Hail, Holy Queen by Scott Hahn

Author:Scott Hahn [Hahn, Scott]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-385-51691-4
Publisher: The Crown Publishing Group
Published: 2005-10-17T16:00:00+00:00

Fetal Attraction

As we pray the Hail Mary, we echo one of the most ancient titles Christians have given to Mary: Mother of God (in Greek, Theotokos, literally “God-bearer”). As early as the third century (and probably earlier), the Church in Egypt prayed: “We fly to your patronage, O holy Mother of God…” Early Fathers such as Saint Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and Saint Alexander called upon Mary as “Mother of God” or its equivalent, “Mother of the Lord.” This prayer of Christians follows Elizabeth’s inspired greeting of Mary, her kinswoman: “And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Lk1:43).

With such scriptural precedent, the title “Mother of God” went uncontested in the first centuries of the Church. Moreover, the statement follows logically from a Christian’s necessary acknowledgment of Christ’s divinity. If He is God and Mary is His mother, then she is the Mother of God.

The traditional use of “Mother of God” depended upon a theological principle called the communication of idioms. According to this principle, whatever one says about either of Christ’s natures can be said truly of Christ Himself; for the two natures, divine and human, were united in Him, in one person. Thus, for example, Christians can boldly say that God the Son died on the cross at Calvary, even though God is surely immortal. Thus, too, Christians have always maintained that God was born in a manger in Bethlehem, even though God is surely eternal.

In the fifth century, however, some theologians began to raise scruples about the title “Mother of God,” worrying that it implied Mary was somehow the “originator” of God. They could accept the title “Mother of Christ,” they said, but not “Mother of God.” They further argued against the unity of Christ’s natures, saying that the Virgin gave birth to Christ’s human nature but not His divine nature.

The Church disagreed, and Mary’s title was vigorously defended by Pope Celestine I, who drew strong support from Saint Cyril of Alexandria, a leading theologian of the day. Cyril pointed out that a mother does not give birth to a nature; she gives birth to a person. Mary gave birth to Jesus Christ, Who was and is a divine person. Though Mary did not originate God, she most certainly bore Him. She “mothered” Him.

To us, the dispute might seem abstract and academic, but its progress consumed the attention even of ordinary Christians in the fifth century, stirring them to more fervent devotion. History tells us that when Pope Celestine convoked the Council of Ephesus (A.D. 431) in order to settle the “Mother of God” controversy, Christians thronged the city, awaiting word of the bishops’ decision. When the bishops read the council’s proclamation that Mary was indeed the Mother of God, the people gave way to their joy and celebrated by carrying the bishops (all two hundred of them!) aloft through the streets in a torchlit procession.

Think, for a moment, about the intensity of the affection those believers felt for

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