“«Graces» or «of Grace»? The Theological Distinction: Grace as Participation in the Trinitarian Life and Mary as the Icon of Sanctifying Grace”The Grace as Participation in Divine LifeGrace can be understood as communion with the Father through Christ in the Spirit. The grace-filled educational process educates human beings to free themselves from sin and achieve divinization (theosis). Patristic theology expresses this mystery thus: “God became man so that man might become God.” Here, the New Testament speaks of the outpouring of the Spirit as the principle of rebirth (John 3:5-7), new life (Romans 5:5, 6:4), filial life (Romans 8:15-16, Galatians 4:6), and eternal life (Romans 6:23).The doctrine of justification has focused on the absolution and forgiveness of sins, neglecting the rebirth into new life. In reality, justification puts the human being in a new relationship with God, but rebirth according to the Spirit transforms the inner life, the seed of life, placing him in a different position to face life. Ultimately, the reception of Grace is not a human work. The one who receives a gift does not participate in the initiative of the gift, but merely embraces it; yet, a gift exists only when it is received. If it is not received, there is the good intention of the giver, in our case, God’s gift is Christ. Until it is received in freedom, it does not become an offering. In this sense, Peter’s doctrine about our participation in the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4) reflects this reality, as the identity of the human nature is the reception of God’s gift. Far from pantheism or apophasis of an ineffable and incomunicable God, the enlightening light of Grace illuminates the mind of man with God’s action and makes him capable of relating in consciousness and love.Beyond all the denominations offered throughout the history of theology regarding the relationship as an accident or essence, today we are able to look at the Trinitarian mystery and the Incarnation as God’s revelation, and reflect that Mary was there, as well as the Trinitarian mystery that breaks into history to save us. Grace is not an accidental, casual, or even random intervention in the life of man, but a substantial mode of being communicated to humanity from divine benevolence.Grace Humanizes ManIn the Christian definition of Christ as true God and true man, we see the progressive humanization that deification brought as the central message converging the Old and New Testaments. In the post-conciliar world, it is inconceivable in Catholicism to think of grace that makes us similar to God, which would disregard the necessary humanization, for it liberates human freedom from irresponsibility and matures the “self.” When we look at the person of the Messiah, we find the paradigm of the insoluble union between God and man, between divinity and humanity, but also the source, for only in the mystery of the incarnate Word do we find the light of the mystery of man (Gaudium et Spes 22). In reality, deification cannot mean that man leaves his human condition. Instead, it is the condition of human fullness, for the dialogue with divine persons leads man to realize his origin: the image and likeness of God (Gn 1:26). We can then conclude that grace is the goal of human life: an event of dialogue that relates God and Man in a living way. Two elements are necessary: God’s proposal and man’s response, which is expressed in a relationship of love and the communication of divine life. Throughout the history of salvation, from creation to eschatology, grace finds acceptance on the part of the members of the people of God, especially the baptized, because it is a gift of new life and divine life in the heart of humans in the Spirit of the Father and the Son.Mary and Grace in the New TestamentJesus, the Christ, Son of the living God, is the fullness of grace and truth (Jn 1:14). In the figure of Mary, this is manifested in two ways: the benevolence of the Father who synthesizes in Mary all the work of the Old Testament, and the divine and spiritual motherhood resulting from the Father’s will, which the Word communicates to the world. In fact, it is impossible to think of grace theologically without questioning the “full of grace” (Lk 1:28).Mary’s Response to GraceMaria, Mother in the Order of GraceThe benevolence of the Father who looks upon Mary, who *found grace with God*, through the angel designates her in the history of salvation for the first time not as Myriam but as *kecharitomene* ‘full of grace’ (Lk 1:28). This name signifies a *perpetual recipient* of divine love. This difficult-to-translate word finds its roots in *giving thanks* and *showing favor*, indicating an action of God that endures in the present. The action of God’s love in Mary transforms her, as he blesses and accomplishes great things within her, beginning with the virgin motherhood of the Word of God.The entire narrative of the *Annunciation* demonstrates Mary’s relationship with the Trinity. The Father is the one who sends grace to Mary, bringing about the incarnation of the Son, who becomes Mary’s son through the power of the Holy Spirit (Lk 1:35), covering her with his shadow, as the Ark of the Covenant was covered by the cloud in the desert. Grace, understood as love for the persons of the Trinity, finds in Mary the space to save history, as in the Virgin, grace and freedom coincide. We can thus affirm that Mary is the image of the Trinity, as she reveals God’s action in the world and the appropriate human response: full availability before the Father’s will: ‘Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word’ (Lk 1:38).In the Paschal event narrated in John 