Marie de Nazareth
To Jesus, through Mary
Miniature from a 13th century manuscript showing the Apostles writing the creed while receiving inspiration from the Holy Spirit.
The entirety of Christian doctrine, including Marian teaching, rests upon certain foundational texts that serve as a reference. Church doctrine concerning the Virgin Mary developed over time. It springs from the Scriptures and theological reflection, synthesized in both formal writings and popular piety.
To understand how Marian doctrine grew and changed throughout the centuries, it is necessary to comprehend what the development of doctrine entails and what are the contributing factors. The latter are, for example, ecumenical councils, or the popular piety of the baptized who, guided by the Holy Spirit, attest to their spiritual discernment and contribute to the development of doctrine. To illustrate this role, one need only look at the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. This dogma was officially promulgated by the Church in 1854, but devotion to Our Lady under this aspect had existed since the 9th century in England and was particularly entrenched in Normandy. The feast commemorating the Immaculate Conception was called “The Normans’ Feast” and was celebrated with great festivities every December 8th[1]. The Normans were instrumental in spreading this devotion. The question of Mary’s Immaculate Conception was raised in numerous debates in the Medieval West, up until the final proclamation of the dogma on December 8th, 1854 by Pope Pius IX, in his bull Ineffabilis Deus[2]. Similarly, on November 1st, 1950, Pope Pius XII wrote, in the apostolic constitution Munificentissimus Deus, that the privilege of the Assumption of Mary body and soul into Heaven was being proclaimed shortly after that of the Immaculate Conception [3] due to demands from the faithful as well as from representatives of nations and ecclesiastical provinces:
“The minds of the faithful were filled with a stronger hope that the day might soon come when the dogma of the Virgin Mary's bodily Assumption into heaven would also be defined by the Church's supreme teaching authority. … Consequently, when we were elevated to the throne of the supreme pontificate, petitions of this sort had already been addressed by the thousands from every part of the world and from every class of people, from our beloved sons the Cardinals of the Sacred College, from our venerable brethren, archbishops and bishops, from dioceses and from parishes.”
These examples show the process of the development of doctrine. Once a dogma has been promulgated, it must be incorporated into Church teaching and transmitted to the faithful.
The Christian faith rests upon a common profession of faith with which the Virgin Mary is powerfully associated. The Catechism of the Catholic Church[4] explains as follows:
« Communion in faith needs a common language of faith, normative for all and uniting all in the same confession of faith. »
This confession of faith is based on the synthesis of foundational texts and is called a “profession of faith”, “creed”, or “symbol” of the faith. It is designed primarily for baptismal candidates. The term “symbol” is used here in a Christian context, which gives it the particular meaning of “an authoritative summary of faith or doctrine”[5]. The first “symbol” or creed was created by St. Justin, an apologist, philosopher, and martyr of the 2nd century. It was the precursor to the symbol of the Apostles, which took up the same truths and elaborated upon the first formulation. Among all the creeds of the faith, two hold a particular place in the life of the Church[6] : the Apostles’ Creed, a summary of the apostles’ faith, and the Nicean-Constantinopolitan Creed (or Nicene Creed), an expanded version of the Apostles’ Creed and the result of the first two ecumenical councils (the Council of Nicaea in 325 and the First Council of Constantinople in 381). These two creeds are still held in common today by all the major churches of the East and the West.
Finally, the Christian faith develops a certain understanding of man, both anthropological and spiritual. This teaching was synthesized at the initiative of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, under the form of a Compendium[7]. It offers an “integral and solidary humanism”, exposes the foundations of this humanism and the principles of Church social teaching, which are ordered to obtaining a “civilization of love”. These principles include a reflection on the common good, the principle of solidarity, the fundamental values of social life, and the path of charity. In the second part, the Compendium offers a reflection on the family, human labor, the economic life, the political community, the international community, the environment, and the promotion of peace. The last part of the Compendium treats of the action of the Church and the engagement of the lay faithful. The Holy Family finds its natural place at the heart of this reflection.
[1] See Marielle Lamy. « Le culte marial entre dévotion et doctrine: de la Fête aux Normands à l’Immaculée Conception », in Françoise Thélamon (dir.). Marie et la « fête aux Normands ». Mont-Saint-Aignan: Publication des Universités de Rouen et du havre (PURH), 2011.
The first part is centered on the development of Marian doctrine. It summarizes the Church’s process in formulating its statements about the Virgin Mary, from the beginnings of the Church until the present day, notably including the seven ecumenical councils which concern the Virgin Mary and the mission of the baptized faithful in this development. Then, this section centers on the Creed, the common confession of faith, which refers to the Virgin Mary, and finishes with the social teaching of the Church.