Mary and our faith

by Editor · May 16, 2012

Catholics have a very special relationship with the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of our Saviour Jesus Christ a relationship which the Catholic Church encourages and nurtures. Many Protestants, when they don’t misunderstand or reject that relationship, find the Catholic (and Eastern Orthodox) devotion to Mary attractive and spiritually enriching. Some have even made efforts to introduce the Rosary to their congregations.

Those Protestants who look unkindly upon the Catholic devotions to the Blessed Virgin often do not explore it beyond the dogma they reject (such as the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption), the Marian apparitions for which they have no use, and what they feel is an undue emphasis on Mary in Catholic and Orthodox devotion. There is, however, an awareness of Mary in Catholic thought that should resonate with all the followers of Christ.

A close-up of Mary, part of a larger “Mary and Joseph” statue, by US artist Rip Caswell.(CNS photo courtesy Rip Caswell)

Historically, devotion to Mary precedes the schisms in the Church. St Augustine taught that the mother of the Saviour is surely the mother of his members, meaning Christ’s followers. And St Thomas Aquinas wrote: The Blessed Virgin, because she is the Mother of God, has a certain infinite dignity from the infinite good, which is God.

As the mother of Jesus, Mary is the mother of us all. A relationship with Christ surely is deficient if it excludes his mother. Of course, there may be variations in the manner by which that relationship is maintained.

Catholics are required to hold that the doctrines of the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption are infallible. This facilitates our celebration of these feasts in communion, unlike the optional devotions and novenas. For South Africans, the Assumption is particularly important as the country’s patronal feast.

The Rosary and the associated meditations are at the centre of our sacramental devotion. Through the Rosary and other prayers to Mary we find a shortcut to her Son Jesus, who mediates on our behalf with God. As Vatican II’s dogmatic constitution Lumen Gentium reminds us, prayer to Our Lady fosters intimacy with Christ.

Pope John Paul II in his 2002 apostolic letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae, which introduced the new Mysteries of Light, put it like this: The Rosary, though clearly Marian in character, is at heart a Christocentric prayer. In the sobriety of its elements, it has all the depth of the Gospel message in its entirety, of which it can be said to be a compendium.

Other sacramentals, such as the brown scapular or the miraculous medal, also aid many in deepening their Marian prayer life.

Catholics are not required to believe in the authenticity of the various Marian apparitions, even those approved by the Church, such as Lourdes, Fatima, Guadalupe, Akita and so on, nor hold that the messages that came from these apparitions are communications from Our Lady. Devotions to such apparitions and their reputed revelations are a matter of private choice, an individual piety.

Indeed, the Catholic Church is extremely cautious in how it treats reported appearances of Our Lady, and rightly so. Only a relatively small number has been formally approved as worthy of belief, though devotion to some apparitions, such as those reported by Benedictine Sister Reinolda May in Ngome, KwaZulu-Natal, have the consent of the local bishop.

While we may exercise our discretion, devotions based on Marian apparitions clearly have apparent faith-strengthening properties. Even controversial and unauthorised sites of reported apparitions, such as the Bosnian village of Medjugorje, have produced undeniable spiritual fruits.

Of course, even without these devotions, there is much in Scripture and Church teachings that will enable the Christian to maintain an enriching devotion to the Blessed Virgin.

In his 1987 encyclical Redemptoris Mater, John Paul II located Mary in a central position in the Church: Mary embraces each and every one in the Church, and embraces each and every one through the Church. In this sense Mary, Mother of the Church, is also the Church’s model.