"Mary Is The Most"
A Catholic priest, Charles Curley, writing in the November 24, 1956, issue of the (Brooklyn) Tablet, a weekly paper "Maintained by and in the interest of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn," uses the expression "Mary Is The Most" for a treatise on the glories and alleged attributes of Mary, the mother of Jesus. The title as used and the first paragraph, which we copy below, is sufficient to demonstrate the typical Roman Catholic attitude toward Mary.
"Mary, the Mother of God, is the most perfect of all human kind. Mary is the most pure creature of His hand. Mary is most pleasing to the heart of God. Mary is most wonderful."
Mariolatry (Maria, Mary and latreia, worship), thus the adoration of Mary, has been gradually evolving and developing in the Catholic Church for a number of centuries. In the last few years, this particular evolution has made rapid strides toward bringing the Catholic religion up to the standards of several other religions of the world, in which both a male and female deity is necessary to seemingly satisfy the desires of its adherents. Let us consider some of the statements of Roman Catholic writers in reference to this subject.
"St. Bernadine of Siena teaches that 'every grace which is communicated to this world has a threefold origin: it flows from God to Christ, from Christ to the Virgin, and from the Virgin to us.' Hence we see that though, strictly speaking, God could have accomplished the Redemption, and could now distribute all graces without making use of Mary, yet, as tradition and the papal teaching assure us, He actually did and does will to use her as a helper at every stage in the working out of our salvation." (Pages 130-131, Mariology, by "Right Reverend, Monsignor, Joseph Pohle, Ph.D., D.D.")
Please note: (1) Every grace (blessing) comes to the world from the Virgin Mary . . . . according to this Catholic author. (2) She is a helper in EVERY STAGE in the working out of our SALVATION. And (3), it is ADMITTED that TRADITION and PAPAL TEACHING are the source of this teaching! We do appreciate the fact that the writer is willing to make this admission.
This same volume, in dealing with the "Death of Our Lady," states:
"History tells us nothing about the time when our Lady died or the circumstances of her death. Nor do we know where she was buried. Scripture is silent on all these points and the oldest extant accounts are based entirely on apocryphal sources . . . ." (Ibid. page 105.)
Again, the honesty of our Catholic writer comes to the front . . . he admits that neither HISTORY or SCRIPTURE tell anything about Mary's death as to time, place or circumstances. Yet, on November 1, 1950, the present Pope of Rome defined the dogma of the bodily assumption of Mary.
"The bodily resurrection and assumption of our Lady can no more be established by historic proofs than her death and burial. There is no historical tradition on the subject of sufficient authenticity to furnish the basis for a dogmatic argument. The first five centuries present an empty void, and no historic bridge connects us with the eye-witnesses of the event. The apocrypha can furnish no solid argument." (Ibid. p. 108.)
In view of the above quotations, what possible foundation did the Pope have in 1950, that would justify the definition of a new dogma, IF THERE HAD NOT BEEN ENOUGH EVIDENCE DURING THE 'FIRST FIVE CENTURIES'?
A Quotation Of The Pope's Definition
We copy in part, some of the actual wording (translated) of the Pope's definition:
"The universal church, in which the Spirit of Truth dwells, and which he infallibly guides to perfect knowledge of revealed truths, has shown its faith many times in the course of the centuries. Bishops from all over the world with almost perfect unanimity have petitioned that the truth of the corporeal (bodily, LWM) Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven be defined as a dogma of the divine, Catholic faith. The truth of this dogma is based on Sacred Scripture and is deeply rooted in the hearts of the faithful. It is sanctioned by the worship of the church from the most ancient times....
"We, therefore, after humbly and repeatedly praying to God, and calling upon the light of the Spirit of Truth, for the glory of almighty God, who has shown great and particular love for the Virgin Mary, for the honor of his Son, the king of immortal ages and the conqueror of sin and death, for the increase of the glory of his great mother, for the joy and exultation of the whole church, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by Our own authority, do pronounce, declare, and define as a divinely revealed dogma: The Immaculate Mother of God, Mary ever Virgin. after her life on earth, was assumed, body and soul, to the glory of heaven." (From the Bull, Munificentissimus Deus.)
A number of assumptions, assertions and falsehoods contained in the above copied Papal proclamation, need to be noted: (1) We deny that the Spirit of Truth dwells in the Roman Catholic Church. (2) We deny that such an organization is given divine infallible (incapable of erring) guidance. (3) Particularly do we deny the falsehood . "The truth of this dogma is based on Sacred Scripture . . ." If it is . . . give us book, chapter, and verse! (4) Nothing is 'sanctioned' in the sight of God, merely because it is said to bear the stamp of antiquity . . . 'most ancient times.' (5) Actually, the evolution of the adoration of Mary had its beginning several centuries after the Apostles were in their graves. (6) The Pope claims Christ's 'authority' for this dogma . . . where is it given in Scripture? (7) The Pope claims the authority of the Apostles Peter and Paul for this dogma ... where is it set forth in the New Testament? (8) Next, did you notice how the Pope sees to it that any pronoun referring to himself is CAPITALIZED? "Our own authority" ... such blasphemy! (9) Finally, the Pope pits himself against Paul by asserting that flesh and blood did enter heaven. "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; . . ." (I Cor. 15:50.)
The entire structure of Mary-worship fails to abide by the New Testament in several respects. In one instance during the personal ministry of Christ upon the earth, a woman cried out . . . "Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the breasts which thou didst suck." But Jesus replied, "Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it." (Luke 11:27-28.) Thus, from the lips of Christ himself, we are taught that the hearing and obeying of God's word is of greater importance than the giving of honor to the fleshly mother of Jesus.
The things written in the New Testament are sufficient to produce faith in Christ, and through obedience, produce eternal life. (See John 20:30-31.) The Sacred Writings, the Bible, contain material adequate to furnish the man of God to EVERY GOOD WORK. (See II Timothy 3:16-17.)