The Mary Question

Many people, Catholic and non Catholic alike, find it difficult to get past the "Mary question";

Why Mary?

To be fair, there is more than one Mary question.

Some don't get why we need to go to Jesus through Mary.

Some wonder why Catholics "worship" Mary. (We don't.)

Some don't get how we can "adore" Mary. (We don't.)

Some don't understand why we pray to Mary.

All big, valid questions.

For starters, we need Mary because Jesus needed Mary. In the manner that Jesus chose to come to earth, He needed Mary to carry Him and birth Him.  Because He came as an infant, He needed Mary to nourish Him and bathe and clothe Him.  Because He went through childhood, He needed Mary to take care of Him: cooking, cleaning, sewing, teaching---being a mom!

Picture this; A child walks into the house with a friend that s/he wants to introduce.  Dad and mom are standing there and the child says, "Dad I want my friend to meet you.  Chris, this is my dad."  "Nice to meet you Chris",  says Dad stretching out his hand.  Mom is standing there, smiling, waiting.

Chris says, "Is this your mom?"  To which the child replies, "Yeah, but she's not important.  Let's go in the family room and talk with my dad for a while."

Ouch!

Christ did not make Mary's role, and her being, so important just to have us set her aside and forget about her now that her job of bringing Christ into the world is done.  Her job of bringing us to Christ never ends.

We go to Jesus through Mary because she is the vessel through whom He chose to come to us.

Secondly, we don't worship or adore Mary. Worship and adoration are for God alone.  We offer Mary something called hyperdulia.   Click here http://centeredinchrist1.blogspot.com/2015/05/hyperdulia.html
to read my previous post on this subject.

Finally, why do we pray to Mary?  Remember that prayer is conversation.  When we go to Mary with our needs, we are asking her to take our needs to Christ. We are asking her to intercede for us.  We do this for each other all the time. "Pray for me, please, I have a test to take." "Pray that I can find a good job," "Pray for my sister, she's going on a trip."  We pray for each other all the time.

In the Old Testament, when Queen Mother, Bathsheba, went to see her son, King Solomon, he got up from his throne and bowed down to her (he honored her).  (1 Kings 2:19)

Why was Queen Mother Bathsheba there to see King Solomon?  She was there on behalf of someone who had asked her to talk to her son for him (to intercede for him).  (1 Kings 2:19)

At the wedding feast of Cana, who knew the need of the couple?  Mary did. What did she do for them?  She interceded for them.  "They have no more wine".  (John 2:3)  Jesus, ever willing to please His mother, performed His first miracle.  Why would we not go to Mary when she has complete access to her Son at all times.  She is more than willing to intercede for us at all times.

But there is more.  What words did Mary say to the servant?  "Do whatever He tells you." (John 2:5)
Mary leads us to Christ and His will.  She still tells us to listen to Jesus and do whatever He tells us.

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Notice the Rosary on the arm of Mother Mary, likely the most well-known Marian devotion.  In this devotion Mary, again, leads us to Jesus as the mysteries of the Rosary take us through the life of her Son.  As we dwell on the life of Christ, this brings us closer to Him as our Savior.

O Mamma Mary, O Queen Mother,  O Mother of our Savior,  pray for us, O holy Mother of God, that we make be made worthy of the promises of Christ.  Amen

Hyperdulia

Hyper-what?

Since it is May and May is the month of Mary our heavenly Queen I thought I would take a cue from this Sunday's homily and talk about the way we love our Mother Mary.

Father John, our associate pastor, explained the different levels of honor and respect that we give to the Holy Trinity, to Mamma Mary, and to all the other Saints and angels.

Latria is the term used when we talk about how we love the Trinity.  It means adoration.  To God alone belongs this type of love and devotion.  We should love no one and nothing more than God and so to Him alone belongs our latria. Within the definition is the clarification that: Latria carries an emphasis on the internal form of worship, rather than external ceremonies. (Wikipedia) 

The reverence we give to the Saints and angels is a lower form of devotion called dulia. We do not worship them, we do not adore them but we can and do have a devotion to them.

Since Mary is the mother of God, she rightly deserves a higher form of reverence than the other Saints and the angels.  We call the reverence we give to Mary hyperdulia. Again, this is not worship or adoration. This is devotion and reverence taken up a notch.  

Why do we honor Mary at such a level?  Because of her role in salvation history.  Her fiat, "may it be done unto me according to thy word." (Luke 1:38)

Mary, our Mother, plays three roles within the realm of the Trinity:  she is the daughter of the Father, she is the mother of the Son and she is the spouse of the Holy Spirit.  If God himself thinks highly of her to give her these three roles within the Trinity, than she absolutely deserves our devotion.  

Some with a strong devotion to Mamma Mary may be afraid that they love her too deeply.  St. Maximilian Kolbe reassures us by telling us, "Never worry about loving Mary too much. You can never love her more than Jesus does!"  

So to reiterate:  we Catholics do not worship Mary.  We are devoted to her, we go to her and ask for her intercession, and we love her in a hyperdulia kind of way.  

(Thanks to Fr. John for this lovely explanation!) 



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