Mariology

The foundational Marian dogma—that Mary is truly the Mother of God (Theotokos)—defined against Nestorius at Ephesus, proved from Scripture and Tradition, and clarified theologically through the nature of motherhood and the distinction between Christ's eternal generation and His temporal birth.

The ontological dignity flowing from Mary's divine motherhood: her transcendent rank as Mother of the Logos, Daughter of the Father, and Spouse of the Holy Ghost; her position as the most eminent of creatures and spiritual mother of the faithful; and her role as secondary intermediary between God and the world.

The interior sanctity that the dignity of divine motherhood demands: the 'full of grace' of the Angelic Salutation proved from Scripture, Tradition, and reason; the scope and limits of Mary's plenitude of grace against pious exaggerations; its gradual growth to its climax at her death; and the etymology of the name 'Mary.'

The dogma defined by Pius IX in 'Ineffabilis Deus'—that Mary was preserved from all stain of original sin from the first instant of her conception through the anticipated merits of Christ—proved from the Protevangelium and the Angelic Salutation, from the twofold tradition of the Fathers, from theological fitness, and vindicated through the long medieval controversy from St. Bernard through Scotus, including the true mind of St. Thomas.

The second negative prerogative: that Mary was free from all concupiscence throughout life, exempt by a special privilege from every personal sin (the article of faith defined at Trent), and endowed with a kind of moral impeccability rooted ultimately in the grace of her divine motherhood.

The third negative prerogative: that Mary was an inviolate virgin before, during, and after the birth of Christ. Three theses treat her virginal conception (with the true father-role of St. Joseph and the prophecy of Isaias), her miraculous virgin birth against Jovinian, and her virginity after parturition against Helvidius—resolving the question of the 'brethren of Jesus.'

The fourth negative prerogative (not yet defined as dogma at the time of writing): the death of Our Lady free from the debitum mortis, and the dogmatic, Scriptural, and traditional grounds for belief in the incorruptibility of her body and her bodily resurrection and assumption into Heaven soon after death.

The first positive prerogative: Mary as mediatrix, whose mediation rests entirely on Christ's sole mediatorship. Careful delimitation of her honorary titles, the dogmatic proof of her unique cooperation in the Redemption as the new Eve and spiritual mother of mankind, and her powerful maternal intercession in Heaven as dispensatrix of graces.

The second positive prerogative: the hyperdulia owed to Mary. The distinction of latria, dulia, and hyperdulia; the proof from her transcendent dignity (quaestio iuris) that she deserves a veneration surpassing all the saints; and the historical fact (quaestio facti) of Marian devotion from the catacombs onward, guarding always against idolatry.

First chapter of the appendix on the cult of the saints: the essential distinction of dulia from the latria owed to God alone, and the twofold dogma that the saints in Heaven are entitled to veneration and may be profitably invoked to intercede for us—proved from the Council of Trent, Scripture, and the tradition of the martyr-cult.

Second chapter of the appendix: the relative dulia owed to the relics of the saints. Definition of relics, the article of faith (from Nicaea II and Trent) that their veneration is licit and useful, proof from Old and New Testament instances and the practice of the early Church, and the special veneration of the True Cross and the discipline of pilgrimages.

Final chapter of the appendix: the relative veneration of sacred images. Two articles of faith—that images may not be worshipped as such (against idolatry), and that their pious veneration is licit and useful (against the Iconoclasts and Calvinists)—proved from Nicaea II and Trent, from Scripture and Tradition, together with the theological dispute over the precise manner of the cult and the special case of images of Christ, the Cross, and the Trinity.