Proof that the Catholic Church is the one true church and all others are pretenders...

[Meriweather]

Do you PRAY to Mary?

Catholics believe the living Body of Christ (Church) is made up of both the living and those who have passed on. As such, we feel as free to ask Mary, the Saints, and our loved ones who have passed on to join us in prayer with the same freedom we ask those who are living to join us in prayer. Have you never asked anyone to pray for you, or to join you in prayer?

 

[Meriweather]

RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD?

When do you believe the resurrection of the dead occurs? We believe when we die to this life we rise to eternal life. Are you of the faith that believes, that upon death, people simply fall asleep? Catholics believe in life after death.

 

[Meriweather]

I already know the answer tho these questions and more

Your answers appear to be somewhat off....Where did you find them?

 

[Meriweather]

Yes Catholics worship Mary, and angels

Not true. Who told you this?

 

[Meriweather]

all of humanity, sleeps in the grave.

Disagree. Our spirits return to God.

 

[justinacolmena]

The Catholic Church is the only church

Stop right there. Look up the word "catholic" in any non-religious dictionary. It means that something is so general or universal, that there's only one of it.

When you call your church "catholic" you are already claiming that it is the "only" church.

If "virgin" olive oil is from the first pressing of the olives, them what is this imported "extra virgin" oil sold on store shelves?

I don't understand Latin or Italian, or always think the way Romans do about something. Why are so many white people Roman Catholic rather than Lutheran?

Has the Great Reformation of Europe been all in vain, and rolled back to medieval monkery?

 

[JimBowie1958]

But we do love Mary because she said "Yes" to god. (OK: Mary said ‘Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.’ but in Hebrew).

The ground around the Burning Bush was holy, too holy for Moses to walk on in his sandles and God told him to remove his shoes.

How long had that bush been burning? A few minutes before Moses arrived? Why would God be in the bush for more thana moment before Moses got there?

But lets assume it was days or weeks before Moses arrived, and the ground was made Holy.

Mary carried the Logos in her womb for nine full months.

How is she not holy as well?

 

[JimBowie1958]

"Yes Catholics worship Mary, and angels too which is strictly forbidden in the Scriptures."
Nope. You are wrong as I have pointed out. Why would anyone worship Mary? She's not God!!
She has a very wonderful place in the life of the Church because she is Jesus's mum.

This and praying to saints was one of my biggest hang ups in converting to Catholicism. For all my life I was taught that Catholics worshipped Mary like a goddess, and though I knew and understood in my mind why this was not so, I still had a bad emotional reaction to being in the same room where Mary was being prayed to and venerated, though none of these things are idolatrous.

it is one thing to learn with your mind that something is so, but quite another to accept this sort of thing at an emotional level.

 

[JimBowie1958]

When do you believe the resurrection of the dead occurs? We believe when we die to this life we rise to eternal life. Are you of the faith that believes, that upon death, people simply fall asleep? Catholics believe in life after death.

A parable is distinct from an abstract allegory or fable in that the events of a parable are plausible and possible.

As opposed to Aesop's fables about foxes that could talk, a parable about a man finding a Pearl of Great price is completely normal and possible.

When Jesus spoke of the Rich man and Lazarus, it was instructive on multiple levels, one of which was that the dead are aware of events in Real Life as well as others within the Real of the Dead, AKA Hades or Hell.

 

[JimBowie1958]

The Catholic Church is the only church

Stop right there. Look up the word "catholic" in any non-religious dictionary. It means that something is so general or universal, that there's only one of it.
When you call your church "catholic" you are already claiming that it is the "only" church.

From the Second Chapter of the Acts of the Apostles:
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles.
44 All the believers were together and had everything in common.
45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.
46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,
47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Older translations say that the Lord added to the church daily, but it is this sense of the 'church' that is being meant here.

It is not a 'church' in the sense of a body of believers who meet at a certain address or use a copyrighted denominational name.

It is the Body of Christ composed of those whose hearts are truly devoted to the Creator and His Logos who saved the world's souls.

No one can change or add to or take away from God's Own church, the Body of His Son.

 

[JoeMoma]

The Catholic Church is the only church that has held the line on artificial forms of birth control.

The Catholic Church is the only church that has held the line on Jesus' teaching that one should not divorce and remarry.

The Catholic Church is the only church that has held the line on women being excluded from the priesthood.

You may disagree with these positions, the whole world may disagree, but the Catholic Church's holding to unpopular positions is proof that the Catholic Church is not a creature of popular opinion but something more powerful and permanent.

The Catholic Church is the only church preserved from error by the Holy Spirit.

All other churches' holding of any doctrine can be changed by a vote of its leadership and/or membership.

