It's A Shame Protestants Don't Get Mary

By  Pietro Perugino (c. 1446/1450–1523)

John 19:25b-27

^{25 . . .}Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. ²⁶When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, here is your son.’ ²⁷Then he said to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.

Catholics with devotion to the Mother of Jesus, believe fervently that in these most generous words, in the midst of his torment, that Jesus was not merely telling John to take care of Mary because he was dying, but that he was giving Mary to be John's Mother, and our Mother.  That in this action he established her as the Spiritual Mother for all of us that make up his Mystical Body.  Those of us that have experienced her love, her powerful intercession have no doubts whatsoever that this is what he intended, and that any mere literal reading of his words is regretful on the largest scale imaginable.

We know by experience of the love of God expressed through the love of the Mother he gave to us, the rich truth and deep meaning of the following passages:

Luke 1:46-55, 68-75

⁴⁶And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, ⁴⁷and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, ⁴⁸for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; ⁴⁹for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.⁵⁰His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.⁵¹He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. ⁵²He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; 

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Luke 2:33-35

33 And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. ³⁴Then Simeon^* blessed them and said to his mother Mary, ‘This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed ³⁵so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.’

We know that Mary's soul truly does magnify the Lord.  She is blessed, all generations have called her blessed, not because of a violation of the 1st Commandment to worship none but God, but because God looked with favor on her lowliness, and did these great things for her, and it is part of God's holiness that he did so.  It is part of his mercy to those of us who fear him from all generations that he looked with favor on his handmaid.

Reading scripture alone, we don't know what exactly had all been revealed to Mary about her son, that was also God's beloved Son.  This may have been the first time it was revealed to her in poetic terms the suffering she would bear as part of her vocation.  "A sword will pierce your own soul."  We now know, some helped by the movie the Passion of the Christ, how horrific this soul piercing sorrow was.

There is a promise that comes with that prediction.  "So that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed."  Do you know what this means?  I don't fully.  It is part of the metaphysical realities we will not grasp until we enter in the Glory of Our God after death.  Still, I can't explain it, but I know when I am talking with Mary, without vocalizing or writing my words down that she can hear me.  The thoughts of my heart are revealed to her.  I don't know if this is a gift to her or if it is part of the ongoing relationship between her and the Holy Spirit.  I just know that it is true.  

Some of us have also read the role that Mary played in the lives of our favorite saints, like St. Faustina and St. Therese, who wrote, "Mary, is more mother than queen."  St. Therese knew Mary at the age of 12 as the Mediatrix of all Graces.  She credited her with her healing from a serious childhood illness with a smile from their family statue of Our Lady of Victory.

Part of what drives me to write this post is the sadness I felt when one of the girls I drove to our High School's monthly Witness to Life outside of the Aurora, Illinois Planned Parenthood, made a statement mocking one of the Catholics praying to Mary.

I used to vehemently protest when Protestants, or their school books say that Catholics "pray to Mary".  I would go back to what the priests and nuns told me, "We don't pray to the saints and Mary, we pray with them."  Mary, as Jesus's Mother, is a most powerful intercessor.  He didn't refuse her at the wedding at Cana and he doesn't refuse her now.

John 2:1-9

2On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. ²Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. ³When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’ ⁴And Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.’ ⁵His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’ ⁶Now standing there were six stone water-jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. ⁷Jesus said to them, ‘Fill the jars with water.’ And they filled them up to the brim. ⁸He said to them, ‘Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.’ So they took it.⁹When the steward tasted the water that had become wine . . . 

Then I started thinking about it, having the benefit of Google that I didn't have as a 2nd grade religion student, I googled pray to Mary and found the criticism stems from praying the words of the Angel Gabriel "Hail Mary, full of grace" 53 times during praying of the rosary, versus 12 prayers addressed to either Our Father, or Glory Be to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  

I still prize the simple faith I had as a child and the zeal I defended the rosary along these lines, but I also have to reconcile the truth.

We do pray the rosary.  We do pray the greeting of the Angel Gabriel to Mary at the Annunciation 53 times while praying the rosary.  When we ask Mary to pray for us, isn't that request, reverent and full of confidence a type of prayer?  I think it is.

Still we do not worship Mary.  Mary holds special place of reverence higher than any of the saints or angels and is only second in holiness among humans to Jesus, her Son, who was directly conceived by the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit.  He is the Son of God.  He is true man, and true God. 

