Mary, Mariology, and the Marianist Family

Theological Terminology

Trinity (three persons in one god)

• Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
• Not to be confused with the Holy Family (Mary, Joseph, and Jesus)
• Catholics pray with Mary or ask Mary to pray for us to God. Catholics do not worship Mary as God.

Scripture and Tradition as religious authority (Catholic view)

• Contrasts with sola scriptura / scripture alone

Communion of Saints (more emphasized among Catholics)

• Contrasts with individualism (more emphasized among protestants)

Intercession (more emphasized among Catholics)

• Contrasts with individualism (more emphasized among protestants)
• Contrasts with predestination (Calvinists)

Ecclesiology (what is the church?)

• If the church is the body of Christ,
• and Mary formed and mothered the body of Christ,
• then Mary is the mother of the church.
• Not the same as head of the church (Christ).

Liturgical Example

“Therefore I ask blessed Mary, ever virgin, all the angels and saints, and you my brothers and sisters to pray for me to the lord our God”

• Blessed by God, prays to God, not equal to God
• Ever virgin
  • traditions of interpretation not clarified in New Testament
  • virginity is a virtue
• Angels, the dead, and the living pray for me, communion of saints/intercession
• Pray to God, asking Mary to pray to God is not praying to Mary

The Marianist Family

Historical Context of the French Revolution

• Separation of church and state, secularism
• Privilege of church leaders was intertwined with privileges of monarchy
• Reduction of privilege resembles suppression / oppression
• Suppression / oppression also happened
• Resists the push to reduce religion to a government agency
• Adopts the revolution ideals of equality and cooperation

The Founders

• Marie Thérèse de Lamourous
  • Ran a home for displaced women
  • Not vowed to a religious community
• Adèle de Batz de Trenquelléon
  • Founded an order of sisters/nuns: Daughters of Mary Immaculate
• William Joseph Chaminade
  • Founded an order of priests and brothers: Society of Mary

Characteristics of Marianist Universities

• Educate for formation in faith
  • Figure out what you believe and are committed to, not necessarily catechesis in a particular religious denomination
• Provide an integral, quality education
  • Integral in the sense that whole wheat bread is pan integral, educate the whole person in all subjects and skills helpful for flourishing as a person
• Educate in family spirit
  • The most distinctive
• Educate for service, justice, peace and integrity of creation
  • The same root as integral again, connecting the individual to larger society and environment
• Educate for adaptation and change
  • Compare debates following the French Revolution between fighting to revert to the monarchy or adapt to the republic

Contemporary Reception and Debate

• Mary, Maria, Marie becoming less common as a first name in the U.S.
  • critique of superstition / appearances of superstition in protestant American culture (?)
  • avoidance of divisive issues, especially when naming children (?)
• Images of Mary
  • serene / passive in the face of violence
  • advocating and fighting
  • wise, learned, someone you would name a university after (St. Mary's, Our Lady of the Lake, Our Lady of other things, Notre Dame)
  • Eve and Mary