Only the Pope can change a Catholic doctrine, but because the Holy Spirit guides him, doctrines that were true yesterday remain true today.

1. There is nothing in the Bible about contraception.

2. Divorce is not exactly encouraged in many Christian churches

3. Women cannot be pastors in my church

4. The Catholic Church stating that the Holy Spirit preserves is from error is the ultimate "circular reasoning". Um, look at Pope Francis, sorry, he's just full of error

My husband was Catholic and my lovely in-laws (I mean that) are Catholic. I have no problem with Catholic people, but the Catholic CHURCH withholds Christian teaching from too many.

The Catholic Church withholds Christian teaching?

That's an obsolete accusation more credible before the printing press was invented and rare and expensive Catholic Bibles had to be locked to the pulpit so they wouldn't be stolen.

Make that accusation 500 years ago and you might have had a point.

Absolutely.

My husband's Catholic grandmother did not understand, until we showed her, that Mary mother of Jesus did not have other children. In the 'Catholic' Bible of course that is whitewashed into "cousins" which is completely insupportable. The perpetual virginity just makes her into an idol and is not necessary.

The Protestant attitude towards Mary is very disrespectful, in my opinion. It's like they're determined to hate her out of spite for how much Catholics love her.

Not at all. She was chosen to be the mother of Jesus--an honorable position. But she was human, and not to be worshiped and certainly not to be prayed for. When Jesus was delivered she was a virgin. After that she was not. Everything about her life after: her perpetual virginity, her ascension into heaven, is a fiction of the Catholic Church.

You threw "disrespectful" at me because you really cannot argue the facts. I do not hate her. But she should not be made into an idol. It's a violation of the Ten Commandments, Commandment 1

You're entitled to your wrong opinions about Mary.

I think Mary's role in the Catholic Church is important, especially to Catholic women. Her prominent position as God's mother more than makes up for the fact that the Catholic Church is a male-dominated religion.

It's not my "opinion" about Mary. Based on the Bible--and not Catholic fiction--she was not a perpetual virgin. She was married to Joseph and she had other children, one of them being James, you know. Who wrote the Book of James. I can't speak for Catholic women. I don't know what it's like to be in that kind of a system frankly, with the history of long-standing problems and everything else. NOT that every church doesn't have issues, because oh, we do, and I know it.

Every Protestant church has the same problem -- their inability to hold up against the winds of public opinion. When the world says it's time to have gay priests, the Protestants have gay priests. When the world says marriage is not really for life, the Protestants say that marriage is not really for life. Decisions are decided by majority vote, and if the change in doctrine isn't agreed to by everyone, there is a division and the church splits into two. The situation is uncertain and chaotic and I have no idea how Protestants put up with it. There are now 20,000 denominations of Protestantism.

I agree that is a problem. Not in my church, but it is a problem.

The problem the Catholic Church has is that YOU have had poor teaching for about, oh, nearly 1500 years now. Purgatory--not Biblical. The perpetual virginity of Mary--not Biblical. Praying to saints--not Biblical. I mean I'll give you credit: when you all have bad teachings, you just dig right in there. You're persistent, I'll give you that.

Purgatory is supported by Maccabees, which is not in the Protestant Bible. That's why you can't find it, you threw out a bunch of books of the Bible with no real authority to do so.

The perpetual virginity of Mary is admittedly not in the Bible, but there is nothing in the Bible contradicting it either. "Brothers" was a word the Jews use for cousins -- so there's that argument that James and John were not Mary's sons.

Praying to Saints is asking them to pray to God on your behalf. The Bible neither supports or opposes praying to Saints -- so your opposition to the practice is based on your own prejudice, not fact.

I don't often talk to Saints, but when I did I talked often to St. Joseph, since he is a family man who understands my problems. He had to support a wife and son on his earnings running his own business. When I was self-employed I turned to Joseph often for comfort.

I don't see why you condemn men talking to Joseph.

So were Joseph and Mary ever married if there was no consummation?

 

[JimBowie1958]

So were Joseph and Mary ever married if there was no consummation?

Yes, as marriage does not require consumation other than for Royals who are required to have witnesses at the first consumation.

 

[bigrebnc1775]

yet brits are still killed with guns and more knives what was your point again?

That more Americans are killed every year than Brits, apparently because they think they are smarter. This is because Americans live in a barbarous country.

the number is irrelevant when you are killed with something that is restricted or banned outright

 

[bigrebnc1775]

The Catholic Church is the only church that has held the line on artificial forms of birth control.

The Catholic Church is the only church that has held the line on Jesus' teaching that one should not divorce and remarry.