God, inclusive of the three persons of the Holy Trinity - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is far above Mary, but Mary is above all of the creation and created spirits and humans.  God created her to be the vessel through whom He became incarnate on his mission to redeem us.  What Protestants do not realize is that in saying those most generous and kind words in the midst of his death agony on the cross, he was also setting up that Mary would be the vessel through whom God's grace would come to us for all time.

One morning when I did not rush off to work, I watched Journey Home on EWTN and saw the testimony of a former Presbyterian who converted to Catholicism at Notre Dame (where I went to school) and also is now serving as a Roman Catholic priest at a parish about 10 miles from my home.  He said many beautiful things about how the Eucharist drew him, but like most Protestants on that show, Mary is usually the final sticking point before their conversion.

He said that what was incongruous with what he was taught about Mary, that she was an idol worshipped in place or alongside of Jesus, a clear violation of the 1st Commandment, was that those he knew with devotion to Mary were the same individuals that he knew to be most strongly and passionately devoted to Christ.  This common sense observation led him to understand the truth that Mary leads us deeper into a saving, and life-giving, transforming relationship with her Son, through the Holy Spirit, to the Glory of God the Father.  She does magnify the Lord to us.  

Personally I have faith in Mary's intercession as strong as my faith that the sun will rise tomorrow in the east, and set in the west, and that Sunday will be the first day of next week, and Saturday the last.  I credit this most loving, most tender, most compassionate, and most efficacious of all mothers with the fact that my husband and I are still married 22 years now, despite what at times has experienced the intense lows, and periods of emotional pain that would no doubt have ended many other marriages that did not have the benefit of recourse to Mother Mary.

Father Corapi said in one of his televised talks that Mary is like EF Hutton.  When she talks the Lord listens.  He said further that she is like the world's best stock broker.  We can take our little intercessory prayers to her with what little merit we might have and she takes them and leverages her great standing with the King so that we gain the help we need because of her.  This is similar to what Scott Hahn teaches about Mary being similar to the "Queen Mothers" of the kings of Israel, whom the Bible records had great influence with the king.

St. Kolbe talked about it being God's will that his awesome presence enter the world and mankind through his vessel, the lowly, beautiful handmaid, Mary, Israelite descendant of King David.  He said it is still his good pleasure that our prayers go through her to him and that his graces pass through her to us.  

This is again metaphysical territory that I am no expert in, and am happy going back to my 2nd grade nun's explanation of "mystery".  I just know I love her, and I know how much she loves me, and all of us . . . having seen the terrible price her son suffered to open the gates of heaven to us, and that she will do everything to aid us . . . in the most important things . . . . following the will of God in our lives so as to follow Christ's command to be perfect as the Heavenly Father is perfect by pursuing holiness, and in the more temporally important things like the sickness of a child, the brokenness of a marriage, the wayward son or daughter or husband.  She loves us and IS our mother.  We should expect no less and go to her with confidence.

Mary is also our example as we also hear from her son!  She isn't just the example to women, or to virgins, or to mothers like me, she is the example and role model for all of us.

She treasured, and pondered in her heart every word of God that came into her life . . . not just what Simeon said to her above, but also what Jesus, at the age of 12 said to her when she and Joseph found him after three days of searching, in the temple.

Luke 11:27-28

27 While he was saying this, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, ‘Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts that nursed you!’ ²⁸But he said, ‘Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it!’

Mary heard the word of God and obeyed it.

Luke 1:38

³⁸Then Mary said, ‘Here am I, the handmaid of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’ Then the angel departed from her.

I don't know how to say a couple sentences to persuade the girl in the back of my van, the daughter of a Baptist pastor to give Mary a chance.  I should ask for Mary's intercession on that one too.  What a shame she has not been taught how Mary's soul magnifies the Lord for us.  Instead many Protestants emphasize the other part of that passage, when Mary rejoices in God my Savior.  They say that proves she was not sinless because she was in need of a Savior.  If they go the sola scripture route, as illogical and non-scriptural as that is:  

2 Thessalonians 2:15

¹⁵So then, brothers and sisters,^* stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by our letter.

. . . then they cannot believe the dogma that Mary was Immaculately Conceived without the stain of original sin due to the merits of the Son she was designed by God to carry in her womb, and raise as her little boy.  The emphasis on that untruth, hides the beauty of the actual truth, Mary's role is to give us the graces to grow in holiness and in a loving relationship with her Son, Our Redeemer.  He is Our God, and she helps us to rejoice in Him along with her!

