From a Marian devotee

I thought this beautifully written excerpt would be thought-provoking reading for Christians who wonder at Catholics who pray to Mary. This was written by Saint Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort, who was a true Marian devotee and advocate of the same. It was the gospel commentary from dailygospel.org from today's Mass. The Gospel reading is from John 15:1-8.

[Jesus] is our only master, who must teach us; our only Lord, on whom we must depend; our only head, to whom alone we should belong; our only model, whom we should imitate; our only physician, who must heal us; our only shepherd, who must feed us; our only Way, who must lead us; our only Truth, whom we must believe; our only Life, who must be our life; and our sole sufficiency in all things, that in him we may have all in All. Except the Name of Jesus, there is no other name given under Heaven whereby we must be saved; and apart from Jesus Christ, God has given us no other foundation of our salvation, our perfection and our glory: "for other foundation no man can lay, but that which is laid; which is Christ Jesus" (1Cor 3:11). Every house which is not built upon this firm rock, is founded on the shifting sands, and will inevitably fall sooner or later. Every soul who is not united with Christ as a branch to the stem of the vine, will fall off, wither and become fit only for the fire. If we are in Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ in us, we need not fear damnation; neither angels in heaven nor men on earth, neither demons in hell nor any other creature can harm us because they cannot separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus (cf. Rm 8:38-39).

Saint Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort (1673-1716), preacher, founder of religious communities 
Treatise on the true devotion to the Blessed Virgin, (Article one; First Truth) 

May the Lord uncover his face to you

Awhile back I heard or read about le`hem ha panim, I think from Catholic Answers live (podcast) -- the bread of the presence, or the bread of the face. This article is good reading on this subject, which comes up in today's readings in the feast of Mary, Mother of God. In the first reading, the priestly blessing is formulated that Aaron and his sons are to use:

May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord let his face shine on you and be gracious to you.
May the Lord uncover his face to you and bring you peace.

Mary is the new ark of the covenant, a singular vessel of the real presence of God through his Son, whom we also know as the bread of life, the prince of peace. In the Incarnation of the Word made flesh through Mary, the Lord uncovered his face in Jesus who is the image of God. Truly, the Lord was gracious upon us for sending his Son. This reminds me of the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament in Eucharistic adoration. The monstrance is covered with cloth but uncovered at the exposition.
   We also get the model of prayer in Mary from today's Gospel reading: As for Mary, she treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart. It would be so like me, a man, to jump up astonished and say "Eureka! I've got it!" at some realization. True and significant as that realization might be, I think that Mary's example of contemplation is a superior approach. We men can get too excitable, but I think that contemplative prayer, unassuming and constant, daily, will go much deeper.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us!

The Magnificat and the greatness of the Lord

Today's Gospel is almost entirely the Magnificat, that canticle of the Blessed Mother that rejoices in God's grace and mercy.
  That the Blessed Mother speaks of God routing "the proud of heart" is probably key in this canticle, as such disposition seems unlikely to elicit piety, whereas this canticle precisely shows the humility of the Blessed Mother -- immediately after the praises that St Elizabeth lavishes upon "the mother of my Lord" who is "blessed among women". After the unthinkable grace of God "inclining the heavens to come down" and save us as one of our own, nothing else but humility and rejoicing is proper! As the Blessed Mother is our perfect model on the receiving end of God's salvation, our lives should be the Magnificat sung in our every act!

Mary's faith and Elizabeth's rejoicing

Why was Elizabeth so filled with joy at Mary's greeting? Because the Holy Spirit filled her with joy. That passage (Lk 1:39-45) is filled with words like blessed, leapt for joy and similar words of rejoicing (a loud cry, honoured). And Elizabeth does not even have to hear the news from Mary about the Word made flesh in her womb, the unborn Son of God. Mary is blessed for her belief in the Lord's promise: trust, faith and hope in the faithfulness of God -- these are blessings of themselves, and they are gifts that keep on giving. Does the Holy Spirit prompt rejoicing in the Incarnation, or in the mother's faith? BOTH, I think. Just as man grieves over both the coming of death through sin and the fall of Eve (and Adam), we rejoice rightly over the coming of Emmanuel and the cooperation of Mary. For to minimize Mary's yes to God is to minimize Eve's (and Adam's) yes to the serpent, which would necessarily increase God's part in the fall -- and that is an impossible proposition!
  So let us believe in God's promises to us; it is all over his love letter to us, in Scripture (check out the first reading from the Song of Songs 2:8-14). Let us faithfully and joyfully say yes to our Father in heaven at every opportunity, and we will be blessed, brothers and sisters of our Lord, who can prompt faith and rejoicing to those whom we greet, too.