The Catholic Church is the only church that has held the line on women being excluded from the priesthood.

You may disagree with these positions, the whole world may disagree, but the Catholic Church's holding to unpopular positions is proof that the Catholic Church is not a creature of popular opinion but something more powerful and permanent.

The Catholic Church is the only church preserved from error by the Holy Spirit.

All other churches' holding of any doctrine can be changed by a vote of its leadership and/or membership.

Only the Pope can change a Catholic doctrine, but because the Holy Spirit guides him, doctrines that were true yesterday remain true today.

1. There is nothing in the Bible about contraception.

2. Divorce is not exactly encouraged in many Christian churches

3. Women cannot be pastors in my church

4. The Catholic Church stating that the Holy Spirit preserves is from error is the ultimate "circular reasoning". Um, look at Pope Francis, sorry, he's just full of error

My husband was Catholic and my lovely in-laws (I mean that) are Catholic. I have no problem with Catholic people, but the Catholic CHURCH withholds Christian teaching from too many.

The Catholic Church withholds Christian teaching?

That's an obsolete accusation more credible before the printing press was invented and rare and expensive Catholic Bibles had to be locked to the pulpit so they wouldn't be stolen.

Make that accusation 500 years ago and you might have had a point.

Absolutely.

My husband's Catholic grandmother did not understand, until we showed her, that Mary mother of Jesus did not have other children. In the 'Catholic' Bible of course that is whitewashed into "cousins" which is completely insupportable. The perpetual virginity just makes her into an idol and is not necessary.

The Protestant attitude towards Mary is very disrespectful, in my opinion. It's like they're determined to hate her out of spite for how much Catholics love her.

Not at all. She was chosen to be the mother of Jesus--an honorable position. But she was human, and not to be worshiped and certainly not to be prayed for. When Jesus was delivered she was a virgin. After that she was not. Everything about her life after: her perpetual virginity, her ascension into heaven, is a fiction of the Catholic Church.

You threw "disrespectful" at me because you really cannot argue the facts. I do not hate her. But she should not be made into an idol. It's a violation of the Ten Commandments, Commandment 1

You're entitled to your wrong opinions about Mary.

I think Mary's role in the Catholic Church is important, especially to Catholic women. Her prominent position as God's mother more than makes up for the fact that the Catholic Church is a male-dominated religion.

It's not my "opinion" about Mary. Based on the Bible--and not Catholic fiction--she was not a perpetual virgin. She was married to Joseph and she had other children, one of them being James, you know. Who wrote the Book of James. I can't speak for Catholic women. I don't know what it's like to be in that kind of a system frankly, with the history of long-standing problems and everything else. NOT that every church doesn't have issues, because oh, we do, and I know it.

Every Protestant church has the same problem -- their inability to hold up against the winds of public opinion. When the world says it's time to have gay priests, the Protestants have gay priests. When the world says marriage is not really for life, the Protestants say that marriage is not really for life. Decisions are decided by majority vote, and if the change in doctrine isn't agreed to by everyone, there is a division and the church splits into two. The situation is uncertain and chaotic and I have no idea how Protestants put up with it. There are now 20,000 denominations of Protestantism.

I agree that is a problem. Not in my church, but it is a problem.

The problem the Catholic Church has is that YOU have had poor teaching for about, oh, nearly 1500 years now. Purgatory--not Biblical. The perpetual virginity of Mary--not Biblical. Praying to saints--not Biblical. I mean I'll give you credit: when you all have bad teachings, you just dig right in there. You're persistent, I'll give you that.

Purgatory is supported by Maccabees, which is not in the Protestant Bible. That's why you can't find it, you threw out a bunch of books of the Bible with no real authority to do so.

The perpetual virginity of Mary is admittedly not in the Bible, but there is nothing in the Bible contradicting it either. "Brothers" was a word the Jews use for cousins -- so there's that argument that James and John were not Mary's sons.

Praying to Saints is asking them to pray to God on your behalf. The Bible neither supports or opposes praying to Saints -- so your opposition to the practice is based on your own prejudice, not fact.

I don't often talk to Saints, but when I did I talked often to St. Joseph, since he is a family man who understands my problems. He had to support a wife and son on his earnings running his own business. When I was self-employed I turned to Joseph often for comfort.

I don't see why you condemn men talking to Joseph.

So were Joseph and Mary ever married if there was no consummation?

Yes Jesus had brothers and sisters

 

[JoeMoma]

So were Joseph and Mary ever married if there was no consummation?

Yes, as marriage does not require consumation other than for Royals who are required to have witnesses at the first consumation.

Still, seems to me that Joseph got a bum deal.

