Catholic Champion
Because the Truth is a matter of life and death.
The Most Holy
Theotokos
An Introduction to the Mother of God
(And Intercessor)
By Matthew James Bellisario 2008
Spanning back to the authors of the early Church we can find a special veneration and love for the Mother of God, the Blessed Virgin Mary. More than just a mother, she was to be the vessel, or the Ark (Chrysippus (399-479) said, "The truly royal Ark, the most precious Ark, was the ever-Virgin Theotokos......" In S. Mariam Deip in PO 19,338) which would house Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Her place in salvation history is secure with her being chosen by God, to bring Him into this world bearing a human nature. Thus she would properly be designated the Mother of God by the Church at the Ecumenical Council of Ephesus in 431. The Council would declare the following,
"We confess, then, our Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, perfect God and perfect man, of a rational soul and a body, begotten before all ages from the Father in his Godhead, the same in the last days, for us and for our salvation, born of Mary the Virgin according to his humanity, one and the same consubstantial with the Father in Godhead and consubstantial with us in humanity, for a union of two natures took place. Therefore we confess one Christ, one Son, one Lord. According to this understanding of the unconfused union, we confess the holy Virgin to be the Mother of God because God the Word took flesh and became man and from his very conception united to himself the temple he took from her" (Formula of Union) Ephesus 431
The implications of her bearing this title also brings forth other theological characteristics of her in relation to Christ as well. For instance, she would not simply be a conduit for Jesus to pass through, without the actual characteristics of a real human mother. In other words she was not used just for this purpose, and then abandoned by Jesus as if she were a tool that He needed to fulfill a prophesy, and no more. As Sergius Bulgakov (1988) wisely states, “That Holy humanity was attained in the person of the Virgin. Hence Mary is not merely the instrument, but the direct positive condition of the incarnation, its human aspect.” The importance of the two natures of Christ put Mary in the heart of theological debates of the first centuries of the Church. To dismiss her as non-essential to the Christian faith has never been acceptable. In fact many of the Church's early Saints took extreme offense to this mentality. For instance Saint Gregory has a strong statement for this way of thinking. He wrote, “If anyone does not believe that Holy Mary is the Mother of God, he is severed from the Godhead. If anyone should assert that He passed through the Virgin as through a channel, and was not at once divinely and humanly formed in her (divinely, because without the intervention of a man; humanly, because in accordance with the laws of gestation), he is in like manner godless." Gregory of Nazianzen, To Cledonius, Epistle 101 (A.D. 382)
The role of Mary as the Mother of God is fairly clear to the early Church. What other implications or theological roles does this make her a part of? We can conclude a few logical points here just from what we have seen so far. One is that God chose her to function in His plan of salvation. Any reasonable person would not argue the fact that her role as the God bearer makes her a part of God's plan of salvation, for without that piece of the plan He would not have taken on a human nature, and not have fulfilled His mission as the Savior of mankind. So if she participated in God's plan of salvation, she can properly be called a Co-Redeemer or Co-Mediator. The prefix Co means with, not equal to, so there is nothing to get worked up over here if we understand the terminology correctly. She is with Jesus in His plan of redemption and with Jesus as the Mediator. So far there is nothing here that we can't infer from her basic role as the Mother of God. She willingly participates in Jesus' plan of salvation in her fiat. She responds to the angel, "Let it be done according to thy word."
