Hail, Holy Queen

[TommyWommy]

I was going to ask something similar to the question asked by this post:

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=312296

But the answer provided didn’t fully resolve the issue for me. I guess I was expecting a more “theological” reason for referring to Mary as “Our life, our sweetness, and our hope.” I was thinking that, in one sense, she IS our life because of her “yes” to God, she IS our hope because of her intercession, and she IS our sweetness because, well…she’s sweet! But now I’m a little unsure of when to consider something in a prayer as a "theologically " sound statement or a hyperbole.

What other typical Catholic prayers use hyperbole?

 

[adrift]

I was going to ask something similar to the question asked by this post:

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=312296

But the answer provided didn’t fully resolve the issue for me. I guess I was expecting a more “theological” reason for referring to Mary as “Our life, our sweetness, and our hope.” I was thinking that, in one sense, she IS our life because of her “yes” to God, she IS our hope because of her intercession, and she IS our sweetness because, well…she’s sweet! But now I’m a little unsure of when to consider something in a prayer as a "theologically " sound statement or a hyperbole.

What other typical Catholic prayers use hyperbole?

I was a little disappointed in the answer as well. Some things you should think about is when this was written. It was somewhere in the middle ages when speech was more flowery. So when you look at the prayer look at the culture it came from. Words change meanings. Now I have a question for you? Have you ever thought or told someone you mean the world to me? This is a modernization of you are my life in fact I have said that to my husband you are my life and he has said it to me. The same with sweetness. I often call him my sweetie pie. The prayer isn’t meant to be a theological statement so yeah see as hyperbole.

 

[AshleyBelle]

I was going to ask something similar to the question asked by this post:

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=312296

But the answer provided didn’t fully resolve the issue for me. I guess I was expecting a more “theological” reason for referring to Mary as “Our life, our sweetness, and our hope.” I was thinking that, in one sense, she IS our life because of her “yes” to God, she IS our hope because of her intercession, and she IS our sweetness because, well…she’s sweet! But now I’m a little unsure of when to consider something in a prayer as a "theologically " sound statement or a hyperbole.

What other typical Catholic prayers use hyperbole?

Please take another look at the prayer

Hail, holy Queen,** Mother of Mercy!
Our life, our sweetness, and our hope!**
To thee do we cry, poor banished
children of Eve, to thee do we send
up our sighs, mourning and weeping
in this valley, of tears.
Turn, then, most gracious advocate,
thine eyes of mercy toward us; and
after this our exile show unto us the
blessed fruit of thy womb Jesus;
O clement, O loving, O sweet virgin Mary.

        Pray for us, O holy Mother of God

        That we may be made worthy of the 
        promises of Christ.

This says: Mother of:

 -mercy       - our life   - our sweetness   - our hope

Who is mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope? Jesus! Mary is the Mother of Jesus, and thus these Words are meant to describe her son

 

[TommyWommy]

I was a little disappointed in the answer as well. Some things you should think about is when this was written. It was somewhere in the middle ages when speech was more flowery. So when you look at the prayer look at the culture it came from. Words change meanings. Now I have a question for you? Have you ever thought or told someone you mean the world to me? This is a modernization of you are my life in fact I have said that to my husband you are my life and he has said it to me. The same with sweetness. I often call him my sweetie pie. The prayer isn’t meant to be a theological statement so yeah see as hyperbole.

I know exactly what you mean. I call my wife sweety all the time. I was wondering when it was written.

Recently, I heard a priest talking about how some songs don’t get approved for use in Catholic weddings because they have lyrics in them that say stuff like “You are my everything” or “You are my life.” He said they won’t use these songs because Jesus is supposed to be our everything and our life, etc. So, that gave me the impression that the Church is really picky about word usage and the implications. This prayer obviously passed muster though.

 

[TommyWommy]

Please take another look at the prayer

Hail, holy Queen,** Mother of Mercy!
Our life, our sweetness, and our hope!**
To thee do we cry, poor banished
children of Eve, to thee do we send
up our sighs, mourning and weeping
in this valley, of tears.
Turn, then, most gracious advocate,
thine eyes of mercy toward us; and
after this our exile show unto us the
blessed fruit of thy womb Jesus;
O clement, O loving, O sweet virgin Mary.

