The Blessed Virgin Mary in England: Vol. Ii: A Mary-Catechism with Pilgrimage to Her Holy Shrines

Copyright © 2009 by Anthony S. Pasquale

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Our whole book is most lovingly dedicated to

God the Eternal Father…Our Father

As carefully elaborated in the Dedication to Volume One.

This Second Volume is additionally dedicated most lovingly to

The Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of

Mary, Our Mother and Mediatrix of All Graces

– See chapter 36, part 7 –

The Blessed Virgin Mary spoke these words to Blessed Jacinta of Fatima:

Tell everybody that God gives graces through the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Tell them to ask graces from her, and that the Heart of Jesus wishes to be venerated together with the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Ask them to plead for peace from the Immaculate Heart of Mary, for the Lord has confided the peace of the world to her. 2

The Blessed Virgin Mary spoke these words to Lucia, the holy seer of Fatima:

My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the way that will lead you to God.

My daughter, behold my Heart all pierced with thorns which men cause to penetrate at every moment by their blasphemy and ingratitude…let the world know that I promise to assist at the hour of death with the graces necessary for their salvation, all those who, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months, go to Confession and receive holy Communion, recite a third part of the Rosary, and keep me company for a quarter of an hour meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary, with the intention of making reparation to me.

You have seen hell where the souls of poor sinners are finally to go. For their salvation God wants to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart, and if people do all that I will tell you, many souls will be saved. 3

Jesus spoke these words to Berthe Petite:

"My Mother’s Heart has the right to the title of Sorrowful. I desire that it be set before the title of Immaculate because she herself has won it. The Church has recognized what I myself did for my Mother: her Immaculate Conception. Now it is necessary and it is my wish, that this title [Sorrowful] which is by right my Mother’s should be understood and recognized. This title she earned by her identification with all my sufferings, by her sorrow, her sacrifice, her immolation on Calvary, and indeed for the salvation of mankind…This is the last succor which I give before the end of time: the recourse to my Mother under the title which I desire shall be hers throughout the whole world." 4

June 8, 2008

The Feast Day of Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces 5

For the Glory of God, the Salvation of Souls, and for Material

Aid to the Poor

Thank you for purchasing The Blessed Virgin Mary in England. May God and Our Lady always bless you. The copyright holders are Franciscan Tertiaries of the Immaculate (FTI). Their monetary profits are sent by iUniverse to the worldwide Mission of the Franciscans of the Immaculate (FI) for use in Africa where poverty is dire and widespread. Those who wish to contribute further will be pleased to know that donations to the FI and FTI are tax exempt under the United States Federal Income Tax Code, section 501C. Donations may be sent in care of FTI Missions to:

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O Blessed Confidence, O Safe Refuge, Mother of God and Our Mother!

St. Anselm of Canterbury (1033–1109) Doctor of the Church

Hail, Mary of Gold

Hail Mary, White Lily of the glorious and always-serene Trinity!

Hail brilliant Rose of the garden of heavenly delights!

O you, by whom God wanted to be born and by whose milk the King of Heaven wanted to be nourished! Nourish our souls with effusions of divine grace. Amen! 6

A Prayer to Mary

Composed by Berthe Petit

Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, dwelling pure and holy, cover my soul with your maternal protection, so that being ever faithful to the voice of Jesus, it responds to His love and obeys His Divine Will.

I wish, O my Mother, to keep unceasingly before me your co-redemption in order to live intimately with your heart that is totally united to the Heart of your Divine Son.

Fasten me to this Heart by your own virtues and sorrows. Protect me always. Amen. 7

A Consecration Prayer

Indulgenced by Pope Pius IX

O Mary, my Queen, my Mother, I give myself entirely to Thee, and to show my devotion to Thee, I consecrate to Thee this day, my eyes, my ears, my mouth, my heart, my whole being without reserve. Wherefore good Mother, as I am thine own, keep me, guard me, as thy property and possession. Amen. 8

Hail, Father of Gold!

A Poem

Mary’s color is pure lily-white wrapped in a mantle of blue, I’m told.

Christ’s is the most sublime hue of lily-white, this I know.

As for Thee, my Father, Thy color seems to me as gold

blazing in a most clear and holy glow!

Is this why gold is spelled like good and God?

And why holy is so light goldie?

Contents

Acknowledgements

Source and Illustration Credits

Foreword

Preface to Volume Two

Part 6

THE DOCTRINAL FOUNDATIONS OF MARIAN DEVOTION

Chapter 31

Why Study Marian Doctrine?

1. The Necessity of Humility

2. Each Marian Doctrine Offers a Truer Understanding of God and the Church

3. True Devotion and Prayer Are Based on True Doctrine

4. The Attack on Mary is Reversed by Understanding the Marian Doctrines

5. The Confusion Introduced by Liberal Theologians

6. There Are Four Levels of Church Doctrine: All Are Necessary for Belief

Chapter 32

I Am the Immaculate Conception

1. A Doctrine Filled with God’s Holy Light

2. The Immaculate Conception is Mary’s Name

3. The Immaculate Conception Opens Up the Gospel of the Holy Spirit

4. Mary Confirms the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception to St. Bernadette

5. The Papal Definition of the Immaculate Conception

6. No Other Person but Mary is an Immaculate Conception

7. Biblical Sources for the Doctrine

8. Sources in the Sacred Tradition

9. The Two Main Objections to the Doctrine

10. All Have Sinned

11. Blessed Duns Scotus Resolves the Objections

12. Saint Maximilian Kolbe’s Deep Insight Into the Immaculate Conception 73

13. The Immaculata Links the Mission of Triune God in the World

Chapter 33

"I am the Perfect and Perpetual

Virgin Mary"

1. The Perpetual Virginity of Our Lady is Hardly Taught Nowadays

2. Christ’s Miraculous Birth Relates to His Miraculous Resurrection

3. The Great Sign: The Virgin Mother

4. Chesterton on The Little Hiss That Only Comes From Hell

5. Our Lady’s Virginity Before the Birth of Jesus

6. Our Lady’s Virginity During the Birth of Jesus

7. The Modern Attack on Mary’s Virginity During Childbirth99

8. Our Lady’s Virginity After the Birth of Jesus

9. Why it was Fitting that Mary be Married

10. How Does the Doctrine Magnify Christ?

Chapter 34

I am the Mother of God

Chapter 35

"Assumed Body and Soul into

Heavenly Glory"

