Do Catholics have a "Need" for Mary?

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MariaChristi

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Do Catholics have a “Need” for Mary?
Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Since there were but a few responses to my last thread on “The world ‘needs’ Mary”, I’m wondering if Catholics on CAF see a “need” of Mary for themselves. Have any of us become as little concerned about the Mother of God as the world is? Has the Church in part lost sight of our need for Mary? You may be interested in the excerpt below:
Our Mother, too

"Mary’s role in the sanctification of the Christian has been beautifully described in the writings of St. Louis Mary de Montfort. Here is a synthesis of his teaching:
  • all Christians are called to perfection and sanctity;
  • to reach perfection it is necessary to practice and perfect the virtues;
  • to practice the virtues we need the help of God’s grace;
  • to obtain God’s grace it is necessary to receive it through Mary.
    The reasons for the last statement are as follows:
1, of all God’s creatures, only Mary found grace before God, both for herself and for others;
2. Mary gave birth to the Author of grace and is therefore called the Mother of grace;
3. in giving Mary his only begotten Son, the eternal Father gave Mary all graces;
4. God appointed Mary as dispenser of grace, and by reason of this office she gives grace to whom she wishes and when she wishes;
5. as in the natural order a child must have a father and a mother, so in the order of grace the Christian has God as the father and Mary as the mother;
6. since Mary formed the Head of the Mystical Body, she should also form the members;
7. Mary was and still remains the spouse of the Holy Spirit;
8. as in the natural order the child is nourished by its mother, in the supernatural order Mary nourishes and strengthens her children; and
9. he who finds Mary, finds Jesus, who is with her always."
Jordan Aumann, OP - Spiritual Theology (for more see HERE)
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Note: You may want to browse on this excellent website “Catholic Treasury”, from link given above. I found this excerpt after being referred to another section on St. Bernard’s “Degrees of Charity”. The same St. Bernard who wrote “De Maria numquam satis” (translated from Latin: “Of - or concerning- Mary, there is never enough” 🙂
 
MariaChristi said:
Since there were but a few responses to my last thread on “The world ‘needs’ Mary”,
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I think you’re singing to the choir. I don’t really know what you want us to say. So, I just hit the like button.
 
I think if she were singing to the Marian choir, the choir would be singing along with her. My perception is that there is far too little devotion to our Mother in myself, in the Church, and on these boards. I would like to see us be as devoted to Mary as St. Louis De Monfort and St. Maximilian Kolbe. And we can be if we study about her and go directly to her heart.
 
patricius79 said:
I think if she were singing to the Marian choir, the choir would be singing along with her. My perception is that there is far too little devotion to our Mother in myself, in the Church, and on these boards. I would like to see us be as devoted to Mary as St. Louis De Monfort and St. Maximilian Kolbe. And we can be if we study about her and go directly to her heart.
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Well, I guess that’s your opinion. But I don’t consider a response to her post a litmus test for being devoted to Mary.
 
It’s not a litmus test for every single individual. But I don’t perceive an overall spirit of “of Mary, there is never enough!” in the U.S. Church or on these boards.

This is tragic since, as JPII tells us, Mary is our inheritance, with whom we are each called to have a unique and unrepeatable relationship which unites us to Jesus.

How many Catholics are deeply aware that Mary is our Mediatrix who brings us the gifts of eternal salvation (Vatican II)?
 
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patricius79 said:
It’s not a litmus test for every single individual. But I don’t perceive an overall spirit of “of Mary, there is never enough!” in the U.S. Church or on these boards…
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I do.

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“The Church’s devotion to the Blessed Virgin is intrinsic to Christian worship.”
Catechism of the Catholic Church

Intrinsic; adjective /ɪnˈtrɪn·zɪk, -sɪk/ essential, basic to a thing, being an important part of making it what it is:

Yep…she’s important all right! And yes indeed, I greatly need her!!!
 
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Apart from the NEED for the Mother of our Redeemer in our lives, I’m always shocked at those who have a visceral reaction to the slightest mention of Our Lady.
That makes me incredibly sad. As if Our Lord would take offense that we love her like He does.
 
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I know I need her even more than I needed my earthly mother as a baby.

But so many Catholics, even those who believe Church teachings, don’t seem to have much love for her. About 2 years ago at my church, during the Solemnity of the Mother of God, they sang (brace yourselves) “Mary, Did You Know?” For those who (mercifully) haven’t heard that blasphemous song, it denies the Immaculate Conception and calls into question what is explicitly stated at the Annunciation (and therefore the authority of Sacred Scripture). I looked online to see what others thought, and the only one who agreed that it was a problem said, “I wouldn’t even talk to my own mother like that, let alone the Mother of God.” For me, this spoke volumes, as the Mother of God is our mother. I found it sad.

