QUIZ TOPIC:  Mary, Mother of God

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* 1. May is the “Month of Mary” because it has the highest number of Marian feast days.

1)  May is the “Month of Mary” because it has the highest number of Marian feast days.

The answer is:  False

There are eighteen Marian feast days and three of these are Holy Days of Obligation:  January 1 — Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, August 15 — The Assumption, and December 8 — The Immaculate Conception.  May has two Marian feast days:  May 13 — Our Lady of Fatima and May 31 — The Visitation.  January, February, August and December also have two Marian feast days each.  With three Marian feast days, September has the highest number:  Sept. 8 — Birth of Mary, Sept. 12 — The Most Holy Name of Mary, and Sept. 15 — Our Lady of Sorrows.     
http://www.marian.org/mary/feastdays.php

The month of May is the "month which the piety of the faithful has especially dedicated to Our Blessed Lady," and it is the occasion for a "moving tribute of faith and love which Catholics in every part of the world [pay] to the Queen of Heaven. During this month Christians, both in church and in the privacy of the home, offer up to Mary from their hearts an especially fervent and loving homage of prayer and veneration. In this month, too, the benefits of God's mercy come down to us from her throne in greater abundance" (Paul VI: Encyclical on the Month of May, no. 1).
https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/overviews/months/05_1.cfm

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* 2. It is because of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s __________ that all generations have called her blessed. 

2)  It is because of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s __________ that all generations have called her blessed.    

The answer is:  All the above

CCC 148     The Virgin Mary most perfectly embodies the obedience of faith. By faith Mary welcomes the tidings and promise brought by the angel Gabriel, believing that “with God nothing will be impossible” and so giving her assent: “Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be [done] to me according to your word” (Lk 1:37-38; cf. Gen 18:14).  Elizabeth greeted her: “Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord” (Lk 1:45).  It is for this faith that all generations have called Mary blessed” (Lk 1:48). 

CCC 149      Throughout her life and until her last ordeal” (Lk 2:35) when Jesus her son died on the cross, Mary’s faith never wavered. She never ceased to believe in the fulfillment of God’s word. And so the Church venerates in Mary the purest realization of faith.

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* 3. In the Canticle of Mary (Lk 1:46-55), also known as the _____________  (the song both of the Mother of God and of the Church), the Blessed Virgin Mary offered her whole being in faith and was able to magnify the Lord: “For He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His Name.”

3)  In the Canticle of Mary (Lk 1:46-55), also known as the _____________  (the song both of the Mother of God and of the Church), the Blessed Virgin Mary offered her whole being in faith and was able to magnify the Lord: “For He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His Name.”

Answer is C:  Magnificat

CCC 273   …The Virgin Mary is the supreme model of this faith, for she believed that “nothing will be impossible with God,” and was able to magnify the Lord: “For he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name” (Lk 1:37, 49).

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* 4. One example that proves the Blessed Virgin Mary was not a virgin for her entire life is the Gospel of Matthew 13:55, which lists four “brothers” of Jesus.

4)  One example that proves the Blessed Virgin Mary was not a virgin for her entire life is the Gospel of Matthew 13:55, which lists four “brothers” of Jesus.

The answer is:  False

The three main objections to Mary perpetual virginity result from misunderstanding of Greek words:
  1. That Jesus had brothers and sisters because of misunderstanding the Greek word adelphos, which has multiple meanings in addition to brother/sister:  a brother, near kinsman, or relative; neighbor; one of the same nation or nature.
  2. That Joseph had sexual relations with Mary after the birth of Jesus because of misunderstanding the Greek word heos which means “until” but has no implication for what occurs afterward.  Another example of this is when Jesus said He would be with us “until the end of the age,” but this doesn’t imply that Jesus won’t be with us afterward. 
  3. That Mary had other children because Jesus was prototokos the Greek legal term "first-born" under the Mosaic Law (Ex 6:14) referring to the first male child born to Jewish parents regardless of whether any other children followed or not.
Most of these are addressed in an excerpt from Chapter 7 of A Biblical Apologetic of the Catholic Faith by Dr. Robert Schihl available online at https://www.ewtn.com/faith/teachings/maryc2.htm

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* 5. Pope St. John Paul II proclaimed a Year of the Rosary beginning October 2002 and introduced five new mysteries of the Rosary under the name:

5)  Pope St. John Paul II proclaimed a Year of the Rosary beginning October 2002 and introduced five new mysteries of the Rosary under the name. 

Answer is A:  Luminous Mysteries

On October 16, 2002, Pope St. John Paul II published his Apostolic Letter on the Most Holy Rosary under the title, “Rosarium Virginis Mariae.”  With a spirit of advancing peace, he proclaimed the year from October 2002 to October 2003 as the Year of the Rosary.  He also proposed the addition of five new mysteries of the Rosary under the name “Luminous Mysteries” or “Mysteries of Light”:  (1) His Baptism in the Jordan, (2) His self-manifestation at the wedding of Cana, (3) His proclamation of the Kingdom of God, with his call to conversion, (4) His Transfiguration, and finally, (5) His institution of the Eucharist, as the sacramental expression of the Paschal Mystery.
https://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_letters/2002/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_20021016_rosarium-virginis-mariae.html

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