Kufungidzira kwaMaria

The Asumption ndiko kutenda kuti Maria, pakuguma kwoupenyu hwake hwapasi, akatorwa muviri nemweya kudenga. Zvinorehwa mundima dzakasiyana-siyana dzeMagwaro, zvichida zvakanyatsojeka mukati Zvakazarurwa 12, uye yakatendwa nevaKristu vepakutanga, sezvinoratidzwa nemabhuku ekare uye manyoro. Zvichida humbowo hukuru hwenhoroondo hweAsumption, kunyange zvakadaro, inyaya yekuti hapana munhu kana nzanga yakamboti ine mutumbi waMaria.1 Mumwe anogona kuva nechokwadi kuti akanga ane mutumbi waMaria, nokure vanokudzwa zvikuru pakati paVatsvene, vakaramba vari panyika, vateveri vaKristu vangadai vakanyatsozviziva.

Panoitika zvitendero zviviri zvakasiyana maererano nenzvimbo yakafira Maria: mumwe achinongedzera Jerusarema; mumwe kuEfeso. Pavaviri ava, tsika yekare ndeyekare uye inotsigirwa zviri nani. Zvinofadza zvakakwana, chinhu chisina chinhu, guva romuzana rokutanga ramakore rakawanwa mukati mokuchera panzvimbo yaaipfuura nomuJerusarema 1972 (ona Bellarmino Bagatti, Michael Piccirillo, naAlbert Prodomo, O.F.M., Zvitsva Zvitsva paGuva reMhandara Maria muGetsemane, Jerusarema: Franciscan Printing Press, 1975). Dzimwe nyanzvi dzakapokana kuti guva iri harina kutaurwa nezvaro neMadzibaba ekutanga aigara muPalestine., vakadai saCyril weJerusarema (d. 386), Epiphanius (d. 403), naJerome (d. 420). Asi, sezvakataurwa nenyanzvi yezvokuchera matongo Bellarmino Bagatti, Guva raMaria raiwanzodziviswa namaKristu apakuvamba amavambo eVamarudzi nemhaka yokuti rakanga rakamira panzvimbo yaJudheo-maKristu., WHO “vairangarirwa kuva schismatics kana vasiri vanyengeri” (ibid., p. 15). Nokuda kwechikonzero chimwe chetecho, dzimwe nzvimbo tsvene, zvakadai seUpper Room, hazvionekwi muzvinyorwa zvekare (ibid.). Zvinofanira kuyeukwawo kuti mauto oMukuru Mukuru weRoma Titus akaparadza Jerusarema mugore iroro 70, kuvanza nzvimbo dzinoyera kuchiJudha nechiKristu pasi pemarara. In 135, Mambo Hadrian akaparadza guta racho zvakare nechinangwa chaicho chekuvaka temberi dzechihedheni pamusoro pematongo enzvimbo tsvene.. Nzvimbo yakapfuura Mariya nedzimwe nzvimbo tsvene yakaramba yakarasika kutozosvikira muzana remakore rechina apo Mambo Constantine Mukuru akatanga zvishoma nezvishoma kudzorera nzvimbo tsvene dzechiKristu., kutanga ne Holy Sepulcher mukati 336.] Kukwira kudenga kunopa muenzaniso wemudzidzi waKristu aimutevera mukumuka kwemuviri, achinongedzera kuchinhu chaicho icho vaKristu vose vanokarira. Pakupedzisira, hahupupuriri utsvene hwaro, uyezve, asi kuutsvene hwaJesu, paakaundi yaani akagamuchira kodzero dzakakosha.