I think more needs to be said of the person of Jesus, to completely understand our Lady’s participation in His plan of salvation. Our Lord Jesus is one Divine person with two natures. He has a human nature, which he received from the Virgin Mary, and He has a divine nature, which the Holy Spirit conferred into our Ladies womb. However we must realize these two natures are not separate insofar as they make up one person, Jesus, who is God, a divine person. There is a great mystery here of course. But the Church has said that if Mary gave birth to the person Jesus, and she was His mother, then she is rightfully called the Mother of God. This does not mean that she was the creator of Jesus, nor a fourth person of the one God as many Protestant hecklers falsely claim that Catholics teach. Mary is indeed the Mother of God. We must realize that her participation is an invitation to participate from our Lord, when the angel Gabriel came to her. It is not self-imposed by Our Lady; she is a willing participant in accepting our Lord’s invitation. Everything that she does is done in complete humility to her Son’s will, and it is done by the virtue of her only Son, Jesus. We must understand that Jesus alone has merited the redemption of mankind through His suffering, death and resurrection. We as Catholic Christians have always believed this, despite what others outside the true church claim. The terms of Co-Mediator or Co-Redemptor do not imply any of this as many have claimed. Furthermore, I think it is important to quote at full length the Catechism of the Catholic Church number 970 which states, "Mary's function as mother of men in no way obscures or diminishes this unique mediation of Christ, but rather shows its power. But the Blessed Virgin's salutary influence on men ...... flows forth from the superabundance of the merits of Christ, rests on his mediation, depends entirely on it, and draws all its power from it."513 "No creature could ever be counted along with the Incarnate Word and Redeemer; but just as the priesthood of Christ is shared in various ways both by his ministers and the faithful, and as the one goodness of God is radiated in different ways among his creatures, so also the unique mediation of the Redeemer does not exclude but rather gives rise to a manifold cooperation which is but a sharing in this one source." Jesus made salvation possible by His sacrifice and His alone.
What exactly does this mean for the average Catholic in the pews on Sunday? It drives home the fact that Jesus has a full human nature, and a full divine nature, and that He is the Divine Savior incarnate. It also drives home the fact that the original sin that was caused by Eve's disobedience was in effect nullified by Mary's fiat in accepting the divine will of God instead of going against it. This gives the average lay person a pure example of a human being (Mary) following the will of God wholeheartedly without reservation. This thus gives Catholics a role-model of sorts to follow. This is very elementary so far, and as we progress we will see that it doesn't complicate. Her obedient example is illustrated by Saint Ireneaus in the second century,
“Consequently, then, Mary the Virgin is found to be obedient, saying, "Behold, 0 Lord, your handmaid; be it done to me according to your word." Eve . . . who was then still a virgin although she had Adam for a husband — for in paradise they were both naked but were not ashamed; for, having been created only a short time, they had no understanding of the procreation of children . . . having become disobedient [sin], was made the cause of death for herself and for the whole human race; so also Mary, betrothed to a man but nevertheless still a virgin, being obedient [no sin], was made the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race. . . . Thus, the knot of Eve's disobedience was loosed by the obedience of Mary. What the virgin Eve had bound in unbelief, the Virgin Mary loosed through faith” (Against Heresies 3:22:24 [A.D. 189]).
So how do we get from the role of her example, to an active intercessor of all Catholics? Can we find any support for any early Christian writers praying to her, or writing hymns of praise venerating her in her role as Mother of God and an intercessor? It can be argued that her fiat itself was an intercession for mankind of sorts, but that would not equate to the active petitioning of her after her earthly departure. We can see during her life she did act in an intercessory role at the wedding at Cana in the Sacred New Testament Scriptures. We also see that Jesus refers to her as one of those who hear the Word of God and obey. (Luke 11:27-28) Can we make the connection to her as being an intercessor from heaven? In Sacred Scripture we do not find any evidence for it, however if you are not Catholic, you should know that the Church has never held a Scripture Alone mentality. We believe that the Gospel is the Word of God in which some of it is written down in Scripture form as the New Testament. Sacred Scripture has never been looked at as a systematic theological reference book. So the Catholic Church is not too concerned with a lack of Biblical evidence as such, but only that it remains part of the Gospel that Christ gave us through His apostles as passed down and was protected by the Holy Spirit. I will not spend much time on this subject of Scripture in Tradition. So what other evidence do we have besides the living witness of the Catholic Church to the heavenly intercession of Mary the Mother of God? It seems that the living Church that has existed since Christ Himself would be enough evidence, but for the sake of the sceptic, what other evidence can we put forth?
