Marian devotion and an allergy to purple prose

[jtavington]

I accept the dogmas of Mary’s Immaculate Conception and Assumption. I pray the rosary sometimes. But I don’t have a particular love of Our Lady. The rosary is the first thing to go during a dry patch. I keep hearing that Catholics should have a deeper Marian spirituality and am recommended things like Marian Consecration. (not to my personally but generally to anyone who wants to grow in faith). But…I grew up low church Protestant. Anything more flowery than Hail Holy Queen makes my teeth clench, even being aware of the hyperbole. Nothing beyond the Rosary seems to stick for long. I can pray the Chaplet of St. Michael with no issue, do my Hail Mary penances with gratitude, but I feel like a bit of a misfit Catholic. Is there something wrong with me? Any other devotions I might try?

 

[casslean]

Have you ever heard of the Our Lady Undoer of Knots Novena? Someone introduced me to it and I’ve fallen in love. The language isn’t especially flowery (or I don’t think so) but just resonates so well with where I often am in my life.

 

[Limoncello4021]

I agree that a lot of the Marian language can be flowery. But you can bypass that and still grow close to Mary. I find the Memorare not flowery at all–just a strongly worded petition for help, an SOS prayer in time of need. Similarly, meditating on the various scenes with Mary is the Gospels is certainly not flowery, but very down to earth and real.
You might also try the litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The language is pure beauty, and very ancient.

 

[TheLittleLady]

You are not alone. The good thing is the super flowery devotional language is not required.

 

[Kei]

I pray the rosary sometimes. But I don’t have a particular love of Our Lady. The rosary is the first thing to go during a dry patch.

I think this is the major issue. Don’t let things “go” during a dry patch, but rather persevere, I think is what we are supposed to do.
The Rosary is a Marian devotion. Through it one can grow closer to our mother, understanding that Marian devotion is to give glory to God and bring us closer to Christ.
Saying the Rosary even though you don’t want to can be a sign of love for Our Lady. If you believe in Fatima and think she wants us to pray the Rosary everyday, and you do so out of loving obedience despite however you feel, I think that’s a sign of love.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

A lot of the Marian devotions date back to between the mid-1800s and the first half of the 20th century. Many of the devotions of that era, not just to Mary, tend to be “flowery”. I am not a big fan of many of them either (I like a few that remind me of my childhood or my mother saying them). This is the month of St. Joseph and I had to hunt around to find prayers to say to St. Joseph that did not make me cringe, especially since he is male and a father - I’d like to pray to him with something a bit businesslike and manly. It doesn’t mean I love him any less, it’s just a prayer style.

Try just talking to Mary in your own words. Say just 3 Hail Marys a day. This is a devotion and can be said easily for instance when you get in your car or go on your daily commute.

If you don’t yet have a comfortable daily-rosary Mary-as-mother relationship with Mary yet, you are probably not ready for Marian consecration. Which is okay - not every saint did Marian consecration or had a big devotion to Mary or even enjoyed saying the Rosary. I personally love all those things and find them helpful, but I grew up with Marian devotion and rosaries, so it’s as normal to me as giving my own human mother a hug was when she was alive.

You might also want to look into the Flame of Love devotion to Mary. It’s more “modern”. It has emphases on Jesus, Joseph and Christian unity as well. It’s approved by the Church and is being prayed all over Philadelphia and Memphis, other parts of USA here and there, and in many other countries of the world.

http://www.flameoflove.us/flame-of-love-prayers/