19:26-27, we are presented with a singular and vast Mariological reality that still resonates deeply in the dramatic hour of Jesus’ death. Beyond socio-charitable interpretations, we must emphasize the long-standing and valid patristic and magisterial tradition in reading this verse from a theological perspective, revealing Mary’s unique role in the work of salvation. What significance does the revelation of Mary as the Mother of the beloved disciple hold? What kind of motherhood is this? On this point, contemporary scholarship has drawn upon the context of Jesus’ invocation of Mary as a woman to understand the meaning of the parturient, a symbol of blessing in biblical and Jewish tradition. In this sense, at that moment, in the eyes of the crucified Word, Mary represents Zion, who will henceforth be the Mother of a people, the children of the Son. The supreme hour of passion reveals to the world that men are created anew in the Spirit of the Father as Sons of God, and that Mary’s intervention as the New Eve is to participate in the new life that comes from the same Spirit who made her Mother of the Son of the Father.We can thus conclude that Mary, the Mother of Jesus and the beloved disciple, evokes Zion, the Mother and parturient of a new people in the messianic age, continuing Eve’s mission as Mother of the living. In this allegory, the figure of the Church as the Bride of the Word shines with particular brilliance, finding its place alongside the Husband in the relationship between Mother and Son.Jesus reveals Mary’s identity in the history of salvation, not specifying the nature of her role, but we know it involves communicating life, as the dying one gives his life so that we may have it to live. In this way, we can understand how, in John, the rebirth of water and the Spirit (John 3:3-7) is accomplished. The Second Vatican Council offers a decisive reading of motherhood in Lumen Gentium (53), stating that Mary is “mother of the members of Christ” and in (61), “mother in the order of grace,” as she “cooperated in a special way in the work of salvation through her obedience, faith, hope, and ardent charity, in restoring the supernatural life of souls.”ConclusionAfter this journey, we can draw certain conclusions that will also imply our mariological conversion, as the current view of Mary has been updated, progressed, and purified from the light of Sacred Scripture, the soul of mariology.The Title of Our Lady of GraceThis title signifies that Mary participates in the charisms that the Holy Spirit offers to the members of the People of God for the building up of the Church. The Acts of the Apostles narrate Mary among them when they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in tongues and prophesy. There is no reason to deny glossolalia and prophecy from the Pentecostal experience of the Mother of Jesus. Mary, glorified in body and soul, becomes a manifestation of the power of the Spirit and is recognized as a taumaturge, as the permanent charism of the Mother of the Messiah intercedes with wonders, healings, and miracles, as documented by centuries of shrines and the history of Christianity. Recognizing in Mary the “fullness of charisms,” in light of her prominence in salvation, a result of God’s love for her, we conclude that the title of mediator in Christ places her no longer in an isolated “catartic” state but in relation to men and God, as it situates Mary in the history of salvation, in relation to Christ and the Church.But this alone is not enough. Fidelity to the origin of all mariology, which is Scripture, obliges us, in a coherent manner, to make a transition from “Our Lady of Grace” to “Our Lady of Grace.” From the gifts of the Trinitarian God who surpasses all divisions of grace, we find sanctification, which, once received by the baptized, places us in a vital relationship with the three divine persons. Now, the Mother of Jesus can be understood as the paradigm of this continuous action of grace in her, which is the “charism” (kecharitomene), as her life and presence at the cross of Christ placed her as the third of Christ to the Church, together with the Spirit exhaled at the Cross. Mary is then a cooperator of the Spirit in the rebirth of the children in the Son of God. Through baptism, Mary becomes the Mother of the faithful, as she participates in the mysteries of redemption accomplished by the Son and also cooperates with the love of a Mother in the generation and formation of the faithful.We cannot devalue the position of the Council when emphasizing that it is Mary’s charity that leads her to cooperate in the birth of the faithful in the Church. From the Cross, the throne of grace, Jesus gave men his Mother Mary. At the moment of his sacrifice for humanity, he made Mary, in a sense, the mediator of the flow of Grace that proceeds from the Cross. Alongside the Cross, Mary becomes a companion and protector of men throughout life until the blessed homeland. Mary intercedes for us with the Son, and this confidence, along with our gratitude, impels us to renew our Christian life and go beyond the needs of the moment. Mary, the mystagog, teaches us the breadth and depth of our Christian vocation. With maternal tenderness, she wants to make us understand that every aspect of our life must be a response to the abundant mercy of our God.Our Lady of Grace, pray for us!To deepen the theological meaning of the title of Mary as Our Lady of Grace, consult the Apostolic Exhortation Marialis Cultus by Paul VI, on the veneration and titles of Mary in the tradition of the Church.Deepen your studies: explore Mariology, Marian Theology, Marian Apparitions, and the Postgraduate Program in Mariology.
