Mary And Pain - Follow-up Question

[HisChildForever]

Forgive me if this question is too "mature" for the forum. I am basing my question off a response St. Col gave, and the text I am quoting is the end portion of her response (posted below).

I completely understand that like Christ, Mary could feel pain (physical and emotional). However, I am confused as to how a certain part of her (her feminine attributes) can be exempt from physical pain. As St. Col noted, she had a human nervous system. How could it be possible for her human nervous system to be healthy and working in all areas except one? Are we to assume that God interfered with her body in some way? Furthermore, the pains experienced during childbirth are, from what I understand, a more severe version of menstrual cramps. Would Mary have been exempt from them? Or just childbirth pain? (Even though the two are connected.)

Thanks.

[quote]As for sensory pain, like burning your hand or suffering from being beaten, like Christ, I would say she probably had this type of pain. We know from Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition that Christ physically suffered during the Passion. He, who was fully human and fully divine, still felt this type of pain. It goes to say that hypothetically Mary could have suffered from this type of pain. She was human, with a human nervous system just like Jesus, you get cut and it will hurt. I searched for Church Father's opinion on this form of pain that may have been suffered and I couldn't find anything. So, I would say that if Christ suffered physically in this way then Mary most likely was able to as well.

So, if you and your mother were speaking of childbirth pains, according to the Church she did not suffer from these pains because they were a result of the Fall.[/quote]

[StColette]

My sensory approach was somewhat flawed because I did not clarify carefully. Christ suffered pain not because he had a human body but because of his emptying of self. Christ was exempt from the affects of the Fall because of who He is. My first answer made the error of not clarifying that it was because Christ elected to feel pain not because he had a human body. So with that clarification in mind one can say Mary could have elected to feel pain as well as a way of emptying herself over in union with her Son.

The following portion of this post makes it a little more clear by what I was meaning before, but I had not been so clear.


We know from Sacred Scripture that Christ was both fully human and fully divine. In addition, we are aware that he suffered greatly for us during his Passion. According to the Church Fathers and past popes, pain, as we know it, entered the world with the Fall of Man. Christ and Mary were both exempt from this pain. Christ exempt because of his divinity and Mary because of her Immaculate Conception. Now how did Christ suffer then? It is understood that Christ suffered because he emptied himself over completely for us to the Father. He endured horrendous pain for our salvation. Pope Gregory the Great holds that “pain serves as a redemptive function, as it leads to humility and introspection, which in turn can lead to virtue.” Christ used the pain that he suffered on the Cross as a means for our salvation/redemption. How does this tie into Mary? We understand that Mary had a special role in the Salvation of Man. Because of her special role she united herself as much as she could to her Son for the Redemption of Man, which can be understood more by studying the doctrine of Co-Redemptrix. She emptied herself in as much as she could into her Son on the Cross. Mary could have, like Christ, elected to feel pain, as we do, in order to have it serve as a “redemptive function.”

We experience this "redemptive function" through our own suffering today. Often times we offer up our sufferings for others and for the Salvation of souls. Our sufferings, united with the sufferings of Christ on the cross, can be redemptive.

Okay so with all that in mind, lol. It may have been possible for her to feel pain had she elected to do so for a redemptive function. According to the Tradition of the Church she did not suffer from birthpains, but there is not mention of other physical pain. As I mentioned in the other thread, even Christ's physical birth was considered miraculous. To the Ancient world when the womb was opened a woman was no longer a Virgin. The Church teaches that Mary remained a virgin even during the birth of Christ, meaning her womb was never opened in that manner. That's why the Council of Trent explains that Christ's birth was like sun shining through a glass window. So it was both the way in which his birth took place and the fact that she was sinless that contributed to her not feeling birth pains.

So know who Mary is and her role in the redemption of mankind it is [b]possible[/b] that she elected to feel pain in order to unite herself to her Son's sufferings for the salvation of man.

Also keep in mind that Mary would have been exempt from death as well. The Church tradition speaks of Mary's death/dormition, though which brings to mind that she may have elected to experience this as well.

Sorry for any confusion. Remember these are mostly my own thoughts and opinions. The Church really has spoken on the matter.