Kunyange zvagara zvichitendwa nemaKristu, Rondedzero yoKudenga yakaziviswa zviri pamutemo dzidziso yeChechi yeKaturike naPope Pius XII muna 1950. Zvamazvirokwazvo munhu anogona kuona huchenjeri hune rudo hwaMwari mukusimbisa kumuka kwomuviri kwaMaria kunyika pakati pezana ramakore iro rakapupurira kusaruramisira kwakawanda kwazvo pamusoro pechiremera chomunhu.. Panguva yekuzivisa kwedzidziso, nyika yakanga ichibuda mukutyisa kwemisasa yerufu yeNazi uye ichiswedera nokukurumidza kukuuraya kunodzivirirwa nehurumende kwomwana asati aberekwa.. Kukudzwa kwemukadzi nebasa rake guru rokuva amai zvakashorwa zvikuru nenzanga yemazuva ano, iyo yakanyatsotarisa runako rwake rwokunze uye ichida kuramba ichimuderedza kuti ave chinhu chinodiwa. Mukupesana kukuru nezviziviso izvi zve tsika yerufu, Mary's Assumption inozivisa chiremera chemukadzi uye chemuviri wemunhu, zvemunhu, nenzira ine simba.

Dzidziso yeKukwira kudenga iri pamvumo yeChechi yekudyisa makwai aKristu (cf. Johani 21:15-17; Ruka 10:16) nevimbiso yeMuponesi Wedu yekuti Chechi Yake ichadzidzisa chokwadi (cf. Johani 14:26; 16:13; Mat. 16:18-19; 1 Tim. 3:15). Chiremera chisingakundiki ichi chakagara chichivimbwa kuti chitsvene dzidziso yechokwadi kana kukakavara kuchimuka pakati pevatendi. Izvi tinozviona pakudaidzwa kweDare reDare reJerusarema (Mabasa Avapostori 15); mukutsvaka kwaPauro vaApostora’ mvumo yekuparidza kwake makore mazhinji mushure mekutendeuka kwake (VaG. 2:1-2); uye muzviito zveekupedzisira Ecumenical Councils, iyo yaizivisa humwari hwaKristu mukati 325, humwari hweMweya Mutsvene mukati 381, uye kuzvara kwaMariya kutsvene mukati 431.

Pazvidzidzo zvouMwari, iyo Assumption yakabatana zvakanyanya neiyo Immaculate Conception, inotaura kuti Maria, nenyasha dzakakosha kubva kuna Mwari, akadzivirirwa kubva pachivi chepakutanga kubva panguva yekutanga yekuvapo kwake. Kusununguka kwake kubva kuchivi kwakazara muvimbiso yaMwari paKupunzika kweMunhu kuisa ruvengo pakati padhiabhorosi naAmai veMudzikinuri. (Gen. 3:15). Kudzokera kunguva dzevaapostora, Chechi yakaremekedza Maria seEva Mutsva, mubatsiri akatendeka waAdama Mutsva. Sezvakangoita Evha wokutanga akatenda nhema dzaSatani, ngirozi yakawa, uye nekuramba zano raMwari kwakaunza chivi nerufu munyika; saka Eva Mutsva akatenda chokwadi chaGabrieri, Ngirozi huru, uye nekubatira pamwe nehurongwa hwaMwari kwakaunza ruponeso neupenyu munyika. Mukufunga Maria saEva Mutsva, uyezve, tinosvika pakuziva kuti mukuronga rudzikinuro rwedu, Mwari nenzira inoshamisa chaizvo vakadzora zviitiko zvekudonha kwedu. Pakutanga, semuyenzaniso, Adhamu akatanga kuuya; uye Evha akaumbwa kubva munyama yake. Mukuregererwa, Mary, Evha Mutsva, akauya pakutanga; naKristu, Adhamu Mutsva, akaumbwa kubva munyama yake. Sezvineiwo, ndosaka muSungano Itsva mukadzi nemurume vaive mai nemwanakomana, kwete vakaroorana sezvakanga zvakaita Adhamu naEvha.

