Go Light Your World - Kathy Troccoli

Lesson# 4 Prefiguring & Typology

Crayon & pencil drawing by Sr. Grace Remington, OCSO.
Copyright 2005, Sisters of the Mississippi Abbey
http://www.internetmonk.com/archive/mary-consoles-eve

I understand from my self- study that the New Testament is the fulfillment of  the Old Testament. And much of what we find in New Testament has already been prefigured in the Old Testament. The method by which such Biblical interpretation is made is termed "typology"! The initial one - one found in OT is called the "type" and the fulfillment is called the "antitype". It could be a person, thing or event; often it is Messianic, and related to the idea of salvation.
       Let me take Mary as the fulfillment of the types in OT. Basically, as I understand it, there are three types of Mary prefigured in OT. 1. Eve 2. Ark of the Covenant and 3. The Queen Mother. Today I will limit my study to the typology of Eve.
The traditional Eve-Mary typology consists of death through Eve, Life through Mary, Mary's Obedience unties the knot of Eve's disobedience etc.
Mary, untier of knots is the name both of a Marian devotion and a Baroque painting  representing that devotion. Wikipedia
But a greater one than that is the fact that Eve is the mother of all living and our mother in the order of nature, and Mary the mother of all living and our Mother in order of Grace.

St.Irenaeus declared, " What the virgin Eve had bound fast through unbelief, this did the Virgin Mary set free through faith."

Genesis 3:15, the proto-evangelium is the Christological text because it prophetically foreshadows Christ, the Redeemer. And the promise is about a new team of Man and Woman, a Mother and a Son! 
And thus Eve becomes the type and Mary becomes the antitype, the fulfillment of the promise. 
  That's all for today.

Protoevangelium and the Fullness of Time

My Self study Lesson #3 Protoevangelium and the Fullness of Time
http://www.catholicbook.com/AgredaCD/MyCatholicFaith/mcfc027.htm
I am quite a slow learner. But still, I think I have managed to comprehend ( slightly, perhaps!) certain mysteries which the Church teaches. 
First of all I understand that "Proto-evangelium"(First Gospel)  is a term applied to Genesis 3:15 -the promise of a Redeemer after the Fall.It is the first reference to the idea of a Messiah - Christ, Redeemer - in the Scripture. "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel." 

"chaire Kecharitomene" - Rejoice Full of Grace....


Now let me come to "the fullness of time" , ie. the time when this 
Word , the promise of Almighty God "happens". From Eternity,  the Timeless Word enters into the time of this world. Pope John Paul II has explained this in his 'Redomptoris Mater'. I'll better quote:

 This "fullness" indicates the moment fixed from all eternity when the Father sent his Son "that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" (Jn. 3:16). It denotes the blessed moment when the Word that "was with God...became flesh and dwelt among us" (Jn. 1:1, 14), and made himself our brother. It marks the moment when the Holy Spirit, who had already infused the fullness of grace into Mary of Nazareth, formed in her virginal womb the human nature of Christ. This "fullness" marks the moment when, with the entrance of the eternal into time, time itself is redeemed, and being filled with the mystery of Christ becomes definitively "salvation time." Finally, this "fullness" designates the hidden beginning of the Church's journey. In the liturgy the Church salutes Mary of Nazareth as the Church's own beginning, for in the event of the Immaculate Conception the Church sees projected, and anticipated in her most noble member, the saving grace of Easter. And above all, in the Incarnation she encounters Christ and Mary indissolubly joined: he who is the Church's Lord and Head and she who, uttering the first fiat of the New Covenant, prefigures the Church's condition as spouse and mother.

 As the Second Vatican Council says, "she is already prophetically foreshadowed in that promise made to our first parents after their fall into sin"-according to the Book of Genesis (cf. 3:15). "Likewise she is the Virgin who is to conceive and bear a son, whose name will be called Emmanuel"- according to the words of Isaiah (cf. 7:14). In this way the Old Testament prepares that "fullness of time" when God "sent forth his Son, born of woman...so that we might receive adoption as sons." The coming into the world of the Son of God is an event recorded in the first chapters of the Gospels according to Luke and Matthew.

 Redemptoris Mater
(Latin: Mother of the Redeemer)
Encyclical Letter of Pope John Paul II

Redemptoris Mater (Latin: Mother of the Redeemer) is the title of a Mariological encyclical by Pope John Paul II, delivered on March 25, 1987 in Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome.

This encyclical is subtitled On the Blessed Virgin Mary in the life of the Pilgrim Church and deals with a number of issues in Mariology. It is a somewhat detailed encyclical with three main parts, as well as an introductory section and a conclusions section. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redemptoris_Mater

Our Lady of Guadalupe Pray for us.

           http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_Guadalupe
From the site : http://www.sancta.org/

"Let not your heart be disturbed. Do not fear that sickness, nor any other sickness or anguish. Am I not here, who am your Mother? Are you not under my protection? Am I not your health? Are you not happily within my fold? What else do you wish? Do not grieve nor be disturbed by anything." 
(Words of Our Lady of Guadalupe to Juan Diego)
The Image and the Red Dragon
The devils fear this image, and at the sight of it they flee as from a devouring fire.

They feared Her image even before She, the Woman, came into actual existance.

http://www.sancta.org/versus_red_dragon.html             
http://www.sancta.org/noestoy.html
The devils fear this image, and at the sight of it they flee as from a devouring fire..

The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe has been always described by many as a representation of the Woman of the Apocalypse, and Her association with chapter 12 of the Apocalypse was done as well for centuries in literature and poetry.

Venerable Mary of Agreda, in her famous "The mystical City Of God", tells us while explaining the revelations she received concerning the chapter 12 of the Apocalypse, how God showed all angels an image of whom He would create later as Mary, a woman, future Mother of God.

She tells us about the words of the Evangelist:
He speaks in the past, because at that time was shown to him a vision of that which had already happened. He says: "And a great sign appeared in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet and on her head a crown of twelve stars." This sign appeared really in the heavens by divine disposition and was shown to the good and bad angels, in order that seeing it, they might subject their will to the pleasure of the commands of God. They saw it therefore before the good ones chose the good and before the bad ones had turned to evil.
....
When it was revealed to the angels that they would have to obey the incarnate Word, another, a third precept was given them, namely, that they were to admit as a superior conjointly with Him, a Woman, in whose womb the Onlybegotten of the Father was to assume flesh and that this Woman was to be the Queen and Mistress of all the creatures.
....
The decree constituting him(Lucifer) inferior to the Mother of the Incarnate Word, our Mistress, he opposed with horrible blasphemies.
....
The Almighty at this conjuncture worked another wonderful mystery. Having given to all the angels a sufficiently clear intelligence of the great mystery of the hypostatic Union, He showed them the image of the most holy Virgin by means of an imaginary vision.... This sign or vision of the Queen of heaven and of the Mother of the incarnate Word was made known and manifest to all the angels, good and bad. The good ones at the sign of it broke forth in admiration and in canticles... The dragon and his allies on the contrary conceived implacable hatred and fury against Christ and his most holy Mother.
....
For they saw at once, that having failed to profit by this sign, they were to be conquered and crushed by it.
....
...the moon, being the symbol of the darkness of sin, is beneath her feet, and the sun, being the symbol of the light of grace, clother Her for all eternity...
....
Thereupon followed the punishment of Lucifer and its allies; for after uttering his blasphemies against the Woman, who had been symbolized in the heavenly sign, he found himself visibly and exteriorly transformed from a most beautiful angel to a fierce and most horrid dragon.
....
The great sign of the Woman served the good angels as a shield and as arms of battle against the evil ones; for at the sight of it, all their power of reasoning weakened and was brought to confusion and silence, since they could not endure the mysteries and sacraments contained in this sign.

As then, today, for the evil one (and for his followers in hell and on earth), there is not much that they hate and fear more than that image of the Woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet. Image that was shown to them before the whole creation was completed, which triggered their final rebelion and fall. The image of the one who will crush his head...

Pope Francis' Consecration Prayer, May13, 2013

http://www.spiritdaily.com/A1014entrustment.htm

Holy Mary Virgin of Fatima,

with renewed gratitude for your maternal presence

we join our voice to that of all the generations

who call you blessed.

We celebrate in you the works of God,

who never tires of looking down with mercy

upon humanity, afflicted with the wound of sin,

to heal it and save it.

Accept with the benevolence of a Mother

the act of consecration that we perform today with confidence,

before this image of you that is so dear to us.

We are certain that each of us is precious in your eyes

and that nothing of all that lives in our hearts is unknown to you.

We let ourselves be touched by your most sweet regard

and we welcome the consoling caress of your smile.

Hold our life in your arms:

bless and strengthen every desire for good;

revive and nourish faith;

sustain and enlighten hope;

awaken and animate charity;

guide all of us along the path of holiness.

