The Angelic Doctor

Today we celebrate the Memorial of St Thomas Aquinas - The Angelic & Common Doctor. Angelic because of the heights of perception he achieved philosophically and theologically. Common because his teachings became the norm for Catholic theology especially after the Encyclical of Pope Leo XIII.  

St Thomas Aquinas is one of those figures in Church history that are either loved or hated. For those who love him - he is the model of wisdom and learning, the perfect combination of philosophy and wisdom who continues to teach the Church today. For those who hate him - he is a rigid, pedantic thinker who ruined theology by introducing Aristotelian philosophy and made it a dry intellectual exercise, thereby corrupting Catholicism. 

But who is the real St Thomas Aquinas? 

St Thomas Aquinas is arguably one of the greatest minds produced in the West. He was a Dominican friar who learnt philosophy and theology from his professor, St Albert the Great. It was St Albert who introduced him to the philosophy of Aristotle. 

Christian philosophy in the West and the East had always primarily been influenced by Plato. Arguably it was Neoplatonism that influenced the majority of Christian language, terminology and thought. Neoplatonism is a highly mystical, abstract and spiritual philosophical school of thought that lent itself very well to the early Church Fathers as they were developing theology to explain the faith (especially regarding the mystery of Trinity). 

The Church Fathers however, were not only influenced by Neoplatonism. Many were also influenced by Stoicism, especially St Clement of Alexandria and to a lesser degree it is argued that the Desert Fathers (especially Evagrius Ponticus) were too. In fact our understanding of the virtues, the deadly sins and the Logos all come from or developed out of Stoicism. 

So why did St Thomas Aquinas begin to use and appropriate Aristotelian philosophy instead of sticking with Neoplatonism? He integrated it so much into his thought, that it is often said that Aquinas “baptised Aristotle” ie.. his thought. 

Due to history, wars and tragedies - manuscripts were often lost, burnt or stolen. So in the West, the writings of Aristotle were mostly unknown, or only known through secondary sources up until the 1200’s. This is why Neoplatonism was the dominant influence in philosophy and theology. So this is the context of St Thomas Aquinas and his writings. 

It was St Albert the Great, who taught St Thomas and introduced him to the philosophy of Aristotle. So with this foundation and example from his holy teacher and mentor, he learnt to synthesise Aristotelian philosophy with the faith and so find new ways to explain theology for new generations of students. This was such a novelty and ongoing controversy at the universities at the time, that he was even accused of heresy! 

Philosophy is human language and reasoning trying to understand reality. Whereas theology is man’s response to the Revelation of God and so is faith trying to find expression is human language. So although St Thomas Aquinas found the philosophy of Aristotle useful - he only ever saw it as a means to an end. It was a way of explaining and understanding truth, to come to the ultimate Truth which is God. 

• It was St Thomas Aquinas who developed the so called “5 ways” of knowing/proving the existence of God (Motion, Efficient Cause, Necessity, Gradation/Degree, Design) 
• It was St Thomas Aquinas who developed our understanding of the full human person as a body and soul. Not a soul caged in a body, but an embodied soul. A body that cannot exist without a soul and a soul that cannot exist without a body - embodied soul and ensouled body. Personhood requires both, body and soul to be fully human. 
• It was St Thomas Aquinas who helped us to understand that if God is truth, then whatever is true can only lead is to God. Therefore there is no opposition between faith and reason. Through reason and the study of things (science) we can come to knowledge of reality, however that can only allow us to under understand things to a degree. So ultimately reason needs the illumination of Faith to be elevated to understand ultimate Truth which is God. 
• It was St Thomas Aquinas who formulated the famous phrase of “grace builds upon nature”. This means that nature (our physical body, dispositions etc) is good, and reflects the goodness of God in creation. However due to sin we are not able to have union with God, we need grace. So grace is what elevates and perfects us, so we can share in the friendship of God and have union with God. So the spiritual life requires development of the virtues and respecting the goodness of creation, that then through grace is elevated and perfected. 
• It was St Thomas Aquinas himself who helped developed the teaching and understanding of the mystery of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist - what we call Transubstantiation. 