Chapter 36

Mediatrix of All Graces

1. The Great Importance of the Doctrine

2. What Grace Does Mary Mediate?

3. How Do We Know Mary is Mediatrix of All Grace?

4. Our Lady’s Mediation Derives From Her Maternity

5. Our Lady is Coredemptrix Because She is Queen-Mother and Mediatrix

6. Revelations by Jesus and Mary at Fatima and to Berthe Petit Ask Our Reparation for Our Lady’s Sorrows

7. The Meaning of Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus

8. The Divine Consistency of the Doctrine Mary, Mediatrix of all Graces

9. Do We Have to Pray to Mary to Get Grace?

10. Papal Teachings on Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces

11. How Does Mary Do It?

12. Consecration to Mary

Chapter 37

A Summary of How All Marian Doctrine Magnifies Christ

PART 7

THE LIFE OF THE MOTHER

OF GOD

Chapter 38

The Life Of The Blessed

Virgin Mary

Part I: The Value of a Life of Mary and Where it is Found

Part II: The Life of Mary

PART 8

THE ABSOLUTE PRIMACY OF

JESUS CHRIST AND MARY AS KEY TO RESTORING ENGLAND

TO GOD’S GRACE

Chapter 39

A Great Restoration to the Father is Coming Based on Catholic Creation Doctrine

1. Undoing the Falsehood of Evolutionism

2. A Great Catholic Restoration is Coming

3. Catholic Creation Doctrine

4. A Summary of Official Catholic Creation Doctrine

5. Endnote: On the Proper Interpretation of Holy Scripture

Chapter 40

The Absolute Primacy of Jesus Christ And Mary

Over all Creation

Introduction

1. What is the Absolute Primacy Doctrine?

2. Why Such Confusion on the Primacy Doctrine?

3. The Primacy in the Bible

4. Christ’s Primacy is over Angels and Humankind

5. The Test of the Angels

6. The Primacy in Sacred Tradition

7. The Primacy in Magisterial Teaching

8. Must Catholics Give Religious Assent to the Primacy?

9. The Primacy According to the Venerable Mary of Agreda

10. Endnote: The Compatibility of Predestination and Free-Will

Chapter 41

The Absolute Primacy of Jesus and Mary in the Theology of Blessed John Duns Scotus

1. Blessed John Duns Scotus, the Subtle Doctor 346

2. A Review of the Primacy Doctrine

3. Overview of Blessed Scotus’ Theology of the Primacy

4. Some Writings by Blessed Scotus on the Primacy

Chapter 42

Hope for the Children

PART 9

MIRACLES OF OUR LADY IN ENGLAND AND EVERYWHERE

Chapter 43

Miracles: Part 1

Their Evidence in England

Chapter 44

Miracles: Part 2

The English Incorruptibles

Chapter 45

Miracles: Part 3

Their Essential Importance In Christianity

Chapter 46

Miracles: Part 4

How to Have Miracles Every Day

1. Moral Miracles of Love Each Day

2. Praying the Miraculous Medal

3. The Tree of Life

4. The Power of the Crucifix

5. Seeking a Miracle Using the Crucifix

6. The Holy Face of Jesus

Chapter 47

Miracles: Part 5

The Rosary as a Guide to Reality

1. The Miracle of Coming Home to Reality

2. Why Praying the Rosary is Important

3. What is Reality?

4. Why the Rosary Succeeds

5. Using the Rosary as a Guide to Reality

PART 10

EXPRESSIONS OF THE GREAT MARIAN DEVOTION OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE

Chapter 48

A True History of Devotion to Our Lady in England

Chapter 49

Pilgrimage in England

Theory and Practice

1. The History of Christian Pilgrimage

2. The English Were Renown Pilgrims

3. Nine Good Reasons for Pilgrimage

4. The Proper Disposition for Pilgrimage 439

5. Pilgrimage Abuses Were the Subject of Satire

6. Miracles on Pilgrimage to Our Lady’s Shrines Were Frequent

Chapter 50

Chaucer’s Grand Tale

Of Pilgrimage and Penance

1. The Canterbury Tales

2. The Parson’s Tale Completes the Canterbury Tales

3. The Parson Teaches Penance 446

4. The Parson’s Tale is Attacked by a Modern Myth

5. Frequent Confession is not a New Invention

6. The Parson’s Teaching on Penance Outlined

Chapter 51

The Great Devotion Paid The Blessed Virgin Mary in England

1. An Astonishing Number of Honors and Devotions

2. The Importance of Formal Prayers

3. The Angelic Salutation

4. The Holy Rosary

5. The Gabriel Bell and the Angelus

6. The Mary Mass

7. The Little Office and Primers of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Chapter 52

The Flowers of England Honor Mary

Chapter 53

Shakespeare was a Courageous

And Devout Catholic Author

1. Shakespeare’s View of the Narrow Path

2. Shakespeare’s Catholicism

3. Grace in the Works of Shakespeare

4. Shakespeare’s View of Repentance and Morality

5. Henry VII

6. The Majesty of God’s Creation

7. Shakespeare’s Concise and Powerful Depictions of the Afterlife

8. Saintliness in Shakespeare

PART 11

PILGRIMAGE TO SOME OF

OUR LADY’S HOLY PLACES

IN ENGLAND

Chapter 54

Preparation for Pilgrimage

Chapter 55

Walsingham: Our Lady’s National Shrine

A Family Pilgrimage

Chapter 56

Walsingham and Loreto

Why Two Houses of the Incarnation?

Chapter 57

Walsingham’s Significance Today

Chapter 58

Our Lady of Glastonbury

Chapter 59

The Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel And Saint Simon Stock, Aylesford, Kent

Chapter 60

The Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Grace Osmotherly, North Yorkshire

Chapter 61

The Shrine of Our Lady of the Crag

England’s Curiously Beautiful Marian Cave Knaresborough, North Yorkshire

Chapter 62

The Shrine of Saint Margaret Clitherow

Wife, Mother and Child of Mary

Chapter 63

Ladyewell-Fernyhalgh

Shrine of Our Lady, Queen of Martyrs

Selected Bibliography

About the Author and the

Franciscans of the Immaculate

Appendix:

Endnotes and References

Acknowledgements

The author gratefully acknowledges:

His family: Anthony, his father, benefactor of this work and so many other good things; Hedwig Marie, his wife and editor, image of Mary and helpmate in Christ, with whom this book has been a joyful partnership in holy Matrimony; his children, grandchildren, and all children of God and Our Lady, for whom this book is written with love and urgency.