The earliest evidence we have of Mary's intercession is a point of controversy. It comes from Saint Irenaeus' use of the word Advocata referring to Mary in his Adversus Haereses and in Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching. The controversy is over whether or not he was referring to her as the intercessor of Eve or just as her counterpart. (O'Carroll 1983) Moving on to more clear references to her we have Saint Gregory Nazianzen (329-389) who describes a scene of a virgin of his era Justina whose virginity is threatened by a suitor. (O'Carroll 1983) Saint Gregory recalls, "Recalling these and other circumstances and imploring the Virgin Mary to bring assistance, since she, too, was a virgin and had been in danger, she entrusted herself to the remedy of fasting and sleeping on the ground." Gregory of Nazianzen, Oration 24:11(A.D. 379),in MCF,167
Saint Gregory of Nyssa (335-394) also describes an apparition of Our lady to his namesake, Gregory the Wonderworker. "For it is said that he[Gregory the Wonderworker] heard the one who had appeared in womanly form exhorting John the Evangelist to explain to the young man the mystery of the true faith. John, in his turn, declared that he was completely willing to please the Mother of the Lord even in this matter and this was the one thing closest to his heart. And so the discussion coming to a close, and after they had made it quite clear and precise for him, the two disappeared from his sight." Gregory of Nyssa, On Gregory the WonderWorker(AD 380),PG 46:912,in MCF,94
We also see in the Divine Liturgy a growing awareness of Mary's intercession in the Communicantes of the Divine Liturgy. The most impressive piece of evidence we have is a prayer at the end of a homily given at a Divine Liturgy by Basil of Seleucia in the 4th century, it reads as follows, "O Virgin all holy, he who has said of you all that is honorable and glorious has not sinned against the truth, but remains unequal to your merit. Look down upon us from above and be propitious to us. Lead us in peace and having brought us without shame to the throne of judgment, grant us a place at the right hand of your Son, that we may borne off to heaven and sing with angels to the uncreated, consubstantial Trinity" Basil of Seleucia, PG 85:452(ante AD 459),in THEO,187 We also have another witness to the Catholic view of her intercession from heaven by Theotknos of Livias who in the 6th century wrote, "Raised to heaven, she remains for the human race an unconquerable rampart, interceding for us before her Son and God." Theoteknos of Livias, Assumption 291(ante AD 560),in THEO,187
We can see that the idea of Mary's intercessory role is not a modern invention, by any stretch of the imagination. We can also see that none of these writers hold her up to be the 4th person of the Holy Trinity as many people falsely accuse the Catholic Church of doing. In short, we see the Theotokos (The God Bearer, or Mother of God) as a pure example of how we as Christians should ascend to Her son, Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We also can see that we how view her also has implications on how we view Jesus Himself. Secondly we observe her as a powerful intercessor who always points to Jesus, and always operates within His will. Her intercession is not much different than our intercession for each other here on earth. We pray for each other and petition God for others salvation all of the time, or at least we should be. She is no different, aside from the fact the she now resides in heaven and not on earth. She is still part of the Body of Christ as we are. When we begin to understand Mary's role in God's family, then we begin to understand our own roles in His family as well.
I will address more issues in other essays to come. I want to address Mary's Perpetual Virginity, her Immaculate Conception and her Assumption as well, and how those doctrines intertwine with what we have discussed thus-far. I also want to examine a few passages of Scripture and debunk a few misinterpretations that many Protestants force upon Mary, making her out to be a stumbling block in the path of Jesus, one in which He is always trying to get rid of, or rebuke.
I want to leave you with two beautiful quotes from the ancient Church regarding Mary. There is alot of theology packed into these two small quotes. I will carry them over to the next essays.
"The Virgin's festival (parthenike panegyris) incites our tongue today to herald her praise ... handmaid and Mother, Virgin and heaven, the only bridge of God to men, the awful loom of the Incarnation, in which by some unspeakable way the garment of that union was woven, whereof the weaver is the Holy Ghost; and the spinner the overshadowing from on high; the wool the ancient fleece of Adam; the woof the undefiled flesh from the virgin, the weaver's shuttle the immense grace of Him who brought it about; the artificer the Word gliding through the hearing" Proclus of Constantinople, Homily 1(ante AD 446),in CE
"O noble Virgin, truly you are greater than any other greatness. For who is your equal in greatness, O dwelling place of God the Word? To whom among all creatures shall I compare you, O Virgin? You are greater than them all O Covenant, clothed with purity instead of gold! You are the Ark in which is found the golden vessel containing the true manna, that is, the flesh in which divinity resides." Athanasius, Homily of the Papyrus of Turin,71:216(ante AD 373),in MCF,106
Bibliography
O'Carroll, Michael. Theotokos. Eugene, Oregon: Wipf and Stock, 1982. 186-188.