I also rarely hear other Catholics talk about her except online and in the writings of saints. If I go by people’s behavior, then Catholics generally have little love for her. We can protest all we want that this is not true, but what they do speaks so loudly, I can’t hear what they say—not that they say much about her anyway, but this silence says it all.
 
I certainly need her! She is my adopted mom. She helps me all the time.

If someone else thinks they do not need her, I’m a little sad for them as she dearly wants to help us if only we ask.
 
MariaChristi said:
to obtain God’s grace it is necessary to receive it through Mary.
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ok, i’ll be a dissenter.

how does the above statement not take away from trinity? is he saying God can’t just give us grace? is he saying we should be praying to Mary for grace?

I see a need for the Mother as the first person I want to ask for help when i need others to pray for me but i ask God/Jesus/Holy Spirit for the graces i need.

Lord, grant me a better understanding of the role of the Blessed Mother, open my eyes and heart if i have it wrong. Amen
 
Thanks for your reply, de Maria.

Actually, “The choir may be the only ones who sing Mary’s Praises” yet, I didn’t hear many agreeing with me on that first thread about the world needing Mary. So it prompted me to be specific about whether Catholics on CAF consider their own need for Mary. If we do perceive our need for her, why are so many seemingly reluctant to speak of her or pray and study to know how to defend her when she is misunderstood.

Perhaps I “played the right chord” in my own singing to get so many more replies to this thread than the last. 🙂

Seriously, de Maria, I didn’t want any particular answer, but rather I was longing to hear from my brothers and sisters their own need to love her – for as your user name indicates: “de Maria numquam satis” (Of Mary there is never enough). By God’s Grace may all of us grow to be more noble sons and daughters of so noble a Mother!
 
Thanks, brother Pat!

You and I seem to perceive what St. John Paul II said in his address Oct. 1982:
…Where the Mother is, there too is the Son. When one moves away from the Mother, sooner or later he ends up keeping distant from the Son as well. It is no wonder that today, in various sectors of secularised society, we note a widespread crisis of faith in God, preceded by a drop in devotion to the Virgin Mother.(Address given Oct. 1982)
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Jesus from His Cross, said: “Behold your Mother”. Perhps too many of us have not spent enough time listening to His Word with the ears of our hearts, nor pondered Mary at the foot of the Cross, with the beloved Disciple John. By God’s Grace, may we “Behold” with eyes of Faith, and obey as John did, taking Mary into our lives.

Please let us continue to pray for one another, for the Church and the world in such need of Jesus and His Gift of Mary to us. Jesus we trust in You. Mary, Mother of Mercy, pray for us.
 
Dear Mark,

Thanks so much for your reply. Yes, That sentence in the Catechism (from Paragraph 971) is a “gem”! It amazes me how some seem to miss the importance of that word “intrinsic”. We cannot do without her because God chose not to do without her in His Plan for our salvation.

I know I would be lost without her continuing intercession for me – speaking to her Her Son and our Brother Jesus on my behalf, as she did for the couple at Cana. How beautiful to me now when I pray “Holy Mary, Mother of God pray for us now and at the hour of our death”

Someone was praying that prayer for me at a time when I wasn’t thinking of Mary and did not know what I was missing. Now I pray that prayer with continuing hope for myself and for others to grow cloer to her and through her to Jesus.
 
Thanks dear Clare,

It makes me sad too, but it makes me pray also. St. Louis de Montfort speaks of a similar sentiment in his Treatise on “True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin”. He wrote:

Dear Jesus, do these people possess your spirit? Do they please you by acting in this way? Would it please you if we were to make no effort to give pleasure to your Mother because we are afraid of offending you? Does devotion to your holy Mother hinder devotion to you? Does Mary keep for herself any honour we pay her? Is she a rival of yours? Is she a stranger having no kinship with you? Does pleasing her imply displeasing you? Does the gift of oneself to her constitute a deprivation for you? Is love for her a lessening of our love for you? (for more see [HERE] Scroll down to paragraph 64.
 
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Thanks dallas_r,

Me too – I know I have a need and I know that is due to God’s Grace! How very grateful I am to know how very much I need her, and how Merciful God is to have given Mary to me and to all of us from His Cross. He knew, for sure, how much we all need her – He created her! 🙂
 
My friend, as a Consecrated Marian Catechist, and a devout believer in Mary’s often critical role in one’s salvation.

with DEEP sadness I point out the Believe in the Real Presence is far less than HALF of self professed CATHOLICS; why then would you expect this same group to favor a belief in Mary as being beneficial to their salvation path?

I GREATLY appreciate your concern and fervor; but your IMO, singing to the Choir here.

God Bless you and Many lead your wayQ
Patrick
 
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