Mary in the Annunciation as a Type of Baptism

The study shows that there is a full parallel between Mary in the Annunciation and the baptism of believers. In the Oriental interpretation, the two-stage approach observed in the Annunciation scene: the Holy Spirit who cleanses and the Son who incarnates have their counterpart in the birth of a new man – a Christian who receives the Holy Spirit through the anointing with oil, and becomes a member of Christ in the waters of baptism. So we have a Mariology which is soteriologically oriented and inseparably connected with the person of Christ. This approach, biblical and in line with tradition, seems to be particularly interesting because it allows us to see the not always empha sized dimension of our Marian devotion.

6. Empress of heaven and hell

‘Empress of heaven and hell’ recounts how the Virgin Mary came into her own during Europe’s High Middle Ages. Between 1150 and 1250, over 80 cathedrals and 500 churches were erected in honour of the Virgin Mary. There were a variety of factors that contributed to the explosion of Marian devotion in medieval and Renaissance spirituality. For example, Mary’s intercession with Christ acquired new urgency with a change in expectations about the soul’s fate after death. Related to this was belief in Mary’s Assumption, which is examined in light of theology and art. Mary’s place in medieval anti-Judaism is also worth considering. Historian Henry Adams’s description of medieval Marian energy carried over into the Renaissance, when Jesus’s humanity, based on Mary’s motherhood, became the touchstone for the humanist temper of the age.

The Making of a Marian Geography of Grace for Greek Catholics in the Polish Crownlands of the 17th–18th Centuries

This article explores the ways in which the newly founded and highly contested Christian confession of the Greek Catholics or Uniates employed strategies of mass mobilization to establish and maintain their position within a contested confessional terrain. The Greek Catholic clerics, above all monks of the Basilian order fostered an active policy of acquiring, founding and promoting Marian places of grace in order to create and invigorate a sense of belonging among their flock. The article argues that folk ideological notions concerning the spatial and physical conditions for the working of miracles were seized upon by the Greek Catholic faithful to establish a mental map of grace of their own. Especially, the Basilian order took particular care to organize mass events (annual pilgrimages, coronation celebrations for miraculous images) and promote Marian devotion through miracle reports and icon songs in an attempt to define what it means to be a Greek Catholic in terms of sacred territoriality.

Fede cristiana, devozione mariana e pandemia da covid-19. Il “caso” della comunità di Biancavilla (Ct)

The crisis dramatically resulting from the sudden pandemic for Covid-19 had immediate and long-term consequences. From a religious point of view, what were the answers? The civil and ecclesial community of Biancavilla country is unique in the Etna province and in Valdemone, since it is the only one of Arbëreshë origin, although now Latinized, arrived and finally settled at the foot of Etna, after the exile following the fall of Byzantium. The exiles brought with them an icon of the Mary of almsgiving, which is to some extent at the origin of the foundation of the town. The local historical, social and religious history is linked to the cult, first Byzantine, then Latin, of the Virgin of Mercy, and its icon. The people of Biancavilla country have always devoted their devotion to it, especially on the occasion of wars, famines, plagues, obtaining, according to the faith of the people, the favor of the Virgin, despite the fact that neighboring communities were equally affected. We want to report the “case” of the Biancavilla community, which faced the health emergency caused by Covid-19, also from a religious point of view with a constant, broad, varied commitment, not only liturgical or devotional, but also educational. Expressing once again its Christian faith in devotion to the Virgin of Alms, her patron. While the commitment of the clergy to a constant liturgical and pastoral activity has not been lacking, the faithful also maintained the oratorio and educational activities through the use of the internet, using all the communication channels available, with positive results also with respect to other civil and religious communities, during the long period of isolation, keeping personal and community relationships alive. The biancavillese marian devotion therefore permeated and acted as an agglutinant of the overall estate of the small town of Biancavilla.

Maryja i współczesny problem ciała

Mary and the contemporary question of the body The question concerning human body certainly can be counted among the most urgent issues in the modern culture. Therefore theology as well has to include it among the fields of its research if it wants to participate in a most vital discussion for contemporary man. Theological tradition focuses upon the figure of Mary, and especially on Her virginity, emphasising that She has always ameliorated the profound understanding of the body and its destiny and concurrently its personal and moral context. In the face of contemporary, urgent need for the restoration of the dignity of the bodythe return to Marian devotion and following Her virtues is definitely required. Only in this perspective it is possible to grsap and properly cultivate the relation between the body and the soul and further between man and woman, and by the same token to influence the culture making it more friendly for people. Abstrakt Problematyka dotycząca ciała na pewno należy do najbardziej aktualnych we współczesnej kulturze, a tym samym także teologia musi ją uwzględniać w swoich poszukiwaniach, jeśli ma uczestniczyć w tym, co najbardziej zasadnicze dla człowieka. Tradycja teologiczna zwraca uwagę, że także postać Maryi, szczególnie Jej dziewictwo, zawsze wpływała na pogłębione rozumienie ciała i jego przeznaczenia, a tym samym na osobowe i moralne odniesienie do niego. Wobec współczesnej, pilnej potrzeby odbudowania godności ciała zachodzi między innymi wyraźna potrzeba powrotu do kultu maryjnego i do naśladowania cnót Maryi, ponieważ w tej perspektywie można uchwycić i właściwie kształtować relacje między duchem i ciałem, między mężczyzną i kobietą, a tym samym oddziaływać na kulturę, czyniąc ją bardziej przyjazną człowiekowi.

Mother of Hope. Mary of Nazareth in Anglican – Roman-Catholic Dialogue

Our Hope is Christ but His Mother is also ours. A difficult topic in the dialogue with Anglicans is the issue of Mariology. Mary and the various forms of liturgical and non-liturgical Marian devotion were inherited by Anglicans from the Catholic tradition. However, the influence of the Reformation has also had an impact on this topic. Hence, paradoxically, Mariology links and -at the same time- constitutes an element of polemics between Anglicans and Catholics. The Anglican doctrine about Mary of Nazareth mentions the term “complexion oppositorum”. The ecumenical Dialogue has shown us its present situation, as we can read in these pages. The authors, after presenting a historical introduction, made a presentation of all existing ecumenical documents being the fruit of Catholic-Anglican dialogue, in which there was any mention of the Mother of God. Documents at international level as well as documents from national dialogues, in particular from the USA and Canada, have been analysed.