When my parish priest prays over me sometimes after giving me absolution, he sometimes prays, "Lord, here is your handmaid."  I don't deserve to have that name handmaid applied to me since it is the name Mary used for herself in response to the angel, but it is very powerful to me when he does.  He reminds me that I am to follow in Mary's path of humility and obedience.  It helps that I also get the message when the penance he gives me involves several Hail Mary's because it is through the grace she releases to me that I manage any trace of humility and express any semblance of love and tenderness toward her Son and to those he suffered and died to save.

God Bless You!  Mary, Our Lady of Victory, pray for us, pray for our children, and for our country!

Beautiful Reasons for Praying the Rosary Even More Often

This morning I put up a post to encourage you to pray the rosary even more often.  Please check it out at Community of Catholic Bloggers.

Transitive Property Not Applicable

"Women's Health and well-being" is not the same as subsidized and readily available morning after, and week after, and surgical forms of abortion.

Is there anyone applauding this misapplication of the math transitory property?  It is mildly offensive because of the illogical nature of the statement.

I hate seeing the horrific pictures of the aborted baby's mutilated bodies.  I have them in my mind now, so when that is called "women's health and well-being" i have a similar screaming yuck in my head and viscerally in my stomach.

How is making a decision easier and cheaper that cannot be unmade, and will have lasting emotional impact on the ones making it good for the woman's health or well-being?

If the baby being aborted, chemically or surgically is female, it certainly is disastrous for that female's health and well-being.

These statements deeply offend and anger me.  I guess I shouldn't be angered by them.  It is out of my control.  I just can't stomach that they are misusing language, using terms that everyone likes--"health", "well-being" to hide the immorality and evil that is actually occurring.

How do we get them to stop saying that b.s.?

Yes, prayer, and I do believe spending hours in adoration, and praying a rosary, seeking Mary's intercession for an end to this evil in our country, and a changing of the minds and hearts to recognize the evil.

Also there is voting.  I do not get not voting.  Voting does work.  Who likes the Obama Administration the most?  There is an argument for anyone in the abortion industry in this country and around the world, where our dollars are used to provide women's services inclusive of abortion.  Oh, and the population control people, too.  They are very concerned we will not have good air to breath if people continue to reproduce at the same pace.

We do need to ensure we get this administration out no later than inauguration day in January, 2013.  I am all for sooner, non-violently of course, but that is unlikely as anyone this skilled at "messaging" will likely avoid impeachment.

Thank you to all those that march, and pray outside of the abortion centers, and counsel, and pray, and pray . . . .  God's will be done, and may the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary triumph!

In case you haven't seen this:  The abortion provider uses a vast media and political network to maintain its subsidies from government and private charities.

Emotive Sunday

No, this isn't a new liturgical feast that you haven't heard of, it is because I twice tonight found myself crying in Church, and was straining to contain my tears.

My normal Sunday routine is to wake up early, not as early as I set my alarm, but as soon after that as my youngest makes his way into my room, I get up because I need to prepare to teach my 1st and 2nd graders Religion School.  I was so happy when I saw the computer clock and realized I had an extra hour due to the clock going back.  Yey!  I ended up preparing enough for 2 classes, but I didn't realize that until I had 5 minutes remaining and still had half of the first lesson and its questions remaining.

My youngest is in my class and he is one of the youngest, if not the youngest in the class since he has a late summer birthday.  He got up several times during the class.  He wanted to be my helper passing out things, because he is the teacher's son.  Only problem is three of the other 5 kids in class wanted to be a helper too.  If I were a real teacher I would have anticipated this on the first day and made a schedule of helpers, but I am not.

We start each class by praying the "O Heavenly King" which is a Catholic Eastern rite/Orthodox prayer invoking the Holy Spirit.

O Heavenly King, Comforter, Spirit of Truth, Who art everywhere present and fillest all things, Treasury of good things, and Giver of life: come and abide in us, and cleanse us from every sin, and save our souls, O Good One!

After this I added, "Holy Spirit, I entrust these children to your teaching.  I pray that you will take the task of teaching and touching each of them today according to your will, that you will lead each of them in knowledge, wisdom, and to holiness."  

I had to stop twice while praying this because my own son was doing sound effects something between a sheep and a train.

