Mariology: A Dogmatic Treatise on the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God

Like the Hypostatic Union of the two Natures in Christ, the Divine Motherhood of the Blessed Virgin Mary may be regarded from a twofold point of view: (1) ontologically, i.e., in its objective dignity (dignitas maternitatis divinae in se); and (2) ethically, in its causal connexion with the prerogatives proper to this exalted office (plenitudo gratiae correspondens dignitati). Christology shows how the Hypostatic Union immediately and substantially sanctified the manhood of our Lord in direct proportion to His infinite dignity as Godman. In a similar though not precisely the same manner Mary’s objective dignity as mother of God constitutes both the intrinsic principle and the extrinsic standard of her supernatural purity and holiness. The one postulates the other as a cause its effect.

Aeterna Press