        Pray for us, O holy Mother of God

        That we may be made worthy of the 
        promises of Christ.

This says: Mother of:

 -mercy       - our life   - our sweetness   - our hope

Who is mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope? Jesus! Mary is the Mother of Jesus, and thus these Words are meant to describe her son

Hey! Now that is a different way of looking at it.

She is the mother of Mercy.
She is the mother of our Life.
She is the mother of our Sweetness.
She is the mother of our Hope.

Mercy, Life, Sweetness, Hope = Jesus!

That works pretty well. The prayer card I read it from does not use upper case letters for mercy, life, sweetness or hope. So, I guess that could make a difference in how one understands the prayer, too. Hmmm. Wish I could have a chat with the one who wrote this prayer

I’m still gonna pray it!

 

[DD2007]

I was going to ask something similar to the question asked by this post:

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=312296

But the answer provided didn’t fully resolve the issue for me. I guess I was expecting a more “theological” reason for referring to Mary as “Our life, our sweetness, and our hope.” I was thinking that, in one sense, she IS our life because of her “yes” to God, she IS our hope because of her intercession, and she IS our sweetness because, well…she’s sweet! But now I’m a little unsure of when to consider something in a prayer as a "theologically " sound statement or a hyperbole.

What other typical Catholic prayers use hyperbole?

The reason that Fr. Serpa gave such a weak answer is because he doesn’t have any other answers to make up in regards to that prayer. That prayer is indeed worshipful of Mary. To call her your life sweetness and hope is praise that should be reserved to God alone.

I believe that prayer is idolatrous and offends God.

The person who asked the question is right to have reservations and should use such convictions of the Spirit for the good and not commit idolatry.

 

[Chaldean_Rite]

Jesus is the source of all these things and She is His mother, therefore she is the Mother of all these things as well.

 

[DD2007]

Jesus is the source of all these things and She is His mother, therefore she is the Mother of all these things as well.

She is not the Mother of all things. She is a human that gave birth to the Lord. The Lord is God. She is his servant. We are to worship God, not his servants.

Rev 19:10
[10] Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

 

[Chaldean_Rite]

She is not the Mother of all things. She is a human that gave birth to the Lord. The Lord is God. She is his servant. We are to worship God, not his servants.

Rev 19:10
[10] Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

Nobody is saying she is the mother of all things by nature, only by Grace. If Jesus is the source of all things, and She is Jesus’ Mother, therefore she is the mother of all things as well.

 

[TommyWommy]

The reason that Fr. Serpa gave such a weak answer is because he doesn’t have any other answers to make up in regards to that prayer. That prayer is indeed worshipful of Mary. To call her your life sweetness and hope is praise that should be reserved to God alone.

I believe that prayer is idolatrous and offends God.

The person who asked the question is right to have reservations and should use such convictions of the Spirit for the good and not commit idolatry.

I guess this means you’re not Catholic.

I used to believe what you’re saying. Then I found my way back home.

 

[DD2007]

Nobody is saying she is the mother of all things by nature, only by Grace. If Jesus is the source of all things, and She is Jesus’ Mother, therefore she is the mother of all things as well.

For the record I completely disagree. You know why.

 

[DD2007]

The reason that Fr. Serpa gave such a weak answer is because he doesn’t have any other answers to make up in regards to that prayer. That prayer is indeed worshipful of Mary. To call her your life sweetness and hope is praise that should be reserved to God alone.

I believe that particular prayer is idolatrous and offends God.

The person who asked the question is right to have reservations and should use such convictions of the Spirit for the good and not commit idolatry.

 

[Little_Dove]

Hey! Now that is a different way of looking at it.

She is the mother of Mercy.
She is the mother of our Life.
She is the mother of our Sweetness.
She is the mother of our Hope.

Mercy, Life, Sweetness, Hope = Jesus!

