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Catholic Mariology is the systematic study of the person of Mary, mother of Jesus, and of her place in the Economy of Salvation [1] [2] [3] in Catholic theology.According to the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception taught by the Catholic Church, Mary was conceived and born without sin, hence she is seen as having a singular dignity above the saints, receiving a higher level of veneration than ...
A Marian year is a designation given by the Catholic Church to calendar years in which Mary the mother of Jesus is to be particularly reverenced and celebrated. Marian years do not follow a set pattern; they may be declared by a bishop for his diocese, or a national conference of bishops for a country.
[4] [5] [6] This view was emphasized by Pope John Paul II in 1997, and today Mary is viewed as the Mother of the Church by many Catholics, and also as the Queen of Heaven. [7] In the 5th century, the Third Ecumenical Council debated the question of whether Mary should be referred to as Theotokos or Christotokos. [8]
The perpetual virginity of Mary is a Christian doctrine that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was a virgin "before, during and after" the birth of Christ. [2] In Western Christianity , the Catholic Church adheres to the doctrine, as do some Lutherans , Anglicans , Reformed , and other Protestants .
Catholics believe the church exists simultaneously on earth (Church militant), in Purgatory (Church suffering), and in Heaven (Church triumphant); thus Mary, the mother of Jesus, and the other saints are alive and part of the living church. [148] This unity of the church in heaven and on earth is called the "communion of saints". [149] [150]
In Roman Catholic teachings, the veneration of Mary is a natural consequence of Christology: Jesus and Mary are son and mother, redeemer and redeemed. [9] This sentiment was expressed by Pope John Paul II in his encyclical Redemptoris mater: "At the centre of this mystery, in the midst of this wonderment of faith, stands Mary.
The feast of Mary's conception originated in the Eastern Church in the 7th century, reached England in the 11th, and from there spread to Europe, where it was given official approval in 1477 and extended to the whole church in 1693; the word "immaculate" was not officially added to the name of the feast until 1854. [24]
The status of Mary as Theotokos was a topic of theological dispute in the 4th and 5th centuries and was the subject of the decree of the Council of Ephesus of 431 to the effect that, in opposition to those who denied Mary the title Theotokos ("the one who gives birth to God") but called her Christotokos ("the one who gives birth to Christ ...