Brother Francis Mary Kalvelage (1923–2007), FI, our widely beloved Franciscan friar renown for humility, kindness and holiness—and for his many years of hard work for Our Lady, manifest through many publications, missions and Mary-camps for young people. It was Brother Francis who suggested, because of his failing health, that we write a book on Our Lady in England instead of himself. We are in debt to this holy friar for his friendship and good example.

Fathers Stefano Maria Manelli, Martin Mary Fonte, and George Mary Roth, all priests of the Franciscans of the Immaculate, for many teachings on Our Lady. Special thanks to Father Peter Damian Maria Fehlner, FI for his encouragement, for his example of humility and holiness, for his many teachings on Our Lady, and for writing the Foreword.

Father Maximilian Mary Dean, FI and the Academy of the Immaculate for permission to use long quotes from his fine book A Primer on the Absolute Primacy of Christ.

Father Robert D. Smith (1928–2001) a remarkable priest, friend and mentor who, before he passed on to his eternal reward, asked us to help republish his unique book The Other Side of Christ (Magnificat Press, 1987). Though we have not yet found a publisher and the book is now in the public domain, our chapter 53 on Shakespeare is borrowed verbatim from The Other Side of Christ. We know for certain this would be most pleasing to Father Smith.

Mrs. Debbie Nowak, whose generous contribution of five articles of reflections on her pilgrimages to the Marian shrines of England is most appreciated, and not only because of their fine quality, but especially because of the love and sacrifice that went into them. Debbie came as an answer to prayers offered in January, 2002, when we twice asked Our Lady to supply miraculous signs indicating if we should proceed with this book. In both cases, amazingly and almost immediately after asking, articles written by Debbie Nowak in the National Catholic Register were twice found on a free-book rack in the back of our parish church. Both were articles on Marian shrines in England that Debbie, a new writer and mother of eight (now ten) children, had submitted as a recent arrival in England on her husband’s temporary work assignment there.

The staff of iUniverse for their fine courtesy and cooperation.

Source and Illustration Credits

Holy Scripture

The Holy Bible: Confraternity Version. New York: Catholic Book Publishing Company, Saint Joseph Edition, 1963. This is the original Confraternity Bible, used throughout unless specified otherwise. Though replaced in 1970 by the New American Bible, we have retained the older Confraternity version because of its more accurate rendition of Holy Scripture and its superior footnotes. This is because the Confraternity, of all the modern English versions, most closely follows the old Catholic Douay-Challoner-Rheims English Bible, without the literary stiffness of the Douay. For utmost accuracy, however, as in obtaining the most refined translation of Genesis 3:15, we use the Douay—the most faithful translation to English of the Latin Vulgate Bible, which is the only Bible that has ever received the official stamp of the Church. (See chapter 27.)

The Teachings of Sacred Tradition

Catechism of the Catholic Church. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana. English Second Edition, translated by the U.S. Catholic Conference, Washington, DC, 2007.

• A note on abbreviation. References to the Catechism of the Catholic Church are abbreviated as Catechism, followed by the paragraph number, as in Catechism, 891.

Illustrations

Cover: Our Lady of England is an original watercolor by Joni Gilmour, painted expressly for the cover of The Blessed Virgin Mary in England in honor of Our Lady. We are grateful to our dear friend Joni Gilmour for such a beautiful and heroic labor of love.

Five Illustrations compliments of the Ladyewell-Fernyhalgh Shrine: The Frontispiece photo of the statue of Our Lady of Fernyhalgh; the map of the Shrines of Our Lady before the Preface; the map of Monasteries Dissolved by Henry VIII before chapter 48; the photo of St. Margaret Clitherow before chapters 62; and the photo of the holy well at Ladyewell before chapter 63.

The image of The Tree of Life (our title) before chapter 46 is more famously known as The Last Vision of Fatima, a portrayal of the vision of Sister Lucia of Fatima. It is reprinted with the kind permission of The World Apostolate of Fatima, U.S.A. For more information, please visit their Web site www.wafusa.org or call 908-689-1700.

Public domain illustrations: Those before chapters 31, 33, 36 (section 7), 37, 43, 46 (section 6), 47, 51, 54, 59 are courtesy of Rosary Graphics, P.O. Box 73, St. Mary’s Kansas, 66536, Tel./Fax 785-437-2072. Rosary Graphics a supplier of many fine public-domain Catholic images on a low-cost CD titled Catholic Art Gallery. Images of Our Lady before chapters 34, 35, 38, 39, 42, 52, are copied from Bishop Louis LaRavoire Morrow’s book My Catholic Faith: A Catechism in Pictures, Kansas City, MO: Sarto House, 2000, reprint of 1954 edition (public domain). The famous image of Our Lady titled I am the Immaculate Conception (our title) before chapter 32, drawn by a mystic in Italy, is copied from The Pieta Booklet (see endnote 6).

The painting Mother of Sorrows before chapter 50 is used with the kind permission of the artist, Brother Bartholomew M. Sennott, Obl. SB, MICM. The image titled Mediatrix of All Graces before chapters 36, more commonly known as the Virgin of the Globe, is courtesy of Father Stephen Valenta, OFM Conventual, director of Hearts-to-heart/Divine Will Ministries, 500 Todt Hill Road, Staten Island, NY, 10304, phone 718-981-2168, Web site www.HeartsToHeart.com.

Foreword

By Father Peter M. Fehlner, FI

Most people when they give any attention to catechetics spontaneously associate this with some kind of religious instruction imparted to children, perhaps based on the Penny Catechism, or some more modern version of the same.  (The Penny Catechism, by the way, is a product of the bishops of England and Wales. It is now reprinted by TAN in the USA and is still a commendable instrument of instruction, which is not to be despised or overlooked.)

Nonetheless, this kind of primary formation in the truths of faith is but one instance of catechetics.  In itself catechesis has no essential link to particular age groups or to particular types and levels of culture and scholarship.  It originally connoted oral explanation of the teachings of Jesus as proclaimed and guaranteed by the Apostolic Magisterium of the Church.  Like oral Tradition, one of the two sources of Revelation, catechesis came to be recorded in writing.  One of the most frequently met written forms is the Catechism.  Some of the most famous are the Catechism of the Council of Trent and the recently issued Catechism of the Catholic Church for the Church as a whole, and for a particular nation such as the USA, the well known Baltimore Catechism, with editions for all age levels.

What is not generally known and only infrequently studied is the role of Our Lady over the centuries as a catechist: teacher of the faith, in a very real sense, primary teacher because [she is] Mother of God and Mother of the Church and faithful.  In one of the still recorded earliest apparitions of Our Lady in the Church, to St. Gregory the Wonderworker, Our Lady gave precise instruction on how to combat some of the major heresies of the day.  Anyone who has studied the more recent apparitions beginning with Guadalupe in Mexico (1531, Dec. 9 to be exact, then feast of the Immaculate Conception) and going on to Rue du Bac in Paris (1830, dealing with the miraculous medal or medal of the Immaculate Conception) Lourdes (1858, confirming and illustrating the impact of the dogmatic definition of the Immaculate Conception, and defining herself as the Immaculate Conception) and Fatima (1917, centered on the mystery of Mary’s role in the sacrifice of Christ and the triumph of the Immaculate Heart) will soon realize what a thorough and effective teacher of the basics of faith at any level and in any language our heavenly Mother is.

This is true, not only of the verbal, but also symbolic modes of communication.  Studies of the tilma of St. Juan Diego have shown that all the major mysteries of faith are there explained symbolically in a manner attractively accessible to the native peoples of Mexico, not only then, but even today. (See The Iconography of Guadalupe by Dom Columban Hawkins, OCSO, in A Handbook on Guadalupe, New Bedford, MA: Academy of the Immaculate, 1997, pp. 63–67.)   So characteristic of the Blessed Virgin is this fundamental form of theological teaching that its presence in any claimed apparition of her is a very convincing proof of authenticity.  And surely the stress on the Immaculate Conception in the famous modern apparitions tells us something about the centrality of this mystery in her life and in our correct understanding and practice of the faith.

It is no wonder that Pope John Paul II called Mary first witness of the faith and of what happened at the Annunciation, which is where the Gospel began.  No wonder Pope Benedict XVI calls her the memory of the Church and her maternal mediation more central to the well being of the Church and believers than even the Pope, not only when the Church began at Pentecost with Mary at the center of the Apostles and first believers, but ever since.  These Popes do not mean that Mary replaces the Apostles, but fulfills a complementary role as teacher and animator of the faith, without which none of the other activities, either of the hierarchy or of the laity, will ever bear the fruits Christ so much desires: love of His Sacred Heart and the triumph of His and our Mother’s Heart, what Pope John Paul II termed the very core of a culture of love and the only sure remedy for a culture of death.

Of course, Mary’s instruction is not limited solely to her extraordinary apparitions.  No one knows how many times in the life of just one person, let alone entire communities and nations she has quietly intervened to exercise her maternal care, an important part of which, as for every mother, is intellectual formation, sometimes because she has been asked in prayer, and sometimes simply because she has pity on so many sitting in darkness and the shadow of death. We may not be able to prove such interventions in our own lives to others, but with hindsight we do often come to be convinced that we only missed being a spiritual tragedy or escaped from the consequences of our sins or our secularism because Our Lady intervened.

This reminds me of a classical quip of G. K. Chesterton in his autobiography to the effect that if little boys do not learn the basics about life from their mothers, they will never learn them rightly. So true, because on basics one’s mother is the first connatural teacher of the truth. Above all is this true of the Blessed Mother in relation to the mysteries of faith and the way to live them in practice, or as Our Lord says, to walk in the light.  And to the extent that all mothers live and work as extensions of Mary in the lives of the little ones entrusted to their care, and their children are their docile, loving students, the world will soon become a very different place: instead of seeming ever more an antechamber of hell, it will become more and more an antechamber of heaven.

This brings us to this volume of stimulating catechesis based on and suggested by a careful study of the ancient Marian shrines of England.  All one needs to do is glance at the table of contents of this hefty volume to realize that in a very quiet, but effective way these shrines functioned as catechetical schools operated by the Mother of God, and if any one factor might be singled out for the very high level of faith and religious practice in medieval merry England (merry, because Mary’s dowry, because consecrated to Mary as her possession and property) it is this Marian catechesis.

Only when England deliberately rejected Mary did it cease to be the happy place it once was. Unfortunately, English colonization of other peoples took place only after the repudiation of Mary by England.  That is why this catechetical work is especially valuable for the faithful and those who are seeking faith in America and other English speaking cultures.  It will bring to their attention precisely what is central to catechetics and so often missing, the presence of Mary, Mother and Teacher.  It will make perfectly clear why we need not fewer Marian sanctuaries, but many, many more in all parts of the country where this quiet, but so real and profound influence of the Marian principle of the Church will be felt at every level.

It is my prayer and hope that those who read and study this work will find the same inspiration and stimulus that I found in having the privilege to read the manuscript before publication.  We are much indebted to Brother Anthony Josemaria Pasquale, a Franciscan Tertiary of the Immaculate and gifted scholar, for the effort he has expended to find qualified contributors and to offer so well edited a book to the general public.  May Our Lady reward him abundantly.

Fr. Peter M. Fehlner, FI

Editor’s note: Father Peter Damian Maria Fehlner is a priest of the Franciscans of the Immaculate, in which he has assumed various duties of leadership. He holds a doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Seraphicum in Rome and has taught theology since 1959, primarily in Franciscan seminaries in Italy and the United States. He is the author of numerous books and publications, writing especially to make more widely known and understood the sublime Mariology of the Franciscan School, all of which is based on the profoundly Biblical doctrine of the Absolute Primacy of Christ. (The Primacy doctrine is taught in our chapters 40 and 41.) Since the year 2000 and for the past eight years, Father Peter has led groups of eminent Marian theologians in a yearly International Symposium on Marian Coredemption, publishing after each Symposium a new book of exceptional articles on Our Lady, each under the title Mary at the Foot of the Cross (Academy of the Immaculate Press). It is our prayer and hope that this work on Marian Coredemption will contribute to the promotion of the Magisterial proclamation of the Fifth Marian Dogma, most commonly stated as: Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces, Coredemptrix with the Redeemer, Advocate for the People of God. Thank you Father Peter!

Shrines of Our Lady in England

Preface to Volume Two

You [Mary] are my dear love, my beauty, the great hope of salvation.

Alcuin of York (735–804) 9

"You will learn more about [Mary] and be inflamed with her love more by immediate contact with her heart, than with all human expressions and words combined."

Saint Maximilian Maria Kolbe (1894–1941) 10

Why is Mary hardly taught after Vatican II?

We begin this Second Volume our Mary-catechism based in England by noting the precipitous falloff in the teaching of Marian doctrine after the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965). We begin in this way because the attack on the Church’s official Marian doctrine after Vatican II, led by an influential group of dissident theologians, is directed especially at one doctrine that is at the heart of all Marian doctrine, and therefore at the heart of our book. This is the doctrine Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces, arguably the most important Marian doctrine from which all others can be derived. 11

The taboo against Mediatrix of All Graces

It is no exaggeration to say that there has been a real taboo set up by an establishment of influential modern theologians against the teaching of certain essential Marian doctrines, especially Mediatrix of All Graces and Coredemptrix—Marian doctrines taught officially, and therefore infallibly, by popes for centuries through their Ordinary Magisterium (Teaching Authority). Though these doctrines were not yet fully defined by the popes who taught them (and therefore remained subject to legitimate theological debate regarding their full meaning) the question arises: how could illegitimate theologians, hiding under the cover of a false interpretation of Vatican II, succeed, as they have, with such a frontal attack on the official Magisterium of the Church?

Pope Benedict XVI says they used a false method of interpretation

They succeeded by adhering systematically and dogmatically to a false method of interpreting Vatican II teachings, a false method that Pope Benedict XVI calls a hermeneutic of discontinuity and rupture with previous Church teachings.12 Instead of using what Pope Benedict calls a hermeneutic of reform—reform was the whole intent of Vatican II, never a rupture from doctrinal truths—they tenaciously maintained that since the Vatican II document on Mary (chapter 8 of Lumen Gentium) had not used the terms Mediatrix of All Graces and Coredemptrix, then this was the signal for a new and different direction for the Church’s Mariology.

Pope Benedict XVI reveals how such obvious nonsense actually succeeded in its popular influence. He says the dissident movement availed itself of the sympathies of the mass media, and also one trend in modern theology. 13 In other words, they ran a public relations campaign promoting a one-sided spirit of Vatican II—against the Magisterium of the Church and against the actual content of Vatican II writings taken in their full context. The trend in modern theology that the Pope mentions was the widespread protest of Catholic theologians against the traditional control over theology by the hierarchy of the Church. It was a protest consistent with the culture of these theologians, since most worked for colleges and universities which were being increasingly secularized at a rapid rate in the 1960’s and 70’s.

Pope John Paul II officially taught Mediatrix of All Graces

Fortunately, Pope John Paul II, a proponent of both Vatican II and authentic Marian doctrine, did not subject himself to this false hermeneutic but set himself to the task of bridging pre-Vatican II papal teachings and Lumen Gentium. Holding both as complementary and mutually illuminating, John Paul offered a balanced and careful presentation on Mary’s unique participation in the mediation of Christ. He used the terms Mediatrix of All Graces and Coredemptrix on several occasions,14 frequently enough so that both these terms must be considered part of his Ordinary Magisterium. This last point is most important: When a pope teaches consistently and frequently on a repeated theme, then his teaching constitutes the Ordinary Magisterium of that Supreme Pontiff. 15 The response of faithful Catholics to such official teaching is never rejection or dissent, but always religious submission of the will and intellect (Catechism, 892).

A Mary-catechism

We noted in the Preface to Volume One that England was widely known before the Protestant revolution by the profound and unique title of Our Lady’s Dowry, and as much as the story of Mary and England is fascinating, its telling is only an aid to our main purpose, which is revealing the person of Mary so that she may be known and loved, and so that Our Lady’s people may receive the torrent of God’s tender mercies that only she is commissioned to supply. Volume One is especially devoted to supplying these most fundamental truths about Our Lady, all founded on a clear and correct understanding of the Church’s living Sacred Tradition. Indeed, even a casual reading of the Introduction to Volume One, which is titled Who Knows Mary…Knows God, should be convincing proof that without a foundational understanding of this living Sacred Tradition, our Catholic Faith would be founded on spiritual quicksand.16

A year-long catechism course on Mary

While both volumes together are designed for a year-long series of perhaps weekly classes in Catholic adult education, Volume One alone may suffice in many situations for a complete introductory catechism course on Mary of several months duration. This may be sufficient Faith formation for making a Total Consecration of one’s life to God in and through Our Lady, such as, by the famous thirty-three day preparation method of St. Louis de Montfort, or by participating in an apostolate whose mission is to provide the proper formation required for consecration to Our Lady. 17

Volume Two

This volume extends the basic catechesis of Volume One with the following important topics, many related specifically to Mary in England:

• Part 6: The Doctrinal Foundations of Marian Devotion

• Part 7: The Life of the Mother of God

• Part 8: The Absolute Primacy of Jesus Christ and Mary as Key to Restoring England to God’s Grace

• Part 9: Miracles of Our Lady in England and Everywhere

• Part 10: Expressions of the Great Marian Devotion of the English People

• Part 11: Pilgrimage to Some of Our Lady’s Shrines in England

Our special objectives are fulfilled in this Second Volume

Our central objective, stated in the Preface to Volume One, is to show how Marian doctrines magnify Christ, thus fulfilling Our Lady’s prophesy of Luke 1:46: "My soul magnifies the Lord." This means two things: First, doctrines concerning Mary magnify doctrines concerning Jesus Christ by making them clear and definitive. This claim is fulfilled in chapter 37: A Summary of How All Marian Doctrine Magnifies Christ.

It also means that the presence of Mary magnifies by making present the Mercy of God sourced in Jesus Christ. This claim becomes quite obvious to those who pray to Our Lady, such as, according to the guidelines of chapter 46: How to Have Miracles Every Day, and chapter 47: The Rosary as a Guide to Reality.

While most of our other objectives noted in the Preface to Volume One were to some degree fulfilled in Volume One, all are completely fulfilled in this volume. Let us recall the first seven objectives and note, for later convenience, where they are fulfilled:

• Why it is God’s holy Will that we know, love, honor, and follow Mary.18

• Why Mary’s true children always remain faithful to the true Gospel.19

• How true devotion to Mary restores the urgency of evangelization and authentic catechesis.20

• Why there are few who hear and understand the truth about Mary.21

• Why the Holy Spirit is the best basis for understanding the person and role of Mary.22

• Her name: I am the Immaculate Conception 23

• Why England is ideal for teaching about Mary and also for healing the English language of blasphemous misuse regarding the Mother of God. 24

Our final objectives are especially fulfilled in this Second Volume, with the last three tied to the doctrine of the Absolute Primacy of Christ (and Mary) over Creation, a constant theme of our whole book.

• How Our Lady’s shrines point uniquely to essential forgotten truths.25

• How restoration of a love-communion with Our Mother, Mary, leads to the very fulfillment of the Gospel, namely, a profound love-communion with God as Our Father.26

• How both restorations, to Our Mother in Christ, and to Our Father in Christ, are the necessary conditions for the great restoration of the Church that is soon to come.27

• How all this depends on that most central and Biblical of doctrines, the Absolute Primacy of Jesus (and Mary) over all God’s Creation.28

Restoring the Absolute Primacy of Christ and Mary over Creation

These last three objectives, all tied to the Primacy doctrine, are a special focus of this Second Volume. Christ’s Primacy is the key Biblical doctrine needed for the great spiritual restoration that is about to take place in the Church and in the whole world.

The Primacy doctrine is summarized by Colossians 1:15–17: He [the God-man, Jesus Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the first born of every creature. For in Him were created all things in the heavens and the earth, things visible and invisible… He is before all creatures, and in Him all things hold together.

Clearly, the Father, both as Creator and as Our most tender Father, holds centermost place in Christ’s Primacy, for once our attention is fully centered on Jesus Christ, then, and only then, can it become fully oriented to the Father, who is worshipped in spirit and in truth. 29 As Christ Himself reveals, No one comes to the Father but through Me, and he who sees Me sees also the Father. 30

Our Lady holds a central place in Christ’s Primacy

Mary, Mother of the Incarnate God, also holds a central place in Christ’s Primacy. This is not merely an idea of Catholic piety, but a truth dogmatically taught by Pope Pius IX in the highest exercise of his official Magisterium 31—that Our Lady is predestined by God from before the beginning of time to be the Mother of Jesus Christ and the Female Prototype, the Woman. Interestingly, the theological groundwork for this famous papal definition was laid primarily by England’s great Subtle Doctor, the Blessed John Duns Scotus (1265–1308), whose teaching on Christ’s Absolute Primacy constitutes a whole chapter of this Second Volume. 32

The Primacy doctrine is key to restoring the Church

The three central elements of the true Faith that are restored by the Primacy doctrine: 1) the truth of God, Our Father-Creator, 2) the truth of Christ as firstborn in whom all things hold together, and 3) the truth of Mary, Our Mother in Christ.

These three elemental truths, all taken together, restore our true spiritual identity. They restore our spiritual identity because we are not spiritual freaks! We are not, as some would have us foolishly believe, derived by chance from molecules and cells! We have a real Father! We have a real Mother! And we have a real Incarnate God, Jesus Christ, after whom we are modeled in His image!

These three simple truths, properly understood, reverse the Big Lie promoted for so long by sons of England; first as falsehoods and even blasphemies against Our Lady; 33 then as attacks against the very Source and Summit of Christian Life itself, namely, the Real Presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist; 34 and finally against the Father-Creator Himself via promotion of the demonic idea of Godless Evolutionism.

The Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

These three elements are the necessary means for restoring in souls a pure and childlike faith in the infinite goodness of God and enkindling in hearts an interior fire of divine love that will renew the face of the earth. It is a new and divine holiness which is about to sweep the Church interiorly, according to Pope John Paul II.35 It is the coming reign of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary prophesied by Saints Louis de Montfort and Maximilian M. Kolbe and which Sister Lucia, the Fatima Seer, and many others, called the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.36

What is the Triumph of Mary?

The Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is simply the glorification of the Father, Our Father, in love-communion with the Father. It is the very fulfillment of the Gospel of Mary’s divine Son, Jesus Christ. It is the fulfillment of the Lord’s Prayer: I love You, Father. I give myself to You. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done. Just as the Father’s gift of His only begotten Son has come through Mary, the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit which allows us to love the Father also comes through Mary. This in essence is the meaning of the Triumph of Mary. It is the fulfillment of Our Lady’s mission with the Holy Spirit to form Jesus in souls, accomplished by our faithful consecration to God through her Immaculate Heart. 37

When England goes back to Walsingham, Our Lady will come back to England. 38

England and other English speaking countries have a great part to play in the Triumph of Mary. Thus, our book concludes with a pilgrimage to some holy shrines of Our Lady in England, especially with Debbie Nowak’s vivid, beautifully written articles (chapters 58–62). These help show the tremendous value of pilgrimage to Our Lady’s shrines, which, wherever they are found, are centers for pilgrimage and miracles. Thus the ancient saying is so true: When England goes back to Walsingham, Our Lady will come back to England. 39 England has begun to come back to a restored Walsingham, beginning in 1850 with the reappointment by Pope Pius IX of Catholic bishops to England after a lapse of 300 years. Thus prophesied Saint Dominic Savio (1842–1857): 40

This torch is the Catholic religion, which is to illuminate England.

Let us pray: O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee, and for all who do not have recourse to thee, especially for the enemies of the Holy Church and those recommended to thee. Amen.

Part 6

THE DOCTRINAL FOUNDATIONS OF MARIAN DEVOTION

Tu Es Petrus: "And I say to thee, thou art Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven…He who hears you, hears Me; and he who rejects you, rejects Me; and he who rejects Me, rejects Him who sent Me" (Matthew 16: 18–19, Luke 10:16).

Chapter 31

Why Study Marian Doctrine?

"Mary never exalted herself by reason of heavenly gifts; as she became more and more acquainted with heavenly mysteries, she fixed her mind more firmly in humility, answering the Angel, ‘Behold the handmaid of the Lord’ (Luke 1:38).

This is an example to many who—in honors and prosperity, in graces and virtues—do not humble themselves with Mary and with Christ, but grow elated with pride like Eve and Lucifer.

