Mariology of the saints - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Roman Catholic Mariology is the area of theology

Theology

Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...

concerned with the Blessed Virgin Mary

Blessed Virgin Mary (Roman Catholic)

Roman Catholic veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary is based on Holy Scripture: In the fullness of time, God sent his son, born of a virgin. The mystery of the incarnation of the Son of God through Mary thus signifies her honour as Mother of God...

, not only with her life

Life

Life is a characteristic that distinguishes objects that have signaling and self-sustaining processes from those that do not, either because such functions have ceased , or else because they lack such functions and are classified as inanimate...

, but her veneration

Veneration

Veneration , or veneration of saints, is a special act of honoring a saint: an angel, or a dead person who has been identified by a church committee as singular in the traditions of the religion. It is practiced by the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic, and Eastern Catholic Churches...

in daily life, prayer

Prayer

Prayer is a form of religious practice that seeks to activate a volitional rapport to a deity through deliberate practice. Prayer may be either individual or communal and take place in public or in private. It may involve the use of words or song. When language is used, prayer may take the form of...

, art

Art

Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....

, music

Music

Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...

, and architecture

Architecture

Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...

.

Throughout history numerous Roman Catholic saints have attested to the central role of Mary in God's plan of salvation and have contributed to the growth of Mariology. This article reviews the Mariology of the saints, as a force that has shaped and transformed current understanding of Marian dogmas, doctrines and devotions.

How the saints shaped Mariology

Beyond the teachings of the early Church Fathers

Church Fathers

The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were early and influential theologians, eminent Christian teachers and great bishops. Their scholarly works were used as a precedent for centuries to come...

, the growth of Mariology over the centuries has taken a somewhat unique path among other areas of theology in that it has been shaped by the interplay of three separate forces:

Papal directives and teachings of the Holy See
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...

.
Popular Catholic sentiments, devotions and sensus fidelium
Sensus fidelium
The concept of sensus fidelium in Roman Catholic teachings can be implicitly traced back to the early Fathers of the Church...

.
Views, writings and religious experiences of the saints.

In many cases, the Mariological views of the Holy See

Holy See

The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...

have been gradually affected by sensus fidei which itself has been shaped by the writings of numerous saints throughout history who have attested to the central role of Mary in God's plan of salvation. Thus the saints have often acted as the force that drives sensus fidei which then affects Catholic teachings.

An example of this effect is the case of Saint Louis de Montfort

Louis de Montfort

St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort was canonized in 1947. He was a French priest and known in his time as a preacher and author, whose books, still widely read, have influenced a number of popes....

. During his priesthood of only 16 years, he was mostly a missionary preacher who travelled from village to village on foot to deliver sermons, often risking everything along the way. His heated style of preaching and views were often the subject of serious criticism during his life. He was persecuted by the Holy Office, poisoned by critical locals and when he died in 1716 at age 43, each of the three congregations he left behind had but a handful of followers. When Blessed Marie Louise Trichet

Marie Louise Trichet

Blessed Marie Louise Trichet also known as Marie-Louise de Jésus was a French Catholic figure who, with Saint Louis de Montfort, founded the Congregation of religious women called Daughters of Wisdom and since the age of seventeen devoted her life to caring for the poor and the sick. She is also...

decided to join his order Daughters of Wisdom

Daughters of Wisdom

Daughters of Wisdom is a Catholic contemplative organization founded by Saint Louis de Montfort and Blessed Marie Louise Trichet.While he was temporary chaplain of the hospital of Poitiers in 1707, he associated into a little community some pious but afflicted girls, and gave them a rule of life,...

in 1700, her mother reportedly told her: "You will become as mad as that priest". Yet, over the centuries, de Montfort's Marian books such as True Devotion to Mary

True Devotion to Mary

True Devotion to Mary is a book by Saint Louis de Montfort on the Roman Catholic theme of devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.The book is published by Montfort Publications , Baronius Press, TAN Publishing and Aventine Press but is also available online...

and Secret of the Rosary

Secret of the Rosary

The Secret of the Rosary is a book about the Holy Rosary written by Saint Louis de Montfort a French priest and Catholic saint who died in 1716. The English translation of the book bears the Imprimatur of Archbishop Thomas E...

gathered a strong following among Catholics and in time influenced millions of people. The growth of his popularity and the spread of his approach of "total consecration to the Virgin Mary" was not driven from Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

but from the ground up as sensus fidelium

Sensus fidelium

The concept of sensus fidelium in Roman Catholic teachings can be implicitly traced back to the early Fathers of the Church...

gathered momentum in his favor. He was eventually declared a saint in 1947.

