How should I gage my devotion to Mary as appropriate?

[dlyons]

As a cradle Catholic and (almost) daily Mass attendee, I have a devotion to our Blessed Mother. However, I struggle with NOT being overly devoted to her, because, as much as I love her, I don’t want to give Mary my attention moreso than to Our Lord.

Over the years, I have collected prayers that I pray on a daily basis, some of which are devoted to Our Lord, some to Our Lady, others to various saints and causes.

In an attempt to keep my devotion to Mary appropriate, I have been aware enough of the wording in my ‘adopted’ prayers to modify what I deem are OVERLY devoted words to her, to recognize her exalted favor with God, but not ask her for favors that she can’t grant. For example, "O Mary, grant us the grace to … " in my mind should be something like “O Mary, ask Jesus to grant us the grace to …”.

Have there been any guidelines from our Church regarding what is deemed appropriate devotion to Our Lady without overstepping any boundaries?

 

[Fr.Vincent_Serpa]

Hi,

As a believing Catholic, you reverence Mary for the exalted place God has given her. If you find yourself spending more time talking to her than talking to her Son, it is probably because you need to talk to a mother. Often at certain times of their lives, children spend more time talking to their mothers than to their fathers. Later on that can change. This represents their needs more than how much they revere each parent.

The only reason to talk to Mary at all is because she is His mother. I wouldn’t worry about measuring how much attention you give to her. So long as you acknowledge who she is, she will always lead you to her Son.

Fr. Vincent Serpa, O.P.