Meg,
According to
Robert Fastiggi, “Mary in the Work of Redemption,”
in Chris Maunder, ed.,
The Oxford Handbook of Mary (Oxford: OUP, 2019), 303-19,
by the 5th C, Mary began to be referred to more frequently as “Mediatrix”, e.g. by Basil of Seleucia. He also cites
Luigi Gambero, “Patristic Intuitions of Mary’s Role as Mediatrix and Advocate: The Invocation of the Faithful for her Help,”
Marian Studies, 52 (2001), 78-101. As with so many ideas about Mary, however, although the idea can be traced back a considerable way, a
feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary Mediatrix of all Grace was only initiated by the Church in 1921. What is even more interesting is that, eventually, Mary
is sometimes characterized not simply as "mediatrix" but as "operatrix": see
Sister Mary Vincentine Gripkey, The Blessed Virgin Mary as Mediatrix in the Latin and Old French Legend prior to the Fourteenth Century (Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America, 1938), pp. 122ff.
Cheers,
Jim
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Greetings all,
Yet another query pertaining to the Virgin!
I am wondering about the status of the idea that she is not merely an intercessor but a mediator, a dispenser of grace, with direct rather than indirect
power?
What is the history of this concept? If anyone can provide bibliography on its development, in either Eastern or Western Churches, I´d appreciate
it!
Meg
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