In recent years, one young seminarian who was affected by one of de Montfort's books said that he had "read and reread many times and with great spiritual profit" a work of de Montfort and it "had been a decisive turning point in his life". That young seminarian eventually became Pope John Paul II

Pope John Paul II

Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...

, based his personal motto "Totus Tuus

Totus Tuus

Totus Tuus was Pope John Paul II's apostolic motto. It is a Latin phrase meaning "totally yours" and expressed his personal Consecration to Mary based on the spiritual approach of Saint Louis de Montfort and the Mariology in his works...

" on de Montfort

Louis de Montfort

's influence, beatified Marie Louise Trichet

Marie Louise Trichet

and made a papal visit to pray on the tombs of Saint Louis and Blessed Marie Louise Trichet

Marie Louise Trichet

. Saint Louis is now a candidate to become a Doctor of the Church and his founders statue was recently placed in Saint Peter's Basilica at the Vatican.

Irenaeus of Lyons

Saint Irenaeus of Lyons (circa 140–202) is perhaps the earliest of the Church Fathers to develop a thorough Mariology. In his youth he had met Polycarp

Polycarp

Saint Polycarp was a 2nd century Christian bishop of Smyrna. According to the Martyrdom of Polycarp, he died a martyr, bound and burned at the stake, then stabbed when the fire failed to touch him...

and other Christians who had been in direct contact with the Apostles. Irenaeus sets out a forthright account of Mary's role in the economy of salvation.

Even though Eve had Adam for a husband, she was still a virgin... By disobeying, Eve became the cause of death for herself and for the whole human race. In the same way Mary, though she had a husband, was still a virgin, and by obeying, she became the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race.

According to Irenaeus, Christ, being born out of the Virgin Mary, created a totally new historical situation. This view influences later Ambrose of Milan and Tertullian

Tertullian

Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus, anglicised as Tertullian , was a prolific early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. He is the first Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of Latin Christian literature. He also was a notable early Christian apologist and...

, who wrote about the virgin birth of the Mother of God. The donor of a new birth had to be born in a totally new way. The new birth being that what was lost through a woman, is now saved by a woman.

Ambrose of Milan

Saint Ambrose of Milan (339–397) is an early Church Father whose powerful Mariology influenced contemporary Popes like Pope Damasus and Siricius and later, Pope Leo the Great. His student Augustine

Augustine of Hippo

Augustine of Hippo , also known as Augustine, St. Augustine, St. Austin, St. Augoustinos, Blessed Augustine, or St. Augustine the Blessed, was Bishop of Hippo Regius . He was a Latin-speaking philosopher and theologian who lived in the Roman Africa Province...

and the Council of Ephesus were equally under his influence. Central to Ambrose is the virginity

Virginity

Virginity refers to the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. There are cultural and religious traditions which place special value and significance on this state, especially in the case of unmarried females, associated with notions of personal purity, honor and worth...

of Mary and her role as Mother of God.

The virgin birth is worthy of God. Which human birth would have been more worthy of God, than the one, in which the Immaculate Son of God maintained the purity of his immaculate origin while becoming human?

We confess, that Christ the Lord was born from a virgin, and therefore we reject the natural order of things. Because not from a man she conceived but from the Holy Spirit.

Christ is not divided but one. If we adore him as the Son of God, we do not deny his birth from the virgin... But nobody shall extend this to Mary. Mary was the temple of God but not God in the temple. Therefore only the one who was in the temple can be worshipped.

Yes, truly blessed for having surpassed the priest (Zechariah). While the priest denied, the Virgin rectified the error. No wonder that the Lord, wishing to rescue the world, began his work with Mary. Thus she, through whom salvation was being prepared for all people, would be the first to receive the promised fruit of salvation.

Augustine of Hippo

Saint Augustine (354–430) did not develop an independent Mariology, but his statements on Mary surpass in number and depths those of other early writers. The Virgin Mary “conceived as virgin, gave birth as virgin and stayed virgin forever Even before the Council of Ephesus, he defended the ever Virgin Mary as the mother of God, who, because of her virginity, is full of grace She was free of any temporal sin, Because of a woman, the whole human race was saved.