Bulgakov, Sergius. The Orthodox Chruch. Crestwood,NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary, 1988
An Introduction to the Mother of God
(And Intercessor)
By Matthew James Bellisario 2008
Spanning back to the authors of the early Church we can find a special veneration and love for the Mother of God, the Blessed Virgin Mary. More than just a mother, she was to be the vessel, or the Ark (Chrysippus (399-479) said, "The truly royal Ark, the most precious Ark, was the ever-Virgin Theotokos......" In S. Mariam Deip in PO 19,338) which would house Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Her place in salvation history is secure with her being chosen by God, to bring Him into this world bearing a human nature. Thus she would properly be designated the Mother of God by the Church at the Ecumenical Council of Ephesus in 431. The Council would declare the following,
"We confess, then, our Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, perfect God and perfect man, of a rational soul and a body, begotten before all ages from the Father in his Godhead, the same in the last days, for us and for our salvation, born of Mary the Virgin according to his humanity, one and the same consubstantial with the Father in Godhead and consubstantial with us in humanity, for a union of two natures took place. Therefore we confess one Christ, one Son, one Lord. According to this understanding of the unconfused union, we confess the holy Virgin to be the Mother of God because God the Word took flesh and became man and from his very conception united to himself the temple he took from her" (Formula of Union) Ephesus 431
The implications of her bearing this title also brings forth other theological characteristics of her in relation to Christ as well. For instance, she would not simply be a conduit for Jesus to pass through, without the actual characteristics of a real human mother. In other words she was not used just for this purpose, and then abandoned by Jesus as if she were a tool that He needed to fulfill a prophesy, and no more. As Sergius Bulgakov (1988) wisely states, “That Holy humanity was attained in the person of the Virgin. Hence Mary is not merely the instrument, but the direct positive condition of the incarnation, its human aspect.” The importance of the two natures of Christ put Mary in the heart of theological debates of the first centuries of the Church. To dismiss her as non-essential to the Christian faith has never been acceptable. In fact many of the Church's early Saints took extreme offense to this mentality. For instance Saint Gregory has a strong statement for this way of thinking. He wrote, “If anyone does not believe that Holy Mary is the Mother of God, he is severed from the Godhead. If anyone should assert that He passed through the Virgin as through a channel, and was not at once divinely and humanly formed in her (divinely, because without the intervention of a man; humanly, because in accordance with the laws of gestation), he is in like manner godless." Gregory of Nazianzen, To Cledonius, Epistle 101 (A.D. 382)
The role of Mary as the Mother of God is fairly clear to the early Church. What other implications or theological roles does this make her a part of? We can conclude a few logical points here just from what we have seen so far. One is that God chose her to function in His plan of salvation. Any reasonable person would not argue the fact that her role as the God bearer makes her a part of God's plan of salvation, for without that piece of the plan He would not have taken on a human nature, and not have fulfilled His mission as the Savior of mankind. So if she participated in God's plan of salvation, she can properly be called a Co-Redeemer or Co-Mediator. The prefix Co means with, not equal to, so there is nothing to get worked up over here if we understand the terminology correctly. She is with Jesus in His plan of redemption and with Jesus as the Mediator. So far there is nothing here that we can't infer from her basic role as the Mother of God. She willingly participates in Jesus' plan of salvation in her fiat. She responds to the angel, "Let it be done according to thy word."