Kuti Maria aive nekusava nemhosva kwaEvha kusati kwadonha zvinoreva kuti angangove asina kurangwa: kurwadziwa uye rufu rwomuviri (cf. Gen. 3:16, 19; VaR. 6:23). Kunyange kana asina kuregererwa kubva pazvinhu izvi zvachose, zvisinei, zvakakodzera kuti awane nyasha dzinoshamisa pakusununguka uye murufu.2

Sekusimuka kwemiviri yevatsvene mushure meKurovererwa (cf. Mat. 27:52), Kufungidzira kunotangira kumuka kwemuviri kwevakatendeka paZuva Rokutongwa, pazvichava “kubatwa … mumakore kuti tisangane naShe mudenga” (1 VaTesaronika. 4:17).3 Bhaibheri haripikisani nepfungwa yekufungidzira kwemuviri kudenga. MuMagwaro, Enoki naEria vanokwidzwa kudenga vari mumuviri (cf. Gen. 5:24; 2 Madz. 2:11; VaH. 11:5). Ichokwadi kuti Bhaibheri haritauri zvakajeka kuti Mariya akafungirwa. Asi nechiratidzo chimwe chete, Bhaibheri harirambi kana kupokanidza Kufungidzira kwake.4 Uyezve, nepo nhoroondo yakananga yoKufungidzira isingawaniki muMagwaro, inogona kutorwa kubva kune dzimwe ndima dzine chekuita neAreka yeChibvumirano, mufananidzo waMaria. Areka yakanga yakagadzirwa nemuti usingaori uye yakanga yakafukidzwa nendarama chaiyo nokuda kwoutsvene hwezvinhu zvayakanga yagadzirirwa kutakura saizvozvo. (cf. Ex. 25:10-11); saizvozvo Mhandara yakapiwa kuchena pamweya nomuviri uye kusaora mukugadzirira kubereka Mwanakomana waMwari.. Kuti muviri waMaria usina kuora, Areka yeSungano Itsva, yaizotorwa kudenga inoratidzwa muna Pisarema 132:8, inoti, “Simuka, O Ishe, ugoenda kunzvimbo yako yokuzorora, imi neareka yesimba renyu.” Kuti Areka yeChibvumirano Chekare yakanyangarika zvisinganzwisisike pane imwe nguva munhoroondo inofananidzira Kufungidzira kwaMadzimai vedu zvakare..5 Mudziyo unoyera wakaramba wakavigwa kwemazana emakore kusvikira Muapostora Johane aona zvishoma nezvawo kudenga, sezvaanotsanangura muna Zvakazarurwa: “Ipapo tembere yaMwari kudenga yakazarurwa, uye areka yesungano ikaonekwa mutemberi yake … . Uye chiratidzo chikuru chakaonekwa kudenga, mukadzi akapfeka zuva, nemwedzi pasi petsoka dzake, nepamusoro wake korona yenyeredzi gumi nembiri” (11:19, 12:1). Chiratidzo chaJohane chaMai veMudzikinuri vachigara mumuviri muparadhiso ndicho chinhu chiri pedyo zvikuru chatinacho kunhoroondo yeakaona yeAsumption.. Anoenderera mberi achitsanangura kuti akanga akwidzwa kudenga pashure poKukwira Kudenga kwaShe. “Mwana wake,” anodaro, “akakwidzwa kuna Mwari nokuchigaro chake choushe, mukadzi akatizira kurenje, kwaanowana nzvimbo yaakagadzirirwa naMwari, uchachengetwa mazuva churu nemazana maviri nemakumi matanhatu” (12:5-6). Saizvozvowo anodaro, “Mukadzi akapiwa mapapiro maviri egondo guru kuti abhururuke kubva kunyoka achienda kurenje., kunzvimbo yaanozodyiswa kwenguva yakati, uye nguva, uye hafu yenguva” (12:14).6

Zvinyorwa zvekare zviripo paAssumption zvinyorwa zvakasiyana zveapokirifa uye pseudoepigraphical., iyo inowira pasi pemusoro wepamusoro we Ndima yaMaria kana Kupfuura kwaMaria. Zvikuru pane izvi, inotendwa kuti yakanyorwa muzana remakore rechipiri naLeucius Karinus, mudzidzi waJohani, inofungidzirwa kuti yakavakirwa pagwaro rokutanga renguva yavaapostora, iyo isisipo.7

