Wow…wait a minute…you’re saying that if Mary said “no” then Jesus would not have become incarnate, suffered, died, rose, and ascended to glory? Mary…a human…had the ability to thwart God’s plan?
Say more, please!
Just a little side note here: whenever we turn our back on God and sin, we thwart a little bit of His plans, at least as it pertains to us. Best example I can think of. That and Adam and Eve. And, um… probably every single person at the moment they commit sin. To deny this, I think, risks stating that God is directly complicit with that sin, and that cannot be. He allows it because He will not revoke His gift of free will to us.
But as for thwarting His plans, that would probably not be true for the grand scheme, because God can make good come even from evil. So when we turn our backs on Him and His plans, that doesn’t mean He would not be able to bring about what He intended in the first place.
At another level, He can and probably does prepare His plans in such a way that someone like Mary would NOT reject His plans. She was indeed full of grace, blessed among all women, and all that would enable her to decide and act with supernatural charity and wisdom, I’m guessing. But God would not have forced her to say or do what was against her will, since coercion like that would be evil. But because God is who He is, His plans can be laid out so perfectly that Mary would not have rejected God’s plan. But she had the freedom to do so.
Just my understanding. Someone please correct me if I am wrong here.
Anyway, concerning Mary saving us, there’s probably room to be more specific about what “saving” means there. As it concerns justifying us, or even sanctifying us, neither St. Paul nor the Blessed Virgin can do that directly. Only God can do that. On the other hand, indirectly, any saint can, for example, be instrumental in God’s actions. For example, Mary, mother of our Hope (who is Christ), also brought us our Savior. In that sense, I think, she brought salvation, literally in her womb and out into the world. But not by her own power, only by cooperation. So she is never the source of salvation, but she can and was the bearer.
In our prayers interceding for others, we also bring God’s grace. In our acts of charity, we also bring God’s charity. In preaching the gospel, we bear the good news to those who hear. And in bringing people to Christ through preaching, prayer or example, we bring them salvation. Only as cooperative ambassadors, friends, servants, but there you have it anyway.
As far as
devotion to Mary helps, it is probably reasonable to say the same thing. Since Marian dogmas are always a reference to Christ, pointing to him, telling us “do whatever he [Jesus] tells you”, then it helps us along our salvation. Remember, once saved (at baptism, for example) is not always saved. In order to remain saved, we must cooperate with God’s grace, primarily in resisting sin but also in growing in faith. Marian devotion, assuming that which is approved by the Church, would encourage shunning sin and growth in faith. For example, the Rosary is a powerful devotion, the focus of which is a life of reflection in the mysteries of Christ’s life and our lives intertwined with it. Now please note that Marian devotion is not mandatory in the Church. We are not required to pray the Rosary, or say novenas, for example. So we can say that Marian devotion is not necessary to salvation. But in the ways I mentioned above, I think it is reasonable to suggest that Marian devotion is
an aid (the most powerful one among saintly devotions, I think) to our journey to salvation, but this salvation has as its source God’s grace alone.
It is also dangerous to have a “God and me alone” mentality, since what God seems to have designed and developed throughout salvation history is very much familial. He encourages us to grow in this family, as He is the author of what a family is. He encourages us to assist one another, as we are encouraged to seek help from one another, too.
Hope that helps.
Well said!