Cyril of Alexandria

The Patriarch

Patriarch

Originally a patriarch was a man who exercised autocratic authority as a pater familias over an extended family. The system of such rule of families by senior males is called patriarchy. This is a Greek word, a compound of πατριά , "lineage, descent", esp...

Cyril of Alexandria

Cyril of Alexandria was the Patriarch of Alexandria from 412 to 444. He came to power when the city was at its height of influence and power within the Roman Empire. Cyril wrote extensively and was a leading protagonist in the Christological controversies of the later 4th and 5th centuries...

(412–444) became famous in Church history, because of his spirited fight for the title “Mother of God” during the Council of Ephesus (431). His writings include the homily given in Ephesus and several other sermons.. Some of his alleged homilies are in dispute as to his authorship. In several writings, Cyril focuses on the love of Jesus to his mother. On the Cross

Cross

A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two lines or bars perpendicular to each other, dividing one or two of the lines in half. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally; if they run obliquely, the design is technically termed a saltire, although the arms of a saltire need not meet...

, he overcomes his pain and thinks of his mother. At the Marriage at Cana

Marriage at Cana

In Christianity, the transformation of water into wine at the Marriage at Cana or Wedding at Cana is the first miracle of Jesus in the Gospel of John....

, he bows to her wishes. The overwhelming merit of Cyril of Alexandria is the cementation of the centre of dogmatic Mariology for all times. He created the basis for all other Mariological developments through his teaching of the blessed Virgin Mary, as the Mother of God.

Pope Leo the Great

Many early mariological concepts developed in the Eastern Church. From the West, Pope Damasus I

Pope Damasus I

Pope Saint Damasus I was the bishop of Rome from 366 to 384.He was born around 305, probably near the city of Idanha-a-Velha , in what is present-day Portugal, then part of the Western Roman Empire...

and others defended Mary against Monophysitism

Monophysitism

Monophysitism , or Monophysiticism, is the Christological position that Jesus Christ has only one nature, his humanity being absorbed by his Deity...

, the teaching that Christ had only a divine nature. Accordingly, Mary is only the Mother of God, not the mother of the human Jesus. The most significant papal teaching opposing this view begin with Pope Martin I

Pope Martin I

Pope Martin I, born near Todi, Umbria in the place now named after him , was pope from 649 to 653, succeeding Pope Theodore I in July 5, 649. The only pope during the Byzantine Papacy whose election was not approved by a iussio from Constantinople, Martin I was abducted by Constans II and died in...

and continue with Pope Leo the Great (ca. 400– 461). To define this issue, an ecumenical council

Ecumenical council

An ecumenical council is a conference of ecclesiastical dignitaries and theological experts convened to discuss and settle matters of Church doctrine and practice....

was convoked first at Nicaea but later transferred to Chalcedon

Council of Chalcedon

The Council of Chalcedon was a church council held from 8 October to 1 November, 451 AD, at Chalcedon , on the Asian side of the Bosporus. The council marked a significant turning point in the Christological debates that led to the separation of the church of the Eastern Roman Empire in the 5th...

in the year 451. Leo the Great defended the teaching that Christ has two natures, one divine and one human.

"The same eternal, only-begotten of the eternal begetter was born of the holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary. His birth in time in no way subtracts from or adds to that divine and eternal birth of his: but its whole purpose is to restore humanity, who had been deceived, so that it might defeat death and, by its power, destroy the devil who held the power of death. Overcoming the originator of sin and death would be beyond us, had not he whom sin could not defile, nor could death hold down, taken up our nature and made it his own. He was conceived from the holy Spirit inside the womb of the virgin mother. Her virginity was as untouched in giving him birth as it was in conceiving him."

"By an unprecedented kind of birth, because it was inviolable virginity which supplied the material flesh without experiencing sexual desire. What was taken from the mother of the Lord was the nature without the guilt. And the fact that the birth was miraculous does not imply that in the lord Jesus Christ, born from the virgin's womb, the nature is different from ours. The same one is true God and true man."

To Leo the Great, Mariology is determined by Christology

Christology

Christology is the field of study within Christian theology which is primarily concerned with the nature and person of Jesus Christ as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament. Primary considerations include the relationship of Jesus' nature and person with the nature...