Dzidziso yeChechi yepakutanga yokuti Mhandara Yakaropafadzwa yakanga isina uori mumuviri nemweya inotsigira zvizere Rukudzo.. The anonymous Tsamba kuna Diognetus (cf. 125), semuyenzaniso, rinomureva seMhandara isingagoni kunyengerwa.8 Saizvozvo, vanyori vakawanda vekare, kunyanya Vatsvene Justin the Martyr (d. ca. 165) naIrenaeus wekuLyons (d. ca. 202), akasiyanisa Maria mukutendeka kwake naEvha mukutadza kwake. Mutsvene Hippolytus weRoma (d. 235), mudzidzi weIreneaus, akaenzanisa nyama yaMaria ne “matanda asingaori” yeAreka (Mhinduro paMapisarema 22). The Kudzivirirwa kwako munyengetero, yakanyorwa pakati pezana remakore rechitatu, anodana Maria “ndega akachena uye ari ega akaropafadzwa.”

MuSaint Ephraim weSyria Nziyo dzeKuzvarwa kwaJesu, kubva pakati pezana remakore rechina, kushandisa mifananidzo inorangarira Zvakazarurwa 12:4, Zvinoita sokuti Mariya ari kufanotaura nezvekuendeswa kwemuviri wake kudenga, achiti, “Beche randakatakura randitakura … . Akakotamisa mapapiro Ake ndokunditora ndokundiisa pakati pemapapiro Ake ndokubhururuka mudenga” (17:1). In 377, Mutsvene Epiphanius weSarami akanyora, “Ko Maria mutsvene achatadza sei kuwana humambo hwekudenga nenyama yake, sezvo akanga asina unzenza, kana kuparara, uye haana kumboita upombwe, uye sezvo asina kumboita chinhu chakaipa kana toreva nezvemabasa enyama, asi akaramba asina gwapa?” (Panarion 42:12). Vamwe vakafunga kuti haaigona kutenda muAsumption sezvo achitaura pano nezvekupinda kwemuviri kwaMariya kudenga munguva yemberi.. Asi akazotaura gare gare mugwaro rimwe chetero, “Kana akaurayiwa, … akabva akudzwa pamwe chete nevaya vaifira kutenda, nomuviri wake … anogara pakati paavo vanowana zororo ravakaropafadzwa” (ibid. 78:23; kusimbisa kwakawedzerwa). Kufungidzira kufa kwake, akaenderera mberi achidaro

akafa kana kuti haana kufa, … akavigwa kana kuti haana kuvigwa. … Magwaro akanyarara, nokuda kwoukuru hwoupenzi, kuitira kuti asarove pfungwa dzomunhu nokushamiswa kwakanyanyisa. …

Kana Mhandara inoera yakafa uye yakavigwa, zvirokwazvo ushe hwake hwakaitwa nokukudzwa kukuru; magumo ake akanga akachena zvikuru uye akashongedzwa korona noumhandara. …

Kana kuti akaramba achirarama. For, kuna Mwari, hazvibviri kuita chero chaanoda; pane rimwe divi, hapana anonyatsoziva magumo ake (ibid. 78:11, 23).

Kuti Epiphanius aisaziva zvakadzama nezvekufa kwaMaria zvinonzwisisika–MaKristu havasati vaziva zvakadzama nezvazvo uye zvingangoita kuti vaApostora pachavo vaisazivawo, nokuti mutumbi wake wakanga wabviswa mubwiro.9 Kusiyana nevamwe vanyori vepakutanga, zvisinei, Epiphanius akadzivisa kuzvigadzirira iye mashoko acho. Nyangwe aisaziva kuti chii chaizvo chaitora nzvimbo, aiziva, muchiedza chehutsvene hwakakwana hwaMaria, kuti kufa kwake kwaifanira kunge kwave kuchishamisa–chinhu chaunoda “rova pfungwa dzemunhu nekushamisika kwakanyanya”–uye kuti haaigona kuramba ari muguva. “MuApocalypse yaJohani,” akacherechedzawo, “tinoverenga kuti shato yakazvikanda kumukadzi akanga azvara mwana mukomana; but the wings of an eagle were given to the woman, and she flew into the desert, where the dragon could not reach her. This could have happened in Mary’s case (Rev. 12:13-14)” (ibid. 78:11).

