Session 23: Mary RCIA Catechumenate Worksheet Date: / / Name:

Transcription

1 Session 23: Mary RCIA Catechumenate Worksheet Date: / / Name: Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) # ; A. From the Catechism of the Catholic Church, # ; What the Catholic faith believes about Mary is based on what it believes about Christ, and what it teaches about Mary illumines in turn its faith in Christ (CCC #487). a. The Church developed her teachings about Christ, then her teachings about Mary; b. All Marian teachings are about her as a person: They are not ideological, but. c. Authentic Marian teachings the identity of Christ. 2. Mary s Immaculate Conception is her condition that from the first moment of her conception, she (Mary) - by the singular grace of God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ - was preserved immune from original sin (CCC # ). a. Scriptural Foundation: 1:28; 3:15. b. Mary was saved by Christ at the moment of her. c. Mary was free from Sin and all sin. d. Mary s response models the of faith, 3. Because Mary is the mother of Jesus Christ, the divine Person, she is called the Mother of God (CCC #495). a. Scriptural Foundation: 1:43; 1:35; 4:4. b. This Marian title protects the of Christ s divine and human natures in One Person. c. The Council of Ephesus in 431 declared Mary Theotokos, or God-. 4. Mary s perpetual virginity means that she was a virgin before, during and after the birth of Jesus Christ (CCC # ). a. Scriptural Foundation: 3:15; 7:14; 1:26ff. b. Mary was a virgin before the birth of Christ, stressing His conception by the Holy Spirit, by a man. c. Mary had sexual relations after giving birth to Jesus, and had other children; 5. Because she is completely united with her Son (Full of grace), Mary was assumed, taken body and soul at the end of her life on earth, into heaven (CCC # ). a. Scriptural Foundation: 11:19-12:1; 1:28.

2 b. Mary s body did not suffer. c. Mary s bodily assumption is a logical of being Full of Grace. d. Mary s assumption prefigures our own at the end of this age. 6. Mary is our Mother in the Order of Grace (CCC # ). B. On Your Own a. Scriptural Foundation: 2:1-11; 19: b. Because of her complete and total yes to God, she is the of all Christians. c. Her spiritual motherhood is based on her work with Christ in salvation. d. As our Spiritual Mother, Mary intercedes for us and helps us to Christ. Please read CCC , , taking down any notes and questions from your reading: C. For Your Prayer Memorize this prayer called the Memorarae : D. For Further Discussion Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that any one who fled to thy protection, implored thy help or sought thy intercession, was left unaided. Inspired with this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins my Mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful; O Mother of they Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy clemency hear and answer me. Amen. 1. List two or three points from the teaching in this session that stand out for you. 2. How do the Church s teachings about Mary protect our ability to have a relationship with her and a relationship with Jesus? 3. Describe your relationship with Mary. How can you grow in your love for her? Who has been an example to you of someone who relationship with Mary has helped them draw closer to Jesus?

3 Vespers (Evening Prayer) Response: Response: Psalm 121 O God, come to my aid. O Lord, make haste to help me. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Jerusalem, the Holy City Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. They filled me with joy when they said, We will go to the house of the Lord. Now our feet are standing within your gates, Jerusalem. Jerusalem, built as a city, whole and self-contained: there the tribes have gone up, the tribes of the Lord the witness of Israel, to praise the Lord s name. For there are the thrones of justice, the thrones of the house of David. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: Safety for those who care for you, peace inside your walls, security within your ramparts! For my brethren and those near to me I will say Peace be upon you. For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will call blessings upon you. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Intentions Our Father May the Lord bless us and keep us from all harm; and may He lead us to eternal life. Amen Hail Mary

4 Principal Beliefs about Mary Immaculate Conception From the Glossary of the CCC: The dogma proclaimed in Christian Tradition and defined in 1854, that from the first moment of her conception, Mary - by the singular grace of God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ - was preserved immune from original sin. Feastday: December 8 Mary, the Mother of God From the Glossary of the CCC: The mother of Jesus. Because she is the mother of Jesus - Son of God and second Person of the Blessed Trinity - according to the flesh, she is rightly called the Mother of God (Theotokos). Mary is also called full of grace, and Mother of the Church, and in Christian prayer and devotion, Our Lady, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the New Eve. Feastday: January 1 Perpetual Virginity CCC # 499: The deepening of faith in the virginal motherhood led the Church to confess Mary's real and perpetual virginity even in the act of giving birth to the Son of God made man. In fact, Christ's birth "did not diminish his mother's virginal integrity but sanctified it." And so the liturgy of the Church celebrates Mary as Aeiparthenos, the "Ever-virgin." Feastday: Annunciation (Virginal Conception of Jesus) March 25 Assumption From the Glossary of the CCC: The dogma which recognizes the Blessed Virgin Mary s singular participation in her Sons Resurrection by which she was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, when the course of her earthly life was finished. Feastday: August 15

5 Mary s Spiritual Motherhood CCC # 967: By her complete adherence to the Father's will, to his Son's redemptive work, and to every prompting of the Holy Spirit, the Virgin Mary is the Church's model of faith and charity. Thus she is a "preeminent and... wholly unique member of the Church"; indeed, she is the "exemplary realization" (typus) of the Church. 968: Her role in relation to the Church and to all humanity goes still further. "In a wholly singular way she cooperated by her obedience, faith, hope, and burning charity in the Savior's work of restoring supernatural life to souls. For this reason she is a mother to us in the order of grace." 969: "This motherhood of Mary in the order of grace continues uninterruptedly from the consent which she loyally gave at the Annunciation and which she sustained without wavering beneath the cross, until the eternal fulfillment of all the elect. Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this saving office but by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation... Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix." Feastday: Queenship of Mary, August