Our Lady And The Church

by Hugo Rahner

Book Overview

Our Lady and the Church is one of the great works of twentieth-century theology—a profound meditation on the riches to be found in the writings of the Early Church Fathers about Mary. Filles with... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0972598111
• Release Date: January 2005
• Publisher: Zaccheus Press
• Length: 152 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.5" x 0.5" x 5.0"

Customer Reviews

A beautiful exposition on the Church and Mary

This book was written nearly fifty years ago, and so it may have a dated feel at times, especially since the Church has put forth encyclicals (Marialis Cultus) and other writings on proper devotion to Mary. However what this book does do beautifully is to draw on scripture and tradition to illustrate the connections between Mary, The Church and salvation history. It helps the believer understand their place in all of this. It's a short and enriching read. I particularly enjoyed reading what the Church has been saying through the centuries about Mary.

Excellent Introduction to Marian Devotion

I just finished "Our Lady and the Church," by Hugh Rahner. It's a terrific introduction to the direction that Pope John Paul II and now Benedict XVI would like Marian devotion in the Church to take. It certainly is a strong supporter of the Marian dogmas promulgated by the First Vatican Council in 1870, which Protestants (including myself) universally take issue with. But, it certainly showed me how the proper devotion that a Roman Catholic pays to the Virgin Mary necessarily must, and does, increase their love for Christ himself, and how the exalted view of Mary that the Church takes flows completely from the very exalted view that it takes of Christ. It does not deal at all with the many abuses associated with Marian devotion, preferring to commend what it sees as the best way, rather than attack erroneous ways (which we all could learn from). The whole book is full of the most wonderful quotations from the Fathers about Mary and her relationship to the Church, however given to the philosophical flights of fancy that tend to charcacterize much Marian devotion. And a wonderful little poem that Luther wrote while still Catholic. In short, it's a very interesting book which can greatly aid in the understanding of why the Catholic Church views Mary as it does, even if it not particularly convincing to most Protestants.

A profound and thought provoking analysis

For anyone (Catholic, Protestant, or Jewish) trying to understand the high place accorded to Mary and her veneration in the Catholic(and Orthodox) Churches, this book is a good place to start. Written by Hugo Rahner, S.J., brother of better known "modernist" theologian, Carl Rahner, S.J., this book lays out, with numerous quotes from the Eastern and Western Fathers, medieval and modern theologians up to the brink of Vatican II, the perennial teaching of the Church that the Virgin Mary the immaculate Mother of Jesus is type and for-runner of the Church,a new creation as "Spotless Bride of Christ." - "What He bestowed on Mary in the Flesh, He has destowed on the Church in the Spirit:Mary gave birth to the One, and the Church gives birth to the Many, who through the One become one." - St,Augustine. Thus the "Woman Clothed in the Sun giving birth to the man child" of Revelations 12:1,2,5 stands for Mary as iniciator of Salvation in Christ and the Church groaning in fulfillment until the end of time. In this dual yet single role can be seen the mediation of graces of Mary and the Church It is also in this light, according to Fr. Rahner, that the the Catholic dogmas regarding Mary, especially that of the Assumption takes on meaning. "Our Lady's Assumption, the final history of the body of the woman who gave birth to God, is therefore not so much an exception to the rule, but much more a fulfilling in advance of what is promised to the whole Mystical Body of Christ." This is a must read book on Mariology. [..]

Mary in the Eyes of the Church Fathers

This small book is packed with images of Mary that are fertile for prayer and meditation. For example, you will never think of the sacrament of Baptism in the same way again when you focus on the baptismal font as representative of the womb of Mary so that Mary is indeed our Mother as she was the Mother of Christ. You will also see the Marian character of evangelization in which we as Christians become "other Marys" as we give birth to new Christians. All of these insights come from the early Church Fathers as they prayed over the Scriptures and communicated their deep faith to their listeners. Fr. Hugo Rahner (not to be confused with his controversial brother Karl Rahner) originally published this small book in 1961, just before Vatican II. The book reflects the movement for ressourcement or a "return to the sources" that was at the heart of Vatican II. In this book, Hugo Rahner returns to the Scriptures as seen through the eyes of the early Church Fathers who were very Marian.

An Excellent Sythesis and Mariologist's Companion Text

Father Hugo Rahner, S.J.--brother, I believe, to the popular and controversial theologian, Karl--has put together a compact and worthy summary of Catholic patristic teaching on Mary, her relationship to the Church, and to members within the Church. Fr. Rahner takes the major marian doctrines of, for example, her Immaculate Conception, Perpetual Virginity, Divine Maternity, etc., and with parallels from the Church fathers shows how the Church is prefigured in Mary, and how Our Lady is the model and fullfilment of the Church's members. The short book is well organized and chock-full of apt quotes from the great (Greek and Latin) fathers (e.g., Ambrose, Augustine, Ephrem the Syrian, etc.). This book is a great summary and companion text to accompany one's other, more involved and specific quests in Mariology. I read it inbetween two wonderful books by Fr. Luigi Gambero: (1) Mary and the Fathers of the Church, and (2) Mary in the Middle Ages--also published by Ignatius Press. I can't tell you how much these books, and other like them, have helped stir, legitimately direct and increase my devotion to Our Lady ("Domina"). And, since where Mary is, the Lord is also, these books have helped me grow in love and adoration of our Savior; Mary's vocation was, is and ever shall be to "magnify the Lord," in a way in which only she--by the graces and election of Almighty God--is capable. Deo gratias!