The most famous of the writings of St Thomas Aquinas is his Summa Theologiae. This was his systematic explanation of theology he wrote for his students (although it was never finished. He also wrote the Summa Contra Gentiles which is more of an apologetics books on theology, as well as biblical commentaries and commentaries on the writings of Aristotle. His rigorous application of logic when discussing theology and his insistence on defining terms is what has given him the reputation of his detractors of someone who is a dry intellectual with no soul or love. However this could not be further from the truth! 

It is often forgotten or taken for granted that some of the most famous prayers and hymns in Catholicism were written by St Thomas Aquinas himself. Anytime you’ve been to Adoration with Benediction and sung O Salutaris Hostia at the beginning or ended with singing Tantum ergo - you are singing words written by St Thomas Aquinas. If you have ever been to a wedding and heard the song Panis Angelicus, that was also written by him! 

These beautiful poetic hymns are packed with dense theological meaning. Only someone in love with God could have written such words. So don’t be fooled into thinking St Thomas was a boring, dry medieval philosopher. He was a true mystic! 

God for St Thomas was not an abstract concept removed from everyday life. God reveals and manifests himself to us through creation, nature, beauty, friendships and truth. But for St Thomas Aquinas, none of this could match the mystery of Jesus in the Eucharist. It was the Eucharist that informed and permeated all his life and search for God, and it was the Eucharist that for him was the greatest expression and manifestation of God’s love for us. 

May St Thomas Aquinas through his example and doctrine, help us to deepens our love for the Blessed Sacrament - so we too can grow in charity for God and our neighbour, this sharing in the beatitude we were all created for. 

Fortitude as a gift of the Holy Spirit

It is not easy to be a Catholic in today's age. So in my own life as a hermit, I have found that fortitude is a virtue and grace that regularly needs to be prayed for and cultivated. When so much around us is based on feelings or emotions, and not based on God's truth or on reason, then it takes fortitude to be able to remain steadfast in your faith, and in loving God.

The Catechism defines Fortitude as follows CCC #1808 

Fortitude is the moral virtue that ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good. It strengthens the resolve to resist temptations and to overcome obstacles in the moral life. The virtue of fortitude enables one to conquer fear, even fear of death, and to face trials and persecutions. 

So fortitude is to remain constant in the face of difficulties. It requires, courage, strength and even at times an act of faith. We have to choose to follow the Holy Spirit and the Gospel even when everything else is telling us we don't have to. So this act of faith, of still choosing to follow God no matter what, is what we call fortitude. In my own spiritual life, I have renamed this as "holy stubborness". This is because at times I have to be so stubborn in my faith, that I have to choose to love God and follow him even inspite of all my sins, failings and weaknesses. But constantly relying on the mercy of God to say "Lord I know you love me, help me to love you more", then getting up and continuing to move forward in faith.

Fortitude is linked to the 7th Beatitude - those who suffer and are persecuted. It is not possible to suffer for the faith, be persecuted and remain faithful to Jesus without the gift of fortitude. This is linked to what I call the empowerment we receive from the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8) to strengthen us. We receive this initially in Confirmation, and then everyday we can pray for an infilling of this grace from the Holy Spirit.

We can see the gift of fortitude fulfilled by Our Lord in the agony in Garden of Gethsemani (Luke 22:39-46, Mark 14:32-42, Matthew 26:36-46). He says that his soul is sorrowful unto death, but still says that he chooses the Will of the Father - this is Fortitude and Holy Stubborness! 

To choose to follow God and to love him requires an act of the will. This is why St John of the Cross teaches us: “Love consists not in feeling great things but in having great detachment and in suffering for the Beloved.” It requires an act of the will, strength, courage, determination to act contrary to how we may feel, and still choose to love God, to follow Him - this is Holy Stubborness, the Gift of Fortitude that we receive from the Holy Spirit who empowers, strengthens and comforts us in the spiritual life.
 

Holy Spirit as the Gift of Christmas

Now that the New Year has begun and the festivities of Christmas have settled down or ended, I wanted to reflect on the Holy Spirit as the Gift of Christmas.

For most of us, we associate Christmas with presents, spending time with family, nativity scenes, Midnight Mass and the infant Jesus. But for most of us the Holy Spirit is not something we associate with Christmas .

