Postscripts From The Catholic Spitfire Grill

As a Protestant there were many parts of the Bible that troubled me. Mostly it was a nagging feeling of unease because it just didn’t make sense. The angelic visitations to Zechariah and Mary was one of those things that troubled me. I didn’t spend a lot of time meditating on it because I figured that if it was a big problem, there would be other people talking about it and nobody in my Protestant world seemed to think it was worth discussing. I thought Zechariah got a raw deal! He has an angel visit him (Luke 1:5-25), tell him that his elderly barren wife was going to have a baby, he says “No way!” and in punishment he gets to be struck speechless until the baby, John the Baptist, is named. Mary has a visit from an angel (Luke 1:26-38), gets told she is going to have a baby and says “No way!” and gets let off without so much as a handslap. What’s the deal? This was just one of the many places in the Bible that I didn’t understand, had no explanation for, and was forced to look away.

As a Catholic, I understand those passages much differently.

Zechariah’s answer to the angelic messenger “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.” expressed disbelief for which he was punished.

If Mary’s answer, “How shall this be since I do not know man?” had expressed disbelief, she would have been punished as well. If she had been planning to have sex with Joseph after their marriage, she wouldn’t have had a question. So what’s she asking? Where babies come from? That’s not likely. Catholics believe that Mary’s question to the angel reflects a vow of perpetual virginity taken by Mary. Mary was curious about how conception was to take place given her vow.

An important historical document which supports the teaching of Mary’s perpetual virginity is the Protoevangelium of James, which was written probably less than sixty years after the conclusion of Mary’s earthly life (around A.D. 120), when memories of her life were still vivid in the minds of many.

According to the world-renowned patristics scholar, Johannes Quasten: “The principal aim of the whole writing [Protoevangelium of James] is to prove the perpetual and inviolate virginity of Mary before, in, and after the birth of Christ” (Patrology, 1:120–1).

To begin with, the Protoevangelium records that when Mary’s birth was prophesied, her mother, St. Anne, vowed that she would devote the child to the service of the Lord, as Samuel had been by his mother (1 Sam. 1:11). Mary would thus serve the Lord at the Temple, as women had for centuries (1 Sam. 2:22), and as Anna the prophetess did at the time of Jesus’ birth (Luke 2:36–37). A life of continual, devoted service to the Lord at the Temple meant that Mary would not be able to live the ordinary life of a child-rearing mother. Rather, she was vowed to a life of perpetual virginity.

However, due to considerations of ceremonial cleanliness, it was eventually necessary for Mary, a consecrated “virgin of the Lord,” to have a guardian or protector who would respect her vow of virginity. Thus, according to the Protoevangelium, Joseph, an elderly widower who already had children, was chosen to be her spouse. (This would also explain why Joseph was apparently dead by the time of Jesus’ adult ministry, since he does not appear during it in the gospels, and since Mary is entrusted to John, rather than to her husband Joseph, at the crucifixion).

According to the Protoevangelium, Joseph was required to regard Mary’s vow of virginity with the utmost respect. The gravity of his responsibility as the guardian of a virgin was indicated by the fact that, when she was discovered to be with child, he had to answer to the Temple authorities, who thought him guilty of defiling a virgin of the Lord. Mary was also accused of having forsaken the Lord by breaking her vow. Keeping this in mind, it is an incredible insult to the Blessed Virgin to say that she broke her vow by bearing children other than her Lord and God, who was conceived through the power of the Holy Spirit.

The perpetual virginity of Mary has always been reconciled with the biblical references to Christ’s brethren through a proper understanding of the meaning of the term “brethren.” The understanding that the brethren of the Lord were Jesus’ stepbrothers (children of Joseph) rather than half-brothers (children of Mary) was the most common one until the time of Jerome (fourth century). It was Jerome who introduced the possibility that Christ’s brethren were actually his cousins, since in Jewish idiom cousins were also referred to as “brethren.” The Catholic Church allows the faithful to hold either view, since both are compatible with the reality of Mary’s perpetual virginity.

Today most Protestants are unaware of these early beliefs regarding Mary’s virginity and the proper interpretation of “the brethren of the Lord.” And yet, the Protestant Reformers themselves—Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Ulrich Zwingli—honored the perpetual virginity of Mary and recognized it as the teaching of the Bible, as have other, more modern Protestants.

When the canon was set by the Catholic Church there was never any idea that it was to be the “sole rule of faith” why would there have been a need to include a document such as the Protoevangelium? The Church was the guardian of the Deposit of Faith, and the canon itself was part of that deposit…why accept that men who were so full of the Holy Spirit they could accurately discern what was and was not Sacred Scripture then reject what they believed was revealed by Sacred Scripture and supported by the earliest commentaries and documents of the Church?

