"It is the common and explicit teaching of the Church today that every grace given to men comes to them through Mary. She is the almoner for her generous Son. She hands out His treasures, as a Mother's right. Being mediatrix is simply a Mother's privilege. She was intimately associated with Her Son in everything pertaining to our Redemption and salvation while they were both on earth. Why should He change the order of things now that they are both in heaven?
"Jesus Christ is the only mediator between God and man. He brought God to us when He became man. He takes us back to God with Him through His redemptive grace. He permits us to understand something about God, first, by bringing God down to the human level, in the Incarnation; and second, by giving us a bit of divine intelligence, in Faith.
"Mary, the mediatrix, brought Jesus to us, and brings us to Jesus."
Thus, in an authorized Catholic book, the teaching of Mary as "Mediatrix" is set forth. Further
explanation of this peculiar Catholic teaching is presented in Vol. 15 of Collier's Encyclopedia,
p. 472. It states, "Related to Mary's position as mother of the Saviour is her dignity as
intermediary between Christ and the human race. There are, however, two aspects of this
mediation, which should be carefully distinguished. It is certain in Catholic theology that, since
Mary gave birth to the Redeemer who is the source of all grace, she is the channel of all graces to
mankind. But it is only probable, as a legitimate opinion, that, since Mary's Assumption into
heaven, no grace is received by humans without her cooperation and intercession."
Such explanations of the "mediation" of Mary are utilized by Roman Catholic authorities to
answer critics who charge that making Mary a "mediatrix" usurps the position of Jesus Christ.
They claim to teach that Jesus is the only Mediator between God and man and that Roman
Catholic teaching concerning Mary does not interfere with that. What it does do is to add another
step to what God has decreed. Jesus is the mediator between God and man, but to get to Jesus,
one must go through Mary. Two things stand out about this doctrine. Number One is that it is a
completely man-made doctrine, the result of human reasoning and imagination that began back
with Mary being defined as the "Mother of God" by the Council of Ephesus in 431 A.D. and has
continued to grow and be added to unto this day. The second major thing about this teaching that
stands out is that regardless of claims to the contrary, it does indeed usurp the position of Christ
as the "One Mediator" between God and man and adds a step in the mediatorial process that God
did not put there, namely, Mary.
Within Roman Catholicism's history, few men have promoted the growth of Mariology to the
extent the Alphonse de Liguori has. He has been canonized by the Roman Catholic Church and
his books have been widely published in numerous languages. Perhaps his best known book is
called The Glories of Mary. We are going to notice a few statements from that book and
compare them with what God's Word has to say, but before doing that I want to notice the
editor's comments from the 1931 edition of The Glories of Mary. The editor wrote: "Everything
that our saint has written is, as it were, a summary of Catholic tradition on the subject that it
treats; it is not an individual author; it is, so to speak, the church herself that speaks to us by the
voice of her prophets, her apostles, her pontiffs, her saints, her fathers, her doctors of all nations
and ages. No other book appears to be more worthy of recommendation in this respect than The
Glories of Mary." It is important to realize that as we read Liguori's comments we are reading
the Roman Catholic position. As we saw, it is not so much Liguori speaking as the Roman
Catholic Church herself. Let's notice whether the teaching of Mary as "Mediatrix" usurps the
position of Jesus or not.
Liguori says on pages 80, 82, & 83, "Mary is our life...Mary is obtaining this grace for sinners by
her intercession, thus restores them to life." "And she is truly a mediatress of peace between
sinners and God. Sinners receive pardon by...Mary alone."
On page 94 Liguori writes: "He fails and is lost who has not recourse to Mary."
On page 169 & 170 Liguori says: "The Way of Salvation is open to none otherwise than through
Mary, our salvation is in the hands of Mary...He who is protected by Mary will be saved, he who
is not will be lost."
On page 193 Liguori says of Mary: "...Is also the Advocate of the whole human race...for she can
do what she wills with God."
On page 197 we find: "Mary is the Peace-maker between sinners and God."
How do these statements by Liguori compare with the Word of God? We can see for ourselves:
"For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus..." (1 Tim.
2:5).
"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by
me." (John 14:6).
"My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an
advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and
for not ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." (1 John 2:1-2).
An individual does not have to be a bible scholar to detect major differences between what God's
Word says and what the Church of Rome, through Liguori, says. Much of the work attributed to
Mary in The Glories of Mary, is actually work God has given His Son to do.
Because of the man-made teaching concerning Mary as "Mediatrix" it has been necessary for the
Roman Catholic Church to present a convoluted view of God the Father and our Lord. Here are
some examples. On page 124 of The Glories of Mary, Liguori writes: "If God is angry with a
sinner, and Mary takes him under her protection, she withholds the avenging arm of her son, and
saves him." On page 248 of the same book we find: "O Immaculate Virgin, prevent thy beloved
Son, who is irritated by our sins, from abandoning us to the power of the devil." Also, "We often
obtain more promptly what we ask by calling on the name of Mary than by invoking that of
Jesus."
Liguori presents this imaginary scene. A burdened sinner sees two ladders ascending to heaven.
At the head of one is Jesus, at the head of the other is Mary. As he tries to climb the ladder at
which Jesus stands, he sees the angry face of the Lord and fails. As he turns away he hears a voice
saying, "Try the other ladder." He does and climbs easily meeting Mary at the top. She in turn
brings him to heaven and presents him to her Son. Does that resemble at all the Biblical picture of
our Lord who said, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heaven laden, and I will give you
rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find
rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
I believe that Loraine Boettner, is his book, Roman Catholicism, aptly states the result of the
Roman Catholic teaching that presents Mary as the "Mediatrix" on pages 147 & 148 when he
writes:
"What a travesty it is on Scripture truth to teach that Christ demands justice, but that Mary will extend mercy! How dishonoring it is to Christ to teach that He is lacking in pity and compassion for His people, and that He must be persuaded in the end by His mother! When He was on earth it was never necessary for anyone to persuade Him to be compassionate. Rather, when He saw the blind and the lame, the afflicted and hungry, He was "moved with compassion" for them and lifted them out of their distress. He had immediate mercy on the wicked but penitent thief on the cross, and there was no need for intercession by Mary although she was there present. His love for us is as great as when He was on earth; no other intermediary, neither His mother after the flesh, nor any saint or angel, to entreat Him on our behalf."
Mary is not honored by creating doctrines that give her positions of power and influence that God did not give her. Indeed to do so, besmirches the simple biblical picture of the humble, faithful mother of Jesus.