Is this even a real Catholic website!?

[JD27076]

THE THREE HAIL MARYS DEVOTION

One of the greatest means of salvation and one of the surest signs of predestination, is unquestionably, the devotion to the Most Blessed Virgin. All the holy doctors of the Church are unanimous in saying with St. Alphonsus of Liguori: “A devout servant of Mary shall never perish.” The chief thing is to persevere faithfully till death in this devotion.

Numerous examples show how agreeable the three Hail Marys Devotion is to the** Divine** Mother and what special graces it draws, during life and at the hour of death, on those who never omit it for a single day.

Website here.

Since when was Mary allowed to grant salvation? And since when was St. Alphonsus a devout SERVANT to Mary…And shall never perish. (Unless referring to Christ) I know Mother Mary’s soul glorifies the Lord, but this draws the line.

But the most shocking ting that I saw was, the DIVINE Mother. I thought Mother Mary had no Divine Authority.

 

[LilyM]

THE THREE HAIL MARYS DEVOTION

One of the greatest means of salvation and one of the surest signs of predestination, is unquestionably, the devotion to the Most Blessed Virgin. All the holy doctors of the Church are unanimous in saying with St. Alphonsus of Liguori: “A devout servant of Mary shall never perish.” The chief thing is to persevere faithfully till death in this devotion.

Numerous examples show how agreeable the three Hail Marys Devotion is to the** Divine** Mother and what special graces it draws, during life and at the hour of death, on those who never omit it for a single day.

Website here.

Since when was Mary allowed to grant salvation? And since when was St. Alphonsus a
devout SERVANT to Mary…And shall never perish. (Unless referring to Christ) I know Mother Mary’s soul glorifies the Lord, but this draws the line.

But the most shocking ting that I saw was, the DIVINE Mother. I thought Mother Mary had no Divine Authority.

First of all there is nothing in what you posed indicating that Mary grants the salvation - rather God grants the salvation to those who are attached to Mary.

And there is no conflict between being a devout servant of Mary and a devout servant of Christ. Devout simply means sincere and earnest, and one can sincerely and earnestly serve your spouse or child let alone Mary as well as God.

Indeed, He himself, according to scripture, was subject and obedient to her and St Joseph, so there is nothing wrong in us following His example in this.

 

[Shin]

I can’t speak to the website as a whole, but the statements of that portion there, which is taken from this leaflet I think should not be misinterpreted.

A devout servant of Mary, is someone who imitates her virtues, which are the virtues Christ adorned her with. This is good, no?

Someone who truly and devoutly does this, is certainly going to be virtuous enough not to fall into mortal sin. This is not a superficial thing, but truly.

Why would someone have a problem with people serving Our Lady? Didn’t Christ serve Our Lady? And are we not to imitate Christ?

As a little boy, he obeyed her as His mother. And as an adult, his first public miracle was performed because she requested it.

People who love one another, love to see one another appreciated and love. Our Lord loves His Mother very much. The Holy Family is a family full of love. We wish to be a part of that Holy Family, the Communion of Saints, and bask in that love.

And so naturally we serve and love one another. That is what Heaven is full of, in fact. It’s very beautiful.

One of the titles of Our Lady is ‘Mother of God’ because Jesus is God, not because she is one, far from it, it is never even considered. So you hear titles like this, which Protestants might take the wrong way, but Catholics do not misinterpret.

 

[midori]

You do know that St. Alphonsus Liguori’s full name was Alphonsus Maria de Liguori? And that he was the author of the famous The Glories of Mary, which is considered one of the masterpieces of Mariology, in addition to several other writings? And that he was a great proponent of the concept of the Assumption? He was most definitely a servant of the Mother of God. And as her entire raison d’être is to bring people closer to God, it would naturally follow that her protection is a very powerful aid towards salvation, although salvation itself doesn’t originate within her.

Likewise, “divine mother” should never be misunderstood in its new-agey mother-goddess-y interpretation. This link has an interesting conversation about then-Ratzinger’s use of the word during the homily of JPII’s funeral.

