Catholic Tom:
Can someone help me with this? I don’t understand devotion to Mary very well at all…
It’s very simple, really. Devotion is nothing more and nothing less than love, and we love Mary because she is our Mama. Jesus is our eldest brother, His father, God the the Father, is our Abba, our Daddy, and His Mama, Mary, is our Mama.
Catholic Tom:
…I do believe in her intercession, but the above confuses me. Why do we cry out to Mary?..
All little children cry out to their mamas when they’re hurt, or frightened, or even just happy to see them.
Catholic Tom:
…Why do we need confidence in her (like, for what really?),
I’m not sure how to answer this. It’s like asking why I need confidence in my mother who gave me birth. I suppose it could be argued that I don’t
need confidence in her, but that thought just seems so… unthinkable. I
know my Mama loves me and prays for me and watches out for me, and I know this for my Blessed Mother just as firmly as I do for my birth mother. That’s confidence. Maybe I don’t really need it, but I can’t imagine living without it.
Catholic Tom:
How is Mary the fountain of life?
A fountain is the source from which somthing else procedes. Mary, by her
fiat mihi, let it be done unto me according to your word, became the source by which the Word who is Life became flesh and dwelt among us.
Catholic Tom:
Why are we under her shadow and protection? Crossing of arms?
Naturally, much of this is poetic language. We aren’t really under her shadow in the sense that we might be in the shadow of a shade tree, for example. Try to remember that Mary is our Mama and think of how little children are when they need protection. They run to their mama and stand close to them, often positioning themselves such that their mamas are positioned between them and whatever threatens. In their mama’s shadow, relative to the threat, as it were. Crossing of arms refers to the way a mother lovingly holds her child.
Catholic Tom:
I just don’t get it…help please
Don’t worry about it. I didn’t get much of it myself before I had children of my own.