There’s something magnificent about Mary!
Contrary to misguided popular opinion, Catholic’s do not worship Mary, nor is she idolised, nor is she considered to be Jesus’ equal.
Catholic’s give ‘honour’ to Mary, as is the teaching of the Catholic Faith. Do we not show our own mother respect, are we not attentive to her, are we not thankful to her that she nurtured us and cared for us, from the time of our conception, right through to adulthood?
Is not one of the Ten Commandments :
Exo 20:12
“Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee “
It would be odd, would it not, were we to dismiss Mary, to consider her significance ‘ordinary’ and of no special importance ~ for Mary didn’t just carry Jesus in her womb and that’s it, done and dusted! Mary is the Mother of Jesus, and therefore, the Mother of God! No one else was chosen, it was not one of us, it was Mary. Only one so pure and sinless could carry the gift of the the Saviour of the World, within her womb.
If we demean Mary’s role, say that she was not without sin, then we are considering ourselves to be her equal. Are we of the opinion that we, sinners, could have been chosen to carry the baby Jesus in our womb? Of course not! How can something that is tainted, be worthy of carrying something that is quite perfect, without tainting it….Mary, sinless and pure is deserving of our affection, honour and devotion.
Catholic teaching is that Mary was born without sin and that throughout her life, she remained sinless. Mary, ever virgin, Mother of Jesus, Mother of God!
It is not difficult to develop a strong affection for Mary. Mary has so much to offer us, there is so much to contemplate when we think of Mary.
She was devoted to Gods will ~ what a wonderful example she is.
She was devoted to Jesus ~ she was the Mother of our Lord, not only did she give birth to Jesus, but she endured the agony of being witness to her only Son’s suffering, and eventual agonising crucifixion.
What kind of woman could love God so dearly, love her Son, so dearly, that she could brokenheartedly kneel at the foot of the cross on which her Son was dying and recieve not only John, but all disciples of Christ, as her adoptive children?
John 19:26-27 :
When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home I say that we are adopted children, because it is God that first adopts us. God the Father is the Father of Jesus Christ and God the Father, is our heavenly Father. We know that Jesus is the only Son of the Father, and that therefore, God loves us enough to make us His own children, by ‘adopting’ us. We were not born with Jesus’ Divine nature, but we are completely accepted by God the Father, and loved beyond measure.
If then, God the Father, loves us so dearly that he calls us his children, then who is our Mother? Yes, it is true, we have a physical mother on earth, just as Jesus had a physically present Mother on earth. But we have Mary as our spiritual Mother, for she did, what we are incapable of doing, she gave birth to the Son of God. Because she is the Mother of God, she is also our Mother, and deserving of our devotion and honour, Mary, is the Mother of the Church.
Mary is the Mother of the Divine nature of Christ as she is the Mother of her Son’s human nature ~ this is so, because Christ is not two separate people residing in one body…therefore, she is Theotokos and it is truly a legitimate expression to call upon Mary in the expression, ‘ Mother of God’ , for while she was not responsible (Our Lady was created and did not have a divine nature) for Jesus’ Divine nature, Mary gave birth to a Divine person..the person of Jesus, the very Son of God.
CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH ~
494 At the announcement that she would give birth to “the Son of the Most High” without knowing man, by the power of the Holy Spirit, Mary responded with the obedience of faith, certain that “with God nothing will be impossible”: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be [done] to me according to your word.”139 Thus, giving her consent to God’s word, Mary becomes the mother of Jesus. Espousing the divine will for salvation wholeheartedly, without a single sin to restrain her, she gave herself entirely to the person and to the work of her Son; she did so in order to serve the mystery of redemption with him and dependent on him, by God’s grace:140
509 Mary is truly “Mother of God” since she is the mother of the eternal Son of God made man, who is God himself.
967 By her complete adherence to the Father’s will, to his Son’s redemptive work, and to every prompting of the Holy Spirit, the Virgin Mary is the Church’s model of faith and charity. Thus she is a “preeminent and . . . wholly unique member of the Church”; indeed, she is the “exemplary realization” (typus)510 of the Church.
968 Her role in relation to the Church and to all humanity goes still further. “In a wholly singular way she cooperated by her obedience, faith, hope, and burning charity in the Savior’s work of restoring supernatural life to souls. For this reason she is a mother to us in the order of grace.”511
974 The Most Blessed Virgin Mary, when the course of her earthly life was completed, was taken up body and soul into the glory of heaven, where she already shares in the glory of her Son’s Resurrection, anticipating the resurrection of all members of his Body.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church contains the teachings on Mary and are vast. Unfortunately, there is not enough available space for me to quote them all here, there is so much more to read, follow the following link to do so :
Catechism
We conclude with the Hail Mary, the prayer of requesting the intercession of Mary~
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of our death.Amen
Catechism of the Catholic Church ~
2676 This twofold movement of prayer to Mary has found a privileged expression in the Ave Maria:
Hail Mary [or Rejoice, Mary]: the greeting of the angel Gabriel opens this prayer. It is God himself who, through his angel as intermediary, greets Mary. Our prayer dares to take up this greeting to Mary with the regard God had for the lowliness of his humble servant and to exult in the joy he finds in her.30
Full of grace, the Lord is with thee: These two phrases of the angel’s greeting shed light on one another. Mary is full of grace because the Lord is with her. The grace with which she is filled is the presence of him who is the source of all grace. “Rejoice . . . O Daughter of Jerusalem . . . the Lord your God is in your midst.”31 Mary, in whom the Lord himself has just made his dwelling, is the daughter of Zion in person, the ark of the covenant, the place where the glory of the Lord dwells. She is “the dwelling of God . . . with men.”32 Full of grace, Mary is wholly given over to him who has come to dwell in her and whom she is about to give to the world.
Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. After the angel’s greeting, we make Elizabeth’s greeting our own. “Filled with the Holy Spirit,” Elizabeth is the first in the long succession of generations who have called Mary “blessed.”33 “Blessed is she who believed. . . . “34 Mary is “blessed among women” because she believed in the fulfillment of the Lord’s word. Abraham. because of his faith, became a blessing for all the nations of the earth.35 Mary, because of her faith, became the mother of believers, through whom all nations of the earth receive him who is God’s own blessing: Jesus, the “fruit of thy womb.”
2677 Holy Mary, Mother of God: With Elizabeth we marvel, “And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?”36 Because she gives us Jesus, her son, Mary is Mother of God and our mother; we can entrust all our cares and petitions to her: she prays for us as she prayed for herself: “Let it be to me according to your word.”37 By entrusting ourselves to her prayer, we abandon ourselves to the will of God together with her: “Thy will be done.”
Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death:
By asking Mary to pray for us, we acknowledge ourselves to be poor sinners and we address ourselves to the “Mother of Mercy,” the All-Holy One. We give ourselves over to her now, in the Today of our lives. And our trust broadens further, already at the present moment, to surrender “the hour of our death” wholly to her care. May she be there as she was at her son’s death on the cross. May she welcome us as our mother at the hour of our passing38 to lead us to her son, Jesus, in paradise. “
Further reading :Recommendation for book purchase :
Hail, Holy Queen ~ Scott Hahn.
follow this link to read more about the Blessed Virgin Mary :
Newadvent
