Magisterial Documents: Solemni Hac Liturgia
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Magisterial Documents: Solemni Hac Liturgia
The Creed of the People of God Pope Paul VI
30 June 1968
The full document is available on the internet.
Brief History
Prior to publication of the General Catechetical Directory (1971), mandated by Vatican II, Pope Paul VI published the Creed of the People of God (1968). The Marian text of the creed is presented here since it became a normative document for some catechetical textbooks in the United States in the period between the council and the directory.
The Creed includes four main Marian teachings – the ancient Creed, "born of the Virgin Mary," the Council of Ephesus' teaching on the Theotokos, and the two dogmas, Immaculate Conception and Assumption. It also expresses the belief in Mary's continued maternal role, and the belief in Mary as one who cooperates with Christ. Lumen Gentium is footnoted ten times, Signum Magnum twice, and the title Mother of the Church is also quoted. The creed contains no scriptural references, no liturgical references, and no devotional, pastoral or catechetical elements as such. It was not intended to serve as a catechetical directory, but was intended by Pope Paul VI as a statement of faith and personal witness which would bridge the gap between Vatican II and the publication of the General Catechetical Directory.
Core Marian Passages:
- We believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God. He is the Eternal Word, born of the Father before time began, and one in substance with the Father, homoousios to Patri, (Cf. Dz.-Sch. 150) and through Him all things were made. He was incarnate of the Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit and was made man: equal therefore to the Father according to His divinity, and inferior to the Father according to His humanity;( Cf. Dz.-Sch. 76) and Himself one, not by some impossible confusion of His natures, but by the unity of His person (ibid). 11
- We believe that Mary is the Mother, who remained ever a Virgin, of the Incarnate Word, our God and Savior Jesus Christ,( Dz.-Sch. 251-252) and that by reason of this singular election, she was, in consideration of the merits of her Son, redeemed in a more eminent manner,( Cf. Lumen Gentium, 53) preserved from all stain of original sin(Cf. Dz.-Sch. 2803) and filled with the gift of grace more than all other creatures (Cf. Lumen Gentium, 53). 14
- Joined by a close and indissoluble bond to the Mysteries of the Incarnation and Redemption,( Cf. Lumen Gentium, 53, 58, 61) the Blessed Virgin, the Immaculate, was at the end of her earthly life raised body and soul to heavenly glory (Cf. Dz.-Sch. 3903) and likened to her risen Son in anticipation of the future lot of all the just; and we believe that the Blessed Mother of God, the New Eve, Mother of the Church, (Cf. Lumen Gentium, 53, 56, 61, 63; cf. Paul VI, Alloc. for the Closing of the Third Session of the Second Vatican Council: A.A.S.LVI [1964] 1016; cf. Exhort. Apost. Signum Magnum, Introd.) continues in heaven her maternal role with regard to Christ's members, cooperating with the birth and growth of divine life in the souls of the redeemed (Cf. Lumen Gentium, 62; cf. Paul VI, Exhort. Apost. Signum Magnum, p. 1, n. 1.) 15
- We believe that the multitude of those gathered around Jesus and Mary in paradise forms the Church of Heaven where in eternal beatitude they see God as He is, (Cf. 1 Jn. 3:2; Dz.-Sch. 1000) and where they also, in different degrees, are associated with the holy angels in the divine rule exercised by Christ in glory, interceding for us and helping our weakness by their brotherly care (Cf. Lumen Gentium, 49). 29
Source
The Solemn Profession of Faith pronounced by Pope Paul VI at St. Peter's Basilica, June 30, 1968, at the end of the "Year of Faith," the nineteenth centenary anniversary of the martyrdom of Sts. Peter and Paul. "The Creed of the immortal Tradition of the Holy Church of God"
AAS M(10 August 1968):433-445;
St Paul Editions, 1968
© This material has been compiled by M. Jean Frisk and Danielle M. Peters, S.T.D.
Copyright is reserved for The Marian Library/International Marian Research Institute.
Most recently updated in 2018.