On the Feast of the Assumption

Just how well does the Blessed Virgin know our Lord? How well does a mother know her own son? What conversations did they have, or what insights were given our Blessed Mother in all those years, even those from the moment of his death and resurrection? And yet only a few words of hers are recorded in Scripture! But the most important, perhaps. 'Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to thy words!' 'They have run out of wine.' 'Do whatsoever he tells you!'

And of course, the beautiful Magnificat (Lk 1:46-55):

‘My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord
and my spirit exults in God my saviour;
because he has looked upon his lowly handmaid.
Yes, from this day forward all generations will call me blessed,
for the Almighty has done great things for me.
Holy is his name,
and his mercy reaches from age to age for those who fear him.
He has shown the power of his arm,
he has routed the proud of heart.
He has pulled down princes from their thrones and exalted the lowly.
The hungry he has filled with good things, the rich sent empty away.
He has come to the help of Israel his servant, mindful of his mercy
– according to the promise he made to our ancestors –
of his mercy to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.’

And so we can marvel and honor our Blessed Mother as did God in these words:
'Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.' (Lk 1:45) 'Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!' (Lk 11:28)

And in like wise do we hope to hear and to remain faithful!

The Mystery of the Annunciation

I wonder if Evangelicals would sometimes consider the significance of the episode of the angel Gabriel's annunciation to Mary. When I was praying the Rosary earlier, in contemplating the mystery of that event, I was struck as I often was: this annunciation is now to me! I am not kecharitomene or full of grace as Mary was, but I am given grace. Unearned, undeserved grace, given in baptism, a free gift of justification and sanctification begun. Graced in every sacrament and Eucharist, every And the announcement is simply unbelievable, that I should somehow bring Christ to the world. I shall have to ask with Mary: how can this be? For I am a sinful man! But Gabriel provides the answer: it is the Holy Spirit's work, for what is my body if not, as St. Paul says, a temple of the Holy Spirit. And as St. John says, if I have love, then God lives in me and I in Him. And, again, St. Paul declares, that I am a member of the body of Christ. Whatever else I may bemoan of my unworthiness, I must never forget: this is the work of the God who raised the dead, brought inexplicable healing, gave men the power to cast out demons and change hearts and minds. We're talking about the God who became man, after all. What have I to fear and fret about? I cannot fathom it, but the Word does not return to the Father in vain. I have but one logical answer to give to the God who loved me first: fiat -- "be it done to me according to thy word."

And it only makes sense to ask our Lady who especially lived through this mystery, and knew our Lord best through those years, to walk with me and teach me the ways of her son, our Lord. And may he be made flesh in me.

Fascinating (and one of the few endorsed) Marian apparitions

From a village in Lithuania, this amazing story about Our Lady of Siluva. Evangelicals these days are not as hostile to the Catholic faith as Protestants were of less recent days. It is reasonable for one to ask why a Christian already sharing a personal relationship with Christ our Lord should even bother with the Blessed Mother. This answer may seem glib, but it's no less true: it is the design and will of God to do so. Just as, for our Lady, it is the design and will of God for her to take us under her motherly love, children won by the salvation of our Lord's love and mercy.

Who's Afraid of Mary?

Mark Shea talks about it in this excellent post, not about normal Catholic devotion to the Blessed Virgin, but about Protestant terror of it. This has set my mind to ordering a few copies of his book, "Behold Your Mother: An Evangelical Discovers the Blessed Virgin Mary". In this post, Mark makes an excellent point about how extremes in denying the biblical blessedness of Mary lead to unscriptural and incorrect beliefs about the Incarnation and the Gospel. Such errors persist, however, and result in oddities such as the picture of our Lord as an inhuman savior who never called his mother "Mother", or that of a disconnected redeemer who, not having partaken of the human material of his "mother", did not really redeem the children of Adam and Eve after all.

