The Woman I love
As the case for his canonization continues, I thought I’d post a TV episode from my all-time favourite archbishop, Fulton Sheen:
Tag: Theotokos
Nativity of the Theotokos
I know I’m off in the desert and not meant to be posting, but I couldn’t really pass up a quick post for the birthday of Mary, the mother of God:
Your birth, O Theotokos, brought joy to the whole world, for from you dawned the sun of righteousness, Christ our God. Freeing us from the curse, He gave us His blessings. Abolishing death, He granted us eternal life.
– Apolytikion, Nativity of the Theotokos
The Surfing Priest
For the last few weeks Fr. Donald Calloway has been in the San Diego speaking at different parishes, telling the story of his dramatic conversion and encouraging his listeners to dive more deeply into their Catholic faith, particularly in their devotion to Blessed Mary. Here are a few gems from this Friday’s talk:
“If Jesus is our brother, then we must have the same mother as Him, otherwise that’s one pretty funky family…”
“You’re born again? Great! Who’s your mother?”
“Jesus calls her ‘mother’ and we will not, thinking that it is beneath us. What madness is this?”
If you ever get the chance to hear him speak I’d thoroughly recommend it. If you live in the San Diego area, there are still a few opportunities to see him in the next few days.
The article The Surfing Priest first appeared on RestlessPilgrim.net
Artwork of God’s Artwork
In a previous post I explained the meaning of the text “IC XC” which is found in Eastern icons. I thought today I would do a quick follow-up to explain the letters which commonly appear around the Theotokos…
The Theo-what?
“The Theotokos” (pronounced “th-ay-oh-to-kos”) is the name that Eastern Christians (both Orthodox and Catholic) typically give to Jesus’ mother, Mary. It was also the word used in the proclamation of the Council of Ephesus in 431 AD. In the Western Church, “Theotokos” is often loosely translated into English as “Mother Of God” (whereas it literally means “God-bearer”).
Giving Mary the title “Mother of God” has certainly caused some heated arguments in the history of Christianity. Some have mistakenly seen this title as an elevation of Mary to a height even greater than that of Jesus (if such a thing were possible!). Yet the title “Mother Of God” is really much more about Jesus than Mary, since to say that Mary is not the mother of God is to say that she gave birth only to His humanity, which would indicate some kind of rupture between Jesus’ human and divine natures. That’s kind of a weighty topic…I think I’ll come back to that another time….