And for the record, the same word used to describe Jesus “brothers” was also used to describe Abraham’s relationship to Lot and there were most decidedly not brothers. There’s more to that explanation for another day. 

Catholic Answers: Mary Ever Virgin

Scripture Catholic: Blessed Virgin Mary

The husband of one of our members at the Catholic Spitfire Grill (you’re welcome to join us!) has opined that the fact there are more Hail Mary’s than Our Father’s is “proof” that the Rosary is “Mary Worship.” He is not the only person in this world to express this opinion. In fact among Protestants who are not familiar with the rosary other than simply the mechanical aspects of the prayer (say one Our Father, ten Hail Mary’s…..) it is not uncommon at all. In fact, I have seen websites where the exact percentage of “Mary Worship” praying a rosary actually reflected as determined by the ratio of Hail Mary’s to Our Father’s was declared. If someone is out there reading and has the statistical and mathematical inclination, I’d love to see a well done parallel to this calculation. What percentage of the rosary is taken directly from Sacred Scripture? Since the Our Father is 100% scripture, the Hail Mary about 50% so, and ALL of the mysteries (15 or 20 depending on how you want to count) are also taken from the Bible, I am confident the number would be pretty high. But I digress….

Why does the rosary have more Hail Mary’s than Our Father’s? I don’t know for sure. How’s that for an answer?

I can tell you about the scriptural origins of the rosary. The origins of the practice are traced to the early days of the church when very devout religious (monks, priests, nuns) made it a practice to recite all 150 Psalms daily. Many laypeople wanted to imitate that practice but memorizing all 150 Psalms without being able to afford a copy of them, much less find the time to say them daily was simply beyond reach. What evolved was the practice of saying simple prayers 150 times instead…usually the “Our Father” or a “Hail Mary”. In order to keep track, rocks or stones were placed in one pocket and moved to the other throughout the day as the prayers were said. Eventually, this lead to the knotting of cords, or stringing of beads and of course, some figured out that one needn’t have all 150 on a cord just say 10 (a decade) 15 times etc. Things from other sources also converged to make the Rosary what it is today as well. Many theologians, particularly in the Middle Ages believed that each of the 150 Psalms was reflective of particular events in the life of Jesus and his mother. So underlying the discipline of saying all 150 Psalms daily was the idea that it was a meditation on the life of Jesus and the path to Salvation. Now tie in St. Dominic, who was a primary figure in fighting some of the heresies that were particularly troublesome in the late 12th century and early 13th century. He had a vision that one of the ways to strengthen the church against these heresies was to teach people to meditate on the life of Jesus and his mother so what was once just an underlying idea became the principal idea. One more idea that certainly helped me bring it all together was that in a world that was dominated by the Church and in the absence of clocks…prayer was the principle method of keeping time. The Liturgy of the Hours or the specific prayers said during the day, marked each period of the day as clearly to someone at that time as saying 3 pm would to someone in ours. Likewise, so would telling someone that it would take about 10 Our Fathers as a means of telling them how long it would last. Now put all of the pieces together and you can kind of see where the modern form of the Rosary came from.

That still doesn’t answer the question about why there are more Hail Mary’s than Our Father’s. After all it could have gone the other way. We could say one Hail Mary and 10 Our Father’s, or all Hail Mary’s or all Our Father’s…or some other combination. Somewhere out there, there may be a definitive and historical answer. I’ll be honest. I didn’t even look for it. The Rosary is about resting in the Gospel. Praying the rosary is about meditating on Sacred Scripture and asking Jesus to speak to us. It’s about claiming the promises. It’s about imitating the lives of Our Lord and Our Lady. Over the years a big picture of sorts has developed for me, and I am only comfortable in saying that this is my personal understanding of the rosary. I do not wish to impose my understanding on anyone else who prays the rosary since they may have a different and equally valid understanding. This is how Our Lord speaks to me through this prayer at this place in my spiritual journey. I am also equally comfortable in saying that I have only scratched the surface of what the rosary has to offer in the way of other spiritual treasures.

To explain, let me start with a prayer that is commonly said at the end of the recitation of the rosary:

“O God, whose only begotten Son, by his life, death and resurrection, has purchased for us the blessings of eternal life, grant we beseech thee, that by meditating on the mysteries of the Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may imitate what they contain and obtain what they promise, through Christ our Lord. Amen.”

