Marian Devotions

I have been doing this novena for a month. Now I am up to rosary #29. Not having done this before, I am starting to feel the burden of saying the rosary every single day. This is someting I expected.

Many non-Catholics express skepticsm about devotions to Mary. They consider it a kind of idolotry. Catholics, however, do not worship Mary as a god. She is human, just like the rest of us, and no one denies it.

Interestingly, the same people who decry devotions have no problem with stopping to see Mt. Rushmore. They will enter the Lincoln Memorial or some equivalent monument with hushed reverence. Yet they are confident they do not confuse Abraham Lincoln with a god.

Mary is the Mother of Jesus. As such, she is first among all humans. Devotion to Mary is intended as emulation of Mary. Since she is human, it is possible to emulate her, and in so doing, to come closer to God. Mary should be thought of as the image of human perfection.

We pray to Mary because she is alive, just as all the dead are alive in God. When we pray to Mary, we ask her to pray for us. Mary does nothing on her own. She only asks on our behalf. Just as we may ask a friend to pray for us in a difficult time, we can ask Mary to pray for us. That is all Marian devotion is -- a more human way to approach God.