 

[JimBowie1958]

So were Joseph and Mary ever married if there was no consummation?

Yes, as marriage does not require consumation other than for Royals who are required to have witnesses at the first consumation.

Still, seems to me that Joseph got a bum deal.

Well, those who married Temple Virgins were rather older successful guys. Joseph in all likelihood got plenty of pootang.

 

[JimBowie1958]

Yes Jesus had brothers and sisters

Step-brothers maybe.

 

[JimBowie1958]

What the Early Church Believed: The Perpetual Virginity of Mary

Writings that prove Early Christians knew, through Scripture and Tradition, that Jesus was Mary’s only child and that she remained a lifelong virgin.

www.catholic.com

An important historical document which supports the teaching of Mary’s perpetual virginity is the Protoevangelium of James, which was written probably less than sixty years after the conclusion of Mary’s earthly life (around A.D. 120), when memories of her life were still vivid in the minds of many.

According to the world-renowned patristics scholar, Johannes Quasten: “The principal aim of the whole writing [Protoevangelium of James] is to prove the perpetual and inviolate virginity of Mary before, in, and after the birth of Christ” (Patrology, 1:120–1).

To begin with, the Protoevangelium records that when Mary’s birth was prophesied, her mother, St. Anne, vowed that she would devote the child to the service of the Lord, as Samuel had been by his mother (1 Sam. 1:11). Mary would thus serve the Lord at the Temple, as women had for centuries (1 Sam. 2:22), and as Anna the prophetess did at the time of Jesus’ birth (Luke 2:36–37). A life of continual, devoted service to the Lord at the Temple meant that Mary would not be able to live the ordinary life of a child-rearing mother. Rather, she was vowed to a life of perpetual virginity.


However, due to considerations of ceremonial cleanliness, it was eventually necessary for Mary, a consecrated “virgin of the Lord,” to have a guardian or protector who would respect her vow of virginity. Thus, according to the Protoevangelium, Joseph, an elderly widower who already had children, was chosen to be her spouse. (This would also explain why Joseph was apparently dead by the time of Jesus’ adult ministry, since he does not appear during it in the gospels, and since Mary is entrusted to John, rather than to her husband Joseph, at the crucifixion).


According to the Protoevangelium, Joseph was required to regard Mary’s vow of virginity with the utmost respect. The gravity of his responsibility as the guardian of a virgin was indicated by the fact that, when she was discovered to be with child, he had to answer to the Temple authorities, who thought him guilty of defiling a virgin of the Lord. Mary was also accused of having forsaken the Lord by breaking her vow. Keeping this in mind, it is an incredible insult to the Blessed Virgin to say that she broke her vow by bearing children other than her Lord and God, who was conceived through the power of the Holy Spirit.


The perpetual virginity of Mary has always been reconciled with the biblical references to Christ’s brethren through a proper understanding of the meaning of the term “brethren.” The understanding that the brethren of the Lord were Jesus’ step brothers (children of Joseph) rather than half-brothers (children of Mary) was the most common one until the time of Jerome (fourth century). It was Jerome who introduced the possibility that Christ’s brethren were actually his cousins, since in Jewish idiom cousins were also referred to as “brethren.” The Catholic Church allows the faithful to hold either view, since both are compatible with the reality of Mary’s perpetual virginity.


Today most Protestants are unaware of these early beliefs regarding Mary’s virginity and the proper interpretation of “the brethren of the Lord.” And yet, the Protestant Reformers themselves—Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Ulrich Zwingli—honored the perpetual virginity of Mary and recognized it as the teaching of the Bible, as have other, more modern Protestants.

 

[JimBowie1958]

Did you know that Mary was raised in the Temple and made a vow of virginity?

November 21 st , The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Temple “Congratulate me, all ye that love the Lord, because w...

newtheologicalmovement.blogspot.com

“Congratulate me, all ye that love the Lord, because when I was a little one I pleased the Most High.” (from the Common Office of our Lady)
Though it is related nowhere in the sacred books, ancient tradition tells us of the presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Temple when she had been weaned from her mother at the age of three. This presentation is quite diverse from that of our Lord in his fortieth day – for Blessed Mary was given over to the Temple for her rearing and education, as Joachim and Ann returned to Nazareth, she remained in Jerusalem until her fourteenth or fifteenth year.
It was during these twelve years of dedicated service in the Temple that our Lady made her vow of virginity, which God then protected through the ministry of St. Joseph.
Let us consider the outline of the history of the presentation of Mary in the Temple, and then further the vow of Blessed Mary to remain a virgin.

