Kissing Mary

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Is it wrong to kiss Mary statues? Is it wrong or inadvisable to kiss her feet or even her womb?

It kind of seems like the wrong thing to do. I’ve never seen anybody doing it, but I’ve just wondered if some Marian Catholics don’t do it in private.
 
ValiantDomain said:
Is it wrong to kiss Mary statues? Is it wrong or inadvisable to kiss her feet or even her womb?

It kind of seems like the wrong thing to do. I’ve never seen anybody doing it, but I’ve just wondered if some Marian Catholics don’t do it in private.
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I venerate Icons of the Blessed Mother by kissing her hand. When passing a statue I usually kiss my fingers and then touch her foot. I think I’ll pass on the kissing the womb part.
 
It seems similar to kissing a picture of your mom, your grandmother, your wife, your sister, someone you admire and love dearly but are not in their physical presence at the moment.

The problem arises when it is observed by someone who doesn’t understand our love for Mary. They may mistake it for worshiping Mary or worshiping a statue.

So just exercise prudence. In public, we want to do things that will draw people toward our Catholic faith, not drive them away.
 
Kissing the picture of Mary (an icon of OL Perpetual Help) is a very common practise in my parish and after Sunday Mass there is a line to do so. During May, they put up another statue of her near the altar and I’ve seen people kiss the hands and feet of that also.
 
It is no different than touching or kissing the headstone at a cemetery. In kissing the statue, you are showing respect for a loved one no longer on earth. Since no photos of Mary exist, a statue is a stand-in for the photo. How many who misinterpret this practice in our Church yet kiss the photo of a loved one who has passed away? Hmm…
 
Sure I’ve seen statues of Mary kissed (head, hands or feet, never the womb). Same with other pictures or statues of Saints, but also (and especially) with crucifixes and images of Christ. No real problem with any of it, as long as it’s not done in repetitive uncontrollable-OCD fashion.

What’s really cute to see is if it’s a statue of Our Lady or St Joseph with the Infant Jesus they’ll kinda pat him on the head as if the statue was a real baby instead :love:
 
This is a popular and pious practice and shows love for the person represented in this case, the Blessed Mother. It is not wrong to kiss Holy Images and crucifixes. In fact, the kissing or touching of the Cross is part of the Good Friday Liturgy.
 
Talking about what draws or detracts non-Catholics from our faith, when I was a Pentecostalist I used to go into a Catholic church near work (because it was open) to have a few minutes of quiet prayer before going home. Having all the statues there was both an asset and a distraction for me as a Protestant unfamiliar with their “use.” I would sit closest to the statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus so as not to give the impression I was giving any sort of attention to Mary or any other saint depicted. Those were my scruples at the time.

One afternoon an older lady came up the aisle and knelt in front of the Sacred Heart and when she was done she kissed her fingertips and then touched Jesus’ hand while looking trustingly into the statue’s eyes. I was both repulsed and attracted by that simple gesture. Repulsed because my Pentecostal sect has engrained in me that any veneration of statues was idolarty. Attracted because I instantly recognized that it was love for and faith in Jesus not his statue that had motived that lady to bestow a kiss on him. It changed my whole perspective and is one of my fondest memories now that I am free in conscience and belief to do the same as that dear little lady.
 
I remember seeing a pregnant Mary statue while I was in Europe that had a decidedly worn down womb. Apparently, pregnant couples, and those trying to conceive would go to the statue and rub her belly or kiss it.
 
LilyM said:
What’s really cute to see is if it’s a statue of Our Lady or St Joseph with the Infant Jesus they’ll kinda pat him on the head as if the statue was a real baby instead :love:
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My 2yr old son does that with our Madonna of the Streets statue! It’s the cutest thing. Then he wants to kiss “Baba Jesu” (hey, he’s only two, his diction is developing).

I kiss my hand, then put it on the feet of Our Lord on my children’s crucifix and then on a Miraculous Medal hanging below it every night on my way out of the room.

But yeah, never seen the womb-kissing. Not an expression of devotion I’m likely to take up anytime soon, anyway.
 
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