Theotokos: Mother and Intermediary

Outside of her Divine Son, to whom she cannot be compared in any way, Mary is the most eminent member of the human family.  So what is her relationship to her fellow humans?  She is of course not the “head” of the human race for that dignity belongs only to Jesus Christ, the “second Adam” who restored our lost innocence.  Mary gave birth to her own spiritual and supernatural Head, her own Savior, in the person of Christ.  As such, she also becomes the mother of the Mystical Body of Christ.

She is spiritually the mother not indeed of our Head, i.e., the Savior Himself, from whom rather she is spiritually born…but [the spiritual mother] of His members, i.e., ourselves, because she cooperated in love towards the birth of faithful [Christians] in the Church who are members of that Head; bodily she is truly the mother of that Head.  St. Augustine of Hippo

Mary can also be rightly called an intermediary between God and the world, though not in the same sense as her Divine Son.  Christ’s mediatorship is based on the hypostatic union of the two natures in one person.  The intermediary role of Mary depends entirely on her Divine Motherhood – through which she has a participated and secondary mediatorship deriving its essence and effectiveness solely and totally from the grace of Christ.  Mary’s role as intermediary is not an end in itself, but is merely a means to an end.  Christ is the One True Mediator between God and man.  Salvation is through Christ alone.  Mary always points to her Son – always directs us to Him reminding us to “Do whatever He tells you!” (John 2:5).

In the Fathers of the Church, Mary is often compared to the ladder that Jacob saw in his dream  (Gen 28:12 and following).  She is the ladder by which the Son of God descended to man, and by which man may ascend to her Heavenly Son.    From her was born Jesus, who is called the Christ (Matt 1:16).