Magyar Egyház, 1954 (33. évfolyam, 2-12. szám)

1954-12-01 / 12. szám

MAGYAR EGYHÁZ

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of Mary. Once, some milk of Mary’s breast has been exhibited in Rome; the eyes of Mary-statues blinked or wept. Not long ago, in the American press appeared the news of such a miracle: in Entrevaux, France, the broken finger of a statue of Mary’s mother, St. Anne, began to bleed (AP. New Haven Journal Courier, Dec. 30, 1953. first page). One could not number all these and similar “miracles”. The great number of them can be explained by the fact that they can be manufactured very easily. For instance, the truth came to light about a weeping Marystatue in Hungary when someone discovered that behind her eyelids some salted onions were placed which, of course, produced considerable moisture and this moisture rolled down on her stone face like “tears”. But all these are old tricks. During the great Dominican-Franciscan controversy, the Dominicans wished to prove by heavenly signs that Mary was conceived in sin and therefore they made a painting of Mary as she was weeping. They also made her appear in person. The fraud was discovered and the Pope ordered four Dominicans to be burned at the stake in Berne, Switzerland. In recent days we hear about the appearances of Mary mostly in connection with Lourdes which is still to this day a famous place of pilgrimage. As if God would not be present and could not hear and answer prayers in San Francisco or Tokyo just as well as in a small town in South France!

It is obvious that the Mary-cult in its present form and practice is a false teaching and a serious error committed by the Roman Catholic church. Let us see now briefly what is our Protestant opinion of Mary?

Mary, the Mother of Jesus

We honor Mary as the mother of Jesus but we do not worship her as we worship God. We honor her because she was elected by God that through her, as through a means, Christ may enter in a human form. We believe that God would have been able to appear in human form in several other ways — but Mary was the chosen vessel according to the will of God. Not that Mary has borne God, but God has chosen her as a means and not as an end. We do not believe that Mary was more suitable for this purpose than any other woman, because Mary needed the grace of God just the same as anybody else. “Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God” — said the angel (St. Luke 1,30). And who would need grace if not a sinner? A sinner, who in herself has no merits and who in herself is totally unsuitable to be a tool in God’s hands, hut who is xuhat she is only through the grace of God. Mary is not a gracegiver, who would appease the wrath of God, but God is the one who shows mercy and Mary is a receiver of this grace. In the birth of Jesus she has a perfectly passive role: the initiative is not hers, she does not will,, she does not accomplish, she does not create and does not redeem. Mary is only a receiver, something happens to her, .she merely submits herself to the will of God, therefore she thus replies: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.” (St. Luke 1, 38). This is Mary for us: not a weeping stone statue, not a half-goddess, not “regina coelis”, “Queen of Heavens”, but the humble servant of God, who found mercy before Him and became the mother of Jesus.

The Year of the Lord

The followers of Christ, the Christians count the years from the birth of their Lord, “Anno Domini...” “In this and this year of the Lord” — say Christians everywhere since nineteen hundred years. And with this, they do not only say that since the birth of Jesus as many years have passed but they also assure that this present year — as all in the past and future — is the Lord’s own, stands under His power, and serves His purposes. — Pope Pius XII. took the year 1954 out of this straight line of years and declared it “Marian Year”. We, Protestant Christians do not accept this “declaration” and now more firmly than ever we confess that there is no other Mediator between God and men except Jesus Christ who is the only Redeemer of the world: He was, He shall be, and He is now “Anno Domini 1954” — “In this 1954th year of our Lord”.

ORBÁN IBOLYA ÉS TISZTELETES ADORJÁN KÁLMÁN ESKÜVŐJE.

November 7-én tartotta esküvőjét Orbán Ibolya és Tiszteletes Adorján Kálmán a detroiti Független Magyar Református Egyház templomában. Az esketési szertartást az ifjú menyaszony sógora, a gyülekezet lelkipásztora, Nt. Nagy Pál János végezte. Az ünnepélyes esküvőn a násznagyi tisztséget az ifjú férj részéről Nt. Nagy Pál János és neje szül. Orbán Erzsébet s a menyaszony részéről pedig Orbán Tivadar és Orbán Rózsika férjezett Dr. Édes Endréné látták el.

A szép magyaros és családias egybekelési ünnepségen mint közvetlen hozzátartozók résztvettek: id. Adorján Kálmán volt MÁV. főintéző és neje szül. Sófalvy Anna Trenton, New Jersey-ből, a vőlegény szülei, Orbán Balázs földbirtokos és neje szül. Nagy Erzsébet, Montreal, Canadából, a menyasszony szülei és sokan mások.

Az ünnepélyes szertartás után fogadtatás volt az egyház kultúrtermében. Ezt 5 órakor ünnepi vacsora követte, melyen a vidéki vendégeken kívül az ifjú házaspár barátai és tisztelői nagyszámban megjelentek, hogy szerencsekivánataikat kifejezhessék, ajándékaikat átadhassák.