Christology first — CCC 487 and the three things Notre Dame taught him

Pitre structures his own change of mind as three discoveries. First, the Catholic beliefs about Mary — perpetual virginity, sinlessness, 'Mother of God,' intercession, bodily assumption — are ancient and were held by Christians across the Holy Land, Syria, Egypt, Greece, Asia Minor and Rome. Second, those beliefs flowed out of what the early Christians believed about Jesus; he quotes CCC 487 in full. Third, and 'most important of all,' the ancient Christians got their beliefs about Mary from the Old Testament, read typologically. From this comes the book's rule: 'in every chapter, before we look at Mary, we will consider Jesus.'

• Luke 1:48 — 'all generations shall call me blessed' — Scripture itself expects Mary to be honoured.
• Luke 1:43 — 'the mother of my Lord' — every title of Mary depends on who her Son is.

The engine of the book is a rule of order: Christology comes first, Mariology follows from it. Every chapter opens with Jesus as the new Adam, new Moses or new David, and only then asks who, in that pattern, his mother must be.

• Catechism of the Catholic Church — CCC 487 (p 15) · read