At the start of the fifth century, or earlier, the feast of the Commemoration of Mary–ndizvo, the commemoration of her passingwas introduced into the Eastern Liturgy, placing it among the oldest of the Church’s official feast days.10 Gore rose 400, Chrysippus of Jerusalem commented on Pisarema 132, “The truly royal Ark, the most precious Ark, was the ever-Virgin Theotokos; the Ark which received the treasure of all sanctification” (On Psalm 131(132)).

An orthodox writer from this same time period, operating under the nom de plume of Saint Melito of Sardis, a near-contemporary of Leucius, reproached him for havingcorrupted the most ancient text by expounding his personal ideas which do not agree with the teaching of the Apostles” (Bagatti, et al., p. 11). This author endeavored to restore the true account of the Assumption, which he alleged Leucius hadcorrupted with an evil pen” (The Passing of the Holy Virgin, Prologue).

In about 437, Saint Quodvultdeus identified the Woman in Zvakazarurwa 12 as the Blessed Virgin, noting, “Let none of you ignore (the fact) that the dragon (in the Apocalypse of the apostle John) is the devil; know that the virgin signifies Mary, the chaste one, who gave birth to our chaste head” (Third Homily 3:5).

In about the middle of the fifth century, Saint Hesychius of Jerusalem wrote, “The Ark of thy sanctification, the Virgin theotokos surely. If thou art the pearl then she must be the Ark” (Homily on Holy Mary, Amai vamwari). Around 530, Oecumenius said of Zvakazarurwa 12, “Rightly does the vision show her in heaven and not upon the earth, as pure in soul and body” (Commentary on the Apocalpyse). Writing of the Assumption near the end of the sixth century, Saint Gregory of Tours (unlike Epiphanius) did not avoid the incidental details of the Transitus story. “Uye tarira,” wrote Gregory, “again the Lord stood by (the Apostles); the holy body (of Mary) having been received, He commanded that it be taken in a cloud into paradise” (Eight Books of Miracles 1:4).

Critics of the Church’s Marian teachings have made much of the fact that the earliest-known accounts of the Assumption are found in apocryphal writings, and that the Church Fathers did not speak of it before the late-fourth century.

It is also true, zvisinei, that the Fathers did not look to correct belief in the Assumption; they simply remained silent on the matteran unprecedented stance if it was a heretical teaching, especially given its prevalence among the faithful. It is unlikely, zvirokwazvo, that the concept of Mary’s Assumption, which upholds the sanctity of the human body, could have originated among the Gnostics, given that they denounced the body and all things physical. The Apocrypha, saizvozvo, were often not the work of heretics, but of orthodox Christians seeking to impose details upon real events from the lives of Christ and the Saints that were otherwise shrouded in mystery. While apocryphists embellished the story of the Assumption, they did not invent it. The fact that the Transitus existed virtually everywhere in the Christian world, appearing in multiple languages, including Hebrew, ChiGiriki, Ratini, Coptic, Syriac, Ethiopic, and Arabic, proves the story of Mary’s Assumption was spread universally in the early centuries and, naizvozvo, of apostolic origin.

While the Church has ever been cognizant of the danger involved in relying upon works of a spurious nature, it cannot be denied that kernels of truth prevail in many such works. Recall, semuyenzaniso, that Saint Jude refers to the Kufungidzira kwaMosesi uye Enoki wekutanga in his New Testament Tsamba (maona Judhasi 1:9, 14 ff.). Origin wisely observed:

We are not unaware that many of these secret writings were produced by men, famous for their iniquity. … We must therefore use caution in accepting all these secret writings that circulate under the name of saintsbecause some of them were written to destroy the truth of our Scripture and to impose a false teaching. Pane rimwe divi, we should not totally reject writings that might be useful in shedding light on the Scripture. It is a sign of a great man to hear and carry out the advice of Scripture: “Test everything; retain what is good” (1 VaTesaronika. 5:21) (Mhinduro pamusoro paMateo 28).

