Mary as Intercessor in Byzantine Theology

Mary’s intercessory role appeared in the early Byzantine church in the sixth century, if not earlier, and popular belief in her power to aid sinners, even after death, only increased in the Middle Byzantine centuries, following broader trends in the literature and art of that period. These texts and images from the Eastern churches of Constantinople, Asia Minor, Egypt, Georgia, and Syria reveal a growth in affective piety, which highlighted Mary’s motherhood and compassion, making her a natural object for personal devotion. Mary, the human mother of God, was an accessible figure whose very accessibility made her uniquely placed to intercede between sinful believers and God and his son, Jesus Christ. The evidence presented here for the development of affective piety in the Byzantine cult of Mary as intercessor reveals that Byzantine beliefs and practices prefigured the same trend in the medieval West by several centuries.

AS CERIMÔNIAS DE COROAÇÃO DE NOSSA SENHORA: MEMÓRIAS E ANÁLISE DE UMA PRÁTICA DEVOCIONAL MARIANA

Partindo de uma descrição originada das memórias do autor, às quais são acrescentadas análises a partir da bibliografia a que tivemos acesso (destaque para obras de Francisco van der Poel, Afonso Murad e Ivany Coutinho), o artigo enfatiza os elementos cênicos e musicais componentes da cerimônia que, não obstante continuar sendo realizada na cidade locus da rememoração, já sofre mutações, uma vez que o hino tradicionalmente cantado – que marcava todo o ritmo da coroação – foi substituído por outros considerados mais modernos. Diferenças entre liturgia e devoção, aplicadas ao culto a Maria, são também abordadas. No artigo, ainda chamamos a atenção para algumas orientações rituais, disponibilizadas na rede mundial de computação, algumas delas visando a corrigir distorções que percebíamos presentes na cidade do interior potiguar cuja forma de organizar a cerimônia baseia a discussão apresentada neste trabalho. Concluímos afirmando a validade daquelas cerimônias que, embora sejam alvo de críticas por parte de alguns agentes do sagrado, em outras instâncias reveladoras de posturas mais condizentes com o respeito às tradições religiosas populares, são orientadas no sentido de delas serem eliminadas imprecisões ou exageros.Palavras-chave: Igreja Católica. Religiosidade popular. Devoção mariana. Mariologia. AbstractParting from a description originated from the author’s memory, to which are added analyses parting from the bibliography we had access to (principally works by Francisco van der Poel, Afonso Murad and Ivany Coutinho), the article emphasizes the scenic and musical elements which compose the ceremony and which, though it keeps being celebrated in the city which is the place of the remembrance, has already suffered changes, since the hymn traditionally sung – which marked the complete rhythm of the coronation – was substituted for others considered more modern. Differences between the liturgy and the devotion applied to the cult of Mary are also being approached. In the article, we further call the attention to some ritual orientations made available in the worldwide internet, some of them aiming to correct distortions we noticed in the city of the interior potiguar, whose way of organizing the ceremony is the basis of the discussion presented in this work. We conclude affirming the value of those ceremonies which, though they are the aim of criticism from some of the agents of the sacred, in other instances, that show more respect for the religious traditions of the people, are advised to eliminate imprecisions and exaggerations from them.Key-words: Catholic Church. Popular religiosity. Devotion to Mary. Mariology.

Our Lady reconsidered: John Knox and the Virgin Mary

The cult of the Virgin Mary had a complicated history in Scotland during the sixteenth century, with historical, devotional and literary evidence indicating both widespread acceptance of the church's traditional practices and growing dissatisfaction with them, particularly in elite culture. Anti-Marian polemics entered Scottish Christianity through various sources, including the Lollards around Kyle, the prominent witness of Patrick Hamilton, the preaching of Thomas Guillaume and George Wishart, the theological climate at St Leonard's college in St Andrews, as well as a number of popular works.John Knox (1514–72) incorporated many of his contemporaries’ concerns in his own treatment of the question, being trained at St Andrews University and heavily influenced by Guillaume and Wishart. Knox considered the cult of Mary using the same tool that he used to analyse the cult of the saints in general, the mass, and liturgical ritual, contending that they could not be reconciled with his stringent doctrine of sola scriptura, in particular as read through the lens of Deuteronomy 12:32.Yet for all that Mary and her place in Christian life and devotion formed a major aspect of sixteenth-century Scottish religious praxis, Knox gave little attention to her, preferring to indicate her proper place in Christian theology by presenting a vision of Christianity which omitted her almost entirely. Knox does indirectly indicate what he considers to be the proper Christian attitude towards the Virgin, however, through his explication of sola scriptura and its implications for genuine religious practice as opposed to idolatry, and his understanding of 1 Timothy 2:5 and the unique mediation of Christ. Where Knox does directly address the Marian question, he expresses his rejection of her cult in far more restrained terms than readers of his polemics against the mass may expect; while he is firm and unequivocal in denying Mary's intercessory role and in uprooting Marian devotional practice, his rhetorical restraint points to the irreducible dignity of Mary in the scriptural texts.This article analyses the theology of Mary which Knox reveals in occasional comments scattered through his writings and attempts to place his ideas in their historical and theological context. By explicating the precise nature of Knox's objection to the cult of Mary, the article attempts to open the door for future Reformed–Catholic dialogue on the person of Mary and her place in the church of Christ.