Q&A: In a discussion with some friends, the following questions came up: 1) Is the Blessed Virgin Mary a priest, in the sense that she had the power to say Mass while she was here on earth? and 2) if she is not a priest, is she not in some way inferior to the priest who can offer the sacrifice of the Mass?
Fr. James McMillan, SMM
Submitted by a member: DH., New York, NY
Is Mary Inferior?
Christ gave the power to offer Mass, to change bread and wine into His Body and Blood, only to His apostles and to those who received this power from the apostles and their successors, the bishops of the Church. He did not give this power and privilege to the Blessed Virgin Mary. So, in this sense of the word, she is not and never was a priest.
Does this make her “in some way inferior” to the priest who offers the sacrifice of the Mass? Well, look at it this way. We are all “inferior” to each other in some fashion, manner, size, shape or form. A trained athlete is “superior” to the week-end golfer when it comes to athletic ability, but he may very well be “inferior” to the week-end golfer when it comes to mental agility. Words like “inferior” and “superior” are highly relative, depending on what we are talking about.
Mother of God Puts Her Closer to Christ
All of our Blessed Lady’s prerogatives and privileges were given to her in view of her role as Mother of God and Mother of mankind. Everything she possesses centers around the task that God gave her to do. That is, to conceive and give birth to the Redeemer and be associated with Him in the salvation of the human race.
So then, her being the Mother of the Son of God made-man puts her in a much closer association with Christ than is the priest who has the power to consecrate. Her union is much more direct and much more functional. The priest, in fact, would not have the power to consecrate, to offer the sacrifice of the Mass, had Our Lady not given her consent to the Incarnation of the Son of God.
The Dignity of Our Lady is Vastly Superior
The priest’s power to consecrate, then, is a power that is totally dependent upon her acceptance of her role of Mother of the Redeemer.
You can see, therefore, that her dignity as Mother of God is vastly superior to the dignity of the ministerial priesthood. And although she does not have the power to consecrate, she is in no way “inferior” to a priest. Without her, there would be no priesthood in the Catholic Church.
St. John the Evangelist Giving Communion to the Virgin Mary: Spanish Painter: Alonzo Cano: 1601 – 1667
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