Can you tell what the true beauty and goodness are they? Is there an objective of these attributes, or are simply perceived to be? Focus on what God has created women to be and what society tells them to be. Is it true that women are professionally successful women to the exclusion of female nature, depend on the admiration of others for its own value, or its mere objects of physical pleasure? Or are they called to find the truth of his dignity in the way of Mary, Virgin Mother of God, which reflects and participates in the divine truth, beauty and goodness of what is called the whole creation to reflect and share?
The question of truth, beauty and goodness is something that has intrigued people for centuries. Pagan philosophers try to identify what is true, good and beautiful. For the Christian, however, there can be no other answer than that which affirms that the triune God is the true, beautiful, and good. By its very essence of God is all three. Everything else is just for participation. We know this because God has chosen to reveal Himself to us. The Catechism of the Catholic Church # 2500 tells us that "before revealing himself to man in words of truth, God reveals (man) through the universal language of creation." All creation reflects its creator, so we can see something of beauty in creation itself. The truth, beauty and goodness, which are called "transcendental" can not be separated from each other because they are a unit as the Trinity is one. Truth is beautiful in itself. And goodness describes all God has done. "And God saw everything he had done, and it was very good" (Gen.1: 31).
The man is the summit of the Creator's work, as the Scripture expresses by clearly distinguishing the creation of man and other creatures. "God created man in His image ..." (Gen. 1:27). Therefore, the man was not created only good and beautiful, but also established in friendship with his Creator and in harmony with itself and with the creation around him, in a state that would be surpassed only by the glory of the new creation in Christ. The first man's inner harmony, the harmony between man and first woman (Adam and Eve), and harmony among the first couple and all creation is called "original justice". This harmony of all original justice was lost by the sin of our first parents. Created in a state of holiness, man was destined to be fully "divinized" by God in glory. However, he himself preferred to God and disobeyed God's command.
Therefore, once Adam and Eve lost the grace of original holiness and harmony in which he lived was destroyed. They were separated from the beauty itself. But God did not abandon humanity, all of which share the sin of Adam, and that "by one man's disobedience many were made sinners" (Rom. 5:12). In the fullness of time God sent His Son to restore what was lost. The Son, who is "beautiful above the sons of men" came to restore beauty.
Therefore, we now turn to beauty. Von Balthasar, once commented that when one is trying to bring others to God, must begin with the beauty because beauty attracts. The beauty will lead us to truth and goodness. Therefore, if one is to start with the beauty then you should know what beauty is. I will make a distinction between two kinds of beauty, but only one of them is beauty in the true sense of the definition. It is "seductive" beauty, which is often reflected in our current culture. This would imply that draws us to our self-destruction (moral or spiritual). That takes us away from what they were created, the union with beauty itself. This kind of beauty that again, but first I want to establish a definition and adequate understanding of what "real" beauty is. This is, above all, what attracts us toward our true fulfillment and happiness. In his book The beauty of holiness and the holiness of beauty, John Saward, based on the works of St. Thomas Aquinas defines beauty as "the brightness of the real substantial or that is in the share of material things. "In other words, although you can find beauty in the outward appearance, you have to go deeper into the nature or essence of the thing.
"Therefore, a material substance (as man) is not the essence of beauty when something shines clearly through their outward appearance." The beauty of the soul of a person can be said to shine through a person's face. For this to happen, three things are necessary, the integrity (integrity), the due proportion (harmony) and brightness (brightness). Importantly, it is understood in this definition is the fact that beauty is a reality in itself, is not something caused by looking at a work of art or anything else that attracts us. Rather, the beauty radiating from what we see. Radiates outward, as is participating in the Beauty itself. As for Jesus, "The Christian tradition - Hilary St. Augustine and Peter Lombard, Albert, Thomas and St. Bonaventure - argues that beauty can be appropriated in a special way to the second person ..."
