Catholic Church Has Age-Old Devotion to Mary as Priest by John Wijngaards

http://www.womenpriests.org/mrpriest/mpr_tab.asp

Mary, Mother of Jesus, who turned the Spirit of God into the Body and Blood of Christ, pray for us. The Catholic Church has an age-old devotion to Mary as priest.

"With our short ecclesiastical memories we have almost forgotten that in the run up to its dogmatic definition in 1854, Mary’s Immaculate Conception was often justified on the grounds of her being a priest. Tradition frequently applied Hebrews 7,26 to her: "It is fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, blameless, unstained, separated from sinners, exalted above the heavens." The Benedictine prior Jacques Biroat wrote in 1666 that “Paul’s reasoning” in Hebrews 7,26 “is relevant to Christ’s mother. She shares in the priesthood of her son and is the origin of our reconciliation to God. Therefore, she had to be entirely innocent and separated from sinners. She had to be preserved from original sin.” Mary was immaculately conceived because she had to be a priest without stain." "The Fathers of the Church pointed out that Mary belonged to a priestly family, as her relationship to Elizabeth shows. She was "Aaron’s staff which has budded forth as a guarantee of the eternal priesthood" (St. Methodius)... The Fathers loved calling Mary ‘the sanctuary’, ‘the ark of the covenant’, ‘the golden thurible’ and ‘the altar of incense’, implying her priestly dignity. .." At the presentation in the Temple, for instance, Mary functioned as ‘an ordained virgin who offered Jesus for our reconciliation as a victim agreeable to God’, in the words of St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153). Ubertino of Casale (1259-1330) added that there was no other priest. Only she could offer Jesus, and she was, after Jesus himself, the greatest of all priests..."

Bridget Mary's Reflection: As we contemplate Mary as Priest, we observe her on mosaics and frescos in Rome. Mary, Mother of Jesus, is depicted in bishop's vestments in St. Priscilla's catacomb. There she is present at the ordination of a woman priest. In St. Praxedis Church in Rome, Mary appears in a group portrait standing next to St. Praxedis who is standing next to Bishop Theodora. So, Roman Catholic Women Priests are doing nothing new. We are reclaiming our sacred tradition of women in ordained ministry in our church. Mary, Mother of Jesus, the first woman priest, is our mentor and model of service to God's people. Let us pray that Mary, Mother of Jesus, will guide our church into affirming its own sacred tradition of women deacons, priests and bishops! Bridget Mary Meehan, RCWP, Roman Catholic Women Priests Association http://www.associationofromancatholicwomenpriests.org/