Translate

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Roman Catholic Womenpriests: Mary, Mother of Jesus, the first priest/ Belief held for Centuries in Catholic Tradition





Mary, Mother of Jesus, who turned the Spirit of God into the Body and Blood of Jesus, pray for us.
Mary, the first priest, pray for us.

In the Chapel of the Veiling in the catacomb of St. Priscilla in Rome, Italy, a fresco depicts the ordination of a woman priest by a bishop seated on a chair.The woman is dressed in the vestments of the priesthood, the alb, chasuble, and amice, and holding a gospel scroll. In the center of the fresco, we see the same woman depicted as a deacon, vested in deacon's dalmatic, her arms raised in an attiude of worship in the orans position. On the right of the fresco, there is a woman holding a baby on her lap and wearing the same robe as the male bishop on the left, She is sitting in the same type of chair . These attributes indicate, according to Dr. Dorothy Irvin, Roman Catholic theologian and archaeologist, that the woman is thought of as a bishop, while the baby on her lap indicated that she is Mary, Mother of Jesus.. She is turned toward the figures in the center and left, watching the woman deacon and priest. "Women's ordination, Dorothy Irvin, concludes "was based on succession from the apostles, including women such as Mary, Mother of Jesus; Mary from Magdala, Phoebe, Petronella, and others abut whose status among the founders of the church thre could no doubt. " (See Dorothy Irvin's calendars, articles and resources for more information, contact irvincalendar@hotmail.com)
"One example of latent tradition is the age-old devotion to Mary as Priest.People believed held that Mary was, indeed, a priest for four main reasons: Mary belonged to a priestly family. Mary exercised priestly functions. Mary gave us the Eucharist and Mary procures forgiveness of sins. The devotion to Mary Priest has been present throughout the history of the Church. Tradition stressed Mary’s role as a priest in her offering Jesus during the Presentation in the Temple and during his crucifixion on Calvary.The devotion continued until 1927, when it was suddenly suppressed by the Holy Office - probably because of the implied link to women’s ordination! " http://www.womenpriests.org/paffirm.asp See this site for excellent arguments from the Scripture, the Tradition, and Contemporary Scholarship.
Image of Nativity from Free Catholic Clip Art
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Free+Catholic+Clip+Art&FORM=R5FD13#focal=afaf2822a3436edd9a70b1d4cb845c24&furl=http%3A%2F%2Fcentralmdcatholic.org%2Fnativity.JPG

No comments: