The history of Catholic Mariology traces theological developments and views regarding Mary from the early Church to the 21st century. Mariology is a mainly Catholic ecclesiological study within theology, which centers on the relation of Mary, the Mother of God, and the Church. Theologically, it not only deals with her life but with her veneration in life and prayer, in art, music, and architecture, from ancient Christianity to modern times.
Throughout history, Catholics have continued to build churches to honor the Blessed Virgin. Today, many Catholic churches dedicated to the Blessed Virgin exist on all continents and, in a sense, their evolving architecture tells the unfolding story of the development of Catholic Mariology. Throughout Catholic history, the veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary has led to the creation of numerous items of Roman Catholic Marian art. Today, these items may be viewed from an artistic perspective, but also they are part of the fabric of Catholic Mariology.
Mary in the Early Church
"Many centuries were necessary to arrive at the explicit definition of the revealed truths concerning Mary," said Pope John Paul II in 1995.Pope John Paul II, "General Audience", 8 November 1995 The importance of Mary and of Marian theology can be seen in the Church after the third century. The New Testament Gospels, composed during the late 1st century, contain the first references to the life of Mary; the New Testament Epistles, composed earlier, make no mention of her by name. There are, however, references to Mary in the Epistles, most notably in Galatians.Sr. M. Danielle Peters, "An Overview of New Testament References," The Mary Page, retrieved 21 January 2015.Galatians 4:4, "But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law" (NASB) In the 2nd century, St. Irenaeus of Lyons called Mary the "second Eve" because through Mary and her willing acceptance of God's choice, God undid the harm that was done through Eve's choice to eat the forbidden fruit. The earliest recorded prayer to Mary is the sub tuum praesidium (3rd or 4th century) and the earliest depictions of her are from the Priscilla catacombs in Rome (early 3rd century).
Hugo Rahner's 20th-century discovery and reconstruction of Saint Ambrose's 4th-century view of Mary as the Mother of the Church was adopted at the Second Vatican Council. This shows the influence of early traditions and views on Mary in modern times.Mariology: A Guide for Priests, Deacons, Seminarians, and Consecrated Persons, (Mark I. Miravalle, ed.) Queenship Publishing, 2008 p. 587O'Donnell, Timothy Terrance. Heart of the Redeemer, 1992 p. 83Lumen gentium, Chapter 8 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.
In the 5th century, the Third Ecumenical Council debated the question of whether Mary should be referred to as Theotokos or Christotokos.Braaten Carl E., and Jenson, Robert W. Mary, Mother of God, 2004, p. 84 Theotokos means "God-bearer" or "Mother of God"; its use implies that Jesus, to whom Mary gave birth, is truly God and man in one person. Nestorians preferred the title Christotokos meaning "Christ-bearer" or "Mother of the Messiah" not because they denied Jesus' divinity, but because they believed that God the Son or Logos existed before time and before Mary, and that Mary was mother only of Jesus as a human, so calling her "Mother of God" was confusing and potentially heretical. Both sides agreed that Jesus took divinity from God the Father and humanity from his mother. The majority at the council agreed with the Pope that denying Mary the title Theotokos would either imply that Jesus was not divine, or that Jesus had two separate personhoods, one of whom was son of Mary and the other not. Ultimately, the council affirmed the use of the title Theotokos and by doing so affirmed Jesus' undivided divinity and humanity.
Thus, while the debate was over the proper title for Mary, it was primarily a Christological question about the nature of Jesus Christ, a question which would return at the Fourth Ecumenical Council. Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Lutheran and Anglican theological teaching affirms the title Mother of God, while other Christian denominations give no such title to her.
Medieval Mariology
The Middle Ages saw a growth and development of Mariology. Belief in the Assumption of Mary became widespread across the Christian world from the 6th century onward, and is celebrated on 15 August in both the East and the West.Butler, Alban and Burns, Paul. Butler's Lives of the Saints, 1998 pp. 140-141 The Medieval period brought major champions of Marian devotion to the fore, including Ephraim the Syrian and John Damascene.
The Dogma of the Immaculate Conception developed within the Catholic Church over time. The Conception of Mary was celebrated as a liturgical feast in England from the 9th century, and the doctrine of her "holy" or "immaculate" conception was first formulated in a tract by Eadmer, companion and biographer of Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury.Knowles, David. The Monastic Order in England (Cambridge, 1941), pp. 510-14. The Normans suppressed the Anglo-Saxon celebration, but it lived on in the popular mind.