In 494, Pope Saint Gelasius, seeking to guard the faithful against the potentially corruptive influence of the numerous religious writings of questionable authorship that plagued the Christian world, reissued the list of canonical books drawn up by his predecessor, Pope Saint Damasus, coupled with a lengthy catalog of acceptable and unacceptable extra-biblical books.

Opponents of the Church have made an issue of the fact that an apocryphal writing on the Assumption is included among the forbidden books in Gelasiusdecre, but the Pope condemned an apocryphal account of the Assumption, ehe saizvozvo, and not the Assumption itself.

Apocryphal accounts of other orthodox beliefs are likewise condemned in the decree–the Protoevangelium yaJames, semuyenzaniso, deals with the Nativity; uye Acts of Peter deals with Peter’s missionary activity and martyrdom in Rome. Even more to the point, the writings of Tertullian are banned, though his writings, semuyenzaniso, simply entitled Rubhabhatidzo uye Repentance, defend the orthodox position on these subjects. Does Gelasiuscondemnation of these books amount to the rejection of Baptism and repentance, zvino, or does it have to do more with a question of Tertullian’s character?

Zvakajeka, the banning of a book in the Gelasian Decree cannot be said to be a wholesale rejection of the book’s subject matter or contents. In many cases, more scholarship would be required by the Church to sift out the truly harmful elements from these books. In the meantime, placing them under the ban was prudent given the uncertainty surrounding them.11

For those seeking to find in the Gelasian Decree some compromise of Papal Infallibility, it should be explained that the banning of a book has nothing to do with the Pope’s infallibility since it is merely a disciplinary action, not connected with the defining of dogma. By nature, a disciplinary action is subject to change. It stands in place only so long as the perceived threat exists; once the threat has passed, the censure is lifted. In this particular case, as the canon of the Bible grew in acceptance the threat posed by the Apocrypha waned and the ban became obsolete.

  1. This is extraordinary proof indeed given Christianity’s penchant for preserving and venerating saintly relicsa practice which dates back to the early days of the faith as the Martyrdom of Saint Polycarp, composed in the middle of the second century, shows.
  2. While Catholics have traditionally believed Mary was exempted from labor pains, it has been supposed that she did indeed suffer death in order to perfectly conform to Her Son, who though sinless accepted death (cf. VaF. 2:5 ff.). In defining the dogma of the Assumption, Pius XII avoided saying for certain she had died, merely stating she hadcompleted the course of her earthly life” (Munificentissimus Deus 44).
  3. The Katekisimo yeChechi yeRoma teaches, “The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is a singular participation in her Son’s Resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians … . She already shares in the glory of her Son’s Resurrection, anticipating the resurrection of all members of his Body” (966, 974).
  4. There are other significant events in the life of the apostolic Church which are omitted from the New Testament as well, such as the martyrdoms of Peter and Paul, and the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman legions in the year 70. According to the Muratorian Fragment, composed in Rome in the latter part of the second century, Luke only included in the Mabasa avaApostora events he had witnessed with his own eyes. That Luke avoided writing of things he had not actually seen helps us to understand why the Assumption was not recorded, for it took place inside a tomb. Unlike the Lord’s ascension, a public event seen by many, the Assumption had no eyewitnesses.
  5. Maccabees yechipiri 2:5 says that Jeremiah sealed the Ark in a cave on Mount Nebo prior to the Babylonian invasion of Jerusalem in 587 B.C. (cf. 2 Madz. 24:13, et al.).
  6. Protestantism tends to see this Woman as either a symbolic figure of Israel or the Church (cf. Gen. 37:9). Catholicism accepts these interpretations, but extends them to include in a specific way Mary, the embodiment of the people of God. Israel bore Christ figuratively; Mary bore Him literally. In commenting on this passage, Saint Quodvultdeus (d. 453), the Bishop of Carthage and a disciple of Saint Augustine, wrote that Maryalso embodied in herself a figure of the holy church: kureva, how while bearing a son, she remained a virgin, so that the church throughout time bears her members, yet she does not lose her virginity” (Third Homily on the Creed 3:6; see also Clement of Alexandria, Instructor of the Children 1:6:42:1).