The historical context of the presentation in the Temple
It is thought that some of the Jews who had a special devotion for the Lord and the Temple, would give over to the service of the Temple their daughters. At a young age, these girls would be dedicated to the High Priest and would serve in the Temple as a quasi-Altar Society, caring for the linens, the vestments, and other such appointments of the sanctuary.
[See an excellent post by Taylor Marshall for more on this (here)]
Tradition holds that such was the case also of Joachim and Ann, and further that they had vowed that they would give the Blessed Mary to such service. It is related in early Christian literature, that the child Mary was taken to the Jerusalem at the age of three and, unlike other children of such tender years, was wholly self-possessed and rational, running with joy to consecrated herself to the service of God in the Temple. Not once did she look back to her parents, but she only looked straight on ahead to the coming of the Messiah. (cf. Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew 4)
The history of the presentation in the Temple
Much of the tradition of the presentation of our Lady in the Temple is recorded in the Protevanglium of James (an apocryphal book of the second century). Although this text was not truly written by an apostle, nor is it an inspired text of holy writ, yet the book does bear witness to the ancient traditions of the Christian faithful regarding our Lady.
While not a part of the inerrant word of God, the Protoevangelium gives us a hint of what beliefs were common among the first Christians. That our Lady’s presentation had been a commonly held tradition in the early Church is testified to in the following passage (7.1-2)

 

[JimBowie1958]

Church Fathers on Mary as Ark of the New Covenant ::

www.catholicfidelity.com

​

St. Proclus (died 446 or 447)
“Let the woman haste hither, for the woman shows not the tree of death, but brings forth the tree of life: the virgins...the mothers also, for the Virgin Mother has amended the tree of disobedience by the tree of life. The female sex is no longer in execration, for it has obtained whereby it shall surpass even the angels in glory. Eve has been healed...and Mary is venerated (adored), because she has become mother and handmaid, cloud and chamber, and ark of the Lord....For this cause let us say to her: Blessed art thou amongst women, who alone hast healed the grief of Eve; who alone hast borne the world’s price” (Orat.iv.and v. In Natal. Dom. P.G. Tom. 65, p.710) (Blessed Virgin, p. 58).


St. Ephrem (c. 306-373)
“With the rib that was drawn out of Adam, the wicked one drew out the heart of Adam. There arose from the rib [i.e., Mary], a hidden power which cut off Satan as Dagon. For in that ark [Mary again], a book was hidden that cried and proclaimed the Conqueror. There was then a mystery revealed, in that Dagon was brought low in his own place of refuge. The accomplishment came after the type, in that the wicked one was brought low wherein he trusted....Fulfilled was the mystery. Blessed is He who by the true Lamb redeemed us, and destroyed our destroyer as He did Dagon” (S. Ephrem, Rhythm iii, On the Nativity, Morris, p.20) ((Blessed Virgin, p. 66).



Chrysippus
“An ark truly royal, an ark most precious is the ever-Virgin Mother of God, an ark which received the treasure of entire sanctification. Not that ark wherein were all kinds of animals, as in the ark of Noe, which escaped the shipwreck of the whole drowning world. Not that ark in which were the tables of stone, as in the ark that journeyed in company with Israel throughout the desert; but an ark whose architect and inhabitant, pilot and merchant, companion of the way, and leader, was the Creator of all creatures, all which He bears in Himself, but by all is not contained” (Chrysippus, Orat. de laudib. Deip. (Blessed Virgin, p. 74).


St. Hippolytus (c. 170-c. 236)
“At that time, the Savior coming from the Virgin, the Ark, brought forth His own Body into the world from that Ark, which was gilded with pure gold within by the Word, and without by the Holy Ghost; so that the truth was shown forth, and the Ark was manifested....And the Savior came into the world bearing the incorruptible Ark, that is to say His own body” (S. Hippolytus, In Dan.vi., Patr. Gr., Tom. 10, p. 648) (Blessed Virgin, p. 77).


St. Ambrose (c. 339-397)
“The prophet David danced before the Ark. Now what else should we say the Ark was but holy Mary? The Ark bore within it the tables of the Testament, but Mary bore the Heir of the same Testament itself. The former contained in it the Law, the latter the Gospel. The one had the voice of God, the other His Word. The Ark, indeed, was radiant within and without with the glitter of gold, but holy Mary shone within and without with the splendor of virginity. The one was adorned with earthly gold, the other with heavenly” (Serm. xlii. 6, Int. Opp., S. Ambrosii) (Blessed Virgin, p. 77).