. If Christ would be divine only, everything on him would be divine. His eating would be symbolism. Only his divinity would have been crucified, buried and resurrected. Mary would only be the mother of God, and Christians would have no hope for their own resurrection

Resurrection

Resurrection refers to the literal coming back to life of the biologically dead. It is used both with respect to particular individuals or the belief in a General Resurrection of the dead at the end of the world. The General Resurrection is featured prominently in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim...

. The nucleus of Christianity would be destroyed. He asks for the veneration of the Virgin Mary both at the manger and at the throne of the heavenly father. The most unusual beginning of a truly human life through her was to give birth to Jesus, the Lord and Son of King David.

Bernard of Clairvaux

In his encyclical Doctor Mellifluus

Doctor Mellifluus

Doctor Mellifluus is an encyclical of Pope Pius XII on the doctor of the Church Bernard of Clairvaux, given at Rome, St. Peter's, on the 24th of May, on the feast of Pentecost, 1953, in the 15th year of his pontificate.-Theology:...

on Bernard of Clairvaux

Bernard of Clairvaux

Bernard of Clairvaux, O.Cist was a French abbot and the primary builder of the reforming Cistercian order.After the death of his mother, Bernard sought admission into the Cistercian order. Three years later, he was sent to found a new abbey at an isolated clearing in a glen known as the Val...

(1090–1153), Pope Pius XII

Pope Pius XII

The Venerable Pope Pius XII , born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli , reigned as Pope, head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City State, from 2 March 1939 until his death in 1958....

quotes three central elements of Bernard’s Mariology: How he explained the virginity

Virginity

of Mary, the “Star of the Sea
Our Lady, Star of the Sea
Our Lady, Star of the Sea is an ancient title for the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus Christ. The words Star of the Sea are a translation of the Latin title Stella Maris, first reliably used with relation to the Virgin Mary in the ninth century...

", how the faithful should pray to the Virgin Mary, and, how Bernard relied on the Virgin Mary as Mediatrix

Mediatrix

Mediatrix in Roman Catholic Mariology refers to the role of the Blessed Virgin Mary as a mediator in the salvation process. It is a separate concept from Co-Redemptrix....

Mary . . . is interpreted to mean 'Star of the Sea.' This admirably befits the Virgin Mother. There is indeed a wonderful appropriateness in this comparison of her with a star, because as a star sends out its rays without harm to itself, so did the Virgin bring forth her Child without injury to her integrity. And as the ray does not diminish the rightness of the star, so neither did the Child born of her tarnish the beauty of Mary's virginity.

When the storms to temptation burst upon you, when you see yourself driven upon the rocks of tribulation, look at the star, call upon Mary. When swallowed by pride or ambition, or hatred, or jealousy, look at the star, call upon Mary. Should anger, or avarice, or fleshly desire violently assail the frail vessel of your soul, look at the star, call upon Mary. If troubled on account of the heinousness of your sins, distressed at the filthy state of your conscience, and terrified at the thought of the awful judgment to come, you are beginning to sink into the bottomless gulf of sadness and to be swallowed in the abyss of despair, then think of Mary. In dangers, in doubts, in difficulties, think of Mary, call upon Mary. Let not her name leave thy lips, never suffer it to leave your heart.

Theologically, Bernard, a Doctor of the Church

Doctor of the Church

Doctor of the Church is a title given by a variety of Christian churches to individuals whom they recognize as having been of particular importance, particularly regarding their contribution to theology or doctrine.-Catholic Church:In the Catholic Church, this name is given to a saint from whose...

, is a fervent supporter of the Mediatrix

Mediatrix

Mediatrix in Roman Catholic Mariology refers to the role of the Blessed Virgin Mary as a mediator in the salvation process. It is a separate concept from Co-Redemptrix....

interpretation of Mary. God and World meet in her. Divine life flows through her to the whole creation. She is one with Jesus, who wants to save all and who passes all graces through her. She is the mediatrix to god, the ladder on which sinners may climb up to him, the royal road to him, because she is full of grace

It is the will of God that we should have nothing, which has not passed through the hands of Mary." It is the will of God, Who would have us obtain everything through the hands of Mary.

Anthony of Padua

The many sermons of Saint Anthony of Padua

Anthony of Padua

Anthony of Padua or Anthony of Lisbon, O.F.M., was a Portuguese Catholic priest and friar of the Franciscan Order. Though he died in Padua, Italy, he was born to a wealthy family in Lisbon, Portugal, which is where he was raised...