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Ratzinger contemplates *Et Incarnatus Est* and reveals Mary as the living place of the Incarnation of the Word. Deepen this mariological and theological reflection.
Meditation by von Balthasar on Christmas and adoration: Mary before the incarnate Son of God. Deepen this mariological contemplation of the natal mystery.
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The Grace as Participation in Divine LifeGrace can be understood as communion with the Father through Christ in the Spirit. The grace-filled educational process educates human beings to free themselves from sin and achieve divinization (theosis). Patristic theology expresses this mystery thus: “God became man so that man might become God.” Here, the New Testament speaks of the outpouring of the Spirit as the principle of rebirth (John 3:5-7), new life (Romans 5:5, 6:4), filial life (Romans 8:15-16, Galatians 4:6), and eternal life (Romans 6:23).The doctrine of justification has focused on the absolution and forgiveness of sins, neglecting the rebirth into new life. In reality, justification puts the human being in a new relationship with God, but rebirth according to the Spirit transforms the inner life, the seed of life, placing him in a different position to face life. Ultimately, the reception of Grace is not a human work. The one who receives a gift does not participate in the initiative of the gift, but merely embraces it; yet, a gift exists only when it is received. If it is not received, there is the good intention of the giver, in our case, God’s gift is Christ. Until it is received in freedom, it does not become an offering. In this sense, Peter’s doctrine about our participation in the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4) reflects this reality, as the identity of the human nature is the reception of God’s gift. Far from pantheism or apophasis of an ineffable and incomunicable God, the enlightening light of Grace illuminates the mind of man with God’s action and makes him capable of relating in consciousness and love.Beyond all the denominations offered throughout the history of theology regarding the relationship as an accident or essence, today we are able to look at the Trinitarian mystery and the Incarnation as God’s revelation, and reflect that Mary was there, as well as the Trinitarian mystery that breaks into history to save us. Grace is not an accidental, casual, or even random intervention in the life of man, but a substantial mode of being communicated to humanity from divine benevolence.Grace Humanizes ManIn the Christian definition of Christ as true God and true man, we see the progressive humanization that deification brought as the central message converging the Old and New Testaments. In the post-conciliar world, it is inconceivable in Catholicism to think of grace that makes us similar to God, which would disregard the necessary humanization, for it liberates human freedom from irresponsibility and matures the “self.” When we look at the person of the Messiah, we find the paradigm of the insoluble union between God and man, between divinity and humanity, but also the source, for only in the mystery of the incarnate Word do we find the light of the mystery of man (Gaudium et Spes 22). In reality, deification cannot mean that man leaves his human condition. Instead, it is the condition of human fullness, for the dialogue with divine persons leads man to realize his origin: the image and likeness of God (Gn 1:26). We can then conclude that grace is the goal of human life: an event of dialogue that relates God and Man in a living way. Two elements are necessary: God’s proposal and man’s response, which is expressed in a relationship of love and the communication of divine life. Throughout the history of salvation, from creation to eschatology, grace finds acceptance on the part of the members of the people of God, especially the baptized, because it is a gift of new life and divine life in the heart of humans in the Spirit of the Father and the Son.Mary and Grace in the New TestamentJesus, the Christ, Son of the living God, is the fullness of grace and truth (Jn 1:14). In the figure of Mary, this is manifested in two ways: the benevolence of the Father who synthesizes in Mary all the work of the Old Testament, and the divine and spiritual motherhood resulting from the Father’s will, which the Word communicates to the world. In fact, it is impossible to think of grace theologically without questioning the “full of grace” (Lk 1:28).Mary’s Response to Grace
