Blessed Virgin Mary’s fiat comes from a deep faith in God. It is a total surrender to God’s will: “I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me according to your word” (Luke 1: 38). It is not a simple “yes”, but one that comes with the responsibility of accepting the will of God in her life without reservations. Accepting to model one’s life after Mary involves accepting to totally surrender to the will of God in one’s life, no matter the situation. It is a spirituality that leads to imitating the virtues of Mary. It invites people to use even devotion to her to become inspired to imitate her virtues. By this, one can live a spirituality that is Marian in nature. This is because, true Marian devotion draws from and leads to an expression of faith in God; a faith that also recognizes the maternal affiliation and support of Mary for her children. So, devotion to her is part of the larger reality of following the model of Mary’s fiat, as it leads to a greater intensity in Marian spirituality. Thus, Mary’s fiat connects various aspects of Christian life in the journey to perfection. It enhances journey to holiness, helps in developing new and distinct focus in Christian living. It likewise enhances an appreciation of the nature of the Christian call and how modelling one’s life after the fiat of the Blessed Virgin Mary makes the journey of spiritual life less cumbersome. This article argues that Mary’s fiat is a model for developing a spirituality that unites one with God as the ultimate reality the soul desires.
| Published in | International Journal of Philosophy (Volume 13, Issue 2) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.ijp.20251302.11 |
| Page(s) | 52-58 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Christian, Devotion, Faith, Fiat, Imitation, Model, Spirituality, Total Surrender, Virtues
| [1] | Antonisamy, F. An Introduction to Christian Spirituality, Bombay: St Paul Society, 1999/2003, p. 19. |
| [2] | Augustine, Sermon 72/A, 2. In |
| [3] | Augustine, De Virginitate (On the Holy Virginity) 3. The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series. In |
| [4] | Beinert, Wolfgang. Maria heute ehren: Eine theologish-pastorale Handreichung, Freiburg: Herder, 1977. |
| [5] | Buby, B. Mary the Faithful Disciple, New York - Mahwah: Paulist Press, 1985. |
| [6] | Chan, Simon. Spiritual Theology: A Systematic Study of the Christian Life, Illinois: IVP Academy, 1998, p. 16. |
| [7] | Collection of Masses of the Blessed Virgin Mary, vol. 1: Sacramentary and Lectionary, Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1992. |
| [8] | Congregation for Catholic Education, “Circular Letter concerning Some of the More Urgent Aspects of Spiritual Formation in Seminaries” Rome, 1980. |
| [9] | Coccia B. (Ed). Sassone Seminar, June 2001. In |
| [10] | Downey, Michael, (Ed). The New Dictionary of Catholic Spirituality, Collegeville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 1993, p. 931. |
| [11] | Farrugia, E. G. “Spirito Santo e teologia orientale” in Dizionario dell’Oriente cristiano, Rome: Pont. Inst. Orientale, 2000. |
| [12] | Harris, Elise. “John Paul II: Personal Notes”. In |
| [13] | John Paul II, Redemptoris Mater, 19. Vatican City, Rome: Libreria Editrice, March 25, 1987. |
| [14] | Jones, Cheslyn, Wainwright, Geoffrey and Yarnold, Edward, SJ (Eds). The Study of Spirituality, New York: Oxford University Press, 1986, p. 592. |
| [15] | O’Donnell, Christopher. “Images of Mary for Today”, Spirituality 5 (May-June 1999), Dublin, pp. 153-156. |
| [16] | O’Donnell C. “Mary and Spirituality”. In |
| [17] | O’Donnel. Fiftieth Anniversary Edition, Darien Illinois: Carmelite Press, 1986. |
| [18] | Olivia. “The Ten Virtues of Mary”. In |
| [19] | Pilarczyk, Daniel. 52nd Annual Meeting of the Mariological Society of America, University of Dayton, Ohio, 2001. |
| [20] | Prevost, Jean-Pierre. Mother of Jesus, Ottawa: Novalis, 1988, p. 21. |
| [21] | Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Mary: Grace and Hope in Christ, February 2, 2004. In |
| [22] | Roten, Johann G., 52nd “Annual Meeting of the Mariological Society of America, May 30 – June 2, 2001”, Marian Studies, 52, 2001. |
| [23] | Sheldrake, Philip (Ed). New SCM Dictionary of Christian Spirituality, London: SCM, 2005, pp. 424-425. |
| [24] | Sheldrake, Philip (Ed). The New Westminster Dictionary of Christian Spirituality, Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox (WJK) Press, 2005, p. 2. |
| [25] | The Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC). Mary, Grace and Hope in Christ. London - Harrisburg: Morehouse, 2005, n. 43, pp. 40-41. |
| [26] | Thompson, Thomas A. (Ed). Marian Studies, 52, (2001), Ohio: University of Dayton Mariological Society of America. |
| [27] | Vatican Council II, The Conciliar and Post Conciliar Documents, vol. 1, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Lumen Gentium), 1964. |