St. Cyril (315-387?)
“The Ark would be the type and image of Christ : for if we look back to the way of the Incarnation of the Only-begotten, we shall see that it is in the temple of the Virgin, as in an ark that the Word of God took up His abode. For in Him dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, as the Scripture saith. But the testimonies in the ark were the word of God, and the wood of it was imperishable, and with pure and choicest gold was it beautified within and without” (St. Cyril, De ador. In Spir. Et Verit, p. 293, St. Maximus of Turin and other Fathers apply the Ark of the Covenant to the Blessed Virgin Mary) (Blessed Virgin, p. 76).


Breviarium in Psalterium
“Christ in Mary as though the Bridegroom in the bride chamber, and the body of Mary as though the tabernacle” (Breviarium in Psalterium) (Blessed Virgin, p. 78).


St. Athanasius (c. 296-373)
“Be mindful of us, most holy virgin, who after childbirth didst remain virgin; and grant to us for these small words great gifts from the riches of they graces, O thou full of grace. Accept them as though they were true and adequate praises in they honor; and if there is in them any virtue and any praise, we offer them as a hymn from ourselves and from all creatures to thee, full of grace, Lady, Queen, Mistress, Mother of God, and Ark of sanctification” (Orat. In Deip. Annuntiat, nn. 13, 14. Int. Opp. S. Athanasii) (Blessed Virgin, p. 80).


St. Athanasius of Alexandria (c. 296-373; the main defender of the Trinity and the deity of Christ against the 2nd century Arian heretics.)
“O noble Virgin, truly you are greater than any other greatness. For who is your equal in greatness, O dwelling place of God the Word? To whom among all creatures shall I compare you, O Virgin? You are greater than them all O (Ark of the) Covenant, clothed with purity instead of gold! You are the Ark in which is found the golden vessel containing the true manna, that is, the flesh in which Divinity resides.” Homily of the Papyrus of Turin.


St. Dionysius (died 264)
“As Christ our priest was not chosen by hand of man, so neither was His tabernacle framed by men, but was established by the Holy Ghost; and by the power of God is that tabernacle protected, to be had in everlasting remembrance, Mary, God’s Virgin Mother” (S. Dionysius of Alexandria, Respons. ad Quoest. v. Pauli Samos) (Blessed Virgin, p. 81).

St Dionysius (died 264)
“Not in a servant did He dwell, but in His holy tabernacle not made with hands, which is Mary the Mother of God” (Ib. ad Quoest. vii. In calling Mary σκηνλχειροποιη ο, the Saint implies that she was of an election and origin altogether singular and exceptional. The word occurs three times in the New Testament (Mark xiv. 58, 2 Cor. v. 1, Col. Ii. 11), and in each case denotes what is of singular and divine origin. See also Heb. ix. 11, 24) (Blessed Virgin, p. 81).


St. Gregory Thaumaturgus (c. 213-c. 270)
“The ark is verily the holy Virgin, gilded within and without, who received the treasure of universal sanctification. Arise, O Lord, from the Father’s bosom, to raise up again the ruined race of our first parent” (Orat. in Deip. Annunciat. Int. Opp. S. Greg. Thaumaturg) (Blessed Virgin, p. 89).

Another translation renders this: “Let us chant the melody which has been taught us by the inspired harp of David, and say, “Arise, O Lord, into Thy rest; Thou, and the Ark of Thy sanctuary.” For the holy Virgin is in truth an Ark, wrought with gold both within and without, that has received the whole treasury of the sanctuary.[1]


St. Gregory Thaumaturgus
“The tenor of his message was as follows. I am moved by My compassion to descend to earth in order to recover the lost Adam. Sin made him to decay who was made to My image, and hath corrupted the work of My hands, and obscured the beauty which I formed....Go therefore to the Virgin Mary. Pass thou on to the animate city whereof the prophet spake these words: Glorious things are said of thee, O city of God. Go, then, to My rational paradise, to the Gate of the East, to the place of sojourn that is worthy of My Word, that hath appeared as a heaven upon earth ; go to the light cloud, and announce to it the shower of My coming ; go to the sanctuary prepared for Me, to the hall of the Incarnation, to the pure chamber of My generation according to the flesh. Speak in the ears of My rational ark, so as to prepare for Me the accesses of hearing. But disturb not nor vex the soul of Mary. Manifest thyself in such wise as becomes that sanctuary, and salute her first with the voice of gladness” (Homilies, il, ii., iii. On the Annunciation, Int. Opp. S. Greg. Thaum., 5th century) (Blessed Virgin, p. 123).


