On the Blessed Virgin Mary

Dear friends in Christ,

We had a request to do some writing on the Virgin Mary, and how a young man can learn to foster devotion towards her.  I first want to refer you to a blog post I wrote two months ago called "Mary, mother of priests".  That gives you an idea of the role of the Blessed Mother in the life of a priest.  But what about the average Joe or Jane out there who wants to develop further devotion to her?

Devotion to the Blessed Mother is of utmost importance in any life, not just a priest.  It is through prayer to Mary that we learn to be more like her, in being completely obedient to the will of God.  We need only look back at Mary's radical yes: Behold, I am the handmaiden of the Lord.  Be it down unto me according to your word.  So by prayer to Mary, we are learning how to be more like Mary in following God and His will for us.  We should always pray "May it be done unto me according to your word." This is the prayer of Mary, and we should practice imitating her.  

The most popular form of Marian Devotion is through the Rosary.  It is in the Rosary that we pray to Mary while meditating on the life of Christ.  In the letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae by Pope John Paul II, the Rosary is described as primarily a Christocentric prayer, because you are meditating on the life of Christ.  But you aren't meditating on the life of Christ alone; you are meditating with Mary on the life of Christ.  You are learning from her example of prayer.  She prays to Christ, and when we pray the Rosary, our ultimate prayer is to Christ, precisely because Mary intercedes for us.  Prayer to Mary is intercessory, something our non-Catholic Christians don't seem to understand, that when praying to Mary, we aren't asking her to grant the request, but we are asking her to pray for us so that request is granted.  I like to use to analogy that if Christ is the head of the Church, Mary is the neck of the Church, as she turns the head towards mercy.  Any decent man listens to his mother, and the relationship of Christ and Mary is no different.  

So when praying the Rosary, we must remember that all things end in Christ, and the Rosary is no different.  In the Rosary, we are uniting our prayers with Mary as together, you and Mary meditate on the life of Christ, and you learn more about Christ through her.  But we also try to imitate Mary, as she is the best example we have (except for Christ himself) of being a Christian.  Mary was with Jesus his entire life, including his death.  In the Gospel of John we read about how Mary kneels at the foot of the Cross.  We must learn to do the same, meditating on the Cross as Mary meditated on the Cross.  

I hope my short meditation on Mary helps those who are trying to foster a devotion towards her.  There are many papal writings on the role of the Virgin Mother.  I would start with Rosarium Virginis Mariam, which was writting in 2002.  I would also read Redemptorist Mater, which is a papal encyclical on the Mother of the Redeemer written by John Paul II.  I would also check out some of the posts on this blog: The Humble Servant.  This is my other blog with writings on Marian devotion.  On this blog you can also learn how to pray the Rosary, and learn more about St. Maximilian Kolbe, a 20th Century martyr in the German concentration camps who started Militia Immaculata, a Marian devotion group.  I would also pick up St. Louis de Montfort's "True Devotion to Mary."

My final note: In fostering a devotion to Mary, we can learn our vocation in life, whether it be married life, or the priesthood, or religious life.  If you really want to figure out your vocation, it is in your best interest to pray the Rosary every day with the intention of being shown your vocation in life.  May you remain close to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  May God bless you.

-Bobby