The Holy Spirit is the ultimate Gift, the one given to us by the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit is also the one that empowers us, sanctifies us and gives is the grace to make our life a gift back to the Father through the Son. The Holy Spirit is the gift that enables the Church to continue the sacraments, that gives power and efficacy to them (CCC #739). The Holy Spirit is the soul of the Church that continues to vivify her and all of us as members of the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church. The Holy Spirit also gives us the grace to grow in charity - the divine love we are called to by virtue of our baptism.

St Bernard of Clairvaux referred to the Holy Spirit as the "kiss between the Father and the Son'. What a beautiful image! With this Augustinian understanding of the Holy Trinity, the Holy Spirit is the mutual love between the Father and the Son. So we can also say that the Holy Spirit is the intimacy of the Trinity itself! 

At Christmas we celebrate the mystery of the Incarnation, the Word made flesh - Emmanuel, God is with us! This new level of intimacy with God is the gift we are all offered. To be children of the Father, through union with the Son. Jesus became man, to elevate our humanity and unite it with the Trinity. This is what the Church Fathers all taught, and so if we develop this further - we can also see that the Holy Spirit is the additional gift of Christmas.

The Holy Spirit is the gift given to us to enable and empower us to live our calling as Christians. In baptism we are united to and reborn in Christ, becoming one with him. So too, we also become temples of the Holy Spirit. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit enables us to call God "Abba, Father" (Romans 8:15) and to also be sons in the Son. The Holy Spirit is the one who teaches us to pray (Romans 8:26), to understand the teachings of Jesus (John 14:26), He heals us of our woundedness and sin, and is the one who comforts us and advocates for us (John 14:15, John 14:26)

The Holy Spirit is the gift of intimacy that we receive as our birthright as Christians. Marked, signed and sealed by the Spirit (Ephesians 1:13), we are led by the Spirit and given the freedom of the children of God (2 Corinthians 3:17). How can this not make us exclaim in wonder and joy? The Holy Spirit gives us freedom, joy and love! (Galatians 5:22-23)

So this Christmas, let us remember the gift that Jesus us given us - the Holy Spirit. The bond of the Trinity, the kiss between the Father and the Son, the intimacy of the Trinity itself. This is our gift we have received and can call upon everyday! The Lord the giver of Life - the Paraclete, our Comforter and Advocate is the gift of love that helps us to experience and know the love of God (Romans 5:5), the intimacy of the Holy Trinity.

This is invitation we have from the Holy Spirit himself this New Year, and every moment of our lives -

"The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life." (Revelation 22:17).

Will you accept the invitation and the gift?

The manifestation of God - hidden glory revealed

Today we celebrate the wonderful feast of the Epiphany - the manifestation. This is also known as the Theophany - the appearance of God visibly manifesting himself. 

Theophanies are remembered throughout the Old Testament with Jacob wrestling with God, Abraham and Sarah providing hospitality to the 3 angels, Moses seeing the Burning Bush , the Pillar of Fire and Cloud that led the Hebrews out of Egypt (Genesis 18:1-15, Genesis 32:24-30, Exodus 3:2, Exodus 13:20-22). These were special moments of encounter - God personally revealing and manifesting himself to his people to form relationship. 

So what encounter is being remembered and celebrated today? For most people, today is associated with the Magi - the three wise kings who brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the newborn Jesus. However this feast celebrates more than just that. 

This feast focuses on the manifestations of Christ as God in the flesh, the pivotal moments of the life of Christ that revealed or manifested the divinity of Jesus. 

So today the Church celebrates - the homage of the 3 Magi, the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan, and the miracle at the wedding of Cana. But what is it about these 3 events that are so pivotal to be highlighted in todays feast? 

With the 3 Magi, we see the fulfillment of the prophecy in Isaiah chapter 60. This chapter mentions that foreigners and kings will worship the God of Israel, bring him homage as well as gifts of gold and incense. This is connected to Isaiah prophesying about the light of God that will shine on his people and the glory that will appear or manifest when the  pagan nations help restore Jerusalem and the scattered remnants of Israel are brought back to Zion for a time of peace and worship. 