Teach us your own preferential love

for the little and the poor,

for the excluded and the suffering,

for sinners and the downhearted:

bring everyone under your protection

and entrust everyone to your beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus.

Amen.

[Translation by Joseph Trabbic]

Excerpts from 

Cardinal Bertone's Homily at Fatima Shrine

http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/cardinal-bertone-s-homily-at-fatima-shrine

...

Meanwhile -- 96 year later – the day has arrived in which Mary foresaw and came to announce sad times for humanity. Here she manifested herself beautiful as the dawn and strong as “an army prepared for battle,” asking us to prepare ourselves in her ranks to undertake the battle. It was not enough for her to be admired, invoked, venerated. Our Lady wants the hearts of individuals, of nations and of the whole world to be “consecrated” and placed under her guidance. She wants “dedicated” people, calling all to be united to her heart and to her in faithful service. But, do we really obey the appeal of Fatima and are we willing to continue to obey? Is all our being with Mary, in the certainty that love believes everything, hopes everything, endures everything? In the firm confidence that love embraces everything, forgives everything , conquers everything?

..............

“Do not be afraid” is the theme of this pastoral year, here in the Shrine, made up of the walk for the celebration of the centenary of the Apparitions, in which the promise of Our Lady is highlighted: “My Immaculate Heart will lead you to God.” These words enclose consoling certainties and appeals of Heaven, given in various moments to the little shepherds of Fatima, primarily to Lucia: “Do not lose heart. I will never leave you! My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the path that will lead you to God” (Apparition of June of 1917). Dear pilgrims, I repeat to all today: Let us not lose heart, “let us hold our first confidence firm to the end”(Hebrews 3:14)!

…

Of what are we afraid? Often our heart is troubled by all the evil 

there is in the world and by our own weaknesses; our heart feels 

troubled with the betrayals and negations of which it itself is 

capable. We seem secure against everything, except against 

ourselves. We are afraid of ourselves, because we do not know 

what to do with our life and with the gifts that God grants us.. 

Redemption is “a trustworthy hope, thanks to which we can face 

our present time: the present beyond being difficult, can be lived 

and accepted, if raised to a goal and if we can be certain of this 

goal, if this goal is so great that it justifies the fatigue of the walk” (Benedict XVI, encyclical Spe salvi, no. 1). The goal is no more and no less than God himself. Of general knowledge is the episode of the little shepherds imprisoned by the governor of Ourem; frightening moments for three children, especially when they see themselves separated from one another and threatened with being thrown into boiling oil! What was their reaction? They take recourse to prayer. And when they asked Francisco what he was going to do, he with the grace of a child but also with the daring of a man of faith, responded: “I am praying a Hail Mary, so that Jacinta won’t be afraid.”

Kanyake Mary Amme

Lesson #2 The Mystery of the Church - The Divine/human concept!

My Self study Lesson#2 

    http://ierardibr.blogspot.in/2012/10/constituicao-dogmatica-lumen-gentium_20.html      

         "When His Majesty desires to give us understanding of the words, without worry or work on our part, we shall surely find it." - St.Teresa of Avila             

THE MYSTERY OF THE CHURCH

From Lumen Gentium: 

8. The one mediator, Christ, established and ever sustains here on earth his holy Church, the community of faith, hope and charity, as a visible organization through which he communicates truth and grace to all men. But, the society structured with hierarchical organs and the mystical body of Christ, the visible society and the spiritual community, the earthly Church and the Church endowed with heavenly riches, are not to be thought of as two realities. On the contrary, they form one complete reality which comes together from a human and a divine element. For this reason the Church is compared, not without significance, to the mystery of the incarnate Word. As the assumed nature, inseparably united to him, serves the divine Word as a living organ of salvation, so, in a somewhat similar way, does the social structure of the Church serve the Spirit of Christ who vivifies it, in the building up of the body (cf. Eph. 4:15).

The Second Vatican Council summed up the Church in these words: "The Church is essentially both human and divine, visible, but endowed with invisible realities, zealous in action and dedicated to contemplation, present in the world, but as a pilgrim, so constituted that in her the human is directed toward and subordinated to the divine, the visible to the invisible, action to contemplation, and this present world to that city yet to come, the object of our quest" (Sacrosanctum Concilium 2).

From CCC 

770 The Church is in history, but at the same time she transcends it. It is only "with the eyes of faith"¹⁸³ that one can see her in her visible reality and at the same time in her spiritual reality as bearer of divine life.

