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Archdiocesan Catechetical Standards on Mary

The current catechetical standards for grades K through 8 regarding Mary used by the Archdiocese of Washington attempt to build a comprehensive vision of the Blessed Mother, not all at one time, but each year building upon the next. We must hope that there is suitable retention and that Mary has a perpetual devotional place in the home. One of my persistent concerns is that too many adults rely exclusively upon a catechesis geared to children. The standards are a good starting place, but I would urge Confirmed Catholics to continue in a study of their faith and in service to God. Here are the standards:

K.01.04 – State that Jesus is the Son of God and Son of Mary. [CCC 441-445, 495; Compendium 95; USCCA 85-86].

K.02.03 – State how Jesus grew up in a family and was obedient to his mother, Mary and foster father, Joseph. [CCC 437, 532-534, 564, 583, 1655; Compendium 104; USCCA 86, 385].

K.07.07 – Recall that we ask the Blessed Mother Mary and the saints to pray to Jesus for us. [USCCA 472].

1.01.10 – Identify Mary as the Mother of Jesus the Son of God. [CCC 467; Compendium 88; USCCA 144-145].

1.02.03 – Identify the Angel Gabriel as the messenger who told Mary that she would be the Mother of Jesus Christ the Son of God at the Annunciation. [CCC 484-486; 493-494; Compendium 94-97; USCCA 37-48].

1.02.05 – Identify the Holy Spirit of God at work in the lives of Mary and Elizabeth. [CCC 721-726, 744; Compendium 142; USCCA 470-471].

1.04.02 – Identify objects in the Church: … statues of saints, image of Mary… etc. [CCC 1182, 1186, 1674; Compendium 246, 353; USCCA 246].

1.07.04 – Memorize and recite the Sign of the Cross, the Lord’s Prayer, the Hail Mary and the Glory Be. [Compendium 181; USCCA 184, 532].

1.10.02 – Give examples of how parents are role models in a Christian family to be loved and obeyed like Jesus obeyed Mary and Joseph (Luke 2:51). [CCC 2221-2233; Compendium 458-462; USCCA 377].

2.01.04 – State that Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary. [CCC 487-507; Compendium 95; USCCA 469].

2.01.11 – Name Mary as Jesus’ mother, the Mother of God. [CCC 495, 509; Compendium 95; USCCA 520].

2.01.12 – Describe Mary as the Mother of the Church. [CCC 963-970; Compendium 196-197; USCCA 146, 148, 152].

2.04.18 – Identifies seasons of the Church year as celebrations in the life of Jesus, Mary and the saints. [CCC 1168-1173, 1195; Compendium 242; USCCA 173].

2.07.06 – Recite the Hail Mary to praise God and to ask for Mary’s intercession. [CCC 2676; Compendium P. 181/562-563; USCCA 532].

4.06.11 – Understand that Mary and the saints offer us examples of good Christian lives. [CCC 956, 957; Compendium 194, 197; USCCA 173].

4.07.02 – Pray the Rosary as a special prayer that helps us imitate the lives of Jesus and Mary. [CCC 971; Compendium 198; USCCA 298-300].

4.07.03 – Describe the Rosary as a way we come to understand Jesus through the eyes and “school” of Mary. [CCC 971; Compendium 198; USCCA 298-300].

4.07.04 – Recognize that the mysteries of the Rosary are meditations on different events in the lives of Christ and his Blessed Mother. [CCC 971, 2708; Compendium (see The Rosary, p. 189); USCCA 298-299].

5.01.06 – Recognize Mary as the Immaculate Conception. [CCC 490-493; Compendium 96; USCCA 143-146].

5.01.07 – Define the Immaculate Conception that from the first moment of her conception, Mary – by the singular grace of God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ – was preserved immune from original sin. [CCC 490-493; Compendium 96; USCCA 143-146].

6.01.10 – Describe Mary as the Mother of God and the Mother of Jesus because Jesus is both true God and true man. [CCC 466-467, 495; Compendium 88, 95; USCCA 82; Mother of God 521].

6.01.12 – Show belief that Mary was a virgin before and after the birth of Jesus Christ. [CCC 496-499; Compendium 98-99; USCCA 144, 148].

6.07.10 – Recognize the humility and faith of Mary as our model for prayer. [CCC 967-973, 2673-2679, 2682; Compendium 562-563; USCCA 173].

6.07.11 – Identify and list the four types of mysteries of the Rosary (Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful and Glorious). [CCC 1674, 2678, 2708].

7.01.19 – Describe how the Holy Spirit worked through Mary to prepare the way for the Incarnation. [CCC 488-489; Compendium 94-97; USCCA 143-147].

7.02.22 – Describe the major themes of the Gospel of Luke… (Mary as the first disciple.)

7.07.08 – Illustrate how the Lord’s Prayer and the Hail Mary come from Sacred Scripture. [CCC 2673-2679, 2682, 2803-2865; Compendium 562-563, 580-581; USCCA 470-471, 483-490].

7.08.06 – Recognize that the Church names Mary as Mother of the Church. [CCC 963-964, 973; Compendium 196; USCCA 146, 148].

8.01.16 – Recognize that Mary collaborated with the whole redemptive work of her Son. [CCC 493-4, 508-511; Compendium 97; USCCA 143-147].

One could also readily read her importance in the generic standards about original sin, grace, the incarnation, faith, prayer, the intercession of the saints, the destiny of the Church, etc.

Lumen Gentium: Mary’s Titles

62. This maternity of Mary in the order of grace began with the consent which she gave in faith at the Annunciation and which she sustained without wavering beneath the cross, and lasts until the eternal fulfillment of all the elect. Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this salvific duty, but by her constant intercession continued to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation. By her maternal charity, she cares for the brethren of her Son, who still journey on earth surrounded by dangers and cultics, until they are led into the happiness of their true home. Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked by the Church under the titles of Advocate, Auxiliatrix, Adjutrix, and Mediatrix. This, however, is to be so understood that it neither takes away from nor adds anything to the dignity and efficaciousness of Christ the one Mediator.

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