I am also rather clueless when I prepare at how the material is going to go over at the 6-9 year old level this class covers.  The 9 year old is brilliant and absolutely loves the Bible, and all things we talk about in class.  The girls seem to like crafts!  I prepared a handout on how to read scripture as the love letter from God that it is to each of us, but didn't realize the vocabulary was at a 10th grade level until a first grader stumbled on 4 words before making it through the first sentence in the second paragraph.  I suspected that the "Prayer Before Reading Scripture" from St. John Chrysostom was a little thick for their young minds, so I put the definitions for sojourner and perceive at the bottom of the page.  We didn't make it to the prayer though, because the first essay took a bit for me to paraphrase into 1st and 2nd grade ease on the fly. I'll save the prayer for next week. I think it is St. John Chrysostom's feast day so it will be perfect!

I did seem to get more of a clue while reading the Gospel passage about the healing of Jairus's daughter and the woman with the hemorrhage.  I explained to them that Jesus wasn't angry with the woman who sneaked up and touched him, with faith knowing that this would heal her, but he wanted her to fess up so that he could speak to her in love, and heal the hurt that was inside of her because of a disease that made her unclean, an outcast, and also unable to visit and pray in the synagogue or temple.  I spoke the words that he said to her to the girls first, telling them to think of Jesus calling them Daughter, and instead of "Your faith has healed you go in peace"; "Daughter, I love you.  Be filled with peace."  Then I looked at the boys, and said the same, but calling them "Sons."  I asked them, doesn't that make it different when instead of picturing Jesus looking on some woman from 2000 years ago with love and touching her soul in a way that no one else could see, that you instead picture him looking at you now as you are reading or hearing this with love, and calling you with a word that already means so much to you, "Daughter", "Son".  There were lots of big eyes, and it looked like some of them were starting to get it.

The homily today was on the same Gospel reading, I used in class.  I find my own kids actually listen to the Gospel later if I cover it during class.  My own sound effect producing child stopped, large eyes and was smiling when he heard the familiar words again this time being sung by our priest.

The priest stressed the importance of love, forgiveness, prayer, reading scripture, and understanding that it isn't what we do that will bring us to holiness, it is what the grace of God does inside of us.  That last part was precisely the message of the 2nd lesson I prepared for this morning, but we didn't have time to cover.  That God could do all things, including making us holy.

Sometimes that seems bigger than healing a hemorrhage or raising a 12 year old from the dead.  How does God bring us to holiness?  I wonder what the maze that he brought me through will look like when I view it after this life is over.  I wonder how many times I cooperated with him, and how many other times, even after an outpouring of his grace, I went back to being cold to the people around me, too preoccupied with my own schedule to be present to the ones I love most in my own family, or too undisciplined to get adequate rest to pray and meditate so I actually grow in knowledge and love of the one who loves me so much, so that I might serve Him better.

My oldest daughter, who is supposed to be my assistant for crafts, but didn't quite make it out the door in time for the latest possible moment that I could leave and be there at the start of class for the little ones.  So she also missed going to church.  Justin Fatica from Hard As Nails MInistry was speaking at a parish in the Archdiocese of Chicago tonight.  I happened to find this out, by chance, this week.  No one else from our parish wanted to go, but since my daughter missed church, and it would only be an extra hour and a half for her to hear the 2nd part of his talk and go to Mass, I thought it would be worth it.

There was a little ruckus as I was going.  This usually signals to me, as it has been a re-occurrence, that the evil one would like me to not go.  Since I recognize it now, I tend to dig in my heels, even if I was only half-way committed to going (I could have taken her to a local parish with a 5:30 Mass), and off we went.

I am not sure yet what she got out of it, but at the close of his talk he had a 13, maybe 14 year old boy whose name started with A, to stand at the front of the church and asked anyone that had ever struggled with the challenge of death to come up and hug him.  About 40 or so different teenage kids from all over that church came up and gave that kid a hug.  I started thinking Justin must know that this kid is sick and might die.  He is letting this kid know he is loved, and also this kid, so filled with hope and love for God is hugging all those coming up to hug him.  He said that too, "A, you have no idea how much you are helping these others.  Thank you."  Then Justin said if there is anyone that is having challenges, and he enumerated some--been hurt, and can't forgive, acting unkindly to someone close to you, etc.  Soon there were another 40 or so that came up to hug him.


