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Wednesday, October 06, 2004
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Newman's Essay, Part XI: Application of the Sixth Note of a True Development: Conservative Action on its Past
Even heretics agree to the sixth note, that a true development will build upon but not destroy what lies before it. It need not maintain a strict correspondence, as an old man is more than a magnified boy, but it cannot discard what has gone before it, but must be respectful of it.
Of the devotion paid to Mother of God, it is often objected that it detracts from the worship paid to God, and thus represents a wholesale rejection of our Church's ancient creed. But it must be noted, as a matter of empirical truth, the different nature of the devotion which is given to Mary than that given to her Son. This is true not only in theory, but also in appearance. For prayers addressed to Christ are generally in a reverent and fearful tone, as one addresses a just judge. Those addressed to Mary, on the other hand, are affectionate and confident, as one creature addresses another. Devotion to Mary, also, is generally confined to marginal, festive, and public occasions, rather than to that which is solemn, private, and primary in religion. Thus a great number of the central devotional and liturgical literature of the Catholic Church contains little mention of Mary and basically confines itself to the worship of her Son and Father, and nevertheless this literature is considered to be essential for all Christian devotion. Thus all the devotion to Mary is of a totally different kind than that given to her Son, and this is only given to her due to her proximity to the glory of her Son. The veneration of Mary is not given due to any virtue or characteristic that she possesses in and of herself, but because of her office as the Mother of God. Hence, the rise of the cult of Mary in the Church represents not a sharp violation, but rather a respectful preservation, of what has gone before it.
# posted by Jamie : 11:00 AM
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