The Blessed Virgin Mary is uniquely associated with Catholicism, and the century preceding the Second Vatican Council was arguably the most fertile era for Catholic Marian studies. In 1964, Pope John Paul VI published the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, or Lumen Gentium (LG), the eighth chapter of which presents the most comprehensive magisterial teaching on the Blessed Virgin Mary. As part of its Marian Initiative, the Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame invited scholars to a conference held at Notre Dame in October 2013 to reflect the rich Marian legacy on the eve of the Second Vatican Council.

The essays unanimously stress that the Blessed Virgin Mary is not merely a peripheral figure in Christian faith and in the panorama of theology. More than fifty years after Lumen Gentium, students of theology as well as Marian devotees take their bearings from this document in order to promote the person of Mary and the study of Mariology, as well as grow in authentic Marian piety. This book will have great appeal to students and scholars of Catholic theology and history, particularly those interested in Mariology.

Contributors: Ann W. Astell, Peter Casarella, John C. Cavadini, Lawrence S. Cunningham, Brian Daley, S.J., Peter J. Fritz, Kevin Grove, CSC, Msgr. Michael Heintz, Matthew Levering, Danielle M. Peters, James H. Phalan, CSC, Johann G. Roten, S.M., Christopher Ruddy, Troy Stefano, and Thomas A. Thompson, S.M.

About the Author

John C. Cavadini is professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame and editor of Explorations in the Theology of Benedict XVI (2013) and Who Do You Say That I Am? (2004), both published by the University of Notre Dame Press.

Danielle M. Peters, S.T.D., is a member of the Secular Institute of the Schoenstatt Sisters of Mary. She serves as president of the Mariological Society of America, and as the moderator of the Schoenstatt Apostolic Movement in Dallas, Texas. She is the author of Ecce Educatrix Tua: The Role of the Blessed Virgin Mary for a Pedagogy of Holiness in the Thought of John Paul II and Father Joseph Kentenich.

Reviews

"This volume is an important contribution to the field of Mariology that re-orients us to the theological and historical context in which the eighth chapter of Lumen Gentium was written. Cavadini and Peters ought to be commended for this invitation to recapture the wisdom of this Marian Age before the Council in order to allow it to bear fruit today." -Reading Religion

"Fifty years after the Second Vatican Council, this is a welcome opportunity to reflect on that Council's teaching on Mary as central to the Church. This collection will become indispensable reading for every serious Catholic and even non-Catholic Mariologist. I can well imagine professors selecting it as a textbook for classes on Mariology and perhaps even on the Second Vatican Council." -Emery de Gaal, University of St. Mary of the Lake

"[T]he papers are really an invitation for broader study of Mary's place during the advent of Vatican II...Graduate students and seminarians will take away much, but so will those generally interested in Marian piety, from pastors to bloggers." -Catholic Library World

"This book provides an in-depth exploration of the various currents in Mariology in the decades prior to Vatican II. I don't know of any book that provides as much detail as this one." -Robert Fastiggi, Sacred Heart Major Seminary

"The current histories of Vatican II offer different assessments of the council's Marian doctrine. This book provides an in-depth exploration of the various currents in Mariology in the decades prior to Vatican II. I do not know of any book that offers as much detail as this one. It also provides very helpful presentations of the Marian doctrines of major ressourcement theologians such as Yves Congar, Karl Rahner, Henri de Lubac, and Louis Bouyer." -Robert Fastiggi, Sacred Heart Major Seminary

"The introduction from John C. Cavadini is outstanding." -Liturgical Catechesis

Awards
Winner of Catholic Press Association Book Award: Theology, Third Place 2018 (United States).



Book Information
ISBN 9780268101589
Author John C. Cavadini
Format Hardback
Page Count 366
Imprint University of Notre Dame Press
Publisher University of Notre Dame Press
Weight(grams) 659g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 21mm