Hesychius (lived c. 300)
“The ark is without doubt the Virgin Mother of God. For if Thou art the gem, with reason is she the ark; and because Thou art the sun, the Virgin will necessarily be called heaven: since Thou art the unfading flower, the Virgin must assuredly be the plant of incorruption and paradise of immortality. Which things Isaias, seeing from afar, exclaimed later on: Behold a Virgin shall conceive in her womb, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel. Behold a Virgin. Who is she? The most noble of women, the elect from among virgins, the splendid ornament of our nature, the glory of our mould, who freed Eve from her shame and Adam from the curse, who cut off the bold insolence of the dragon, she whom the smoke of concupiscence touched not, nor the worm of pleasure harmed” (Is.vii. 14). (Hesychius, Orat. De Virginis laudib. Biblioth. PP. Græco-Lat. Tom. ii. p. 423) (Blessed Virgin, p. 89).


Hesychius
“Arise, Lord, into Thy rest, Thou and the Ark of Thy sanctification, which is very evidently the Virgin Mother of God. For if thou are the pearl, with good reason is she the Ark” (Serm. V. De S. Maria Deip. Patr. Gr. Tom. 93, pp. 460-4) (Blessed Virgin, p. 227).


St. Zeno (c. 450-491)
“God, the Son of God, at the time appointed, concealing for the while His majesty, comes forth from His ethereal throne, and prepares for Himself a tabernacle in the temple of the predestined Virgin; wherein He hides Himself, about to become man; and there whilst preserving what He was, He meditates to be what He was not. Mingles thus with human flesh He forms Himself an infant. The womb of Mary swells forth with pride, not by conjugal gift, but by faith; by the Word, not by seed. She knows not the tediousness of the ten months” (Lib. Ii., Tractatus viii. Et ix. Pat. Lat. Tom. 11, pp. 413-417) (Blessed Virgin, p. 126).


St. Methodius (815-8885)
“Hence it was that the Ark of God removed from the stable at Bethlehem . . . and rested upon the mountains of Zion; and receiving into her pure bosom as upon a lofty throne-such as transcends the nature of man-the Monarch of all, she presented Him there to God the Father-the Son joint-partner of His throne, and inseparable from Him-together with that pure and undefiled flesh which He had from her assumed.... She goes up therefore to the temple, she who was more exalted than the temple, clothed with a double glory—the glory, I mean, of undefiled virginity, and that of ineffable child-bearing, the benediction of the Law, and the sanctification of grace....
“Tremendous, verily, is the mystery connected with thee, O Mother Virgin, thou spiritual throne, glorified and made worthy of God. . . . And the lintels of the doors, says the prophet, were raised at the voice of them that cried. By which is signified the veil of the temple overshadowing before the ark of the Covenant which typified thee.... For if to the ark, which was the image and type of thy sanctity, such honor was paid by God, that to no one but to the priestly order was the access to it open, or ingress allowed to behold it-the veil separating it off, and keeping the vestibule as that of a queen—how great, and what sort of veneration is due to thee from us, who are of all the least, to thee who art indeed a Queen ; to thee who art in truth the living Ark of God, the Law-giver; to thee who hast verily become the heaven that contains Him who can be contained of none?” (St. Methodius, Orat. de Simeone et Anna ii. Patr. Graec. Tom. 18, p. 332. (Blessed Virgin, p. 153).


St. Theodotus of Ancyra (died c. 445)
“But what part had the divine Virgin Mother, worthy of all praise, in these things that were taking place? She wondered indeed and with reason at the things that were being said, and kept them, together with those said before, in her heart. To her now Simeon of set purpose speaks: O fair and innocent dove! O sacred tabernacle of our hope, wherein all sanctity and magnificence dwell, He to whom thou hast given birth-thou knowest it not –is set for the ruin and resurrection of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be contradicted. And thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that out of many hearts thoughts may be revealed” (Hom. Iv. In Deip. Et Simeon. N. 13, Patr. Gr. Tom. 74, p. 1410) (Blessed Virgin, p. 161).


St. Theodotus of Ancyra
“O Dove, all-white and innocent! O holy temple of our hopes, wherein dwells all sanctity and magnificence” (Hom. iv. In S. Deip. et Simeon. Ib., p. 1395) (Blessed Virgin, p. 223).


St. Ambrose (c. 339-397)
“For this cause did the prophet David dance before the Ark. And what shall we say is the Ark, but holy Mary? For as the Ark bore within it the tables of the Testament, so Mary bore the Heir of the same Testament: it preserved within it the Law, she the Gospel; it had the voice, she the word, of God. The Ark, moreover, was radiant within and without with the shining of gold, whilst holy Mary gleamed within and without with the splendor of virginity; it was adorned with earthly gold, she with heavenly” (Serm. xlii., Int. Opp. S. Ambros. The author is uncertain, but there is nothing to show that he is not S. Ambrose. Ed. Maurin,. vol. iv. p. 551) (Blessed Virgin, p. 201).


