Veneration of the Blessed
Virgin Mary as “Mother of
God”
Objection: “This so-called veneration of the Virgin Mary as ‘Mother
of God’ is nothing but ‘Mariolatry’ and blasphemy!”
“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring
and hers; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Gen.
3:15). This passage, called the protoevangelion, is the first promise of the
Messiah, and the future defeat of the Devil.
The woman in the above passage is the Blessed Virgin Mary, her offspring
is Our Lord Jesus Christ. There has been distinct controversy over the
centuries among Biblical scholars as to whether the text should read “she,”
“he” or “it shall bruise” (or crush). St. Jerome, who was fluent in the
ancient Biblical languages of Hebrew and Greek, when translating the
Bible into Latin rendered it as Ipsa, or ‘she shall crush,’ rather than Ipse,
‘he shall crush.’ So, likewise, did many other Fathers of the Church read
this passage. In any case, the meaning is the same, as it is through her Son,
Our Lord Jesus Christ, that the Blessed Virgin Mary crushes the Devil.¹
Genesis 3:15 together with the following passages form the basis for
veneration of the Virgin Mary as Mother of God:
“Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, His name shall be called
Emmanuel (which means God with us)” (Is. 7:14; cf. St. Matt. 1:23).
1
It is also interesting to note that in two great Marian apparitions which have been
officially approved by the Church, namely Guadalupe (1531) and Rue de Bac
(1830), Our Lady appeared standing triumphantly, crushing the head of a serpent.
In fact, in the former of these apparitions, Our Lady actually announced herself to
Juan Diego as Our Lady of “Tequatzacuepae,” or “the Lady that crushes the
Serpent.”
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