(1195–1231) on the Virgin Mary reflect his belief in various Marian doctrines that were declared as dogmas centuries after his death. He reflected on the Assumption of Mary

Assumption of Mary

According to the belief of Christians of the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, and parts of the Anglican Communion and Continuing Anglicanism, the Assumption of Mary was the bodily taking up of the Virgin Mary into Heaven at the end of her life...

and referring to Psalm 132 argued that just as Jesus had risen up to Heaven, so did Mary.

He also supported the freedom from sin and the Immaculate Conception

Immaculate Conception

The Immaculate Conception of Mary is a dogma of the Roman Catholic Church, according to which the Virgin Mary was conceived without any stain of original sin. It is one of the four dogmata in Roman Catholic Mariology...

of Mary. Given that Anthony was one of the best educated and articulate of the early Franciscans, he was treated as as a Doctor of the Church

Doctor of the Church

by his order, even before the title was granted to him in 1946. His views thus shaped the Mariological approach of a large number of Franciscans who followed his approach for centuries after his death.

Petrus Canisius

Saint Petrus Canisius

Petrus Canisius

Saint Petrus Canisius was an important Jesuit who fought against the spread of Protestantism in Germany, Austria, Bohemia, Moravia, , and Switzerland...

(1521–1597) taught that while there are many roads leading to real Jesus Christ, Marian veneration is the best way to him. Canisius tried to show practical and pragmatic rationale for Marian devotion and defended them against opposing Protestant arguments. His sermons and letters document a clear preoccupation with Marian veneration. His lasting contribution to this "applied mariology" are his three catechisms, which he published in Latin and German, and which became widespread and popular in Catholic regions. Under the heading "prayer" he explains the Ave Maria, Hail Mary, as the basis for Catholic Marian piety. Less known are his Marian books, in which he published prayers and contemplative texts.

Canisius published an applied Mariology for preachers, in which Mary is described in tender and warm words. He actively promoted the sodalities of our Lady

Sodality of Our Lady

The Sodality of Our Lady The Sodality of Our Lady The Sodality of Our Lady (also known as the Sodality of the Blessed Virgin Mary (in Latin, Congregationes seu sodalitates B. Mariæ Virginis) is a Roman Catholic Marian Society founded in 1563 by young Belgian Jesuit, Jean Leunis (or Jan), at the...

and the rosary

Rosary

The rosary or "garland of roses" is a traditional Catholic devotion. The term denotes the prayer beads used to count the series of prayers that make up the rosary...

associations. He is credited with adding to the Hail Mary

Hail Mary

The Angelic Salutation, Hail Mary, or Ave Maria is a traditional biblical Catholic prayer asking for the intercession of the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus. The Hail Mary is used within the Catholic Church, and it forms the basis of the Rosary...

the sentence

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners.

This sentence appeared for he first time in his catechism of 1555. It was eleven years later included in the Catechism of the Council of Trent of 1566.

Theologically, Canisius defended Catholic Mariology, in his 1577 book, De Maria Virgine Incomparabili et Dei Genitrice Sacrosancta Libri Quinque. The book was ordered by Pope Pius V

Pope Pius V

Pope Saint Pius V , born Antonio Ghislieri , was Pope from 1566 to 1572 and is a saint of the Catholic Church. He is chiefly notable for his role in the Council of Trent, the Counter-Reformation, and the standardization of the Roman liturgy within the Latin Church...

to present a factual presentation of the Catholic Marian teachings of the bible, the early Christians, the Church Fathers and contemporary theology. Canisius explains and documents Church teachings through the ages regarding the person and character of Mary, her virtues and youth. He traces historical documents about the permanent virginity of Mary, and her freedom from sin. He explains the dogma of "Mother of God" with numerous quotations from the fathers after the Council of Ephesus. He shows that Church teaching has not changed. He answers the Sola Scriptura

Sola scriptura

Sola scriptura is the doctrine that the Bible contains all knowledge necessary for salvation and holiness. Consequently, sola scriptura demands that only those doctrines are to be admitted or confessed that are found directly within or indirectly by using valid logical deduction or valid...

arguments of Protestants by analyzing the biblical basis for mariology. Book five explains the Catholic view of the assumption as living faith for centuries, supported by most proment Church writers. In addition he justifies the cult of Mary within the Catholic Church.

Petrus Canisius provided a classical defence of the whole Catholic mariology against Protestantism, judged three hundred years later, a leading Catholic theologican. From today's perspective, Canisius clearly erred in some of his sources, but, because of his factual analysis of original sources, he represents one of the best theological achievements in the 16th century.

