Holy Mother..contacting me?

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lotus_in_bloom

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I submitted a similar question to the ‘ask an apologist’ thread but I wanted to elaborate and ask the opinion of everyone here.

Let me begin by saying that I currently am an atheist( not here to argue, just get perspective, I am open minded). I grew up in a Protestant household with very minimal Catholic interactions. I have always been drawn to the aesthetic side of Catholic faith. Especially when it comes to the Virgin Mary. My home has several saints, crucifixes, and statues of the Holy Mother.

Occasionally I have felt a weird desire to venerate/honor/talk to Mary but they were usually fleeting impulses. March 11th 2013 my mother died from health related matters but I felt no spiritual inclination or desire for deity. However around the one year anniversary mark last week I felt a weird deep longing for Mary. I felt like she was calling out to me to honor her and come to her. My heart ached really bad during these moments.

My question has many sides. First? Could this be legit Second? As an atheist shouldn’t it be Christ calling to me since I am an unbeliever Third? Could this be a psychological result of missing my deceased mother?

I am praying the nine day Novena for an answer and viable sign. If nothing happens then I guess I will have my answer
 
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.

Let us pray: O God, whose only-begotten Son, by his life, death, and resurrection has purchased for us the rewards of eternal life, grant, we beseech you, that meditating on the Mysteries of the most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may both imitate what they contain and obtain what they promise, through the same Christ our Lord.

Amen
 
Mary brings us to Christ. It is very possible she is touching your heart. Follow her and she will lead you to him.
 
lotus_in_bloom said:
I submitted a similar question to the ‘ask an apologist’ thread but I wanted to elaborate and ask the opinion of everyone here.

Let me begin by saying that I currently am an atheist( not here to argue, just get perspective, I am open minded). I grew up in a Protestant household with very minimal Catholic interactions. I have always been drawn to the aesthetic side of Catholic faith. Especially when it comes to the Virgin Mary. My home has several saints, crucifixes, and statues of the Holy Mother.

Occasionally I have felt a weird desire to venerate/honor/talk to Mary but they were usually fleeting impulses. March 11th 2013 my mother died from health related matters but I felt no spiritual inclination or desire for deity. However around the one year anniversary mark last week I felt a weird deep longing for Mary. I felt like she was calling out to me to honor her and come to her. My heart ached really bad during these moments.

My question has many sides. First? Could this be legit Second? As an atheist shouldn’t it be Christ calling to me since I am an unbeliever Third? Could this be a psychological result of missing my deceased mother?

I am praying the nine day Novena for an answer and viable sign. If nothing happens then I guess I will have my answer
Click to expand...
Praying for you.
 
lotus_in_bloom said:
I submitted a similar question to the ‘ask an apologist’ thread but I wanted to elaborate and ask the opinion of everyone here.

Let me begin by saying that I currently am an atheist( not here to argue, just get perspective, I am open minded). I grew up in a Protestant household with very minimal Catholic interactions. I have always been drawn to the aesthetic side of Catholic faith. Especially when it comes to the Virgin Mary. My home has several saints, crucifixes, and statues of the Holy Mother.

Occasionally I have felt a weird desire to venerate/honor/talk to Mary but they were usually fleeting impulses. March 11th 2013 my mother died from health related matters but I felt no spiritual inclination or desire for deity. However around the one year anniversary mark last week I felt a weird deep longing for Mary. I felt like she was calling out to me to honor her and come to her. My heart ached really bad during these moments.

My question has many sides. First? Could this be legit Second? As an atheist shouldn’t it be Christ calling to me since I am an unbeliever Third? Could this be a psychological result of missing my deceased mother?

I am praying the nine day Novena for an answer and viable sign. If nothing happens then I guess I will have my answer
Click to expand...
To your first question:
Yes. Feed the longing.

To your second:
Christ works through every avenue at His disposal to call. He even uses we “dusty, crusty” humans sometimes.😉

Third:
Could be. But you must look at the immediate fruit of this longing and ache you had. You are immediately asking questions. Starting your journey on seeking God. This is a good fruit. A good thing. Of course you miss your mother, but you are not thinking and musing on her…but Mary.

Keep praying that novena, but don’t necessarily put God in a box with an ultimatum. Like “I am doing this Novena and if nothing happens then I am out of here my answer is no.” Sometimes Novenas are answered a long way off. It is God’s time not ours. I encourage you to continue to pray, and seek the answers. You will always keep coming back to God.

And if you keep coming back to God because of Mary, you are still returning to God.🙂
 
lotus_in_bloom said:
My question has many sides. First? Could this be legit Second? As an atheist shouldn’t it be Christ calling to me since I am an unbeliever Third? Could this be a psychological result of missing my deceased mother?
Click to expand...

  1. *]Feeling God’s grace manifests itself in various ways, and of course, however it manifests itself, it is legitimate.
    *]God draws all to Himself in a manner which is most consonant with our personalities and our needs, and in a way which sidesteps various emotional barriers we may have erected.
    *]As per number 2, yes, this may very well be what you describe. But this does not mean it is not legitimate, as per number 1.

    Regarding the Novena, as another poster pointed out, I think it would me more sensible to continue the prayer, and then to simply wait with an open heart, no matter how long it takes. God is the only one who truly knows what time it is.

    I was personally a very militant atheist at one point in my life, and it took several years of emotional, spiritual, and intellectual development to finally become completely open to God’s grace. We will readily admit that a medical doctor can’t become an able physician overnight or after reading a brief overview of medicine, but we often ignore this sort of sense in the spiritual life. Growing in faith is a natural and organic process, we can’t poof things into existence, as we are a complex creature with many facets of nature.

    Step by step, we can be guided with God if we make an effort. But we can’t go from utterly rejecting God to living a deep life of faith, and moreover, it isn’t wise to take this fact to somehow imply that God isn’t real. God can be very real, and yet we may require spiritual growth to become ever more aware of this.
 
Try praying the rosary for a while. Learn the mysteries and meditate upon them while you recite the prayers of the rosary. You can download audio tracks where people recite it along with you and provide an initial meditation to consider for each decade. One good one is titled Rosary is a Place, by Fr. Groeschel.
 
lotus_in_bloom said:
Occasionally I have felt a weird desire to venerate/honor/talk to Mary but they were usually fleeting impulses.
Click to expand...
This part of what you said spoke to me…perhaps that is why God is allowing her to speak to you.

The loss of a Mother is a very profound loss and I hope you have been able to find some comfort since her passing. Our dear Blessed Mother will comfort you in that too. Go ahead and talk to her…like someone else said, she always leads everyone to Jesus.
 
I have felt a stronger and much closer bond to Mother Mary since my mother died last year, also. I hope she comforts you as she has comforted me.
 
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