What the Church Teaches About Mary

The Church has a lot to say about Mary. Most people associate these teachings with their Holy Days of Obligation. The Church views Mary in such high regard because Mary helps us understand the mysteries of her son, Jesus. Mary is seen as the Mother of the Church and the “forerunner” of the Church. This means that what happened to Mary in her life, we as Christians can expect the same thing to happen to them. Mary is the model of our redemption, our salvation, and our relationship with Christ. There is much we can say about Mary, but there are four major things we can definitively say about Mary. 

The first thing is that she is the Mother of God. This was proclaimed at the Council of Ephesus in 431. This means that Mary is the mother of the whole person of Jesus—both his human and divine nature. Christ took his human nature from Mary, but since his human and divine nature is located and united together in the one person of Jesus, it can be said that Mary is the mother of the Son of God. Since Jesus is God, and Mary is the Mother of Jesus, then Mary is the Mother of God. This gives her a place of honor in the Church because she is the one who brought God into the world. 

The second thing is that she is perpetually a virgin. She maintained her virginity before, during, and after the birth of Jesus. This was proclaimed at the First Council of Constantinople in 649. We know she was a virgin before the birth of Christ because she told the angel Gabriel that she “had no relations with a man” (Lk. 1:34). Tradition holds that Mary retained her virginity during the birth of Jesus. It is also taught that Mary maintained her promise of virginity after Jesus’ birth and never had any more children other than Jesus. This opened her up to follow, care for, and support her son in everything that he did. It is a model for us to follow in that we are to maintain a purity of heart and follow Christ unreservedly. 

The third thing is that Mary was immaculately conceived and that she was full of grace. The angel Gabriel gave her greetings at the Annunciation by saying she is “full of grace” (Lk. 1:28). Grace is the special assistance God gives us in order to fulfill his plan for each one of us. This was proclaimed in 1854 by Pope Pius IX. This says that from the moment of Mary’s conception, she was without Original Sin. She did not have the inclination to sin. She was so full of grace that she always knew what the best thing for her was. She always chose to do the good in accordance with God’s plan for her. While we still have to struggle with sin in our lives, we should try our best to live the example of Mary. We should always try to seek to do what God wants for us, and we should ask God for the grace to be able to do that. 

The final thing is that Mary was assumed into Heaven. This was proclaimed in 1950 by Pope Pius XII. This states that when Mary’s life on Earth was completed, her body and soul was taken into Heaven. We look to Revelation 12 with the “woman clothed in the sun” as inspiration for this. When we die, our souls leave behind our bodies, waiting until the end of time when the body and soul are to be reunited. We wait in anticipation and hope that when the world ends and Christ returns, our bodies and souls are reunited to spend eternity with God just like Mary. 

While there is so much more to say about Mary, these are the four dogmas that the Church definitively teaches and believes about Mary. We look to her as an example for Christian living, and we hope what happened to Mary is what happens to us. We continue to pray for this. This is why we hold her in such high honor and esteem. She continues to communicate with us, and she is the inspiration for our prayer. This is the topic of our next discussion…