I was crying, hard.  I don't know if anyone noticed, but the spigots were open.  I didn't want to dwell on why I was feeling this way, it just was a bit overwhelming.  At the same time I was crying I was thanking the Holy Spirit for giving me a tender heart.  I don't think it is my temperament to be tenderhearted, which is why I so clearly see it as the work of God's grace within me.  

Prior to this final part of his talk, Justin had told the crowd that Mass wasn't boring, if it was boring to us, then we were boring.  He said we needed to 1) Bring our sins to the foot of the cross, 2) Bring our challenges, 3) Bring what we are thankful for, 4) Seek the inspiration and messages we can give to others, 5) Receive the strength of Christ that comes with receiving Him in the Holy Eucharist.  He also stressed need for Confession.  They had that available to them earlier in the day before we arrived.  He also encouraged them to pray the rosary and to make the Consecration to Jesus through Mary as St. Louis de Montefort taught.  He told them to Google that.  


The kids really loved Justin.  It was loud in the Church.  Lots of clapping and then a Mass with lots of Praise, "Lord I Lift Your Name on High" music.  I think it was piano and not guitars, and this would be enough to set the traditionalist in me back, if I weren't more of an eclectic, Roman Catholic practicing Byzantine Catholic lover of Christ than a traditionalist, and seemingly bitter Catholic.  I don't mind praise music, even drums. I do get a little off-put when rain sticks are used.  The only thing that really gets me hot is heresy from the pulpit, when a priest at one of our local parishes tried to sell us some concoction about the feeding of the 5000 really being about people sharing their lunches.  Yes, that did make me bitter.

The celebrant for Mass also did not disappoint me.  His homily was very close to that of my own pastor this morning.  "If you want to grow closer to Christ, you have to spend time talking with him, you have to spend time with him."  Then pointing at the altar he said, "This isn't just a symbol up here either.  Here on this altar (and he said altar not table) the host is going to become the real body and blood of Jesus.  And do you know who said that?"  He paused a moment so folks could think Pope so and so, or Mother Teresa or someone.  Then he says, "Jesus says it.  He said it in the Gospel when he told us to do this in memory of Him."  Perfect.  Good for you Father!

I forgot to mention that during this blessed moment of the homily, my 6 year old was drawing pictures on his mini-legal pad of John the Baptist with his head on a platter.  Multiple pictures of it.  This is because 7 hours earlier at our church he was asking about that icon, stained glass window.  Boys!  They always seem to dwell and draw the more violent images.  My oldest daughter 15 and I just looked at each other shaking our heads.

The priest had also said much about our need to put in the hard work, and I thought that was possibly overlooking the transforming of our souls through the sanctifying grace of the Holy Spirit, but the choir--which was open to whomever in the audience wanted to sing as part of the choir that night--righted the ship on this one fast.  Our closing song was Matt Maher's "Your Grace is Enough"!

My final tears of the night were during the second verse of that song, when a woman about 15 years my senior went to the four teenage boys behind us, and talking over the singing said, "I have never been more proud of you boys than I was tonight."  I don't know who she was, who they were relative to her, what she was proud of, or what, but I just started crying.  They did look like good kids, they were praying, and at least one of the four was singing.  I just know that her going over there to them to tell them she was proud of them made me cry.  I love to sing, but I was too choked up to sing the rest of it.  I was proud to be Catholic and to be there that night.  Here we were all "loving on the Lord and each other" (this is how the Protestants at my kids' school talk), and we were in a Catholic Church completing our worship at Holy Mass.

I brought my little St. John the Baptist cartoon artist to the table where they were selling some of Justin's books and videos.  He picked out a video on the rosary, and a rubber bracelet.  I tried to get my daughter to ask me to buy the book, but it seems I was more impacted by the talk and the Mass than she was.  I bought the book anyway, and I know she'll read it, because if it has a cover and words inside and is near her bed at night, she'll read it.

Guess who wanted to watch the video and prayed all 5 Glorious Mysteries tonight?  My 6 year old.  Oh man I love him for that!  I prayed them with him.  I have four children and I think I've only prayed the full 5 mysteries with one of them before, and he was 12 at the time.  The video only features Justin on one mystery, but it holds his attention because it has a different Catholic "star" praying each of the 20 mysteries. It really holds his attention.  It also has Religious art, and some still sketches that they put motion to that also helped with the attention issue.  He didn't make sheep/train noises once.