I put it in bold. The nutshell explanation of why there are so many Hail Mary’s. May “we imitate what they contain and obtain what they promise” 

Why is that? First, it’s important to understand what Mary means in the Catholic understanding of the gospel. Often Catholics are accused of ascribing divinity to Mary and of being less than candid when we say that we do not believe she is divine. (Example Warning. It’s ugly…really ugly.) I tell you honestly that it is because she isn’t divine that she means so much to Catholics. In Mary’s fully-human-not-at-all-divine example of obedience, we see the possibilities for us! By a supernatural, unmerited, unearned GIFT to her, God preserved her from original sin in the Immaculate Conception. She was saved by the One Perfect Sacrifice of Her Son on the Cross, just like we can be. As His Gift to her, God, who is not bound by time, granted her the gift of salvation made possible by the Son she would bear from the moment of her conception. Her salvation, prefigures our own! She is the first Christian and her reward for faithful obedience in heaven (Revelation 12) foreshadows our own reward in heaven. Her response to Word of God is the perfect example of how we should submit our free will to the will of God when she declares, “Let it be done to me according to thy word.” (Luke 1:38) When in humility she goes to assist her aging cousin, the Holy Spirit speaks through Elizabeth when she declares ”Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished.” (Luke 1:45) It is these two events that are captured in the scriptural portions of the Hail Mary. It is also important that the only command Mary gives that is recorded in Sacred Scripture is “Do whatever He tells you.” (John 2:5) Keep all that in mind and we’ll come back to it in a minute. 

The next thing that it is important to fix in your mind is the Catholic attitude toward Sacred Scripture and the Gospels in particular. They are literally the words of God. When the Gospel is read in church, we stand to listen to the words of Our Lord. The Mysteries of the Rosaryare taken from Sacred Scripture. When we meditate on the words of the Gospel, it is our Lord speaking to us directly from the printed page. The Our Father are Christ’s instructions to us for prayer taken directly from Sacred Scripture. They are the things He has directed us to request from the Throne of Heaven. The Mysteries and the Our Father are the words of Our Lord. He is speaking to us through the gospels while we meditate on the words of Jesus…..and with those words in our mind, in our heart, and often literally on our lips we pray (I am putting the words of the Hail Mary in bold italic print)….

Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with you. (Luke 1:28) …my response to His words should be in imitation of Mary, “I am the handmaid of the Lord. Let it be done to me according to thy word.” Her yes, allowed life for the world a literal “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done.” My yes to our Lord, will allow Him to work through me and continue to bring His Kingdom here on earth. Was our salvation dependant on Mary? In a certain sense I think it was (although I certainly believe that if she had said ‘no’ God would have found another way). Her “yes” mattered to God. Her “yes, parallels our own yes to the Lord. Could we be saved without our own ”yes” to God? Like her, I ask the Lord for the grace to say to His Words “I am the handmaid of the Lord. Let it be done to me according to thy word.”….imitate what they contain. 

Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus. (Luke 1:42) …and I remember “Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished.” Trust in the Lord to accomplish all that He has promised in the Gospels…obtain what they promise.

Holy Mary, Mother of God…He is My Lord, fully human and fully divine.

Pray for us sinners now…I am a sinner in need of Him just as those at the wedding in Cana needed Him where He turned the water into wine, prefiguring His Precious Blood that would bind us to Him as part of the Bride of Christ…Do whatever He tells you…imitate what they contain.

And at the hour of our death…obtain what they promise.

The rosary is a prayerful conversation. The Lord speaks through Sacred Scripture (in the mysteries and the Our Fathers) and we seek to listen, to imitate, to obey, and to trust in Him for all those things. In the Hail Mary we find our response in Mary, who prefigures our faith, she has gone first. She listened and submitted. Her reward (Assumption and Coronation) prefigures our own reward and we trust in Our Lord just as she did. The Mysteries (the Gospel, the plan of Salvation) and the instructions of how we are to pray from Our Lord himself, remain foremost in our mind as we rest in the Gospel and while we rest and mediate, we recite the Hail Mary which is all about our response to those words. I think there are more Hail Mary’s than Our Fathers because the words of Our Lord don’t leave our mind while we pray about our response to them and I don’t know about you, but I need all ten of those Hail Marys (and probably a few more) because sometimes I don’t hear very well.

Excellent on-line articles about the historical origin of the rosary: Paternoster Row: Historical Rosaries and Paternosters; St. Dominic and the Rosary at Catholic.net; a different article with same name St. Dominic and the Rosary

WikiHow: How to say the rosary. 