St. Thomas says that the three brands of beauty is found in Jesus. Radiation is found in Him, because He is the Word of the Father and the Father's eternal Word pronounced completely and expresses perfectly. He is the radiance of the Father's mind. The proper proportion is in the Son of God, because He is the perfect image of the Father. As the perfect image, he is the divine beauty. Jesus is the fullness, because he has in itself the whole nature of the Father. Begetting the Son, the Father communicates all of its divine essence. Therefore, we have a divine person, the Son of God, while remaining true God truly became man for us in the womb of the Virgin. When you see the Virgin and Child, is a confession of the Trinity. Pope John Paul II explains that the image of the Mother and Child "is a quiet but firm statement of the virginal motherhood of Mary, and for that reason, the divinity of the Son."
As such it is a confession of the Trinity, which allows Mary a special place in relation to the Truth, the Good and the Beautiful. The Blessed Virgin, said the fifteenth century poet John Lydgate, is "more beautiful than ever mother was alive." Many poets and artists have tried to express their praise and admiration for her which is so closely united to the Divine. When Dante reaches Paradise, is the beauty of the Son of God more perfectly reflected in Mary, whom he was born. So, let's see how Mary is to be for everyone, but especially women, a model of true beauty, and therefore the goodness and truth, as it reflects an interest in the life of the Trinity. "All the beauty of body and soul that the Son of God brought the world the charm would dispense to mankind, is summarized in, and mediated by the person of his ever-Virgin Mother," a woman clothed with the sun, moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars "(Rev. 12:1). If there is beauty, is here. "
To understand the beauty of Mary, we must know the gifts in it, and its response to these gifts, which put in intimate contact with the beauty itself. Scripture, the revealed word of God tells us that "the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man named Joseph ... and the virgin's name was Mary. And he (the angel) came to her and said: "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you! ... Do not be afraid Mary, for thou hast found favor with God. And behold you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus. He will be great and called the Son of the Most High ... And Mary said, "How can this be, since I have no husband?" And the angel said: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow, so that the child be born will be called holy, the Son of God. "... And Mary said, Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord unto me according to thy word." (Luke 1:26 -38).
To be the Mother of the Savior, Mary was given the necessary gifts and served in that role. Mary was greeted as "full of grace" as if that was his real name. A name expresses a person's identity. "Full of grace" is the essence of Mary, her identity and sense of his life. Mary is the full of grace because the Lord is with her. The grace that is filled is the presence of Him who is the source of all grace, and she is dedicated to what has come to dwell in it and she is about to give the world. By a singular grace is free from all stain of sin by reason of the merits of her Son. , There is a harmony that Adam lost. Therefore, it has the first two qualities of beauty: the proper proportion (harmony) and integrity (wholeness), and that by the merits of her Son and the fullness of grace which has given its nature is complete - unharmed and without sin.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church proclaims that "Mary, the all-holy ever-virgin Mother of God, is the masterwork of the mission of the Son and the Holy Spirit in the fullness of time ... In it, the wonders" of God "that the Spirit was to fulfill in Christ and the Church began to be manifested. "Through Mary, the Holy Spirit begins to bring men" object of the merciful love of God, in communion with Christ. "
Grace has been described as "God's better beauty, the splendor of the soul." And Mary, full of grace, which radiates the splendor of spiritual beauty. Grace (sanctifying grace) gives us a share in divine life, but our soul is shaped in the likeness of Christ. Mary in the abundance of grace is a beautiful reflection of His Son. She has the "glow", which is the third of the qualities of beauty. The great St. Bernard of Clairvaux, states that "contemplating the face of the Mother is the best way to prepare to see the glorious face of the Son." Saward agree with this idea, noting that the fact that Our Lord was conceived by the Holy Spirit, seeded, so there is only one person who resembles in his humanity, and that his Virgin Mother.