Jean Eudes

Jean Eudes (1601–1680) introduced the joint devotion to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. He established Society of the Heart of the Mother Most Admirable

Immaculate Heart of Mary

The Immaculate Heart of Mary originally The Sacred Heart of Mary is a devotional name used to refer to the interior life of Mary, her joys and sorrows, her virtues and hidden perfections, and, above all, her virginal love for God, her maternal love for her Son, Jesus, and her compassionate love for...

, which resembled the Third Order of Saint Francis. Although Jean Eudes always associated the two Sacred Hearts, he began his devotional teachings with the Heart of Mary, and then extended it to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Eudes was partly influenced by the writings of Saint Francis de Sales

Francis de Sales

Francis de Sales was Bishop of Geneva and is a Roman Catholic saint. He worked to convert Protestants back to Catholicism, and was an accomplished preacher...

on the perfections of the Heart of Mary as the model of love for God.

Jean Eudes organized the scriptural, theological and liturgical sources relating to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary and promoted them with the approbation of the Church. The feast of the Holy Heart of Mary

Immaculate Heart of Mary

was celebrated for the first time in 1648, and that of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in 1670. The Mass and Office proper to these feasts were composed by Saint Jean Eudes in 1668, briefly preceding Saint Marguerite Marie Alacoque

Marguerite Marie Alacoque

Marguerite Marie Alacoque or Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque was a French Roman Catholic nun and mystic, who promoted devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in its modern form.-Early life:...

in establishing the devotion to the Sacred Hearts. He composed various prayers and rosaries to the Sacred Hearts. His book "Le Cœur Admirable de la Très Sainte Mère de Dieu" is the first book ever written on the devotion to the Sacred Hearts.

Louis de Montfort

Saint Louis de Montfort

Louis de Montfort

(1673–1716), was an effective defender of Mariology against Jansenism

Jansenism

Jansenism was a Christian theological movement, primarily in France, that emphasized original sin, human depravity, the necessity of divine grace, and predestination. The movement originated from the posthumously published work of the Dutch theologian Cornelius Otto Jansen, who died in 1638...

whose True Devotion to Mary
True Devotion to Mary
True Devotion to Mary is a book by Saint Louis de Montfort on the Roman Catholic theme of devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.The book is published by Montfort Publications , Baronius Press, TAN Publishing and Aventine Press but is also available online...

synthesizes many of the earlier saints' writings and teachings on Mary. Saint Louis de Montfort

Louis de Montfort

's approach of "total consecration to Jesus Christ through Mary" had a strong impact on Marian devotion both in popular piety and in the spirituality of religious order

Religious order

A religious order is a lineage of communities and organizations of people who live in some way set apart from society in accordance with their specific religious devotion, usually characterized by the principles of its founder's religious practice. The order is composed of initiates and, in some...

s. One of his well known followers was Pope John Paul II. According to his Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae
Rosarium Virginis Mariae
Rosarium Virginis Mariae is the title of an Apostolic Letter by Pope John Paul II, issued on October 16, 2002. This Apostlic Letter deals with the Holy Rosary and views it as compendium of the Gospel message:...

, the pontiff's personal motto "Totus Tuus

Totus Tuus

" was inspired by St. Louis' doctrine on the excellence of Marian devotion and total consecration, which he quoted:

Since Mary is of all creatures the one most conformed to Jesus Christ, it follows that among all devotions that which most consecrates and conforms a soul to our Lord is devotion to Mary, his Holy Mother, and that the more a soul is consecrated to her the more will it be consecrated to Jesus Christ."

In an address to the Montfortian Fathers, the pontiff also said that his reading the saint's work The True Devotion to Mary was a "decisive turning point" in his life.

Saint Louis de Montfort

Louis de Montfort

impacted Mariology not only at the papal level, but the popular level. His book The Secret of the Rosary
Secret of the Rosary
The Secret of the Rosary is a book about the Holy Rosary written by Saint Louis de Montfort a French priest and Catholic saint who died in 1716. The English translation of the book bears the Imprimatur of Archbishop Thomas E...

(which is a multi-perspective approach to the rosary

Rosary

The rosary or "garland of roses" is a traditional Catholic devotion. The term denotes the prayer beads used to count the series of prayers that make up the rosary...

) has been widely read by Catholics worldwide for over two centuries and is one of the earliest works to strengthen the devotional components of modern Mariology.