The Church - both visible and spiritual

771 "The one mediator, Christ, established and ever sustains here on earth his holy Church, the community of faith, hope, and charity, as a visible organization through which he communicates truth and grace to all men."¹⁸⁴ The Church is at the same time:

- a "society structured with hierarchical organs and the mystical body of Christ;

- the visible society and the spiritual community;

- the earthly Church and the Church endowed with heavenly riches."¹⁸⁵

These dimensions together constitute "one complex reality which comes together from a human and a divine element":¹⁸⁶

The Church is essentially both human and divine, visible but endowed with invisible realities, zealous in action and dedicated to contemplation, present in the world, but as a pilgrim, so constituted that in her the human is directed toward and subordinated to the divine, the visible to the invisible, action to contemplation, and this present world to that city yet to come, the object of our quest.¹⁸⁷

O humility! O sublimity! Both tabernacle of cedar and sanctuary of God; earthly dwelling and celestial palace; house of clay and royal hall; body of death and temple of light; and at last both object of scorn to the proud and bride of Christ! She is black but beautiful, O daughters of Jerusalem, for even if the labor and pain of her long exile may have discolored her, yet heaven's beauty has adorned her.(St. Bernard of Clairvaux, In Cant. Sermo27:14 PL 183:920D).

http://www.catholicchapterhouse.com/st-bernard-of-clairvaux-oracle-of-the-twelfth-century

St Bernard of Clairvaux is called "the last of the Fathers" of the Church because once again in the 12th century he renewed and brought to the fore the important theology of the Fathers.

Known as “Doctor Mellifluus” (the “honey-mouthed doctor”), Bernard was a monk of the Cistercian order and one of the most eloquent preachers in twelfth-century France. He was instrumental in setting up Cistercian monasteries all over his country and achieved great influence in ecclesiastical circles all over Europe. In his writings, the most important of which is the theological treatise Sermones in canticum canticorum(Sermons on the Song of Songs, c. 1136), he presents a creed of mystical contemplation, meditation, and personal union with God. TheSermons and other works develop the metaphor of the church as the bride of Christ, stressing the importance of human love in understanding service to God.

Sacred Tradition:My Self study Lesson # 1

Grant #6 from the Enchiridion Indulgentiarum

Christian Doctrine - Partial Indulgence

The faithful who teach or study Christian doctrine win a partial indulgence.

Requirements for a partial indulgence: 

1. The work must be done while in a state of grace and with the general intention of earning an indulgence.

Lesson # 1. of my Self study, with the intention to gain partial Indulgence.

Sacred Tradition

Definition: The special tradition of apostolic teaching handed down through the bishopric of their churches, generation after generation is called Sacred Tradition in the Roman Catholic Church.It refers

 to the fundamental basis of church dogma. 

 It is  the deposit of faith that is ever deepening and expanding with new doctrines being revealed, doctrines that have been preserved in The Roman Catholic Church throughout its history.It is everything that was handed down by the Apostles, everything other than the Scriptures. It helps to deepen the holiness and to increase the  faith of the people of God.

The Eastern Orthodoxy terms it as Holy Tradition, and it believes that it does not expand or grow.For Roman Catholics, the Sacred Tradition is equal in authority to Scripture . It comprises of the deposit of faith in its totality.

Deposit of Faith

"depositum fidei"

: It is the saving revelation given by Jesus in its totality. It was given to the Apostles who handed it down through centuries to the Church. It includes both Scripture and Sacred Tradition.For the  Roman Catholics, Sacred Tradition is an ongoing source of information 

The Church definition of "Sacred Tradition" is: "The Church, in her doctrine, life and worship, perpetuates and transmits to every generation all that she herself is, all that she believes".

The Dictionary defines it as: "Sacred Tradition or Holy Tradition is a technical theological term used in some Christian traditions, primarily in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions, to refer to the fundamental basis of church dogma. The term refers to belief that these churches hold, that the "depositum fidei", or "deposit of faith" was communicated by Jesus Christ to his first followers, and has been passed down (Latin tradere, to hand over or hand down) through succeeding generations of those followers (apostolic succession), represented by the church. The church as a community, therefore, was the initial receiver, and has remained the guardian and codifier, of Sacred Tradition.

From the Catechism of Catholic Church :

74 God "desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth":²⁹ that is, of Christ Jesus.³⁰ Christ must be proclaimed to all nations and individuals, so that this revelation may reach to the ends of the earth:

God graciously arranged that the things he had once revealed for the salvation of all peoples should remain in their entirety, throughout the ages, and be transmitted to all generations.³¹

I. THE APOSTOLIC TRADITION

75 "Christ the Lord, in whom the entire Revelation of the most high God is summed up, commanded the apostles to preach the Gospel, which had been promised beforehand by the prophets, and which he fulfilled in his own person and promulgated with his own lips. In preaching the Gospel, they were to communicate the gifts of God to all men. This Gospel was to be the source of all saving truth and moral discipline."³²

In the apostolic preaching. . .

