pilgrimage of faith.
- Some Council Fathers were alert the title was relatively
recent.
o Pope Leo XIII in his encyclical Fidentem in 1896
states:
She it is of whom was born of Jesus,
namely, His true mother, and for this
reason, she is worthy and quite
acceptable as the Mediatrix to the
mediator.
o Pope Pius X in his encyclical Ad Diem Illum in
1904
She deserved most worthily to be made
the restorer of the lost world and the
most powerful Mediatrix and advocate
of the whole world with her Divine son.
She merited for us de congruo (quasi-
merited), as they say, what Christ
merited de condigno (merited in a strict
sense), and is the first minister of the
graces to be bestowed.
- A middle course was chosen.
o Mary is invoked by the Churchs constitution with
the title Mediatrix in addition to others such as
Advocate, Helper, and Benefactress.
To bring to light how much deeply
rooted in tradition the notion of Marys
role is more than just the expression of
it in the title Mediatrix
- Christ is, of course, the one mediator between God and
men.
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 - Vollert writes about this mediator:
o Christs mediation is wrought in three phases:
In the Incarnation
In the Redemption the God-man
performed the sacrificial act that
reunited man with God
In the Eternal Life the risen Christ
communicates to men from heaven,
one by one, the graces He merited for
them by his passion and death.
- It is also true in the Scriptures that God has chosen others,
e.g. angels, prophets, apostles, and priests to serve as
mediators.
o Such mediation is always subordinate to Jesus
Christ.
- The idea of Marys mediation dates back to early centuries.
o Her mediation is something dynamic.
o Her mediation is a true work by becoming the
mother of God.
o Her mediation is understood as being secondary
to and dependent on Christs primary and self-
sufficient mediatorial role.
o Mary participated profoundly as did no one else
with the salvific work of her Son.
Aureada: to participate means to
possess part of something, and
therefore when something receives in a
particular mode that which pertains
universally to another, it is said to
participate in that.
She has super eminent grace; and
grace is but a participation in the life of
God.
- Mary can be called Mediatrix of grace in an analogous
manner.
o De Fiores: For Catholics the mediatorial function
of Mary can be expressed in the principle of
participation: Mary can share in the one unique
mediation of Christ in an analogous sense that
is with a shared dependent mediation that is
oriented to that sole Mediator.
b. Marian Doctrines: Bridge or Wall
- Motherhood: The Divine maternity of Mary was defined at
the Council of Ephesus in the year 431 AD as Theotokos.
o Closest to the mystery of Christ.
- Virginity: Marys virginity or the Marian doctrine relates to
the central mystery of faith, that Mary conceived Christ
without marital intercourse. God alone is His Father.
- Immaculate Conception: Mary is the most perfect as the
Immaculately conceived.
o Her consent was free and cooperative.
- Assumption: An added meaning that Mary as one of the
redeemed is already glorified.
- By establishing these doctrines to the central mystery of
faith and focusing them with the hierarchy of truths, the
traditional Protestant and Anglican objection that we have
placed Mary into competition with Christ is sufficiently
answered.
o Takes the primacy of biblical revelation in
understanding any truths of our faith.
- Christocentric focus:
o The Divine Maternity
o Perpetual Virginity
- Ecclesiotypic meaning:
o Immaculate Conception
o Assumption
- There is no conflict between seeing Mary as the archetype
of the Church and seeing her in close relation to Christ.

Mary and the Ecumenical Movement

- Importance of explaining our faith intelligible to our
separated brethren.
o The mysteries that form the foundation of our
faith are the Trinity, Incarnation and Redemption;
o All the other truths are hierarchically ordered in
accord with their relation to these three.

a. Hierarchy of Truths: Its Nature

- Hierarchy of importance given to the Truths of faith.
- First are the mysteries that concern the final goal the
Blessed Trinity, the Incarnation, and Redemption.
o The others are on the level of means
Seven sacraments
Hierarchical structure of the Church
Apostolic succession
- The criterion for ranking is not the theological note
attached to the truth but its closeness to the mystery of
Christ, which includes the mystery of the triune God.
- The image of concentricity
o The hierarchy of truths can be seen figuratively as
central (primary truths) and peripheral
(secondary truths).
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