So the 3 Magi bringing gifts to the newborn King of the Jews had messianic and salvific meaning. The gifts of gold recognise the kingship of Jesus, the frankincense his divinity - because frankincense was reserved for worship. But the Gospel also mentions myrrh - this is an embalming perfume ointment. So this gift symbolises the death that Jesus would undergo as part of our salvation. This is why the event of the 3 Magi is an Epiphany or Theophany - it manifested the hidden identity of Jesus Christ our Saviour. 

The next event is the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan river. This is also celebrated as a separate feast in the Church because of the multiple meanings it has. So why is it connected to Epiphany? 

When Jesus was baptised, the voice of the Father proclaimed “This is my beloved son” (Mathew 3:17, Luke 3:22) and the Holy Spirit appeared over him like a dove. So this was a full manifestation of the Holy Trinity - a Theophany. Jesus is revealed as the Beloved Son of the Father, filled with the Holy Spirit. The hovering of the Holy Spirit over Jesus is reminiscent of the Holy Spirit hovering over the waters of creation (Genesis 1:1-2), as well as the dove who brought Noah an olive branch after the flood (Genesis 8:10-11). This was to show that through his own baptism, Jesus has sanctified the waters of the new creation, so in baptism we become a new creation in him. 

Then we come to the miracle at the wedding feast of Cana. This can seem a bit strange compared to the other two manifestations because it doesn’t have as much obvious symbolism. But the Gospel of John tells us that by the miracle of turning water into wine, Jesus was manifesting his glory (John 2:11). So the Gospel itself says that this was an epiphany. 

This miracle is the beginning of the public ministry of Jesus. It is the inauguration of the Kingdom of God - through miracles, Jesus is revealing his divinity as the Son and manifesting the Kingdom of God is beginning. The Kingdom of God is inaugurated with a wedding feast, and will be completed at his own wedding feast - the Wedding of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9). Just as Jesus turns water into wine, so too he tells the Apostles after he institutes the Eucharist that he will not drink wine again until he enters into the Kingdom (Matthew 26:29, Luke 22:18). 

So the miracle at the wedding of Cana is Eucharistic, but also Messianic. Through this first miracle, Jesus manifests his divinity and inaugurates the Kingdom of God. 

As a child receiving homage from the Magi, at His baptism in which the Holy Trinity manifests, and at the wedding of Cana where he reveals his identify - these three moments powerfully proclaim, reveal and manifest the identity of Christ and our salvation. 

This is what the Church celebrates today in this Feast of the Epiphany. The Messiah King descendant of David is acknowledged by the nations to bring them into worship of the true God. This King is also the High Priest who sacrifices himself to purify us from our sins, unites himself to us in the waters of baptism and leaves us the miraculous wine of the Eucharist - which is his wedding banquet that we will one day share in glory, but even now partake of in remembrance of him. 

The Humanity of Christ as bait that destroyed death from within

In the 2nd reading for the Office of Readings today, there’s a very interesting excerpt from St Maximus the Confessor - a Byzantine monk and theologian. He is considered one of the Church Fathers and is highly venerated in Orthodoxy and Eastern Catholicism. 

In the quote, he refers to the humanity of Christ as the “bait” by which he hooks in the devil into swallowing him, then by the power of his divinity he is able to poison the devil and destroy him from within. 

This way of understanding and explaining the atonement is known in theology as the Christus Victor theory. Most of us in the Western world are used to hearing the Satisfaction/Substitution theory - by His death on the cross Jesus died in our place and pays the price for our sins, thereby “redeeming” us or buying us back from the power of the devil. 

Both of these views need not be mutually exclusive. They can both be found in the Church Fathers and Saints of the Church. As with most things in theology there are often multipole layers or nuance of meaning. When understood properly they can enrich our understanding of the mysteries of salvation and increase our faith. Just as St Maximus himself says at the end of the quote in the Office of Readings : 

Faith alone grasps these mysteries. Faith alone is truly the substance and foundation of all that exceeds knowledge and understanding.

Faith is always something personal and foundational as outlined in the Catechism paragraph #150. Faith is a response , but it is also an acceptance of truth - divine truth. So faith and salvation are linked, because what we believe needs to be in accordance with God’s revelation, it needs to be accepted and adhered to, and it also needs to change our behaviour. So faith should ultimately always be transformative. This is what salvation is all about - transforming us into a new way of being, new life. 