 

[JRKH]

THE THREE HAIL MARYS DEVOTION

One of the greatest means of salvation and one of the surest signs of predestination, is unquestionably, the devotion to the Most Blessed Virgin. All the holy doctors of the Church are unanimous in saying with St. Alphonsus of Liguori: “A devout servant of Mary shall never perish.” The chief thing is to persevere faithfully till death in this devotion.

Numerous examples show how agreeable the three Hail Marys Devotion is to the** Divine** Mother and what special graces it draws, during life and at the hour of death, on those who never omit it for a single day.

Website here.

Since when was Mary allowed to grant salvation? And since when was St. Alphonsus a devout SERVANT to Mary…And shall never perish. (Unless referring to Christ) I know Mother Mary’s soul glorifies the Lord, but this draws the line.

But the most shocking ting that I saw was, the DIVINE Mother. I thought Mother Mary had no Divine Authority.

I can rightly understand your concern and it is good that you ask these questions for we are told to “test the spirits” to see if they are of God.
Others have addressed many of the issues so I should like to simply address here your concern about the term “divine mother”. Indeed this can be easily misunderstood for that phrase/title could be understood in two ways.

1. “Divine Mother” = A mother who is divine.
2. “Divine Mother” = The mother of the divine (Christ)
   The first understanding is probably the more common understanding of such a phrase. For instance, “Beautiful Mother” is more likely used to express the beauty of ones mother than the beauty of the mother’s offspring.
   The second understanding is less commonly understood in modern English but is still valid. It is a more poetic rendering and (perhaps) comes about due to translation issues.
   A similar problem is seen in the prayer, “Hail Holy Queen”, where the common English translation (made long ago) seems to our modern ears to say that Mary is the Mother of mercy and that she is our life our sweetness and our hope. However this is not what is conveyed in the original Latin and it was not likely understood that way in the English used at the time of it’s translation.

So - While I agree that, “divine mother”, is a phrase that can be easily misunderstood by those unfamiliar with Catholic theology, to the Catholic it should not present a problem.

I hope this helps some.

Peace
James

 

[JRKH]

I can’t speak to the website as a whole, but the statements of that portion there, which is taken from this leaflet I think should not be misinterpreted.

Indeed. These things need to be examined carefully for we need to be very careful to Give Mary the honor properly due her, but not to go overboard either.

A devout servant of Mary, is someone who imitates her virtues, which are the virtues Christ adorned her with. This is good, no?

I do not entirely agree with this. A devout servant is one who obeys the orders of another who is in charge over them. In the more ancient usages, there is servant and master.
One who imitates would be more properly be called a disciple or student.

Someone who truly and devoutly does this, is certainly going to be virtuous enough not to fall into mortal sin. This is not a superficial thing, but truly.

Largely this is true, except for one mortal sin…The danger (however remote) of slipping into actual worship of Mary instead of proper veneration. This must be guarded against.

Why would someone have a problem with people serving Our Lady? Didn’t Christ serve Our Lady? And are we not to imitate Christ?

Yes - up to a point He did serve her. After that point she served Him. Ultimately their relationship is not one of service but one of Love. This should be our goal as well.

As a little boy, he obeyed her as His mother. And as an adult, his first public miracle was performed because she requested it.

I know that this “request” is seen as implicit, but in fact what is recorded is Mary expressing concern, then telling others to do whatever He tells them. He performed the miracle because it was His time.

People who love one another, love to see one another appreciated and love. Our Lord loves His Mother very much. The Holy Family is a family full of love. We wish to be a part of that Holy Family, the Communion of Saints, and bask in that love.

And so naturally we serve and love one another. That is what Heaven is full of, in fact. It’s very beautiful.

Amen Amen Amen…

One of the titles of Our Lady is ‘Mother of God’ because Jesus is God, not because she is one, far from it, it is never even considered. So you hear titles like this, which Protestants might take the wrong way, but Catholics do not misinterpret.

One minor caveat here…I would suggest expressing your last line as, “…but the Catholic Church does not misinterpret.”
It is dangerous to say that “Catholics” (as in every Catholic?) does not misinterpret.

Sorry if the above seems a bit nit-picky.

Peace
James