A thought-provoking teaching of the Catholic Church for many is the role of the Blessed Mother as “mediatrix.” Admittedly, I, too, prayerfully questioned this teaching and mulled over many sensible lines of thought regarding the Mother of God as “mediatrix.” After reading Fr. John Hardon’s logical development and teaching on the subject, however, clarity has replaced confusion.
If we look beyond the Protestant theology of “total depravity,” man can, through the grace of free will, work in cooperation with God’s offer of grace. Mary, the Mother of God, therefore, is rightly our mediatrix, for she, not being equal to or our Redeemer nor adding anything to His atonement, is our interposing friend between God and mankind. Our Lady as mediatrix, moreover, continues to intercede for us, the Church Militant, as we navigate the rough terrain of our salvation on earth.
Fr. Hardon’s first point is that Christ is the only mediator between humanity and God the Father: “Christ alone is our mediator by the fact that his death atoned for man’s sins, and his humanity is the channel of grace from God to the human race.” In calling Mary “mediatrix,” then, we do not strip away the unmatched mediation of Jesus between mankind and God the Father. Hardon also adds,“No one but the Savior unites in himself the divinity, which demands reconciliation, and the humanity, which needs to be reconciled.” Although Christ is our only mediator between God and man, lesser mediators are also part of our road to salvation.
As Catholics, we believe that after Adam’s fall we inherited his sin; however, we do not believe in total depravity. After baptism, we are cleansed of original sin, our former self dies, and we are born anew into a life with Christ. Mankind, therefore, is still capable (and required), by the grace of God, to willingly respond to and cooperate with divine grace. In loving response, we collaborate by loving God above all things and our neighbor as ourselves. Cooperation with grace does not entail doing works for merit or earning our salvation, however. Acts of love are a required fruit of discipleship, showing our cooperation with God and evidencing our lives as followers of Christ. This loving action demonstrates our self mediation. Through acts of love, therefore, we are subordinate mediators between ourselves and God. Although our mediation is one of cooperation with God’s grace and Christ’s atonement, it is an offering to advocate and help others through works of love, whether it be intercessory prayer or physical aid. If we can self mediate, then, how much more can someone closest to God mediate for us?
Mary lived her life on earth in constant devotion to God and mediation for mankind. According to Fr. Hardon, “The Blessed Virgin enters as mediatrix par excellence [best of a kind]...she mediated for others, as well, by her vicarious assistance to the rest of mankind.” Christ’s mediation, according to the Second Vatican Council, is always primary. Mary’s mediation, like ours, is secondary. Mary’s mediation and intercession, however, are not only counted with that of the saints, but hers, according to Hardon, are “measurably more effective because she is the Mother of God with whom she pleads.” Who better to intercede for us with God than His mother?
Mary is our “mediatrix” not because she is equal to God the Son, for according to the Dogmatic Constitution of the Church, “no creature could ever be counted equal with the Incarnate Word and Redeemer.” Mary, like us, is a created being who willingly embraced God’s grace on earth and continually intercedes for humans in heaven, and “Mary’s mediation, therefore,” Fr. Hardon argues, “is a sheer gift of her Son...and no more detracts from Christ’s unique mediatorship than parenthood in human beings detracts from the unique fatherhood of the creator."
From The Catholic Catholicism by Fr. John Harding, S.J. (pages 165-168)
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