So with St Maximus’ analogy of bait being the poison that destroys death from within. This can be a powerful image to help up reflect on what we actually believe about our salvation. Does being saved just mean I am now a “good person”? Or does it mean that my entire existence is in a process of transformation and configuration to the image of Christ and the Will of God? 

Through Adam and Eve’s disobedience to God, by believing Satan instead of trusting in God, death then entered the world. Death destroys and corrupts - just like a poison. The poison of hatred, selfishness, pride and greed all destroy and kill us from within. But Jesus through his birth and death, inverts all this. By entering into the belly of death and being “swallowed up” by death, he then is able to bring Life and Light to destroy death from within (1 Corinthians 15:54). 

In the same way that the divinity of Christ was “hidden” in his humanity through kenosis, and it was then able to destroy death and the power of Satan from within. So too, in the Eucharist, the Resurrected Christ is hidden under the appearance of bread and wine, and when we partake of Holy Communion, we receive life and grace that transforms is from within. This transformation from within helps to break the strongholds of the devil in our life, detaching us from sin and purifying us. It also gives us a forestaste of eternal life. 

The Church Fathers often made the connection between the fruit of disobedience bringing death. So the Eucharist is then the fruit from the Tree of Life - the Cross, that brings us eternal life. None of this would be possible without the birth of Jesus, taking on our humanity to make us share in His divinity.

Whether the process of salvation is referred to as sanctification in the West or Theosis/divinisation in the East, the focus is always about transformation in Christ. Participating in the sacraments of the Church is where this program of transformation takes place - specifically in Baptism, Confession and Holy Communion. The humanity of Jesus extended in the Church and prolonged in the sacraments is the medicine to heal us and bring us to fullness of life with Him. 

The Name above all names

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus.

As Christians, our faith, our hope and our love is based entirely on the person Jesus Christ. No one else.

In all of our prayers as Catholics, we finish our requests with the formula:  "we ask this in Jesus' name" or "we ask this through Our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever". This is based on what Jesus Himself commanded us John 15:7 and John 15:16 who tells us our prayers will be answered when asked in His Name.

But why is His name so important?

In scripture, a person's name is not only a part of their identity. It also reveals something about them. Names have meaning - for example the Patriarch Abram is given a new name by God in Genesis 17:15. His name is changed to "Abraham" which means the "father of many". Later when he has his son with his wife Sarah, they give him the name of Isaac meaning "laughter" or "he who laughs". We are told in Genesis 21:1-7 that Isaac is given his name because Sarah says that anyone who hears that she is now pregnant as an elderly woman, will laugh at her! 

There are many places in the bible where names have meaning that are connected to their identity, their mission from God or an aspect of how God is working through them ie... Elijah means "Yahweh is my God". His mission as a prophet was to bring the people back to true worship of the God of Israel instead of their idolatry to Baal and false gods. The name Yahweh was important to the people of Israel as this was the personal name that God revealed to Moses in Exodus 3:14.

So in Matthew 1:21 we are told that Jesus received his name because he will save the people from their sins. Etymologically the name Jesus means "Yahweh saves" or the "Salvation of Yahweh". Because Jesus is the Saviour, therefore we can also claim salvation in His Name. This is based on the idea in the Bible of "calling on the name of the Lord" - to invoke him, call for help , to be rescued or saved. 

This is why we are told Acts 4:12 that there is no other name by which to be saved. Jesus is the salvation of God in the flesh, just as He and the Father are one. So too the Name of Jesus also has the power to saver, because it contains the identity of God - Yawheh Saves.

Jesus himself in the Gospel of John reveals His identity to the Jews by claiming the Divine Name of Yahweh Himself - “I AM” (John 8:54-57, John 28:6). This is why the soldiers in the garden fell down (John 18:6) when they heard the Divine Name. No one was allowed to say the Name of God apart from the High Priest once a year in the Temple, so to hear it out loud and to hear Jesus proclaim he was Yahweh was such a shock ti they they fell into the ground. 