The Grace as Participation in Divine LifeGrace can be understood as communion with the Father through Christ in the Spirit. The grace-filled educational process educates human beings to free themselves from sin and achieve divinization (theosis). Patristic theology expresses this mystery thus: “God became man so that man might become God.” Here, the New Testament speaks of the outpouring of the Spirit as the principle of rebirth (John 3:5-7), new life (Romans 5:5, 6:4), filial life (Romans 8:15-16, Galatians 4:6), and eternal life (Romans 6:23).The doctrine of justification has focused on the absolution and forgiveness of sins, neglecting the rebirth into new life. In reality, justification puts the human being in a new relationship with God, but rebirth according to the Spirit transforms the inner life, the seed of life, placing him in a different position to face life. Ultimately, the reception of Grace is not a human work. The one who receives a gift does not participate in the initiative of the gift, but merely embraces it; yet, a gift exists only when it is received. If it is not received, there is the good intention of the giver, in our case, God’s gift is Christ. Until it is received in freedom, it does not become an offering. In this sense, Peter’s doctrine about our participation in the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4) reflects this reality, as the identity of the human nature is the reception of God’s gift. Far from pantheism or apophasis of an ineffable and incomunicable God, the enlightening light of Grace illuminates the mind of man with God’s action and makes him capable of relating in consciousness and love.Beyond all the denominations offered throughout the history of theology regarding the relationship as an accident or essence, today we are able to look at the Trinitarian mystery and the Incarnation as God’s revelation, and reflect that Mary was there, as well as the Trinitarian mystery that breaks into history to save us. Grace is not an accidental, casual, or even random intervention in the life of man, but a substantial mode of being communicated to humanity from divine benevolence.Grace Humanizes ManIn the Christian definition of Christ as true God and true man, we see the progressive humanization that deification brought as the central message converging the Old and New Testaments. In the post-conciliar world, it is inconceivable in Catholicism to think of grace that makes us similar to God, which would disregard the necessary humanization, for it liberates human freedom from irresponsibility and matures the “self.” When we look at the person of the Messiah, we find the paradigm of the insoluble union between God and man, between divinity and humanity, but also the source, for only in the mystery of the incarnate Word do we find the light of the mystery of man (Gaudium et Spes 22). In reality, deification cannot mean that man leaves his human condition. Instead, it is the condition of human fullness, for the dialogue with divine persons leads man to realize his origin: the image and likeness of God (Gn 1:26). We can then conclude that grace is the goal of human life: an event of dialogue that relates God and Man in a living way. Two elements are necessary: God’s proposal and man’s response, which is expressed in a relationship of love and the communication of divine life. Throughout the history of salvation, from creation to eschatology, grace finds acceptance on the part of the members of the people of God, especially the baptized, because it is a gift of new life and divine life in the heart of humans in the Spirit of the Father and the Son.Mary and Grace in the New TestamentJesus, the Christ, Son of the living God, is the fullness of grace and truth (Jn 1:14). In the figure of Mary, this is manifested in two ways: the benevolence of the Father who synthesizes in Mary all the work of the Old Testament, and the divine and spiritual motherhood resulting from the Father’s will, which the Word communicates to the world. In fact, it is impossible to think of grace theologically without questioning the “full of grace” (Lk 1:28).Mary’s Response to Grace
Maria, Mother in the Order of GraceThe benevolence of the Father who looks upon Mary, who *found grace with God*, through the angel designates her in the history of salvation for the first time not as Myriam but as *kecharitomene* ‘full of grace’ (Lk 1:28). This name signifies a *perpetual recipient* of divine love. This difficult-to-translate word finds its roots in *giving thanks* and *showing favor*, indicating an action of God that endures in the present. The action of God’s love in Mary transforms her, as he blesses and accomplishes great things within her, beginning with the virgin motherhood of the Word of God.The entire narrative of the *Annunciation* demonstrates Mary’s relationship with the Trinity. The Father is the one who sends grace to Mary, bringing about the incarnation of the Son, who becomes Mary’s son through the power of the Holy Spirit (Lk 1:35), covering her with his shadow, as the Ark of the Covenant was covered by the cloud in the desert. Grace, understood as love for the persons of the Trinity, finds in Mary the space to save history, as in the Virgin, grace and freedom coincide. We can thus affirm that Mary is the image of the Trinity, as she reveals God’s action in the world and the appropriate human response: full availability before the Father’s will: ‘Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word’ (Lk 1:38).