Saint Bede the Venerable, Doctor of the Church (d.735) 41

Contents

1. The necessity of humility

2. Each Marian doctrine offers a truer understanding of God and the Church.

3. True devotion and prayer are based on true doctrine.

4. The attack on Mary is reversed by understanding the Marian doctrines.

5. The confusion introduced by liberal theologians.

6. There are four levels of Church doctrine, all necessary for belief.

1. The Necessity of Humility

Our quotation from Saint Bede, with its clear emphasis on the necessity of humility, is intended to emphasize a virtue necessary for a proper comprehension of this introductory chapter on doctrine, and especially our proper response to doctrine. In other words, just because I do not fully understand a teaching, or because a teaching may seem hard to believe or hard to imitate—or because it is not now fashionable—does not mean that it is not fully true. (The problem may be with me and not with the teaching!) Indeed, acceptance of Divine Truth is always an act of humility, a moral virtue which keeps one from a disordered dependence on his own abilities. This is not only true of Marian doctrine, but every doctrine taught officially by holy Church.

The word doctrine means a teaching of a particular truth. A dogma, in the general sense, is a doctrinal truth that is part of Divine Revelation and that has been carefully defined to avoid ambiguity so that it may be proclaimed in the most certain terms. The Dogmas of the Church, including the Marian Dogmas, are so fundamental as to be part of the Deposit of Faith and Morals handed on by the Apostles.

This chapter presumes that one understands, at the very minimum, the meaning of Sacred Tradition, defined in the Introduction to Volume One as the Deposit of Faith taught according to the Rule of Faith. One then understands that Our Lady’s doctrines are not traditions of men, as some foolishly proclaim. They are part of the living Sacred Tradition, the teachings of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit handed on to, and guarded by, the Magisterium of His holy Church, which Christ founded on Peter and his apostolic successors, such that even the gates of hell would never seduce those who remain faithfully within the Church (see Matthew 16:18). About the necessity of our faithfulness to the living Sacred Tradition, Christ says:

He who hears you, hears Me; and he who rejects you, rejects Me; and he who rejects Me, rejects Him who sent Me (Luke 10:16).

2. Each Marian Doctrine Offers a Truer Understanding of God and the Church

The Virgin Mary has many titles, each indicating some aspect of her saving and sanctifying role as Mediatrix of God’s grace. Some are only loosely defined; for example, Mary as the Morning Star, signifies her role as guiding light for Christians. Other titles, such as Mother of the Church which was formally emphasized at the Vatican II Council, are doctrines promoted by official Ecumenical Councils of the Church and are necessary for belief, with the specific counsel that Everyone should have a genuine devotion to her, and entrust his life to her motherly care.42 Still other titles of Our Lady, such as Mother of God, are dogmas of the Church, so essential to one’s Faith formation and devotion as to be formally defined by the Supreme Magisterium of the Church as essential for proper understanding and belief, even for the salvation and sanctification of one’s soul.

Marian doctrines are necessary for our redemption and sanctification, first, because, taken together, they guarantee, in a marvelous way, a correct view of the person and the nature and role of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, and of the Holy Spirit, our Sanctifier—all in a correct relation to God, our Creator and Father in Christ. And they are necessary for our redemption and sanctification, because they guarantee a correct view of the Church in relation to God and Our Lady, who is, as we shall see, God’s unique instrument for His graces to mankind.

Thus, in each of the Marian doctrines taught in the following chapters there is an emphasis on what that Marian doctrine makes clear about God, the Church, and especially the primacy of Jesus Christ.

3. True Devotion and Prayer Are Based on True Doctrine

The Marian doctrines are not dry and dead things, but an essential foundation for meditation on our Lord. Why must we meditate? Because there is no salvation without prayer, no sanctification without a life of constant prayer. But in order to pray properly, we must have a true knowledge of God, which comes through meditation. To meditate means to seek to understand by reflecting on a truth of the Faith. The Marian doctrines help us to see Christ through understanding, and then to see Christ in others and in all things. Seeing God, we are able to love God in Himself and in others. This is the meaning of charity or true love.

Mary’s role is most simple. She helps us see God and love God in Himself and in others, which is the meaning of charity or true love.

Before we introduce the essential doctrines on Our Lady, however, there is the need to introduce certain fundamental and often little understood ideas that are keys to appreciating doctrines of the Church.

4. The Attack on Mary is Reversed by Understanding the Marian Doctrines

Most attacks on Mary have two obvious characteristics. They are primarily:

• Against one or more of the five fundamental Marian doctrines.

• Based on reading the Bible out of context.

It logically follows that to reverse these attacks on Our Lady one must begin with a clear understanding of these same five essential doctrines, along with their correct relationship to the Bible. We shall do this in the next five chapters, which deal with the five fundamental Marian doctrines in the following order:

• The Third Marian Dogma: the Immaculate Conception of Mary

• The Second Marian Dogma: The Perpetual Virginity of Mary

• The First Marian Dogma: Mary, Mother of God

• The Fourth Marian Dogma: The Bodily Assumption of Mary into Heaven

• The Marian Doctrine: Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces

The sequence of the four Marian Dogmas is given in the order in which Our Lady manifested these particular gifts. For example, Mary’s Immaculate Conception is obviously first, since she was conceived immaculate from her beginning. The official titles, however, were assigned by the Church in the order of their formal definition by the Church as dogmas, with the First Marian Dogma (Mother of God) officially declared at the Council of Ephesus in 431 and the Fourth (the Assumption) declared by Pope Pius XII in 1950. The exceedingly important doctrine Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces is listed fifth simply because it has not yet been fully defined as a Dogma.

5. The Confusion Introduced by Liberal Theologians

Since 1968 life has been made especially confusing for a great many Catholics. This was the year that a group of liberal theologians introduced a previously unheard of idea that the teachings of popes and bishops, even concerning Faith and Morals, can be subject to a licit dissent. This new error—licit dissent—became the battle cry of liberals after their hugely popular success in opposing Humanae Vitae, Pope Paul VI’s famous encyclical letter of August, 1968 prohibiting artificial contraception. 43

Emboldened, licit dissenters after 1968 became so openly revolutionary as to question virtually every area of Church doctrine and morals. The result is the havoc that we now find in the Church, with licit dissenters claiming that the pope (and even all the bishops together with the pope) can be wrong, even in Faith and Morals. The pope, they claim, can be wrong unless he clearly states that, when teaching on Faith and Morals, he is speaking ex cathedra (from the chair), that is, he must be exercising his Supreme Magisterium (soon to be defined below), which is only rarely exercised because it pertains to teachings left to us directly by Christ as part of Sacred Tradition.