St Paul in Philippians 2:9-11 further elaborates on this when he boldly proclaims : 

“Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” 

This is a fulfillment of the prophecy in Isaiah 45:23. To bend the knee and bow down we’re signs of subservience, obedience and an acknowledgment of authority of a ruler. So St Paul is showing that Jesus is the Davidic Messiah King who has the authority of God as the Annointed One (Christ is Greek for Messiah), but also he himself is the Lord that is also God. So to bow down to Jesus is the same as bowing down to God Himself (Psalm 72:11) - all the kings of the earth have to acknowledge the King of King and Lord of Lords (Revelation 19:16). 

The Holy Name of Jesus contains His identity and power, it manifests who He is - it saves and can be called upon for salvation because “Yahweh saves”. When we call upon the name of Jesus we reaffirm our own salvation and proclaim the offer of salvation to all who are willing to hear it and call upon it (John 1:12 Acts 2:38-39, Acts 4:2, Romans 10:9). 

The Name of Jesus is our hope and salvation. It is the Name above all names, when we call upon Him we are saved. There is power in the Name of Jesus because it contains the mystery of God Himself.

Mary, Mother of God - Christological and Apostolic

Theotokos - Mary, the Mother of God 

How often do we pray the Hail Mary and stop to reflect on the words “.. holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death”? For most of us it is natural to call Our Lady the Mother of God. But in the early days of the Church this was not always the case... 

In the first few centuries of Christianity, as it emerged from the catacombs and no longer persecuted by the Roman Emporers, it became an official established religion. However disagreements soon started to arise as to how to explain what they believed. This is where faith and philosophy started to come together and the Church Fathers were formulating our faith for us, defending the faith against false interpretations and heresies. Over time they gathered together in Councils to discuss, define and proclaim the faith. These are called the Ecumenical Councils and the Creed we say at Mass every Sunday was formulated at these councils - specifically the Council of Nicea in 325 and fine tuned later at the Council of Constantinople in 381.

One of the most complicated issues in the early Church was to really explain and understand who Jesus Christ is and was. We easily and without hesitation profess that we believe that Jesus Christ is “true God & true man” - but what does this mean? How can he be both? Surely he was a person who would veryine became divine right? Or was he the Eternal God who became human and looked like a human but wasn’t really a human, he only appeared to be one. 

The way that the Church Fathers agreed to understand this mystery is called the “Hypostatic Union” - a human nature and divine nature, united as one person. This is a mystery and difficult to understand of course, but that’s the beauty of our faith and the rich theological tradition we have inherited! These two natures/substances were unified, united and joined to create one person - Jesus Christ of Nazareth. 

The second person of the Trinity - the Son, the Eternal Word came into the womb of the Virgin Mary, took flesh from her, creating a body for Himself and became a human baby. But the human baby was not just an empty shell that was possessed by God, it was a normal human being just like us but without original sin. This baby was a new creation just like Adam was, but instead of being formed from the earth like Adam was, this baby was formed from the virgin “earth” of Mary - her humanity. This baby was fully human and fully divine, not a hybrid or a monstrosity - but a wonderful, mysterious new creation. The Son (second Person of the Trinity) created this human body and He assumed it, became one with it, and this created human nature was simultaneously and mysteriously divine - a human person was God! This new being is something that had never exited before , nor could anyone comprehend it. This new being, fully human and fully divine, was a single unified person, whole and indivisible - the Godman, Jesus. The union of divinity and humanity in this baby is the Hypostatic Union. This is the wonderful mystery we have been celebrating this Christmas period! 

As the Magnificat Antiphon from the Divine Office for today proclaims: 

“Marvelous is the mystery proclaimed today: man’s nature is made new as God becomes man; he remains what he was and becomes what he was not. Yet each nature stays distinct and for ever undivided.”

This is why we invoke Our Lady in our prayers and call her the “Mother of God”. Because she gave birth to God Himself! The human nature of Jesus was taken from Mary, in the same way that all of us take out biological make up from our parents to become a unique person. So too Jesus was a unique person - human nature from Mary, divine nature of the Son. But these two natures are unified in a wonderful harmony. There is no opposition between them, nor is it the case of the humanity being absorbed by the divinity. The two natures miraculously exist as one united whole person, this Hypostatic Union is Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah, our Lord and Saviour who died on the cross for us, but defeated death, and now reigns in the glory of heaven. 