Of course, I would, as a good Catholic, condemn the errors of Mariolatry, and I have seen signs of it, growing up in the Philippines. Now Filipino Catholics have not started offering a sacrifice (which is what worship is in the Judeo-Christian context) to Mary (or of Mary). Feasts of saints, including Mary, are still celebrated within the proper context of the Eucharistic celebration (Mass), where we unite ourselves to the one redemptive sacrifice of Christ in Calvary, offered to the Father. However, in a few places (such as Quiapo and Tondo), frequent and popular Marian novenas, as well as the occasional processions, seemed excessive. I wouldn't know personally if people actually prefer to pray novenas rather than go to Mass. Perhaps I see a lot of novenas being prayerd because they are simply unable to reconcile weekday Mass times with their busy schedules. I did not see excesses in my hometown of Lucena, even coming from the Holy Rosary Catholic School, even where Marian devotion is naturally encouraged and thriving. We had a rosary rally in October, celebrated in some years. I remember them as prayerful celebrations, meditating upon the mysteries of the rosary. We have Flores de Mayo once a year, although I seem to remember that more as a beauty pageant, much as our Queen Rose of Mary fund-raising pageant in school.

I am sure that there are abuses in Marian devotion. I do not see this as a general indictment, therefore, of Marian devotion, for I remain a Marian devotee, as was my primary and high school, as well as the university where I attended college -- and I did not see the excesses there. After all, who would say that sinners among us indicts Christianity or the Body of the Christ in general? Of course, I do understand the frustration of some, who attended in a Catholic school and came away with a different experience. The Lord warned about false teachers vividly, but the Lord also promised the Spirit of Truth, as well as a charism of certitude based on the keys of the kingdom to St. Peter in particular, and delegated authority to the apostles in general.

My Lutheran friend is incredibly frustrated at this, but his conclusion is correct: the Magisterium is indeed the official teaching authority of the Church. I cannot put in any differently, but his ire towards the notion of improper catechism in Catholic schools is not misguided. Well-meaning and reasonably catechized teachers can and do commit mistakes, if not deliberate abuses. In college, my RE teacher was caught up in liberation theology. Some of it was right, some of it was wrong, and it was the Magisterium which clarified that for me. In high school, our priest gave me some bad advice which I corrected only after clarification with the catechism and another priest.

My Lutheran friend is correct in indicting that the Church has a responsibility to address devotional abuses in our country. It is almost certain that they can do a better job of it, but I have no certainty that they haven't been doing their best. I did not personally encounter such Marian excesses in my life as a Filipino Catholic, and there are certainly none here in Melbourne. Perhaps the schools and parishes I've joined have simply been blessed like that and his were sadly not? But to say that the Church numbers among her members saints and sinners, orthodox teachers and heterodox ones -- what makes this so improbable?

Looking for the Mother in the birth of the Son

Interesting article: "Looking for Mary in Christmas Carols" by Michael Linton. With so much stacked against honoring the Blessed Mother, one might suspect a bias leading away from the Incarnation. After all, isn't Mama Mary that link between the Son of God and the Son of Man? The former was from the beginning, whereas the latter may actually be traced to a particular event. I recently read about an Evangelical maintaining that the Lord was not formed from Mary's human material, apparently not even her ovum. Those who believe this is perhaps simply making sure that man makes no boast about his contribution to our salvation. But it is certainly a false notion, which also jettisons the Incarnation completely.

p>[Link found via Catholic Report.]

Mary is crucial to Christmas and the Incarnation

Explained well -- by a Lutheran pastor!

Mark Shea's masterpiece on the Immaculate Conception

Few contemporary writers I know can lay it down as clearly for modern readers as can Mark Shea. Here is his latest, presented not only as a clear explanation, but one that addresses Evangelical misunderstandings.