I am only going to touch on the surface of this topic for now and have in the past been very conflicted about the topic myself. I was raised Catholic and with the name Mary, I always felt a special connection to Our Blessed Mother, Jesus’s mom and to a few saints such as St Francis, and St Therese. As I reached adulthood I allowed the influences and disillusionment of secular society to influence my pondering. One of the many religious topics of focus was Mary as a subject of worship and I began to see and accept the secular idea that the images and statues were blasphemous, as the bible and ten commandments warned against worshiping engraven images.
So many around me, and I too for a good amount of time, were anti religious or poly-religious…not really sure of what they believed, testing various religions, and creating their own religions by choosing religious values and pieces they like from the various religions, as if selecting menu items in a cafeteria; love, nature, a personal relationship with God, when and where to worship, who to accept, what to reject….and so much more. Much of what they decided upon was ‘good’, but was it of God?
After many failed relationships and friendships, I came back to my family and to the church. I took RCIA and learned I learned so much in the process. I learned the actual significance of Mary and came back to her! You see, the thought (though incorrect) that Catholics worship and pray to Mary was easy to buy into, what with the statues and images of her, and the well known prayers of the Hail Mary, and the Rosary. But if and when you delve into them deeper and into the bible, you can see that these are honoring, venerating, and calling out to her as we do to any loved one or friend to pray for us. We have pictures of our loved ones around us, and if they die before us we “ask them/their soul, which we tend to presume is in heaven, to watch over us”. The words of the Hail Mary are, in good part, in the bible and if you actually know the prayer it is specifically asking Holy Mary, Mother of God, PRAY FOR US. Praying it is like asking our deceased loved ones to put in a good word for us, and really, a child is more likely to respond to their mother’s request than they are to a mere acquaintance. Jesus’s respect and love for his Mother is infinite and really, have we made enough effort to befriend Him or truly treat Him as more than an acquaintance.
Yes, I will bow before the Sacrament of the Blessed Eucharist, as it IS the true and miraculous Body, Blood and Divinity of Christ my Lord and I will pray in worship and gratitude to Him every chance I get, but when I bow before a statue of Mary, it is out of respect, NOT worship. I will ask her and/or the saints to pray for me and to intercede for me or those I’m praying for because quite frankly she’s got that Momma influence with Jesus Christ and the saints have that best friends circle influence, so if I can get their help I am sure going to utilize that resource. Prayers involving Mary ad the Saints always include a plea for their intercession…not a presumption that they can or will answer the prayer, but that they will go to Christ for us.
More on this topic at a later date, but for now, I am praying for you…Please, pray for me too! Please know that YOU are loved! ~Mary
Created4Christ 