I think more needs to be said of the person of Jesus, to completely understand our Lady’s participation in His plan of salvation. Our Lord Jesus is one Divine person with two natures. He has a human nature, which he received from the Virgin Mary, and He has a divine nature, which the Holy Spirit conferred into our Ladies womb. However we must realize these two natures are not separate insofar as they make up one person, Jesus, who is God, a divine person. There is a great mystery here of course. But the Church has said that if Mary gave birth to the person Jesus, and she was His mother, then she is rightfully called the Mother of God. This does not mean that she was the creator of Jesus, nor a fourth person of the one God as many Protestant hecklers falsely claim that Catholics teach. Mary is indeed the Mother of God. We must realize that her participation is an invitation to participate from our Lord, when the angel Gabriel came to her. It is not self-imposed by Our Lady; she is a willing participant in accepting our Lord’s invitation. Everything that she does is done in complete humility to her Son’s will, and it is done by the virtue of her only Son, Jesus. We must understand that Jesus alone has merited the redemption of mankind through His suffering, death and resurrection. We as Catholic Christians have always believed this, despite what others outside the true church claim. The terms of Co-Mediator or Co-Redemptor do not imply any of this as many have claimed. Furthermore, I think it is important to quote at full length the Catechism of the Catholic Church number 970 which states, "Mary's function as mother of men in no way obscures or diminishes this unique mediation of Christ, but rather shows its power. But the Blessed Virgin's salutary influence on men ...... flows forth from the superabundance of the merits of Christ, rests on his mediation, depends entirely on it, and draws all its power from it."513 "No creature could ever be counted along with the Incarnate Word and Redeemer; but just as the priesthood of Christ is shared in various ways both by his ministers and the faithful, and as the one goodness of God is radiated in different ways among his creatures, so also the unique mediation of the Redeemer does not exclude but rather gives rise to a manifold cooperation which is but a sharing in this one source." Jesus made salvation possible by His sacrifice and His alone.
What exactly does this mean for the average Catholic in the pews on Sunday? It drives home the fact that Jesus has a full human nature, and a full divine nature, and that He is the Divine Savior incarnate. It also drives home the fact that the original sin that was caused by Eve's disobedience was in effect nullified by Mary's fiat in accepting the divine will of God instead of going against it. This gives the average lay person a pure example of a human being (Mary) following the will of God wholeheartedly without reservation. This thus gives Catholics a role-model of sorts to follow. This is very elementary so far, and as we progress we will see that it doesn't complicate. Her obedient example is illustrated by Saint Ireneaus in the second century,
“Consequently, then, Mary the Virgin is found to be obedient, saying, "Behold, 0 Lord, your handmaid; be it done to me according to your word." Eve . . . who was then still a virgin although she had Adam for a husband — for in paradise they were both naked but were not ashamed; for, having been created only a short time, they had no understanding of the procreation of children . . . having become disobedient [sin], was made the cause of death for herself and for the whole human race; so also Mary, betrothed to a man but nevertheless still a virgin, being obedient [no sin], was made the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race. . . . Thus, the knot of Eve's disobedience was loosed by the obedience of Mary. What the virgin Eve had bound in unbelief, the Virgin Mary loosed through faith” (Against Heresies 3:22:24 [A.D. 189]).
So how do we get from the role of her example, to an active intercessor of all Catholics? Can we find any support for any early Christian writers praying to her, or writing hymns of praise venerating her in her role as Mother of God and an intercessor? It can be argued that her fiat itself was an intercession for mankind of sorts, but that would not equate to the active petitioning of her after her earthly departure. We can see during her life she did act in an intercessory role at the wedding at Cana in the Sacred New Testament Scriptures. We also see that Jesus refers to her as one of those who hear the Word of God and obey. (Luke 11:27-28) Can we make the connection to her as being an intercessor from heaven? In Sacred Scripture we do not find any evidence for it, however if you are not Catholic, you should know that the Church has never held a Scripture Alone mentality. We believe that the Gospel is the Word of God in which some of it is written down in Scripture form as the New Testament. Sacred Scripture has never been looked at as a systematic theological reference book. So the Catholic Church is not too concerned with a lack of Biblical evidence as such, but only that it remains part of the Gospel that Christ gave us through His apostles as passed down and was protected by the Holy Spirit. I will not spend much time on this subject of Scripture in Tradition. So what other evidence do we have besides the living witness of the Catholic Church to the heavenly intercession of Mary the Mother of God? It seems that the living Church that has existed since Christ Himself would be enough evidence, but for the sake of the sceptic, what other evidence can we put forth?
