Mary as a Mystical Paradise. A Concept of Symbolic and Mystical Mariology of Jacek Majewski OP Cover Image

Mary as a Mystical Paradise. A Concept of Symbolic and Mystical Mariology of Jacek Majewski OP
Mary as a Mystical Paradise. A Concept of Symbolic and Mystical Mariology of Jacek Majewski OP

Author(s): Krzysztof Guzowski
Subject(s): Christian Theology and Religion, Theology and Religion, Systematic Theology
Published by: Towarzystwo Naukowe KUL & Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II
Keywords: Mary; Mariology; the Paradise; Immaculata; Mother of God; Marian apparitions

Summary/Abstract: A demonstration of the 17th-century Mariology can be found in a book by Jacek Majewski, a Dominican monk, entitled Pustynia w Ray Zamieniona (“A Desert Made Into a Paradise”), which was published in Lublin in 1753. The author presents Mary as a mystical paradise indwelt by God and full of Divine gifts growing in her like the flowers and springs of the Paradise. J. Majewski's treatise differs from contemporary works especially in terms of the language and line of argument. Although Pustynia w Ray Zamieniona is steeped in symbols, comparisons, allegories and spiritual meanings, it evades the arbitrariness of free associations. Each symbol and metaphor refer to Scripture and concern God's true activity in human history. In order to fully appreciate the publication, we ought to bear in mind the existence of three levels of symbolism that we come across there: Biblical, mystical, which depicts God's activity in the souls of both Mary and believers, and regional, which is connected to the town of Krasnobród.

  • Issue Year: 64/2017
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 123-133
  • Page Count: 11
  • Language: English