That works pretty well. The prayer card I read it from does not use upper case letters for mercy, life, sweetness or hope. So, I guess that could make a difference in how one understands the prayer, too. Hmmm. Wish I could have a chat with the one who wrote this prayer

Dear DD2007,
Take a very close look at the quoted thread.
All of Mary’s titles originate in relationship to her Son. All the honor, NOT WORSHIP, that we give to her, we give to her in view of the fact that she is the Mother of Jesus!
Hence, for instance, the title Mother of God. Why? Jesus is God and she is His mother! All of her titles can only be properly understood if you really have a true appreciation for the Incarnation of the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity and for the Woman, who by her consent, cooperated fully with God in the Incarnation!

God Bless You!
To Jesus, through Mary!

 

[TommyWommy]

To call her your life sweetness and hope is praise that should be reserved to God alone.

Hmm. I wonder what King Solomon would have said about this attitude towards HIS Queen Mother, Bathsheba?

She seemed to have pretty much praise and power.

 

[adrift]

The reason that Fr. Serpa gave such a weak answer is because he doesn’t have any other answers to make up in regards to that prayer. That prayer is indeed worshipful of Mary. To call her your life sweetness and hope is praise that should be reserved to God alone.

I believe that prayer is idolatrous and offends God.

The person who asked the question is right to have reservations and should use such convictions of the Spirit for the good and not commit idolatry.

Worship is one of those words that have multiple meanings and have changed meanings as well. He didn’t give a week answer just didn’t delve into it as much as I would like. So is it wrong to say Obama is the hope the nation? Or the way I used it in post 2?

The answer is and always is what the person INTENDS. You can’t decide that and your wrong if you do. Now the way I am defining worship towards God is that I believe He is God. No Catholic believes Mary is God but His humble servant as we all should be. If you can demonstrate that the prayer believes she is a god, than you are correct. But the prayer does not do that. It is from the middle ages when such language was commonly used. You must demonstrate that the people who wrote it intended worship in todays understanding of it. What you believe is not the truth.
Try this thread

 

[narrowpath]

She is not the Mother of all things. She is a human that gave birth to the Lord. The Lord is God. She is his servant. We are to worship God, not his servants.

Rev 19:10
[10] Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

And then you completely ignore the earlier verse:

“[An] angel came and stood at the altar [in heaven] with a golden censer; and he was given much incense to mingle with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar before the throne; and the smoke of the incense rose with the prayers of the saints from the hand of the angel before God” (Rev. 8:3–4).

You see, the angels offer up our prayers in heaven. Our brethren intercede for us. Praise be to God that I saw past these myths and found my way to the Church.

BTW, everyone, have you seen this prayer to Mary from 250AD?
Sub Tuum Praesidium
Beneath your compassion,
We take refuge, O Mother of God:
do not despise our petitions in time of trouble:
but rescue us from dangers,
only pure, only blessed one.

From before the Bible Canon had even been finalized, Christians were asking our blessed Mother for Her intercession…

 

[broski234]

The reason that Fr. Serpa gave such a weak answer is because he doesn’t have any other answers to make up in regards to that prayer. That prayer is indeed worshipful of Mary. To call her your life sweetness and hope is praise that should be reserved to God alone.

I believe that prayer is idolatrous and offends God.

The person who asked the question is right to have reservations and should use such convictions of the Spirit for the good and not commit idolatry.

There is nothing idolatrous about this prayer. Please open your eyes and your heart and re-read the prayer. The prayer is about intercessory prayer before the Son.

 

[Timmy_Z]

Originally Posted by Chaldean Rite
If Jesus is the source of all things, and She is Jesus’ Mother, therefore she is the mother of all things as well.

I don’t think that follows.

If I am the the source of a good meal would you call my mother a chef?

 

[broski234]

I don’t think that follows.

If I am the the source of a good meal would you call my mother a chef?

This analogy doesn’t fit the description! Your analogy of Chaldeans analogy makes no sense. Not trying to be ugly. Please explain further what you mean.

 

[Timmy_Z]

Why does the mother get credit for the works/office of her child? Where else does this happen?