The earliest evidence we have of Mary's intercession is a point of controversy. It comes from Saint Irenaeus' use of the word Advocata referring to Mary in his Adversus Haereses and in Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching. The controversy is over whether or not he was referring to her as the intercessor of Eve or just as her counterpart. (O'Carroll 1983) Moving on to more clear references to her we have Saint Gregory Nazianzen (329-389) who describes a scene of a virgin of his era Justina whose virginity is threatened by a suitor. (O'Carroll 1983) Saint Gregory recalls, "Recalling these and other circumstances and imploring the Virgin Mary to bring assistance, since she, too, was a virgin and had been in danger, she entrusted herself to the remedy of fasting and sleeping on the ground." Gregory of Nazianzen, Oration 24:11(A.D. 379),in MCF,167
Saint Gregory of Nyssa (335-394) also describes an apparition of Our lady to his namesake, Gregory the Wonderworker. "For it is said that he[Gregory the Wonderworker] heard the one who had appeared in womanly form exhorting John the Evangelist to explain to the young man the mystery of the true faith. John, in his turn, declared that he was completely willing to please the Mother of the Lord even in this matter and this was the one thing closest to his heart. And so the discussion coming to a close, and after they had made it quite clear and precise for him, the two disappeared from his sight." Gregory of Nyssa, On Gregory the WonderWorker(AD 380),PG 46:912,in MCF,94
We also see in the Divine Liturgy a growing awareness of Mary's intercession in the Communicantes of the Divine Liturgy. The most impressive piece of evidence we have is a prayer at the end of a homily given at a Divine Liturgy by Basil of Seleucia in the 4th century, it reads as follows, "O Virgin all holy, he who has said of you all that is honorable and glorious has not sinned against the truth, but remains unequal to your merit. Look down upon us from above and be propitious to us. Lead us in peace and having brought us without shame to the throne of judgment, grant us a place at the right hand of your Son, that we may borne off to heaven and sing with angels to the uncreated, consubstantial Trinity" Basil of Seleucia, PG 85:452(ante AD 459),in THEO,187 We also have another witness to the Catholic view of her intercession from heaven by Theotknos of Livias who in the 6th century wrote, "Raised to heaven, she remains for the human race an unconquerable rampart, interceding for us before her Son and God." Theoteknos of Livias, Assumption 291(ante AD 560),in THEO,187
We can see that the idea of Mary's intercessory role is not a modern invention, by any stretch of the imagination. We can also see that none of these writers hold her up to be the 4th person of the Holy Trinity as many people falsely accuse the Catholic Church of doing. In short, we see the Theotokos (The God Bearer, or Mother of God) as a pure example of how we as Christians should ascend to Her son, Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We also can see that we how view her also has implications on how we view Jesus Himself. Secondly we observe her as a powerful intercessor who always points to Jesus, and always operates within His will. Her intercession is not much different than our intercession for each other here on earth. We pray for each other and petition God for others salvation all of the time, or at least we should be. She is no different, aside from the fact the she now resides in heaven and not on earth. She is still part of the Body of Christ as we are. When we begin to understand Mary's role in God's family, then we begin to understand our own roles in His family as well.
I will address more issues in other essays to come. I want to address Mary's Perpetual Virginity, her Immaculate Conception and her Assumption as well, and how those doctrines intertwine with what we have discussed thus-far. I also want to examine a few passages of Scripture and debunk a few misinterpretations that many Protestants force upon Mary, making her out to be a stumbling block in the path of Jesus, one in which He is always trying to get rid of, or rebuke.
I want to leave you with two beautiful quotes from the ancient Church regarding Mary. There is alot of theology packed into these two small quotes. I will carry them over to the next essays.
"The Virgin's festival (parthenike panegyris) incites our tongue today to herald her praise ... handmaid and Mother, Virgin and heaven, the only bridge of God to men, the awful loom of the Incarnation, in which by some unspeakable way the garment of that union was woven, whereof the weaver is the Holy Ghost; and the spinner the overshadowing from on high; the wool the ancient fleece of Adam; the woof the undefiled flesh from the virgin, the weaver's shuttle the immense grace of Him who brought it about; the artificer the Word gliding through the hearing" Proclus of Constantinople, Homily 1(ante AD 446),in CE
"O noble Virgin, truly you are greater than any other greatness. For who is your equal in greatness, O dwelling place of God the Word? To whom among all creatures shall I compare you, O Virgin? You are greater than them all O Covenant, clothed with purity instead of gold! You are the Ark in which is found the golden vessel containing the true manna, that is, the flesh in which divinity resides." Athanasius, Homily of the Papyrus of Turin,71:216(ante AD 373),in MCF,106
Bibliography
O'Carroll, Michael. Theotokos. Eugene, Oregon: Wipf and Stock, 1982. 186-188.
Bulgakov, Sergius. The Orthodox Chruch. Crestwood,NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary, 1988