Mariology and Catholic Tradition Are on Equal Ground with Scripture

David Martin | The Daily Knight

As taught through the ages, divine revelation is twofold. There is the tradition of the Faith and there is Holy Scripture, but because of the protestantization of the Church since Vatican II, Catholics seem to have forgotten that Church doctrine is no less infallible than the scriptures. It was actually the Church that gave the world the Bible, and not vice-versa. Both are of equal authority. To deny Catholic doctrine places one outside of Christ just as the denial of Scripture does.

What is interesting is that Charlie Kirk, a non-Catholic, was preparing to be Catholic and repeatedly said in a video that he venerated the Virgin Mary and that She should be venerated more. Unfortunately, he had some doubts about the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception but in more recent talks it appeared that he was putting these doubts aside.

The fact is that the early Christians from the days of the apostles venerated Mary and said the 150 consecutive Hail Marys, known in the early Church as the 150 Psalms to Jesus and Mary. It was St. John who gave Mary the title, "Mother of God and of the Redeemer." That is to say, She was the Mother of the Redeemer who was God – the Maker of all things (St. John 1:3).

Undefined Teachings No Less Infallible Than Dogma

When Mary was dogmatically defined as the Mother of God at the Council of Ephesus (431 AD), it didn't add anything to her divine motherhood or make this teaching more true but simply made official what already was the case. Such is the case with all dogma. The ordinary teachings of the Church are just as true as the dogmatically defined teachings.  

One may ask, why do the Church’s ordinary teachings need to be dogmatically proved if they’re already infallible? The answer is that dogma is needed to encourage the faithful during times of heresy when the faith is being attacked, as happened in the time of Martin Luther. It's part of the Church's pastoral duty to the flock.

For example, the faithful in Luther’s time were tempted to deny the eight Deuterocanonical books of the Bible and call them “apocryphal,” so the Council of Trent solemnly pronounced the Protocanonical and Deuterocanonical books to be of equal authority. Both are infallible as are the teachings of the Ordinary Magisterium that have not been dogmatically defined.  

There are four Marian Dogmas, three of which are not mentioned in Holy Scripture: The Immaculate Conception, The Assumption, and The Coronation. One might ask that if these dogmas are so important for the encouragement of the flock, why were they not proclaimed as dogma in the early Church when the faith was under heavy attack? The answer is that it would have been a stumbling block to the infirm.  

In her Mystical City of God (which has the approbation of popes of the past four centuries), Venerable Mary of Agreda tells us that it was the will of God that the truths concerning Mary not be emphasized at that time because it would have been too much to load on the faithful. They were already wrestling with the truths of Christ for which they were being mocked and persecuted and to preach about Mary would have placed a stumbling block in their path, which St. Paul says we should not do (Romans 14:13).

For that matter, it might have been for that reason that God prevented the Bible from being published until 405 AD. Prior to this, there was no Bible in existence, nor did the early Christians have access to the individual scrolls of Scripture. These original manuscripts were kept in the hands of the bishops. They possessed the unwritten word of Catholic Tradition along with the written word contained in these manuscripts (2: Thess. 2:14), with the unwritten word of the evangelists containing far more truth about Christ than the Bible. St. John himself tells us at the end of his Gospel: 

"There are also many other things which Jesus did; which, if they were written every one, the world itself, I think, would not be able to contain the books that should be written." (St. John 21:25)

Some will ask: How did the early Christians learn about God and salvation so that they could be saved? The answer is they went to Church on Sunday where they received their religious instruction by hearing. Because "faith cometh by hearing" (Romans 10:17), not by reading. Good and numerous priests were needed in the early Church to instruct the faithful to salvation, for which reason St. Paul told Titus who he made bishop: 

“I left thee in Crete, that thou should set in order the things that are wanting, and should ordain priests in every city, as I also appointed thee.” (Titus 1:5)

The priests of the early Church already held as infallible the teachings found in the Deuterocanonical books before these books were even compiled and placed under one cover that we call the Bible.

Catholics and non-Catholics alike would save themselves a lot of headaches and confusion over the Faith if they would simply let go and receive the teachings of the Catholic Church with the docility of a child. For only a childlike submission to doctrine and tradition can save us. It is true that it is the Savior who saves us, yes, but he won’t save anyone unless they approach the Faith with childlike simplicity. As Jesus himself said:

“Amen, I say to you: Whosoever shall not receive the Kingdom of God as a child, shall not enter into it.” (St. Luke 18:17)

Now this doesn’t mean that we are supposed to submit today’s heretics who are running the Church, for their teachings exist outside the Church. We refer to the teachings on ecumenism, the teachings that Luther was a witness to the Gospel, that God wills diversity of religions, that we must include everyone in the Church as they are (DEI), that homosexuality is not a sin, that priests should bless homosexual couples, that Jesus had brothers and sisters, that the Mass is just a memorial, that the Eucharist is blessed bread, etc. Christ tells us to flee from false pastors who say such things (John 10:5). Our submission is to sacred tradition and to those clergy who hold to it.

Marian Dogma Needed More Than Ever

Today’s demonic state of affairs in Rome is all the more reason to make issue of the Marian dogmas because Mary is the one who crushes the head of Satan (Genesis 3:15). It is widely believed that a fifth Marian dogma could be forthcoming concerning the Virgin Mary’s role as Mediatrix of all Grace. 

Sadly, Pope Francis openly rejected this truth as he did many other truths of the Faith, and Pope Leo somehow feels he is obliged to pass his errors on to the faithful. How mistaken he is!

While the truth about Mary being Mediatrix of all Grace is not defined as yet it has been embraced as true by many saints including St. Alphonsus de Liguori and St. Louis de Montfort. And this they did not because it was their theological opinion but because it had been passed on through tradition. The same applies to the four Marian dogmas. These truths didn’t just evolve out of nowhere but were known from the beginning. As stated above, these defined articles of faith are on equal ground with Holy Scripture, which means they must be believed by the faithful to remain in the fold of Christ.