Because most of us are not able to really understand this mystery, many people instead dismiss it or try to explain it incorrectly and fall into heresy. This is what happened in the early Church. Some people agreed that Jesus was fully human and divine, however they said that Mary could only have given birth to the human nature of Jesus. Their logic was that if they said Mary gave birth to God then it would mean that she somehow became greater than God Himself and this was too scandalous for them to consider.

But this is exactly the scandal of the incarnation - of God becoming flesh. God “stripped off” His glory, he emptied Himself to become human (Philippians 2:6-7). This emptying of Himself is called “Kenosis” in theology, because it is the Greek word meaning to self empty. The Church Fathers also spoke of this in terms of God “Condescending” - which comes from Latin meaning to “come down with/together”. The Eternal God coming down to us, making himself little, small, understandable and tangible. He “humbled himself” in this action of condescension and kenosis in the Incarnation. 

This humility of God, this coming down with us, this self emptying, can help us to understand what St Paul is referring to in his wonderful hymn in Philippians 2:5-12. In another letter he juxtaposes this imagery with another term - “Pleroma” which means fullness. So in Colossians 1:29, he speaks of the fullness, the pleroma that dwelt in Christ - that is the fullness of divinity, the Godhead. So  God was fully present and dwelt in the person of Jesus Christ, but without showing His glory. Jesus was fully God and fully human, divinity emptied of glory to unite with humanity, and humanity now containing the infinite fullness of divinity. This is the mystery of the Hypostatic Union. 

The Hypostatic Union is two natures - human and divine, united in one Person - Jesus Christ.  They cannot be separated or confused. The two natures united and fused in a new creation, they cannot be separated or distinguished. There’s no such thing as Jesus the human acting one way, and then Jesus acting a different way as God. The two natures although different, we’re fully united and joined. They cannot be separated or one seen as an addition to the other - the two natures existed together as a united and indivisible whole. Everything that Jesus did - breathing, walking, speaking, eating, sleeping - his entire existence was the one action of his human nature and divine nature, completely in harmony and union. 

This meant he also only had will. He did not have a human/divine split personality, not was he schizophrenic. The fully human and fully divine natures of Jesus are united as one  single person, who has one will, one mind, one body, one soul, one existence. (How we understand the two natures in one person, yet with one Will, was further developed at addressed at the Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon in 451. That is a different and complicated topic that I will not go into here.)

So when Our Lady gave birth to Jesus at Bethlehem - she did not give birth to a human body only. She gave birth to Jesus, the baby boy who was human and divine, one person. This means that she gave birth to God! 

This is why from the earliest days we have honoured Mary and invoked her with the title of Mother of God. The original Greek term for this is Theotokos which actually means the “God bearer” or you could even say “birth giver of God”. This is how the Slavic peoples translated Theotokos when they call her the Bogorodica. 

Mary the Mother of God, the Theotokos, was proclaimed a Dogma at the Ecumenical Council of Ephesus in 431. This Council was presided over by St Cyril of Alexandria who we have to thank today not only for our theological language, but also for the Creed we recite at Mass on Sundays and Solemnities.  This is why St Cyril is not only a Church Father, but he is also a Doctor of the Church. 

The Council of Nicea when formulating the Dogma of the Theotokos, Mary the Mother of God proclaimed the following anathemas: 

1. If anyone does not confess that Emmanuel is God in truth, and therefore that the holy virgin is the mother of God (for she bore in a fleshly way the Word of God become flesh, let him be anathema.

2. If anyone does not confess that the Word from God the Father has been united by hypostasis with the flesh and is one Christ with his own flesh, and is therefore God and man together, let him be anathema.

An anathema is a declaration of the Church that is you reject a Dogma, then you are “accursed”. You have removed yourself from the True Faith, you are not part of the Church and therefore you have lost your salvation - you are excommunicated. 