How Mary's beauty that women of today to be the image of true beauty, and therefore of truth and goodness, too? Mary, the Theotokos - Mother of God, Mother of infinite beauty, she is beautiful, will guide women to what is true and good. It gives the lie to the "seductive beauty", which as noted above all what attracts us to our self-destruction (moral or spiritual), raising his own "truth" beauty in contrast. Before showing the essence of the beauty of Mary, St. Thomas meets requirements for beauty: integrity, proper proportion, and glare, let's look at the demand of the society of female beauty. Women today are told by society that what is good and beautiful is that which is attractive and seductive. The beauty is separated from God, which takes into account and whose goodness is changed to a "depraved mind, conduct unbecoming" (Rom. 1: 28), which leads to both spiritual and physical dissolution often. The "truth" that is taught is that "considers the human being (and therefore, the woman), not as individuals but as a thing, as an object of trade, at the service of selfish interest and mere pleasure. .. this falsehood bears fruit as bitter as contempt for men and women, slavery, oppression of the weak, pornography, prostitution ... "
Therefore, beauty is often seen as a simple physical quality. There is a lack of "due proportion" as only one aspect of the whole person is considered. The company emphasizes the physical to the exclusion of the spiritual. Flowing from this same type of mentality, we see that women are honored for their work outside the home than for his work in the family. What is "seen" so attractive is a woman who is able to achieve "good" of a successful career that promises happiness and "equality with men." To achieve this, women frequently do not give up their femininity or become a mere imitation of the male. They are in a sense trading in the quality of the "integrity", which is necessary for true beauty, for the claim of the limited partnership of the beautiful. This "seductive beauty" very promising "good" results in a hedonism that distorts and misrepresents the true human sexuality and human dignity. This leads not only to the lack of respect for what a woman is to be, because the truth about his personal dignity as it was created and redeemed by God is unknown, but also prevents women from achieving 'full of grace "that they were created. It leads to spiritual destruction of women because they are not living a life of grace. They do not live for God.
Mary, who lived a life full of grace, is, however, the model of redeemed woman. God himself, "says the dignity of women in the highest form possible by assuming human flesh from the Virgin Mary, whom the Church honors as the Mother of God." The highest elevation of human nature took place in male gender, when Jesus, the Son of God, became man and women. The highest elevation of the human person is held in the female gender, the Virgin Mary. Her divine motherhood gives a high dignity. She is "blessed among women." Therefore, all actions of femininity in his blessing and makes it radiant. "When the Virgin Mary is honored with humility for the sake of his Son, women will be honored ... Because she has shown the true beauty of women."
As we have already said about Mary, we know that "full of grace," reveals its essence, its identity. It is also the key to its reflection of Truth, Good and the Beautiful. It is the key for women to discover the truth of his own dignity, and therefore, obtaining the divine life that is offered through a life of grace. This is a life that gives them the true goodness and beauty, which is a participation in the beauty of the Creator.
Because Mary is "full of grace," with all that was lost by Adam. By the grace, which is "bright as the sun", which shows in its very essence of clarity of a life united to God. This Union shines in a person's actions, actions that are a reflection of the goodness of God. "The practice of goodness is accompanied by spontaneous spiritual joy and moral beauty" (CCC 2500). These actions, called virtues "are acquired by education, by deliberate acts and by a perseverance ever-renewed in repeated efforts are purified and elevated by divine grace" (CCC1810). Grace affects all dimensions of a person's life. It is a gift of God that brings us closer to God. The closer we are to God, rather than reflecting what is Truth, Beauty and Goodness.
Mary is carried out by us as the model of the life of virtue. She is a guide to living a life of fidelity to grace. Due to space limitations, I will look briefly at three of the virtues that Mary owns and calls us to imitate. They are faith, obedience and charity. The Church has greeted Mary as an "outstanding model in faith and charity" (Lumen Gentium 53). We see their faith as she entrusts freely to God at the Annunciation, believing and trusting in the angel's message to her that the son born to her would be the Son of the Most High, the certainty that "with God nothing is impossible" (Lk . 1:30). Continues her journey of faith in their responses to what happens in his life of union with Jesus. She flees to Egypt, when Joseph was directed to go there (Matthew 2:13-15), returns the same way (Matt. 2:19-23), and abides by it faithfully union with her Son unto the cross (cf. LG # 58, Jn.19 :25-27), while believing and trusting in the wisdom of God's divine plan. She believed that her son, although crucified and buried, he rose from the dead. He waited in prayer (Acts 1:14). We too are called to be women of faith, believing what God has revealed about his plan for us and our salvation.
