The Immaculata appears in this world, without the least stain of sin, the masterpiece of God's hands, full of grace. God, the most Holy Trinity, beholds the lowliness (i.e., the humility, the root of all her other virtues) of his handmaid, and "does great things" for her (cf. Lk 1:49). God the Father gives her his own Son to be her Son; God the Son descends into her womb; and God the Holy Spirit forms the body of Christ in the womb of this most pure virgin. "And the Word was made flesh" (Jn 1:14). The Immaculata becomes the Mother of God. The fruit of the love of God in his Trinitarian life and of Mary the Immaculata, is Christ, the God-man. Hence forth all the other sons of God must be modeled after this first Son of God, the God-man, the infinite One. They must reproduce his traits; by imitating Christ souls reach sanctity. . . . This is the union brought about by the spousal love of the soul for Christ, through its re-semblance to him, and by God's action. But if anyone does not wish to have Mary Immaculate for his Mother, he will not have Christ for his Brother. . . . Since the firstborn Son, the God-man was conceived only with the specific consent of the most Blessed Virgin, the same must hold true for all men, who must be conformed to their first model in all things ("Sketches for a book," 1940).
Good morning Rick,
(1) Let’s be clear about the posture of things. I was not out there “litmus testing” random people who imagine they are professing Christ on Xwitter. I was responding specifically to a man who, to use your characterization, “trolled” a prior tweet of mine insisting that Mary was not the Mother of God.
Having the opportunity to do it over again I would note the error conspicuously so that no one was misled.
(2) Regarding your characterization of the Trinity in the context of the Hypostatic Union I would like to clear something up.
You say:
“Because the external works of the Trinity are inseparable, the incarnation is the work of the one triune God. Yet it is personally appropriated to the Son, because the Son alone became incarnate. The Father did not become flesh. The Spirit did not become flesh. The eternal Son assumed our humanity and is one person in two natures, fully God and fully man.”
Some comments:
(A) The Persons of the Trinity are not “works” or somehow derivative of a singular Triune God who is a separate being. The Trinity is a Supernatural relation; not a distinct identity or person.
Each Person of the Trinity is Fully God. The Father is Consubstantial with the Son is Consubstantial with the Holy Ghost.
And while the God Whom Mary is the Mother of is a Distinct Person He is the same God as the Father in Essence or Substance.
Affording the Blessed Virgin Mary her due Canonical Title as the Mother of God does neither risks dividing the singular Substance nor confounding the distinct Persons of God.
(B) The Council of Ephesus, Council of Chalcedon, and Second Council of Ephesus (not to mention Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture) do not Title the Blessed Virgin Mary “the Mother of God with an asterisk” or the “Mother of God but subject to whatever clarifications separated brethren need to feel ok about it.”
The Blessed Virgin Mary is the Mother of God. Period.
The Second Council of Constantinople (A.D. 553) even goes as far to say:
““If anyone declares that it can be only inexactly and not truly said that the holy and glorious ever-virgin Mary is the mother of God, or says that she is so only in some relative sense . . . let him be anathema.”
https://t.co/1jGxIqm8i8
(3) Denial of Marian Dogma is Heresy. Obstinate and knowing denial is Formal Heresy while ignorant denial is Material Heresy.
Heresy separates one from the Body of Christ. This is a big problem; not theological triviality.
Perhaps those imagining they are professing Christian Doctrine should take the time to understand it before they argue.
#CatholicX
@timwmson@Napoleogian Do we have all of Christs instructions to his apostles during these 40 days in writing? No
But since they weren’t written I guess those words weren’t “God breathed” 💀
@CatholicCoachP See the image. Isaiah has 66 chapters that each reflect all of the 66 books of the Bible. 1-39 are chapters of judgment, and 40-66 are chapters of comfort, reflecting the Old and the New Testament.
God knows everything and developes His own word throughout history.
He doesn’t even know that his own precious reformers completely disagreed with him on this. I didn’t know any of this when I was a protestant either. Protestantism relies on ignorance.
@timwmson@Napoleogian To them he presented himself alive after his passion by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days, and speaking of the kingdom of God. Acts 1:3
@CatholicCoachP No. And understand this. He wasn’t infallible. The scriptures are God-breathed. Not everything that came from the mouth or pen of Paul was God-breathed.
@Ron172892111531 Nope same category. Christ is the true icon of unseen God.
“The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.”
@Ron172892111531 Hey dummy the canon can’t be traced to any of those. Neither can the formal definitions of the Trinity, the hypostatic union, the co-equal divinity of the Holy Spirit.
Yes liturgy was conducted in the catacombs.
Icons in catacombs: Fresco of Mary nursing Jesus in the Catacomb of Priscilla (Rome), dated early 3rd century ~230-240 AD)
Christians worshipped underground during persecutions.
Relics: Martyrdom of Polycarp ~156 AD: Christians collected his bones as “more valuable than precious stones” and celebrated his martyrdom anniversary.
Nicaea II (787) didn’t invent this, it defended the apostolic Tradition against iconoclasm, just as Ephesus defended Mary as Theotokos.
If you all could, in your charity, say a prayer for a good and holy death for my uncle Gary, I would greatly appreciate it. It sounds like tonight may be his last.
This week, my wife and I made the very difficult decision to terminate the pregnancy due to Trisomy 21.
The choice was not made lightly. We really appreciate all of the personal stories that you guys shared with us, especially the unconditional support we received from fans with no matter what we decided.
I know some of you may be very disappointed to hear this news. We are devastated. This has been extremely traumatic for both of us, especially Ashley.
She underwent the procedure earlier this week and is on the mend. Thankfully, everything went smoothly, but emotionally we are drained.
Trisomy 21, also known as Down Syndrome, is caused by an extra chromosome. It is caused by an error in cell division, like a glitch. The odds of a baby having it is 1 in 1000.
When I first confronted this news, I was shocked but optimistic. If they’re a little slow intellectually, then we’ll make it work. I signed on to be a parent, come what may…but I just didn’t fully understand what Down Syndrome entailed.
Once we made it public, it became clear that MOST people don’t know what Down Syndrome entails (and no, it’s not the same as Autism):
50% of babies with DS have heart defects. 75% will have hearing challenges. Over 50% will have vision problems. Impaired immune function, developmental disabilities, learning disabilities, delayed physical development, poor muscle tone, structural issues with face, decreased lifespan, etc…Sadly, the list is long, feel free to look it up…Down Syndome isn’t a “blessing”, it is objectively shitty from a health perspective.
I didn’t realize just how rough it is for the child, let alone the family…more often than not, they would be fully dependent on others for the rest of their life.
The miscarriage risk is also close to 50%, which made matters worse…they may never see the light of day and it puts Ashley further at risk.
We spoke with doctors, friends, family and genetic counselors and learned that up to 90% of women terminate their pregnancy after learning the baby has Trisomy 21.
This was WAY higher than I expected, I thought it would be lower given that I hear so many say they kept or would keep the baby. I believe that’s because most terminations happen privately, it feels shameful. A lot of judgment being cast.
You never think you’d be in this type of situation until it happens to you and then things change.
To all of my fans who have weighed in on this topic who have Autism, Down Syndrome or any other conditions…we appreciate you. You matter a lot and we’re glad you’re here. I commend you and your families for having the strength and courage to push forward.
As for us, we made a difficult decision that we believe in the long-run will be beneficial for our family. Thankfully, we had a choice.
It will take a little time to move on, but we are excited to try again in the future and hopefully have a better outcome.
Love you guys & thank you for understanding. ❤️