Mediatrix

Early history Mediatrix is an ancient title. The title was also used in the 5th century by Basil of Seleucia. By the 8th century, the title Mediatrix found common use and Andrew of Crete and John of Damascus used it. These early notions place Mary's mediation on a higher level than that of other forms of the intercession of saints. Her position as the mother of Jesus Christ the redeemer and source of grace makes her preeminent among others who might be called mediators. The same notion was stated in the 16th century by the Council of Trent, which declared "that the saints, who reign together with Christ, offer up their own prayers to God for men; that it is good and useful suppliantly to invoke them, and to have recourse to their prayers, aid, (and) help for obtaining benefits from God, through His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who is our alone Redeemer and Saviour; but that they think impiously, who deny that the saints, who enjoy eternal happiness in heaven, are to be invocated; or who assert either that they do not pray for men; or, that the invocation of them to pray for each of us even in particular, is idolatry; or, that it is repugnant to the word of God; and is opposed to the honour of the one mediator of God and men, Christ Jesus; or, that it is foolish to supplicate, vocally, or mentally, those who reign in heaven". 17th–18th centuries Reliance on the intercession of Mary grew and reached its height in the writings of Louis de Montfort and Alphonsus Liguori in the 18th century. This reliance on the intercession of Mary is based on the general Montfortean formula: "…to do all our actions by Mary, with Mary, in Mary and for Mary so that we may do them all the more perfectly by Jesus, with Jesus, in Jesus and for Jesus…" In his book Treatise on Prayer, Alphonsus Liguori reviewed the writings of Thomas Aquinas and Bernard of Clairvaux on the intercession of saints and Mary's role as Mediatrix and strongly supported the title. 19th–21st centuries Several popes have used the title Mediatrix. Leo XIII used it in 1896 and Pius X in 1904. This continued in the 20th century with Benedict XV and Pius XI. although he urged reliance on the intercession of Mary. ==Theological issues==

Among Catholic theologians, it is undisputed that Jesus Christ is the only mediator between God and the human race, especially in the salvific role of redemption as exhibited by the crucifixion on Mount Calvary. Accordingly, the word "mediator" in the strict sense fits Jesus alone in relation to God, but in a subordinate sense, Christians exercise a mediation "that is effective through, with, and in Christ. The subordinate mediator never stands alone, but is always dependent on Jesus." With special reference to Mary, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, quoting the Second Vatican Council, which in its document Lumen gentium referred to Mary as "'Advocate, Auxiliatrix, Adjutrix and Mediatrix," says: Similarly, the Catechism of Saint Pius X affirms: At a Mariological Congress held at Czestochowa in August 1996, a commission was established in response to a request, by the Holy See, which had asked to know the opinion of the scholars present at the Congress on the possibility of defining a new dogma of faith regarding Mary as Coredemptrix, Mediatrix and Advocate. (In recent years, the Pope and various dicasteries of the Holy See had received petitions requesting such a definition.) The response of the commission, deliberately brief, was unanimous and precise: It found that the titles, as proposed, were ambiguous, as they can be understood in very different ways. It also held that it was not opportune to abandon the path marked out by the Second Vatican Council and proceed to the definition of a new dogma. Marian mediation is exercised in the following areas: • mediator of the Incarnation of the Word of God in her maternal womb; • mediation in the Redemption, inasmuch as the *mediation of the Son of God would not have been possible if he had not assumed human nature from the womb of a ever Virgin, thus remaining in hypostatic union with the divine nature (the divine nature and the human nature of Christ are equally important for the purpose of his saving mediation); • Intercession for divine grace with God; • in an ascending sense, as a way to reach Christ. Fr. David Meconi and Carl E. Olson affirmed that Mary is witness that divinization is no longer out of reach. Christ is a divine hypostasis incarnated; Mary is a human hypostatis divinized." Roman Catholic theologians distinguish between universal mediation (in Latin: mediatio in universali) and particular mediation (in Latin: mediation in speciali). while the first concerns Mary's role as Mother of God and therefore source of saving grace, the second concerns her Intercession from heaven for special graces on behalf of one or people (alive or in Purgatory). The distinction is symmetrical to that between remote and immediate co-redemption. ==Mediatrix of all graces==

Going further than expressing belief in Mary as Mediatrix, proposals have been made to declare that Mary is the Mediatrix of all graces. Pope Benedict XV allowed the dioceses of Belgium to celebrate the feast of Mary Mediatrix of all graces on May 31 each year. In printings of the Roman Missal from that date until 1961, the Mass of Mary Mediatrix of All Graces was found in the appendix Missae pro aliquibus locis (Masses for Some Places), but not in the general calendar for use wherever the Roman Rite is celebrated. Other Masses authorized for celebration in different places on the same day were those of the Blessed Virgin Mary Queen of All Saints and Mother of Fair Love and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The Belgian celebration has now been replaced by an optional memorial on 31 August of the Virgin Mary Mediatrix. ==See also==