|
Our Lady, Star of the Sea is an ancient title for the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus Christ. The words ''Star of the Sea'' are a translation of the Latin title ''Stella Maris''. The title was used to emphasize Mary's role as a sign of hope and as a guiding star for Christians, especially gentiles, whom the Old Testament Israelites metaphorically referred to as the sea, meaning anyone beyond the "coasts", or, that is to say, sociopolitical, and religious (Mosaic law), borders of Israelite territory. Under this title, the Virgin Mary is believed to intercede as a guide and protector of those who travel or seek their livelihoods on the sea. This aspect of the Virgin has led to Our Lady, Star of the Sea, being named as patroness of the Catholic missions to seafarers, the Apostleship of the Sea, and to many coastal churches being named ''Stella Maris'' or Mary, Star of the Sea. This devotion towards Our Lady with this ancient title is popular throughout the Catholic world. ==Etymology and history== ''Stella Maris'' "sea-star" is a name of α Ursae Minoris or ''Polaris'', the "guiding star" (also "lodestar", "ship star", "steering star", etc.) because it has been used for celestial navigation at sea since antiquity. The name is applied to the Virgin Mary in Saint Jerome's Latin translation of the ''Onomasticon'' by Eusebius of Caesarea,〔Richard Hinckley Allen, ''Star Names and Their Meanings'' (1899), p. 454.〕 although this is in fact a misnomer based on a transcription error. For reaching this meaning the Hebrew name Miryam had to go through a series of transformations: in Judeo-Aramaic it became ''Maryām'' (מרים), and this form was rendered in Greek as ''Mariam'' (Μαριάμ) or Maria. Mariam, in Hebrew, can have the meaning of "drop of the sea" if understood as "mar-yam": מר ''mar'' is a rare biblical word for "drop" ( is the only instance in the Hebrew Bible where it takes this meaning), and ''yam'' means "sea". St Jerome adopted this interpretation and translated the name into Latin as ''Stilla Maris'', "drop of the sea", but at some later stage a copyist transcribed this into ''Stella Maris'', "star of the sea", and this transcription error became widespread. Another opinion states that Jerome himself interpreted the name as meaning "star of the sea" or Stella Maris, by relating it to a Hebrew word for star, מאור (ma'or), from the verb אור ('or), to be light or shine.〔 Paschasius Radbertus in the ninth century wrote of Mary, Star of the Sea, as a guide to be followed on the way to Christ "lest we capsize amid the storm-tossed waves of the sea." At this time too the plainsong hymn "Ave Maris Stella" ("Hail, Star of the Sea"), became increasingly popular. In the twelfth century, Saint Bernard of Clairvaux wrote: ''"If the winds of temptation arise;'' ''If you are driven upon the rocks of tribulation look to the star, call on Mary; If you are tossed upon the waves of pride, of ambition, of envy, of rivalry, look to the star, call on Mary. Should anger, or avarice, or fleshly desire violently assail the frail vessel of your soul, look at the star, call upon Mary."''〔Hom. II super "Missus est," 17; Migne, P. L., CLXXXIII, 70-b, c, d, 71-a. Quoted in Doctor Mellifluus 31〕 Pope Pius XII in his encyclical, Doctor Mellifluus, also quoted Bernard of Clairvaux in saying; ''Mary ... is interpreted to mean 'Star of the Sea.' This admirably befits the Virgin Mother.. (for) as the ray does not diminish the brightness of the star, so neither did the Child born of her tarnish the beauty of Mary's virginity.''〔Bernard of Clairvaux quoted in Doctor Mellifluus 31〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Our Lady, Star of the Sea」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|