It does not take great intelligence to see that such licit dissent is simply a satanic idea for completely undermining the authority of popes and bishops, for if only ex cathedra teachings of a pope, or only the infallible doctrine of a great ecumenical Council need be accepted, then the teachings of the Church would be reduced to a few dozen creedal formulas, with all logical conclusions drawn from those formulas subject to licit dissent. Why then should one listen to mere popes and bishops who are only expressing private judgments in their encyclicals, audiences, and other forms of teaching? Why should one even believe in the Bible, which is a collection of books assembled by a mere pope in the late fourth century? 44 Maybe Pope Damasus was wrong in deciding what should have been included in the Bible? Maybe Martin Luther was right after all in throwing the Epistle of St. James out of his Bible?

6. There Are Four Levels of Church Doctrine: All Are Necessary for Belief

Holy Church distinguishes between four levels of official teaching, all of which are accepted by the faithful, but each with a different level of assent. (The meaning of this term will soon become clear.) That there are different levels of teaching does not mean that some truths are less true or even less important than others, but rather that some are derived from others. As Cardinal Christoph Schonborn has put it, some truths are central, and others are grouped around them. 45

Fortunately, the loophole in Church Canon Law which has allowed licit dissenters to thrive was fixed by Pope John Paul II in his 1998 Apostolic Letter Ad Tuendam Fidem, wherein the Holy Father formally added the third category of teaching—definitive teaching—which previously had not been clearly defined in Canon Law.46 The following is based on the Pope’s presentation, supplemented for ease of understanding by some commentary from the Catechism of the Catholic Church and a fine pamphlet by Father William G. Most. 47

The four levels

1. Infallible definitions by the Supreme Magisterium of the Church.

2. Infallible teachings of the Ordinary Magisterium of the Church.

3. Teachings by the pope proposed in a definitive way.

4. Teachings of the pope and bishops intended to provide moral certitude.

1) Infallible definitions by the Supreme Magisterium of the Church These are divinely revealed truths solemnly proclaimed:

When the Church through its supreme Magisterium proposes a doctrine for belief as being divinely revealed, and as the teaching of Christ, the definitions must be adhered to with the obedience of faith (Catechism, 891).

Here we are addressing foundational teachings of the highest authority pertaining to living Sacred Tradition—both from Scripture and Tradition. 48 These are the dogmas of the Church and must be accepted with what is called the obedience of faith. This is the highest level of assent, which is a theological, or God-given, virtue of obedience (Catechism, 1814).

The Supreme Magisterium is exercised only by: (1) the Pope or (2) the assembly of Bishops in union with the Pope, as in an Ecumenical Council. The Catechism covers both of these modes succinctly:

The Roman Pontiff, head of the college of bishops, enjoys this infallibility in virtue of his office, when, as supreme pastor and teacher of all the faithful—who confirms his brethren in the faith—he proclaims by a definitive act a doctrine pertaining to faith and morals (Catechism, 891).

"The infallibility promised to the Church is also present in the body of bishops when, together with Peter’s successor, they exercise the supreme Magisterium, above all at an Ecumenical Council. When the Church through its supreme Magisterium proposes a doctrine for belief as being divinely revealed, and as the teaching of Christ, the definitions must be adhered to with the obedience of faith. This infallibility extends as far as the deposit of divine revelation itself" (Catechism, 891).

It is worth noting that the pope, with or without a council, does not need to use a set formula of words in order to make an infallible definition via the power of the Supreme Magisterium. He, or they, must simply clarify the intention to define in some way. 49

Again, these are infallible truths pertaining to Faith and Morals, such as the many dogmas associated with the twelve articles of the Apostles’ Creed, or the four Marian dogmas. Examples of the former are dogmas on the Eucharist and the Trinity. All are truths made known by a definitive act either (1) by the Pope, or (2) by the Bishops together with the Pope. In the case of the Pope acting by himself, the definitive act is usually in the form of an Encyclical, wherein a doctrine is proclaimed dogmatically, not only as an infallible teaching, but as a teaching implicit in the Deposit of Faith handed on to the Twelve Apostles. (Example: Ineffabilis Deus by Pope Pius IX in 1854 defining the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Mary.)

The Bishops acting together with the Pope typically exercise the supreme Magisterium at an Ecumenical Council, wherein they may define and proclaim infallible dogmas contained in the Deposit of the Faith. (Example: the Council of Ephesus in 431, where the title Mary, Mother of God was defined and proclaimed dogmatically.)

If by analogy we think in terms of a tree of faith, then these infallible definitions of the Supreme Magisterium would be the roots of the tree. Without these roots, there can be no tree at all, much less fruit produced.

2) Infallible teachings of the Ordinary Magisterium of the Church

These are teachings by the pope or individual bishops that help us to better understand Revelation in matters of Faith and Morals (cf. Catechism, 892). They may take the form of papal encyclicals, apostolic letters and talks or writings, as from a bishop or committee of bishops.

Why are they infallible teachings?

Although the individual bishops do not have the prerogative of infallibility, they can yet teach Christ’s doctrine infallibly. This is true even when they are scattered around the world, provided that, while maintaining the bond of unity among themselves and with the successor of Peter, they concur in a teaching as the one which must be definitely held (Lumen Gentium, 25).

These ordinary teachings of the pope or the individual bishops to their flocks are (or should be) their day-to-day teachings of the Deposit of Faith and Morals. In other words, a bishop or pope teaches infallibly as long as he teaches faithfully from the Deposit.

Three ways a pope may teach using the power of his Ordinary Magisterium

The Vatican II document Lumen Gentium (paragraph 25) shows three ways in which a pope’s teaching must be considered infallible by use of his official Ordinary Magisterium: (1) when the teaching occurs in a document of major importance, or (2) when the teaching can be shown to constitute a consistent and frequently repeated theme, or (3) when the teaching is stated in a deliberate way which unmistakably indicates his intention to teach.50

The required assent of the faithful

The required assent to the Ordinary Magisterium is called religious assent, or more definitively, the religious submission of the will and intellect (Catechism, 892). It is never dissent. By analogy, the infallible teaching of the Ordinary Magisterium is like the trunk of the tree of faith. Without the trunk, there can be no tree, and no fruit.

3) Teachings by the pope proposed "in a definitive way"

These are definitive teachings based on the pope’s teaching authority which exclude further discussion, much less dissent. Often a pope’s encyclicals hold such definitive teaching. Pope Pius XII gave three clear distinctions about this