The majority of Western Marian writers during this period belonged to the monastic tradition, particularly the Benedictines. The twelfth and thirteenth centuries saw an extraordinary growth of the cult of the Virgin in western Europe, in part inspired by the writings of theologians such as Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153). One of the most influential churchmen of his time, in his "Sermon on the Sunday in the Octave of the Assumption" he described Mary's participation in redemption.Pope Benedict XVI. "General Audience", 21 October 2009, L'Osservatore Romano, 28 October 2009, p. 24 Bernard's Praises on the Virgin Mother was a small but complete treatise on Mariology.Duignan, Brian. Medieval Philosophy, The Rosen Publishing Group, 2011 Pope Pius XII's 1953 encyclical Doctor Mellifluus, issued in commemoration of the eighth centenary of Bernard's death, quotes extensively from Bernard's sermon on Mary as "Our Lady, Star of the Sea".Hom. II super "Missus est," 17; Migne, P. L., CLXXXIII, 70-b, c, d, 71-a. Quoted in Doctor Mellifluus 31
Western types of the Virgin's image, such as the twelfth-century “Throne of Wisdom”, in which the Christ Child is presented frontally as the sum of divine wisdom, seem to have originated in Byzantium. This was much used in Early Netherlandish painting in works like the Lucca Madonna by Jan van Eyck.
Theologically, one major controversy of the age was the Immaculate Conception. It was rejected by Bernard of Clairvaux, Alexander of Hales, and Bonaventure (who, teaching at Paris, called it "this foreign doctrine", indicating its association with England), and by Thomas Aquinas who expressed questions about the subject, but said that he would accept the determination of the Church. Aquinas and Bonaventure, for example, believed that Mary was completely free from sin, but that she was not given this grace at the instant of her conception. Anthony of Padua (1195–1231) supported Mary's freedom from sin and her Immaculate Conception.Huber, Raphael Mary, St. Anthony of Padua: Doctor of the Church Universal, 1948 p. 31Huber, Raphael M. “The Mariology of St. Anthony of Padua,” in Studia Mariana 7, Proceedings of the First Franciscan National Marian Congress in Acclamation of the Dogma of the Assumption, October 8–11, 1950 Burlington, Wisconsin His many sermons on the Virgin Mary shaped the Mariological approach of many Franciscans who followed his approach for centuries after his death.Kleinhenz, Christopher. Medieval Italy: an encyclopedia, Vol. 1, 2003 p. 40
Oxford Franciscans William of Ware and especially John Duns Scotus defended the doctrine. Scotus proposed a solution to the theological problem of reconciling the doctrine with that of the universal redemption in Christ, by arguing that Mary's immaculate conception did not remove her from redemption by Christ. Rather it was the result of a more perfect redemption given to her on account of her special role in history. Furthermore, Scotus said that Mary was redeemed in anticipation of Christ's death on the cross. Scotus' defense of the immaculist thesis was summed up by one of his followers as potuit, decuit ergo fecit – God could do it, it was fitting that He did it, and so He did it. Gradually the idea that Mary had been cleansed of original sin at the very moment of her conception began to predominate, particularly after Duns Scotus dealt with the major objection to Mary's sinlessness from conception, that being her need for redemption.Ludwig Ott, Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, Mercier Press Ltd., Cork, Ireland, 1955 The very divine act, in making Mary sinless at the first instant of her conception was, he argued, the most perfect form of redemption possible.
By the end of the Middle Ages, Marian feasts were firmly established in the calendar of the liturgical year. Pope Clement IV (1265–1268) created a poem on the seven joys of Mary, which in its form is considered an early version of the Franciscan rosaryOtto Stegmüller Clemens IV in Marienkunde, 1159
Renaissance to Baroque
Beginning in the 13th century, the Renaissance period witnessed a dramatic growth in Marian art, by masters such as Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael.Renaissance Art: A Very Short Introduction by Geraldine A. Johnson 2005 pages 103-104 Some was specifically produced to decorate the Marian churches built in this period.
Paintings of the Madonna and Child were enormously popular in 15th-century Italy.Lightbown, Ronald. Sandro Botticelli: Life and Work, 1989, Thames & Hudson, Major Italian artists with Marian motifs include: Fra Angelico, Donatello, Sandro Botticelli, Masaccio, Filippo Lippi, Piero di Cosimo Paolo Uccello Antonello da Messina Andrea Mantegna, Piero della Francesca and Carlo Crivelli.
Dutch and German artists with Marian paintings include: Jean Bellegambe, Hieronymus Bosch, Petrus Christus, Gerard David, Hubert van Eyck, Geertgen tot Sint Jans, Quentin Matsys, Rogier van der Weyden, Hans Baldung and Albrecht Dürer. Albrecht Altdorfer's Nativity of the Virgin symbolized the analogy between Mary and the Church.
French and Spanish artists with Marian paintings include: Jean Fouquet, Jean Clouet, François Clouet, Barthélemy d'Eyck, Jean Hey, Bartolomé Bermejo, Ayne Bru, Juan de Flandes, Jaume Huguet, and Paolo da San Leocadio.