The Model for the University, by Dominic V. Cassella

Before St. John Henry Newman converted to Catholicism, he gave a series of sermons to the students of Oxford. The last of these University Sermons provided a brief theory of developments in religious doctrine, and he took for his model Mary, the Mother of God.

Quoting Luke 2:19 – “But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart” – Newman offers Mary as a model of faith since when she was provided with the Angel’s message, she does not question it like Zacharias; she accepts without question, but ponders it.

Our Lady “is our pattern of Faith, both in the reception and in the study of Divine Truth. She does not think it enough to accept, she dwells upon it; not enough to possess, she uses it; not enough to assent, she develops it; not enough to submit the Reason, she reasons upon it. . . .she symbolizes to us, not only the faith of the unlearned, but of the doctors of the Church also, who have to investigate, and weigh, and define, as well as to profess the Gospel.” ….

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