In the Paschal event narrated in John 19:26-27, we are presented with a singular and vast Mariological reality that still resonates deeply in the dramatic hour of Jesus’ death. Beyond socio-charitable interpretations, we must emphasize the long-standing and valid patristic and magisterial tradition in reading this verse from a theological perspective, revealing Mary’s unique role in the work of salvation. What significance does the revelation of Mary as the Mother of the beloved disciple hold? What kind of motherhood is this? On this point, contemporary scholarship has drawn upon the context of Jesus’ invocation of Mary as a woman to understand the meaning of the parturient, a symbol of blessing in biblical and Jewish tradition. In this sense, at that moment, in the eyes of the crucified Word, Mary represents Zion, who will henceforth be the Mother of a people, the children of the Son. The supreme hour of passion reveals to the world that men are created anew in the Spirit of the Father as Sons of God, and that Mary’s intervention as the New Eve is to participate in the new life that comes from the same Spirit who made her Mother of the Son of the Father.We can thus conclude that Mary, the Mother of Jesus and the beloved disciple, evokes Zion, the Mother and parturient of a new people in the messianic age, continuing Eve’s mission as Mother of the living. In this allegory, the figure of the Church as the Bride of the Word shines with particular brilliance, finding its place alongside the Husband in the relationship between Mother and Son.Jesus reveals Mary’s identity in the history of salvation, not specifying the nature of her role, but we know it involves communicating life, as the dying one gives his life so that we may have it to live. In this way, we can understand how, in John, the rebirth of water and the Spirit (John 3:3-7) is accomplished. The Second Vatican Council offers a decisive reading of motherhood in Lumen Gentium (53), stating that Mary is “mother of the members of Christ” and in (61), “mother in the order of grace,” as she “cooperated in a special way in the work of salvation through her obedience, faith, hope, and ardent charity, in restoring the supernatural life of souls.”ConclusionAfter this journey, we can draw certain conclusions that will also imply our mariological conversion, as the current view of Mary has been updated, progressed, and purified from the light of Sacred Scripture, the soul of mariology.The Title of Our Lady of GraceThis title signifies that Mary participates in the charisms that the Holy Spirit offers to the members of the People of God for the building up of the Church. The Acts of the Apostles narrate Mary among them when they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in tongues and prophesy. There is no reason to deny glossolalia and prophecy from the Pentecostal experience of the Mother of Jesus. Mary, glorified in body and soul, becomes a manifestation of the power of the Spirit and is recognized as a taumaturge, as the permanent charism of the Mother of the Messiah intercedes with wonders, healings, and miracles, as documented by centuries of shrines and the history of Christianity. Recognizing in Mary the “fullness of charisms,” in light of her prominence in salvation, a result of God’s love for her, we conclude that the title of mediator in Christ places her no longer in an isolated “catartic” state but in relation to men and God, as it situates Mary in the history of salvation, in relation to Christ and the Church.But this alone is not enough. Fidelity to the origin of all mariology, which is Scripture, obliges us, in a coherent manner, to make a transition from “Our Lady of Grace” to “Our Lady of Grace.” From the gifts of the Trinitarian God who surpasses all divisions of grace, we find sanctification, which, once received by the baptized, places us in a vital relationship with the three divine persons. Now, the Mother of Jesus can be understood as the paradigm of this continuous action of grace in her, which is the “charism” (kecharitomene), as her life and presence at the cross of Christ placed her as the third of Christ to the Church, together with the Spirit exhaled at the Cross. Mary is then a cooperator of the Spirit in the rebirth of the children in the Son of God. Through baptism, Mary becomes the Mother of the faithful, as she participates in the mysteries of redemption accomplished by the Son and also cooperates with the love of a Mother in the generation and formation of the faithful.We cannot devalue the position of the Council when emphasizing that it is Mary’s charity that leads her to cooperate in the birth of the faithful in the Church. From the Cross, the throne of grace, Jesus gave men his Mother Mary. At the moment of his sacrifice for humanity, he made Mary, in a sense, the mediator of the flow of Grace that proceeds from the Cross. Alongside the Cross, Mary becomes a companion and protector of men throughout life until the blessed homeland. Mary intercedes for us with the Son, and this confidence, along with our gratitude, impels us to renew our Christian life and go beyond the needs of the moment. Mary, the mystagog, teaches us the breadth and depth of our Christian vocation. With maternal tenderness, she wants to make us understand that every aspect of our life must be a response to the abundant mercy of our God.Our Lady of Grace, pray for us!To deepen the theological meaning of the title of Mary as Our Lady of Grace, consult the Apostolic Exhortation Marialis Cultus by Paul VI, on the veneration and titles of Mary in the tradition of the Church.Deepen your studies: explore Mariology, Marian Theology, Marian Apparitions, and the Postgraduate Program in Mariology.
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