Help with a friend: Understanding Mary from the East

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Little_Boy_Lost

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Hi Ya’ll,

One of my good friends is a Roman Catholic who converted from Presbyterianism. He has a hard time identifying with Mary and has asked me to help him out. He prays the rosary but he is unsure how he should view mary, or what he should feel. He says many catholics tell him they feel a motherly tenderness or warmth, and he finds that wholly alien. So he asked me to find him perhaps some sayings from the fathers or saints of the east about praying with the Theotokos, since he feels a bit more inclined to eastern conceptions of Mary. Thanks in advance!
 
Little_Boy_Lost said:
Hi Ya’ll,

One of my good friends is a Roman Catholic who converted from Presbyterianism. He has a hard time identifying with Mary and has asked me to help him out. He prays the rosary but he is unsure how he should view mary, or what he should feel. He says many catholics tell him they feel a motherly tenderness or warmth, and he finds that wholly alien. So he asked me to find him perhaps some sayings from the fathers or saints of the east about praying with the Theotokos, since he feels a bit more inclined to eastern conceptions of Mary. Thanks in advance!
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To be perfectly honest, he is not required to pray the rosary nor to have a particular devotion to St Mary.

He is to always recognize her and honor her as the mother of the Lord. It doesn’t require special feelings. In fact, the ‘feelings’ part could be deceptive.

There are plenty of liturgical prayers honoring the Holy Theotokos, perhaps something like that will work better for him.

If your friend are not ready for such things, they shouldn’t be pushed. Have him (or her) pray directly to Jesus if he is more comfortable with that, Jesus has an open door policy 😃

I would (of course I am biased … 😉 ) like to suggest the Jesus Prayer. From my perspective the Prayer of the Heart and a regular examination of conscience should put anyone on the right path.
 
I would say that most intercessory prayers in the East tend to just involve asking Mary to pray for our salvation (like the often repeated petition from the Divine Liturgy “by the intercessions of the Theotokos, savior save us”). Your friend might be more comfortable with this more intellectual conception of the Divine Mother as an intercessor who will pray for us out of her love of all humanity rather than as a more emotional mother figure. And yes, as Hesychios mentioned, one doesn’t have to pray the rosary. You might introduce your friend to the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy if he is finding himself uncomfortable with a Marian devotion.
 
I too like how Mary is approached from the Eastern faith. I think there are too many Western devotions that sometimes it does blur the line a bit on honoring and worshiping. On the other hand, Mary seems to be missing from the Western Liturgy while she has a prominent place in the Divine Liturgy. Also, there’s so many ways Mary is presented in the West, in the East she is always the Theotokos. The context of being the Mother of God is never lost, so we never lose sight of Jesus. In many presentations in the West, Mary seems to be detached from that role, and thus people see her separate from God.
 
Little_Boy_Lost said:
Hi Ya’ll,

One of my good friends is a Roman Catholic who converted from Presbyterianism. He has a hard time identifying with Mary and has asked me to help him out. He prays the rosary but he is unsure how he should view mary, or what he should feel. He says many catholics tell him they feel a motherly tenderness or warmth, and he finds that wholly alien. So he asked me to find him perhaps some sayings from the fathers or saints of the east about praying with the Theotokos, since he feels a bit more inclined to eastern conceptions of Mary. Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Try the Akathist:

metropolitancantorinstitute.org/sheetmusic/general/Akathist.pdf

or the Paraclesis:

metropolitancantorinstitute.org/sheetmusic/general/LentenParaklesis.pdf
 
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