Luther and Melanchthon at the foot of the Cross - Rorate Caeli

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JMJ

This is definitely one for the chronicle.

P^3

Courtesy of Rorate

“Now there stood by the cross of Jesus, his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalen. When Jesus therefore had seen his mother and the disciple standing whom he loved, he saith to his mother: Woman, behold thy son. After that, he saith to the disciple: Behold thy mother. And from that hour, the disciple took her to his own”. (John 19,25-27).

This is one of the most fundamental moments in the Life of Jesus, the very apex of His redeeming mission. Mary is there and right next to Her is John. From that moment on Mary is the Mother of all those who are to come into the Church: Mater Ecclesiæ, as Paul VI called Her at the closure of the Second Vatican Council.

However,  Holy Mother Church, to commemorate the event of the 95 theses nailed by Martin Luther to the great door of the Wittenberg Church 500 years ago, thought well about issuing a fine stamp, through the Vatican Post Office. It is described like this in the official presentation:

“It depicts Jesus Crucified in the foreground on a gold, timeless background showing Wittenberg city. In an attitude of penance, on their knees respectively on the left and the right of the the Cross, Martin Luther holds a Bible, source and purpose of his doctrine, while Philip Melanchthon, theologian and a friend of Martin Luther’s, one of the most important protagonists of the Reformation, holds in his hand the Augsburg Confession, Confessio Augustuana, the first official exposition of the principles of Protestantism  which were drawn up by him.”

It’s true that we are experiencing a climate of “détente” between Catholics and Lutherans; it’s true that a Catholic Bishop [Galantino] has gone as far as saying that “The Reformation started by Martin Luther 5 centuries ago was an event from the Holy Spirit” but the stamp issued by  the Holy See is truly unusual.

That Holy Mother Church, of which the Virgin Mary is a symbol and model, would produce a stamp with a mosaic created by August von Kloeber in 1851 is a sign of the times. Those two gentlemen at the foot of the Cross, who initiated the Protestant movement, defined Mariology  as “the sum of all heresies”. 

Translation: Contributor, Francesca Romana

Source: http://www.lanuovabq.it/it/lutero-e-melantone-sotto-la-croce

H/T: Antonio Socci, Facebook