    The motif of God’s people escapingon the wings of an eagleto a place of refuge can be found throughout the Old Testament (maona Ex. 19:4; Mapisarema. 54 (55):6-7; Isa. 40:31, et al.). God’s promise ofescape into the wildernessis profoundly fulfilled in the Assumption, Mary being the preeminent representative of His people.

    The symbolic references in Zvakazarurwa 12 to a duration of time, “one thousand two hundred and sixty days” uye “for a time, uye nguva, uye hafu yenguva” (6, 14), may represent the period of persecution, which the Church will endure, prior to the Second Coming of Christ.

    Ndima 12:17 says the devil, infuriated by the Woman’s escape, teya “to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep God’s commandments and give witness to Jesus.That the followers of Christ are consideredthe rest of her offspringsupports the Church’s regard for Mary as the Mother of All Christians (cf. Isa. 66:8; Johani 19:26-27).

  7. While at one time the Transitus was thought to have originated no earlier than the fourth century, certain theological terms used in Leuciusdocument confirm an origin either in the second or third century (Bagatti, et al., p. 14; Bagatti referenced his own works, S. Pietro nellaDormitio Mariae,” pp. 42-48; Ricerche sulle tradizioni della morte della Vergine, pp. 185-214).
  8. The actual text reads: “If you bear the tree of (ruzivo) and pluck its fruit, you will always be gathering in the things that are desirable in the sight of God, things that the serpent cannot touch and deceit cannot defile. Then Eve is not seduced, but a Virgin is found trustworthy” (Tsamba kuna Diognetus 12:7-9). Regarding this passage, Cyril c. Richardson comments, “It is fairly clear that the author intends to state the common Patristic contrastbetween Eve, the disobedient mother of death, and Mary, the obedient mother of life, in which case the parthenos of the text will be the blessed Virgin Mary” (Early Christian Fathers, New York: Collier Books, 1970, p. 224, n. 23). Hilda Graef concurred, achiti, “It almost seems as if Mary were called Eve without any further explanation” (Mary: A History of Doctrine and Devotion, vol. 1, New York: Sheed and Ward, 1963, p. 38).
  9. In contrast to the Transitus account, which claims the Apostles witnessed Mary’s body being transported to heaven, there is a tradition that she died on January 18 (Tobi 21), but that her empty tomb was not discovered till 206 days later on August 15 (Mesore 16) (see Graef, Mary, vol. 1, p. 134, n. 1; the author referenced Dom Capelle, Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses 3, 1926, p. 38; M.R. James, The Apocryphal New Testament, 1924, pp. 194-201).
  10. The feast of the Nativity (i.e., Christmas) was established in the early fourth century, during the reign of Constantine. The feast of the Ascension was established in the fifth century, having originally been included in the feast of Pentecost.
  11. Nenzira iyi, the Church resembles the mother who forbids her children to watch a particular TV show until she has had the chance to watch the show and judge its contents for herself. The Church has always erred on the side of caution in discerning matters of faith and morals. Consider that, more recently, Saints Teresa of Avila (d. 1582) and John of the Cross (d. 1591), now revered as Doctors of the Church, were interrogated by the Inquisition on the suspicion of heresy. Saizvozvowo, the diary of Saint Faustina Kowalska (d. 1938), Divine Mercy in My Soul, was at one time rejected as heterodox by Church theologians, but subsequently gained official approval under Pope John Paul the Great. Faustina’s revelations found in the diary, saizvozvo, have led to the institution of the feast of Divine Mercy, now universally celebrated in the Church.

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