I've a lot of questions about Mary

[clarkgamble1]

My take on Mary the mother of Jesus. First there are probably not a thousand words in the bible that relates directly to her. So all of the many attributes that are assigned to her that are not found directly in scripture were made up by man. It seems she was held in such high regard that people over the years were obsessed with giving her hundreds of titles that have no relation to her being the mother of Jesus.

Our Lady of Victory
Gate of Heaven
Mystical Rose
Queen of the World
Star of the Sea

There were no real necessary reasons for these titles. They remind me of honorary titles bestowed on various world leaders, war heroes, etc. Nice but not really needed.

Also many books were written about her over the centuries. One university reports having over 10,000 volumes written about her, all derived from that thousand word bible reference (and surely a ton of pious speculation).

The church tells us that Mary was very special in being chosen to be the mother of God. Agreed. They reasoned that she must have been born without the stain of original sin because that would only be fitting for the mother of Jesus. Fitting, but really necessary? I personally cannot see why dozens of other young, innocent, and humble Jewish virgins in her vicinity could not have been capable of giving birth to Jesus. Jesus himself, her offspring, needed to be baptized.

Once they recognized Mary as the mother of Jesus they added many other titles over the centuries,

Lady of Providence
Lady of Ransom
Lady of Solitude
and on and on

Mary started off as a meek, humble maidservant of God, doing his will in all things. It sometimes seems that in her later appearances to various seers, she was compelled to start making strange demands. Demanding, for instance, that the poor villagers near where she appeared build big expensive churches in her honor, and to say hundreds of repetitive Hail Marys for many months to make up for the sins of the world. She asked that the Church consecrate various non-Catholic countries and non-believers to her Immaculate Heart. These peoples may have never heard of an Immaculate Heart. I seriously wonder sometimes if the being that the famous visionaries saw over the centuries was really the Virgin Mary.

In summary the Church’s present concept of the Virgin Mary and all her attributes and her so called appearances and messages around the world lead me to a state of real confusion bordering on doubt.

I should have accepted my 3rd grade teacher’s introduction of her as a nice pious virgin who was the mother of Jesus and that’s all. The things I learned about her in the rest of my Catholic education, in grade school, high school, and college, as I see it, all mostly speculation, only led me to question it all.

 

[Trojan_Horse]

Dear clarkgamble,
I’m going to try and break down everything you said to make it easier on me, so please bear with me.

1. The titles: The titles are, in a sense, unnecessary. We bestow them upon her to honour her (I can find the theological reasons for each one if you want, but I will not right now), and it is right for us to honour her because we are her spiritual children. But she doesn’t necessarily NEED our honour, because God has honoured her beyond all honours by allowing her to be the Mother of the Saviour.
2. Mary being conceived without sin was unnecessary in as much that God can do anything. However, He found it proper to allow her to be free from all sin due to the position He gave her: the New Ark of the Covenant (see Revelations 12). The original ark, the golden box, was deemed so holy that sinful men could not touch it, to avoid its mere contact with the stain of sin. And if the old ark was seen as being this holy, then how much holier should the New Ark, which held the Second Person of the Trinity, be?
   Further, Mary is also the New Eve. Just as Eve was created without original sin, so too was Mary. But where Eve fell and brought ruin (I know it wasn’t just her, Jesus is the New Adam, but we’re talking about Mary), Mary remained stainless to crush the devil’s head by her “yes”.
   God could have used any virgin, but He decided to have His Son save His mother from sin before she sinned (yes, Mary was still saved by Christ).
3. This:

Jesus himself, her offspring, needed to be baptized.

No, He didn’t. Baptism was a sign of repentance to the ancient Jews. What did Jesus have to repent of? He had no sins. He did so to give us an example of what we must do, and so establish the baptismal sacrament (alongside His conversation with Nicodemus, and His final command to the apostles.)
4) Mary, being meek and doing the will of God perfectly, wills that all her children (us) run to God. Churches were built for God. But why in her honour? Because she is the Queen-Mother in Heaven. She intercedes for us to Christ, who intercedes for us to the Father. And yes, you can go to Christ without Mary. However, the 4th Commandments orders us to honour our father and mother. Christ honoured His mother perfectly, and doing acts that lead to God in her honour brings praise to the Father by honouring His perfect creation, our mother.
5) Mary longs to bring us to her Son and His cross to see us saved and born into eternal life. Thus, Hail Mary’s for peace, consecration to her heart, are asking her to intercede for us, from where she sits next to her Son, that her prayers might pour graces upon us that help us return to her Son.
The mother was given graces to free her fully from sin, and now she desires to pour those graces upon us, to help free us fully, as well.

 

[Gorgias]

But why in her honour? Because she is the Queen-Mother in Heaven.

@clarkgamble1, this is the answer that you’re looking for. “Meek and humble” on earth? Definitely. “Queen Mother in Heaven”? Yep. And as such, we honor her here on earth.

I seriously wonder sometimes if the being that the famous visionaries saw over the centuries was really the Virgin Mary.

So, here’s the cool thing about ‘private revelations’: you don’t have to believe in them if you don’t want to. It’s ok… you can ignore them all, if they don’t serve to increase your faith.

 

[TheLittleLady]

Is there someone you love? Your wife, your child, heck even your dog! When we love someone, we tend to have “pet names” for them. Poets and composers have been using descriptive language for love since the beginning of time.

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.

You are the wind beneath my wings.

I’m in love with a brown eyed girl

My wild Irish rose

If humans give poetic names to those they love, how much more would we give poetic names to Our Lady?

 

[Zaccheus]

The church tells us that Mary was very special in being chosen to be the mother of God. Agreed. They reasoned that she must have been born without the stain of original sin because that would only be fitting for the mother of Jesus. Fitting, but really necessary? I personally cannot see why dozens of other young, innocent, and humble Jewish virgins in her vicinity could not have been capable of giving birth to Jesus.

@clarkgamble1: It is true that God could have chosen some other virgin for this purpose.
Have He done so, would He not have given that virgin the gift of Immaculate Conception, to make her a suitable vessel for His Son?
Would God not have done for this other virgin all He did for Mary?
Would we not honor the Virgin Mother of God, whatever her name and whatever the names of her parents?

Which of your questions would not apply had Christ been born to the Virgin Rachel, or the Virgin Ruth or the Virgin Rebecca?

 

[Kei]

There is a very strong assumption here that is simply incorrect.
That if it is not in the Bible, that it is just made up by man.
This has no basis in Catholic thought. Sacred Tradition has been a thing since the time of the Jews. This is not to be confused with the tradition of men.

Simply because you cannot “see” something doesn’t mean it is not correct. The tradition carried on through the Church over millenia, from the time of the very early Church, and there have been many thinkers that are way smarter than me, and most likely you as well, who have looked at the topic. It is even now Church doctrine, infallibly declared. The Holy Spirit does not lead us astray.

You declare Mary as meek and humble. Yes. But is it not a teaching of the Master that the least will be the greatest?

Russia had a very strong tradition of Orthodoxy, and we’re certainly Christian. Communism was a fairly new thing in 1917.
The apparition and what not of Guadalupe caused MASS conversion.

She and God, who also appeared in Fatima visions, know better than us.

Strengthening the care to the Rosary, that which gives so many graces, is a great thing. I can attest to that. Many Catholics can attest to that. It can be like 20 minutes of Heavenly things.