Mary: God's Yes to Man : Pope John Paul II Encyclical Letter : Mother of the Redeemer [Paperback]

Pope John II (Author), Introduction by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 1988

Encyclical Letter of John Paul II, Redemptoris mater Introduction by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Commentary by Hans Urs von Balthasar. Pope John Paul II's only encyclical on our Blessed Mother, with introduction by the Cardinal Prefect of the congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, and commentary by one of the world's leading Catholic theologians, Hans Urs von Balthasar. The Church's supreme magisterium and representative of the Church's most penetrating theological reflection combine to provide for all the faithful a rich and concise compendium of the Mother of the Redeemer. The development of traditional Marian dogma in the light of the present day bears the Pope's unmistakable personal stamp. The three parts of the encyclical ("Mary in the Mystery of Christ", "The Mother of God in the Midst of the Pilgrim Church" and "Motherly Mediation") draw predominantly from two sources: Sacred Scripture and the central documents of the Second Vatican Council. There is a particular emphasis on ecumenism. What binds all Christians to Mary becomes ever clearer: she is the model of their faith.

"Preparing for the advent of the year 2000, the great memorial of Christ's birth, is a fundamental concern of the encyclical. In the liturgy, Advent is a Marian time: the time when Mary made room in her womb for the Savior of the world and bore within her humanity's hope and expectation. Celebrating Advent means becoming Marian, imitating Mary's unconditional Yes which is ever anew the place of God's birth, the `fullness of time'"

-- Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, German, Latin (translation)

Product Details

• Paperback: 179 pages
• Publisher: Ignatius Press (September 15, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0898702194
• ISBN-13: 978-0898702194
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 4.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #467,369 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling, interest description of teaching on Virgin Mary, October 14, 2002

By 

Matthew Turner - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mary: God's Yes to Man : Pope John Paul II Encyclical Letter : Mother of the Redeemer (Paperback)

As a young man in the process of converting to Catholicism, I found "Mary: God's Yes to Man" to be a very compelling, deep, and driving study of the role of the Blessed Virgin in History, in Tradition, in the Church, and in the lives of the modern believer. I went into this book with very little knowledge of who the Church says the Virgin Mary is, and coming out of it, I feel like I could comfortably explain the doctrine to anyone. The use of Biblical exegesis, and the style of Biblical interpretation was quite interesting for this former Protestant Evangelical. The Holy Father is an excellent writer, and both Cardinal Ratzinger and von Balthasar offer interesting commentary on his writings. A good read, seeing as it took me less than 36 hours to do so.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not for the uninitiated -- still a valuable treatise, January 15, 2007

By 

Waverley36 (Nunya) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Mary: God's Yes to Man : Pope John Paul II Encyclical Letter : Mother of the Redeemer (Paperback)

I turned to this encyclical as a sort of introduction to Catholic ideas about Mary, the subject being one of those which former Prostestants, especially former Fundamentalists like myself, have a very difficult time understanding. My ever-growing pro-Catholic sympathies are such that I found much here to enlighten me: an understanding of how Mary might be considered the best example of the Christian faith, for instance, and some of the hows and whys regarding Marian devotion. I found especially helpful and charming that those scenes in Mary's life the Pope focuses on are those which form the joyful meditations of the Rosary (annunciation, visitation, etc).

However, I'm not sure this was the best book solely about Mary for me to read first, and I'm sorry to say that I found the main text (that by John Paul II) to be a difficult read. Not because I couldn't follow it, but because the text is so quote- and symbol-heavy that it became repetitious and rather nebulous (both the intro by Cardinal Ratzinger/Benedict XVI and the commentary by von Balthasar, on the contrary, were succinct and helpful). I can't offer objective criticism here, having come to the book from a very particular perspective. So I'll simply say that it's probably not an ideal introduction to the topic--not for the uninitiated. I certainly wouldn't be so presumptious as to call it poorly reasoned, as another reviewer has done, because it is not intended to be a pro-Mary argument for non-Catholics.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mary made accessible, January 12, 2009

By 

CDS "C" (Boston,MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mary: God's Yes to Man : Pope John Paul II Encyclical Letter : Mother of the Redeemer (Paperback)

Pope John Paul II's love for Mary is no secret. In this encyclical he brings Mary off of the pedestal where she is often placed. In showing her human side he makes her infinitely accessible, and in explaining her relationship with Christ, he illustrates why she is deserving of great honor. The commentary by von Balthasar serves to flesh out the finer points of the encyclical, and what emerges is a useful volume both to enhance devotion to Mary, and to aid in ecumenical dialog. Ratzinger's introduction was simply icing on the cake.