Online interactive/multi-media rosaries: The Holy Rosary; Virtual Rosary; Daily Rosary; Fatima Online Rosary (chant); St. Philip Neri Newman Center; Catholic Calendar Rosary Page

Make your own rosary to keep or to give away: Rosary Army; Our Lady’s Rosary Makers; RosaryWorkshop.com (this site also has some interesting historical information and pictures of antique rosaries)

I heard someone say the other day that “Mary didn’t do all that much. I don’t see what the big deal is.” This person was right. (Put the rocks down…I have more to say.) We don’t see Mary explicitly spoken of in Sacred Scripture often, but we catch glimpses and shadows of her presence. If we stop, and meditate, and ponder, those glimpses teach us. Sometimes by what she is doing and sometimes by what we do not hear. The the Catholic, Mary is the first Christian and the perfect example of devotion to Christ. We catch only glimpses of her life because she is also an exampled of quiet service, devotion, and humility. She serves Our Lord and loves Him in spite of the humiliation. Try being a pregnant unmarried woman in Israel 2000 years ago or publicly admitting that your Son is being shamefully executed by the Romans. Sacred Scripture doesn’t record any great honor bestowed in her in this earthly life other than the love and care of her Son. I shared the following written by John Paul the Great not too long ago and it bears repeating:

The Magnificat is followed by silence. Nothing is said to us about the three months that Mary stayed with her kinswoman Elizabeth. Yet perhaps we are told the most important thing: that goodness works quietly, the power of love is expressed in the unassuming quietness of daily service. 

Homily by John Paul II, 15 August 2004 from Silence Transformed into Life: The Testament of His Final Year

And so, in honor of Holy Week, for those who do not already know of this old Catholic meditation (sorry, I don’t know how old this devotional practice is) I would like to share the “Seven Sorrows of Mary.” A chance to sit and think about parts of Sacred Scripture that you may have skimmed over in the past. Blessings.

V: O God, come to my assistance;

R: O Lord, make haste to help me.

V: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit

R: As it was in the beginning it is now and ever shall be, world without end, Amen.

1. I grieve for thee, O Mary most sorrowful, in the affiction off thy tender heart at the prophecy of the holy and aged Simeon. Dear Mother, by thy hear so afficted, obtain for me the virtue of humility and the Gift of the holy Fear of God.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

2. I grieve for thee, O Mary most sorrowful, in the anguish of thy most affectionate heart during the flight into Egypt and thy sojourn there. Dear Mother, by they heart so troubled, obtain for me the virtue of Generousity, especially toward the poor, and the Gift of Piety,

Hail Mary…. 

 3. I grieve for thee, O Mary most sorrowful, in those anxieties which tried they troubled heart at the loss of thy dear Jesus in the Temple. Dear Mother, by thy heart so full of anguish, obtain for me the virtue of chastity and Gift of Knowledge.

Hail Mary….

4. I grieve for thee, O Mary most sorrowful, in the consternation of thy heart at meeting Jesus as He carried his Cross. Dear Mother, by thy heart so troubled, obtain for me the virtue of patience and the Gift of Fortitude.

Hail Mary…

5.  I grieve for thee, O Mary most sorrowful, in the martyrdom which thy generous heart endured in standing near Jesus in His agony on the Cross. Dear Mother, by thy afflicted heart, obtain for me the virtue of temperance and the Gift of Counsel.

Hail Mary…

6. I grieve for thee, O Mary most sorrowful, in the wounding of thy compassionate heart, when the side of Jesus was struck by the lance before His Body was removed from the Cross. Dear Mother, by thy heart thus transfixed, obtain for me the virtue of fraternal charity and the Gift of Understanding.

Hail Mary…

7. I grieve for thee, O Mary most sorrowful, for the pangs that wrenched thy most loving heart at the burial of Jesus. Dear Mother, by thy heart sunk in bitterness of desolation, obtain for me the virtue of diligence and the Gift of Wisdom.

Hail Mary…

Catholic Prayers by TAN Publishers has this prayer as well as many other lovely old traditional Catholic Prayers in a purse-sized book.

In Luke chapter 1 in the accounts of what Catholics call The Annuciation and the Visitation, Mary is greeted by the the Angel Gabriel as FULL of Grace. (Luke 1:28) Some translations render this “Hail favored one” or “Highly favored one” Notice that Gabriel does not call her by name but by a title….a title which Catholics believe capture the nature of God’s gift to her. This is the only place in scripture where an angel addresses a human by anything other than that person’s name. The Greek verb used here (and I am not a Greek scholar so I must trust others to tell this to me) carries with it the meaning that Mary has already been graced and is now “fully graced” but the angel cannot be referring to her forthcoming pregnancy (and thus, the presence of Jesus in her womb) because she has not yet consented to it. Even so, she is told “The Lord is WITH you”…present tense. And as I understand it, the Greek verb forms here differ slightly from those used to describe Stephan in Acts 6 in that it is a stronger assertion. So the angel’s greeting implies that was not only filled with Grace in the past but is also in the present moment filled with Grace. All BEFORE being granted the privilege of carrying Jesus in her womb. I believe that Gabriel greeted her as such because He, like me, was is awe of God’s amazing work in her life.