| [28] | Warner, Marina. Alone of All Her Sex: The Myth and the Cult of the Virgin Mary, London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1976, p. 338. |
| [29] | Wiggins, Jonathon L. Marian Devotion in the U. S. Catholic Church as a Part of the Traditionalist Countermovement, Chicago: Loyola University, 2000. |
APA Style
Ani, O. C. (2025). Mary’s Fiat: A Model for Marian Spirituality. International Journal of Philosophy, 13(2), 52-58. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijp.20251302.11
ACS Style
Ani, O. C. Mary’s Fiat: A Model for Marian Spirituality. Int. J. Philos. 2025, 13(2), 52-58. doi: 10.11648/j.ijp.20251302.11
Share This Article
Twitter
Linked In
Facebook
Copy
Download@article{10.11648/j.ijp.20251302.11,
author = {Okechukwu Cajetan Ani},
title = {Mary’s Fiat: A Model for Marian Spirituality
},
journal = {International Journal of Philosophy},
volume = {13},
number = {2},
pages = {52-58},
doi = {10.11648/j.ijp.20251302.11},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijp.20251302.11},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijp.20251302.11},
abstract = {Blessed Virgin Mary’s fiat comes from a deep faith in God. It is a total surrender to God’s will: “I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me according to your word” (Luke 1: 38). It is not a simple “yes”, but one that comes with the responsibility of accepting the will of God in her life without reservations. Accepting to model one’s life after Mary involves accepting to totally surrender to the will of God in one’s life, no matter the situation. It is a spirituality that leads to imitating the virtues of Mary. It invites people to use even devotion to her to become inspired to imitate her virtues. By this, one can live a spirituality that is Marian in nature. This is because, true Marian devotion draws from and leads to an expression of faith in God; a faith that also recognizes the maternal affiliation and support of Mary for her children. So, devotion to her is part of the larger reality of following the model of Mary’s fiat, as it leads to a greater intensity in Marian spirituality. Thus, Mary’s fiat connects various aspects of Christian life in the journey to perfection. It enhances journey to holiness, helps in developing new and distinct focus in Christian living. It likewise enhances an appreciation of the nature of the Christian call and how modelling one’s life after the fiat of the Blessed Virgin Mary makes the journey of spiritual life less cumbersome. This article argues that Mary’s fiat is a model for developing a spirituality that unites one with God as the ultimate reality the soul desires.
},
year = {2025}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - Mary’s Fiat: A Model for Marian Spirituality AU - Okechukwu Cajetan Ani Y1 - 2025/04/28 PY - 2025 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijp.20251302.11 DO - 10.11648/j.ijp.20251302.11 T2 - International Journal of Philosophy JF - International Journal of Philosophy JO - International Journal of Philosophy SP - 52 EP - 58 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2330-7455 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijp.20251302.11 AB - Blessed Virgin Mary’s fiat comes from a deep faith in God. It is a total surrender to God’s will: “I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me according to your word” (Luke 1: 38). It is not a simple “yes”, but one that comes with the responsibility of accepting the will of God in her life without reservations. Accepting to model one’s life after Mary involves accepting to totally surrender to the will of God in one’s life, no matter the situation. It is a spirituality that leads to imitating the virtues of Mary. It invites people to use even devotion to her to become inspired to imitate her virtues. By this, one can live a spirituality that is Marian in nature. This is because, true Marian devotion draws from and leads to an expression of faith in God; a faith that also recognizes the maternal affiliation and support of Mary for her children. So, devotion to her is part of the larger reality of following the model of Mary’s fiat, as it leads to a greater intensity in Marian spirituality. Thus, Mary’s fiat connects various aspects of Christian life in the journey to perfection. It enhances journey to holiness, helps in developing new and distinct focus in Christian living. It likewise enhances an appreciation of the nature of the Christian call and how modelling one’s life after the fiat of the Blessed Virgin Mary makes the journey of spiritual life less cumbersome. This article argues that Mary’s fiat is a model for developing a spirituality that unites one with God as the ultimate reality the soul desires. VL - 13 IS - 2 ER -
Department of Spiritual Theology, Catholic Institute of West Africa (Ciwa), Port Harcourt, Nigeria