So to deny that Mary is the Mother of God, the Theotokos, is to fall into christological heresy. It is serious stuff! So remember this next time you take your prayers or devotions for granted, when rushing through the rosary without realising what you’re praying, Everytime you invoke Our Lady as Mother of God, you are affirming and declaring your belief in the Hypostatic Union! You are showing you are in continuity with the Apostolic Faith as defined and proclaimed by the earth Church Councils. Everything we do and say always has meaning! It is impregnated with meaning! 

One of the earliest prayers recorded to Our Lady is known as the “Sub tuum praesidium”. The oldest papyrus copy of this prayer is dated to the year 259. This is older than many of the codexes we have of the scripts of the Bible itself! Even the canon of the New Testament was not codified until sometimes between the years 382 - 405, depending on what scholars agree on. 

In this prayer to Mary, she is referred specifically referred to as the Theotokos, the Godbearer, Mother of God. The Latin version of the prayer uses the term “Dei Gentrix” which is closer to the Greek Theotokos. However over time, the terminology changed and so in many Latin prayers like the Hail Mary, the words used are “Mater Dei” - which we know in English as Mother of God. 

So devotion to Mary is truly Apostolic, it is an integral part of what it means to be Christian. The evidence for this speaks for itself when the papyrus for the “Sub tuum praesidium” prayer is at least 130 years older than before the agreed canon of the New Testament was codified by the Church. Devotion to Mary is not only Apostolic, it is also Christological - whatever we say about Mary reflects our belief in Jesus Christ himself.  

This is also why many of the Church Fathers and saints throughout the ages have symbolically interpreted passages of the Old Testament as prefiguring Mary ie.. she is the mother of Life, the New Eve (Genesis 3:20), she is the Virgin Earth from which the New Adam is created (Genesis 2:7), she is the Burning Bush who was consumed by the fire God (Exodus 3:2), the Closed Garden that meant she was a perpetual Virgin (Song of Songs 4:22), the Ark of the New Covenant that contained the word of God (Exodus 25:10-20), the pure Cloud that brings the Rain of Righteousness (1 Kings 18:44). 

These are just to name a few that the Church Fathers identified. Others are mentioned in the  Litany of Loreto - such as Tower of David, Mystical Rose, House of Gold, Gate of Heaven, Morning Star.. 

All of these titles come from images in the Bible, and although the refer to Mary, they all highlight an aspect of Christ. So they are also Christological. All our devotion and honour for Mary always points back to Christ. It’s that simple. We have such a rich symbolic and mystic tradition that is constantly reaffirming and proclaiming our belief in Christ, even when it’s the simplest of prayers or actions. Even our statues and icons only exist because if the Incarnation, because as St John Damascene points out, the invisible God became visible, he became flesh and has a face, so now even physical reality points towards the Incarnation. 

Today we celebrate the fact that Mary is the Mother of God, the Theotokos. She bore God, gave birth to God, taught God to walk and talk. The Eternal Word became silent and learnt how to speak from Mary his mother! Love made flesh received love and learnt how to love from his Mother Mary. 

The Maternity of Mary, the Divine Motherhood is the hinge of our faith. It is such an essential and intrinsic part of our faith we can easily overlook it or take it for granted. But it’s been hidden in the Old Testament and then in the fullness of time (Galatians 4:4-7) been made manifest on the New Testament. When you understand scripture as the early Christian’s and Church Fathers did, as the Church still reacted is to - then your eyes will open in wonder, you will sing the praise of God with joy, and you’ll want to ensure all generations (Luke 1:48) call the Immaculate Virgin Mary, Full of Grace (Luke 1:26), Blessed among women (Luke 1:42) - the Most holy Theotokos, Mother of God. 

Let us make these our prayers that the Church boldly proclaims with all the saints in the Divine Office during the antiphons for Evening prayer for the Solemnity of the Mother of God :  

Antiphon #1 

O wonderful exchange! The Creator of human nature took on a human body and was born of the Virgin. He became man without having a human father and has bestowed on us his divine nature.

Antiphon #2 

You were born of the Virgin in a mysterious manner of which no man can speak; you fulfilled the scriptures; like rain falling gently on the earth you came hither to save the human race. We praise you: you are our God.

Antiphon #3 

Moses saw the thorn bush that was on fire yet was not burnt up. In it we see a sign of your virginity, which all must honour. Mother of God, pray for us.