76 In keeping with the Lord's command, the Gospel was handed on in two ways:

- orally "by the apostles who handed on, by the spoken word of their preaching, by the example they gave, by the institutions they established, what they themselves had received - whether from the lips of Christ, from his way of life and his works, or whether they had learned it at the prompting of the Holy Spirit";³³

- in writing "by those apostles and other men associated with the apostles who, under the inspiration of the same Holy Spirit, committed the message of salvation to writing".³⁴

. . . continued in apostolic succession

77 "In order that the full and living Gospel might always be preserved in the Church the apostles left bishops as their successors. They gave them their own position of teaching authority."³⁵ Indeed, "the apostolic preaching, which is expressed in a special way in the inspired books, was to be preserved in a continuous line of succession until the end of time."³⁶

78 This living transmission, accomplished in the Holy Spirit, is called Tradition, since it is distinct from Sacred Scripture, though closely connected to it. Through Tradition, "the Church, in her doctrine, life and worship, perpetuates and transmits to every generation all that she herself is, all that she believes."³⁷ "The sayings of the holy Fathers are a witness to the life-giving presence of this Tradition, showing how its riches are poured out in the practice and life of the Church, in her belief and her prayer."³⁸

79 The Father's self-communication made through his Word in the Holy Spirit, remains present and active in the Church: "God, who spoke in the past, continues to converse with the Spouse of his beloved Son. And the Holy Spirit, through whom the living voice of the Gospel rings out in the Church - and through her in the world - leads believers to the full truth, and makes the Word of Christ dwell in them in all its richness."³⁹

II. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TRADITION AND SACRED SCRIPTURE

One common source. . .

80 "Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture, then, are bound closely together, and communicate one with the other. For both of them, flowing out from the same divine well-spring, come together in some fashion to form one thing, and move towards the same goal."⁴⁰ Each of them makes present and fruitful in the Church the mystery of Christ, who promised to remain with his own "always, to the close of the age".⁴¹

. . . two distinct modes of transmission

81 "Sacred Scripture is the speech of God as it is put down in writing under the breath of the Holy Spirit."⁴²

"And [Holy] Tradition transmits in its entirety the Word of God which has been entrusted to the apostles by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit. It transmits it to the successors of the apostles so that, enlightened by the Spirit of truth, they may faithfully preserve, expound and spread it abroad by their preaching."⁴³

82 As a result the Church, to whom the transmission and interpretation of Revelation is entrusted, "does not derive her certainty about all revealed truths from the holy Scriptures alone. Both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honored with equal sentiments of devotion and reverence."⁴⁴

Apostolic Tradition and ecclesial traditions

83 The Tradition here in question comes from the apostles and hands on what they received from Jesus' teaching and example and what they learned from the Holy Spirit. The first generation of Christians did not yet have a written New Testament, and the New Testament itself demonstrates the process of living Tradition.

Tradition is to be distinguished from the various theological, disciplinary, liturgical or devotional traditions, born in the local churches over time. These are the particular forms, adapted to different places and times, in which the great Tradition is expressed. In the light of Tradition, these traditions can be retained, modified or even abandoned under the guidance of the Church's Magisterium.

Dei Verbum

http://www.amazon.com/Dogmatic-Constitution-Divine-Revelation-Promulgated/dp/0819818232

Dei Verbum

Concerning sacred Tradition and sacred Scripture

From Chapter II  "Handing On Divine Revelation" 

9. Hence there exists a close connection and communication between sacred Tradition and sacred Scripture. For both of them, flowing from the same divine wellspring, in a certain way merge into a unity and tend toward the same end. For Sacred Scripture is the word of God inasmuch as it is consigned to writing under the inspiration of the divine Spirit, while sacred tradition takes the word of God entrusted by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit to the Apostles, and hands it on to their successors in its full purity, so that led by the light of the Spirit of truth, they may in proclaiming it preserve this word of God faithfully, explain it, and make it more widely known. Consequently it is not from Sacred Scripture alone that the Church draws her certainty about everything which has been revealed. Therefore both sacred tradition and Sacred Scripture are to be accepted and venerated with the same sense of loyalty and reverence.