Alphonsus Liguori

Saint Alphonsus Liguori

Alphonsus Liguori

Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori was an Italian Catholic bishop, spiritual writer, scholastic philosopher and theologian, and founder of the Redemptorists, an influential religious congregation...

(1696–1787) a Doctor of the Church

Doctor of the Church

, wrote The Glories of Mary
The Glories of Mary
The Glories of Mary is a classic book in the field of Roman Catholic Mariology, written during the 18th century by Saint Alphonsus Liguori, a Doctor of the Church....

, Marian Devotions, Prayers to the Divine Mother, Spiritual Songs, Visitations to the Blessed Sacrament and to the Virgin Mary, The True Spouse of Jesus Christ, and other writings. He was of great influence on Mariology during the Age of Enlightenment

Age of Enlightenment

The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...

. His often flaming Marian enthusiasm contrasts with the cold rationalism

Rationalism

In epistemology and in its modern sense, rationalism is "any view appealing to reason as a source of knowledge or justification" . In more technical terms, it is a method or a theory "in which the criterion of the truth is not sensory but intellectual and deductive"...

of the Enlightenment. Liguori promoted a maximalist Mariology and expressed the belief in the general mediation of grace through Mary. This work was used by preachers. Mainly pastoral in nature, his Mariology rediscovers, integrates and defends the Mariology of Augustine and Ambrose and other fathers and represents an intellectual defence of Mariology in the eighteenth century.

Liguori also promoted the doctrine of the bodily Assumption of Mary

Assumption of Mary

into Heaven, arguing that Jesus would not have wanted his mother's body corrupted in flesh, for that would have been a dishonor given that he had himself been born of the Virgin, and hence Mary must have been assumed into Heaven, with no mortal remains.

Maximillian Kolbe

In 1915, while still in seminary

Seminary

A seminary, theological college, or divinity school is an institution of secondary or post-secondary education for educating students in theology, generally to prepare them for ordination as clergy or for other ministry...

, Saint Maximillian Kolbe (1894–1941) and six other students started the Militia Immaculatae to promote the Immaculate Conception

Immaculate Conception

, partly relying on the 1858 messages of Our Lady of Lourdes

Our Lady of Lourdes

Our Lady of Lourdes is the name used to refer to the Marian apparition said to have appeared before various individuals on separate occasions around Lourdes, France...

. Kolbe's theological basis for Marian consecration

Consecration and entrustment to Mary

For centuries, Marian devotions among Roman Catholics have included many examples of personal or collective acts of consecration and entrustment to the Virgin Mary, with the Latin terms oblatio, servitus, commendatio and dedicatio having been used in this context.Consecration is an act by which a...

relied on his view of the Holy Spirit

Holy Spirit

Holy Spirit is a term introduced in English translations of the Hebrew Bible, but understood differently in the main Abrahamic religions.While the general concept of a "Spirit" that permeates the cosmos has been used in various religions Holy Spirit is a term introduced in English translations of...

as the "Uncreated Immaculate Conception" that works in concert with the Virgin Mary as the Immaculate. He argued that since Mary is Immaculate, by her very nature she is the perfect instrument of the Holy Spirit in the mediation of all graces, given that "every grace is a gift of the Father

God the Father

God the Father is a gendered title given to God in many monotheistic religions, particularly patriarchal, Abrahamic ones. In Judaism, God is called Father because he is the creator, life-giver, law-giver, and protector...

through his Son by the Holy Spirit". Like Louis de Montfort, Kolbe emphasized the renewal of the baptismal promises by making a total consecration to the Immaculata, which he considered the most perfect means of achieving unity with Jesus.

Kolbe later founded the monastery of Immaculate City and continued publishing Militia Immaculatae in multiple languages, which eventually reached a circulation of 750,000 copies a month, until it was stopped when Kolbe was sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp, where he volunteered to die in place of another prisoner. Kolbe's efforts in promoting consecration to the Immaculata made him known as the "Apostle of Consecration to Mary

Consecration and entrustment to Mary

How the saints shaped Mariology

Irenaeus of Lyons

Ambrose of Milan

Augustine of Hippo

Cyril of Alexandria

Pope Leo the Great

Bernard of Clairvaux

Anthony of Padua

Petrus Canisius

Jean Eudes

Louis de Montfort

Alphonsus Liguori

Maximillian Kolbe

See also