Depends what you mean by worship. In some form of the Marriage Rite (Use of Sarum, maybe?) each spouse says to the other (or maybe the groom says it to the bride, I’m not sure), “With my body I thee worship.”
Which is beautiful, I just noticed.
Anyway, I’ve seen Chesterton and Belloc use the word worship to describe the veneration of saints and Mary, and obviously they didn’t mean of the same kind as God. Belloc would have sneered at you, and Chesterton would have gently corrected you, if you had made that assumption.
And in Japanese, any festivity whatsoever, even the beetle-catching on Boys’ Day, is called a worship (matsuri, the gerund form of the verb matsuru, to worship). But Japanese Christians, who are rather more awake to the dangers of syncretism than most Westerners, don’t have a problem with Boys’ Day or even the Fire Festival.
But anyway, no, that prayer doesn’t seem like worship to me. It looks like a vow of devotion. John Paul II’s devotion to the Virgin was centered on the phrase Totus Tuus, which means “Entirely Yours”. That’s much the same feeling.
Good explanation there, though if I might correct you…
The Boy’s Festival is now the Children’s Festival (on May 5).
I don’t know if they catch insects during this day; It’s more common during Summer (June to September here)
I don’t know about Fire Festival, but Children’s day is a secular holiday, So that’s probably the reason that Japanese Christians are okay with it.
There are 3 Matsurus, but only two of them has any connotations of ‘worship’.
One is the Matsuru you cite (The Matsuri on
Matsuri), 祭る. It means to deify or to enshrine.
The other Matsuru （奉る）means to offer; to present; to revere; to do respectfully (Not necessarily connected to divinity).
The Japanese term for ‘worship’ (in the Christian sense) is Reihai (n, vs) {礼拝}. Raihai is another reading of this word, though this reading is usually used for Buddhism or Shinto worship. So, perhaps, (correct me if i’m wrong) ‘to worship’ is ‘reihai suru’. If you say ‘Matsuri’ here, people will think of festival instead.
I repeat, That is a nice explanation there. If you ever come here, Japanese people will be impressed. May God bless You!
Back to the topic,
JOL, There’s nothing wrong with that prayer. As others pointed out, The language used is hyperbolic.
But of course, it’s your decision if you want to pray that prayer or not. But I suggest that you do. It’s one good prayer to Mary, (besides the Hail Mary, of course).
May God lead you back here in the Rock!