St. Jerome (c. 345-420)
“Behold one in truth, the handmaid of the Lord. Holy she is, in whom is no guile, all simplicity....The spouse of Christ is the ark of the covenant, within and without overlaid with gold, a keeper of the law of the Lord. As in the ark there was nothing but the tables of the Testament, so too in thee no one from outside should be thought of. Over this propitiatory, as though upon the Cherubim, the Lord is pleased to sit....The Apostle thus defines a virgin, that she should be holy in body and in spirit... (Epist. Xxii., Ad Eustoch. Nn. 18, 19, 21, 24) (Blessed Virgin, p. 216).


Unknown author
“ He made not his dwelling in a slave, but in His Holy Tabernacle not made with hands, which is Mary the Mother of God” (Blessed Virgin, p. 251).


St. Ephrem (c. 306-373)
“O Virgin Mother of God, Gate of heaven, and Ark, in thee I have a secure salvation. Save me out of the pure mercy (δωρεάυ, gratis), O Lady” (Precat. ix. Opp. Gr. et Lat. Tom. iii. P. 522) (Blessed Virgin, p. 294).


St. Ephrem
“Concentration of the hierarchies, crown of all saints and virgins, approached for thy exceeding brightness and splendor, censer of God, lamp most bright, urn must beautiful containing the heavenly manna; table bearing the written law for men, true ark, book of writing most divine, princess, of all most prudent and wise, light-giving Virgin, most holy consoler and directress of all, most sacred Maid. . . (Is. Xxv. 9, vii. 16) (Blessed Virgin, p. 297)


St. Ephrem
“Hail, most tranquil haven, and most ardently longed for rescuer of the tempest-tossed from billows and storms. Hail, succor of those in danger. Hail, resurrection of our first father Adam. Hail, sweet liberty. Hail, parent of all. Hail, fountain of grace, and of all the solace. Hail, refuge and hospice of sinners. Hail, mercy-seat of the afflicted. Hail, place of sanctuary in Jerusalem. Hail, most glorious throne of our Creator. Hail, most illustrious splendor of the age. Hail, hope of all the good who suffer under affliction. Hail, sweet solace and protection of the converted. Hail, of men and women alike Queen and Patroness. Hail, best mediatress between God and man. (Threni B. V. M. Opp. Gr. et Lat. Tom. iii. p.575 sq) (Blessed Virgin, p. 298)


St. Ephrem
“The woman ministered before the man, because he is her head. Joseph rose to minister before His Lord, who was in Mary. The priest ministered before Thy Ark by reason of Thy holiness. Moses carried the tables of stone which the Lord wrote, and Joseph bare about the pure Tablet in whom the Son of the Creator was dwelling. The tables had ceased, because the world was filled with Thy doctrine” (Serm. xi., Natali Domini, Opp. Syr. Tom. ii. p. 429. Morris, pp. 51, 52.) (Blessed Virgin, p. 383).


St. Venantius Fortunatus (c. 530-c. 610)
“How blest that Mother in whose shrine, The great Artificer Divine, Whose hand contains the earth and sky, Vouchsafed, as in His ark, to lie! Blest, in the message Gabriel brought, Blest, by the work the Spirit wrought; From whom the great Desire of earth, Took human Flesh and human birth. All honor, laud, and glory be, O Jesu, Virgin-born to Thee! All glory, as is ever meet, To Father and to Paraclete. Amen” (Blessed Virgin, p. 458).


An Ethiopic Hymn
“Though shalt be named the Beloved One, O thou blessed among women. Thou art that second Chamber which is called the Holy of Holies, where were the tables of the Covenant of the ten commandments, writ by the finger of God . . .” “Thou are the pure chest of gold in which was laid up the manna, that bread which came down from Heaven and the Giver of life to all the world” (Blessed Virgin, p. 462).

*The simile of the Ark in the tabernacle is a very frequent one in early hymnology. It occurs in the Coptic hymn quoted by Passaglia, De Imm. Virg. Concept. i. pp. 202, 240. In another Coptic passage she is compared to the Ark of Noe. Ib. p.252.

An Ethiopic Hymn
“Great things and marvelous shall they speak concerning thee, O thou City of God; for thou has been the dwelling place of the Word of the Father” (ibid. Pg. 464) (Blessed Virgin, p. 464)


An Ethiopic Hymn
“The Ark was she of one Person of the Holy Trinity. She was that Jerusalem, the city of the Prophets, and the abode of joy to all the Saints. . . .” (Blessed Virgin, p. 465).


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