The contrast between the Annunciation in Luke 1 and the account of the birth of John in that same chapter is significant and part of the scriptural reason that Catholics believe that Mary retained her virginity throughout her life. The placement of these two accounts in Luke’s gospel indicates that he intended to to highlight the differences between the two angelic announcements. Notice that Mary responds not with disbelief at the angel’s statement but wonder “How this be, since I have no relations with man?” she does not say, I have not had relations with a man YET. Catholics believe that Mary was a Temple virgin and that her response to the angel Gabriel is indicative her her wonderment because even though she is betrothed she is a vowed virgin. Unless she is ignorant of the birds and the bees, her question makes no sense unless she never intends to consummate her forthcoming marriage. The angel answers her to reassure her that she is not to break her vow of virginity, that her child is to be miraculously conceived. And in fact the Dead Seas Scrolls show that this practice was far more common than previously believed.

And Zechariah says “How shall I know?” which expresses his disbelief (for which he is struck dumb).

Other passages that support the Perpetual Virginity of Mary:

Additionally, the fact that Jesus committed Mary to the care of John (John 19:26) is indicative that there were no brothers to care for her. It would have been illegal for Jesus to do this and for John to accept since by LAW Mary would have been cared for by any other children.

That Mary was perpetually Virgin is a long-standing (and not in the last 500 years sort of Tradition). Of course these are not scriptural references but I only provde them to show that defining a doctrine that has been around for about 2000 years does not make it new. Even the doctrine of the Trinity (which most but not all Protestants accept) was not defined until later in church history. I provide them to demonstrate my earlier assertion that Tradition (with a capital T) always comes from scripture and is supported by the understanding of those who have come before us.:

From the early church father regarding the Immaculate Conception:

Mary is believed to be in heaven (Assumption) because she plays a prominent role in the vision John had of heaven in Revelation 11:19-12:1. Catholics believe that she is the woman clothed in the sun because she is the Ark of the New Covenant [parallels to the OT Ark which contained the rod of Aaron (sign of priesthood); the stone tablets on which God himself wrote the commandments (the word of God); and manna (bread from heaven)....all of these are fulfilled in Mary who bore the Bread of Heaven, the Word made Flesh, and the Eternal High Priest]

I don’t have much time and don’t want to dig through this thread to find the most appropriate place to put this but I haven’t seen this mentioned so far and I’d like to just throw it into the mix. I know that even though as a evangelical-type Protestant I was very familiar with scripture that I completely missed things because the “authority” I listened to had very thoroughly inculcated a bias into me that prevented me seeing what might have otherwise been very plain indeed.

I have already briefly mentioned that in Luke 1:28 when the angel Gabriel greets Mary he uses a title instead of her name and that this is the only place in Sacred Scripture where an angel uses a title rather than a name for one of God’s creatures. “Fully-Graced One” as I have sometimes seen it rendered and that this title conveys a sense that she is not only now fully-graced but has always been and that this title cannot refer to her status as the Mother of God because she had not yet given her consent. It is from this passage that the scriptural basis for the Immaculate Conception is drawn.

Now let’s go to another passage of Sacred Scripture that I used to skip right over as interesting and primarily historical but with meditation and a loss of the previously mentioned inculcated bias….starts to look much, MUCH more interesting Luke 1:41-56…The Visitation.

Please note that in verse 42 we are told that the things Elizabeth says and does here are done while she is filled with the Holy Spirit. It was the sound of Mary’s greeting that caused the baby John to leap in the womb of Elizabeth and not just the presence of Jesus. Elizabeth is HONORED by the visit of the Mother of her Savior….not just the fact that Mary brought Jesus to her. Remember Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit here so we cannot just chalk up what she says to cultural greetings. Elizabeth could have said “Who am I that you should have brought my Savior to me?” No…it is that the Mother of her Savior visits and not just the presence of the Savior. Next she says that Mary is blessed among women and so is her baby and she uses the very same word to describe both (remember she is FILLED with the Holy Spirit….we cannot easily turn away from her choice of words here). What an amazing parallel! Do I think that she is saying that Mary is divine….NO!!!….but do I think that she is honoring and venerating Mary because of who she is? YES!! Elizabeth clearly honors Mary here independent from the honor she gives Jesus in this encounter.