Flowing from the deep faith of Mary, she shows her loving obedience. His was not a slavish obedience. Rather, it was an obedience that flowed from humility. She knew that the wisdom and greatness of God and therefore, tried to live up to it. Being obedient to God means to respond with confidence to his wise plan. Again, at the Annunciation, she responds in obedience to the angel, "Let me according to thy word" (Luke 1:36). She obediently follow the instructions given by the angel to Joseph, trusting in God. Mary remained obedient to her role as mother to the cross, which dutifully offers the full consent of his intellect and the will of Him whose ways are inscrutable. As they try to imitate the obedience of Mary, we find that frees us from the slavery of sin. Obedience makes us beautiful because it opens us to the grace of God, his life and love within us.
Mary's faith and obedience allows a charity to shine through. Mary, the Mother of fair love, love has a self-abasement, innocent of all narcissism. "For Christ and the glory of the Father, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, the Virgin is" all the righteous. "" She is provided "totally as a handmaid of the Lord to the person and work of His Son ... she does freely" (LG # 56). This acceptance of her role as "Mother of the Son of God (s) guided by conjugal love, the love that is devoted entirely to a human being to God. By virtue of this love, Mary wished to be always and in all things given to God. "This love that is faithful to his Son over his life, his cruel death on Calvary, is extended to the brethren of her Son, the souls that are still under way on earth (cf. Lumen Gentium, # 62-63). There is nothing more beautiful than the love which we are all called to practice, and that inspires and encourages all other virtues (cf. CCC 1827). Charity, the form of every virtue "is the bond of perfection" (Col 3.14), one aspect of beauty.
These virtues and life of grace are possible for all women who seek to know the truth and rely on the grace from the merits of Jesus Christ, who came to restore humanity to the beauty of adopted children and participants "in the divine nature" (1 Pet. 1:3). San Francisco de Sales says that because of the grace that is so like Christ that we resemble God perfectly, because in his becoming man, Jesus has taken our likeness and gave us his. Therefore, we must do everything possible to preserve this beauty and the divine likeness which He has restored to us.
Maria helps women to do this. Its beauty attracts, and because it attracts leads us to Jesus, who is the Way, the Truth and the Life (Jn 14, 6). Mary is loved and honored, because it reflects the truth, beauty and goodness of His Son for their actions, by his life of virtue. Its role is to lead others to Him, and teaches the truth and it is. This is once again looking at how creation reflects God's beauty. Everything God creates is good, is beautiful. Jesus, who is the fullness of revelation, has proposed the creation of an even greater dignity by restoring all things "according to the plan of God was pleased to restore Christ. A plan that took place in Christ, in the fullness of time, to bring all things into one in Him, in heaven and earth "(Ephesians 1:9-10). Thus, harmony is restored, everything is everything, and his glory is made known. Because the "Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth and we saw his glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father" (John 1:14)
Man was created in the image and likeness of God, Jesus renews mankind to its immortal image. He restores us to the image of God. Mary reflects the beauty of her Son in her essence. Mary is, in cooperation with her Divine Son, to help women discover the truth of her feminine nature, to reflect the beauty of a child of God, and by the grace of God to live that goodness comes from God . Women, to achieve this ideal, it must turn to Mary as a model, which has been chosen by God from all eternity to be the Mother of his Son, and be a guide for us on our journey to the Truth, the Good, and Beautiful, our true fulfillment and happiness. Women should be entrusted to the guidance of Mary, because she is what they are called to be: full of grace. As the Church prays in the Liturgy: Lord, as we honor the memory of the glorious Virgin Mary, we pray that with the help of their prayers, which also may share the fullness of your grace, "that by the grace that we may also reflect what is true , beautiful and good.