Marian issues

[RomanCrusader]

Hey everyone,

I am a traditional Catholic, but I’m just not as Marian as most. Don’t get me wrong, I pray the rosary, I love the Blessed Virgin, I believe in all the Church’s Marian doctrines, etc.

I just don’t really put nearly as much stock in Marian visions (Fatima, etc.) as most, and they don’t seem to influence my faith in any way. I honestly have my doubts if Fatima ever occured. I am far more concerned with the Blessed Sacrament and the absolute revelations of the Church throughout its 2000 year history.

Is this un-Catholic of me? Is not totally believing in many Marian visions going to damn me if they are genuine? I know it makes me a strange traditionalist, but I just don’t believe God’s divine revelation depends on Mary appearing here and there.

And I am also **totally against ** Mary being labelled “co-redemptrix” as an official title.

 

[mark_a]

Hey everyone,

I am a traditional Catholic, but I’m just not as Marian as most. Don’t get me wrong, I pray the rosary, I love the Blessed Virgin, I believe in all the Church’s Marian doctrines, etc.

I just don’t really put nearly as much stock in Marian visions (Fatima, etc.) as most, and they don’t seem to influence my faith in any way. I don’t really even know if Fatima occured. I am far more concerned with the Blessed Sacrament and the absolute revelations of the Church throughout its 2000 year history.

Is this un-Catholic of me? Is not totally believing in many Marian visions going to damn me if they are genuine? I know it makes me a strange traditionalist, but I just don’t belive God’s divine revelation depends on Mary appearing here and there.

Its like you read my mind, man.

 

[RomanCrusader]

Its like you read my mind, man.

At least theres 2 of us

 

[Stillkickin]

As I understand it: The Catholic Church does not require anyone to believe that Fatima happened. The Church’s stance is that Fatima “is worthy of belief”, but a Catholic is not required to believe in it. It is not a precept of the faith.
For the record, I believe that Fatima happened.

Stillkickin

 

[valient_Lucy]

Hey everyone,

I am a traditional Catholic, but I’m just not as Marian as most. Don’t get me wrong, I pray the rosary, I love the Blessed Virgin, I believe in all the Church’s Marian doctrines, etc.

I just don’t really put nearly as much stock in Marian visions (Fatima, etc.) as most, and they don’t seem to influence my faith in any way. I honestly have my doubts if Fatima ever occured. I am far more concerned with the Blessed Sacrament and the absolute revelations of the Church throughout its 2000 year history.

Is this un-Catholic of me? Is not totally believing in many Marian visions going to damn me if they are genuine? I know it makes me a strange traditionalist, but I just don’t believe God’s divine revelation depends on Mary appearing here and there.

And I am also **totally against ** Mary being labelled “co-redemptrix” as an official title.

You don’t have to believe in Fatima, Lourdes, Guadalupe, or any other apparition. The church declares that there is nothing in these apparitions that contradicts Public Revelation, but there is no penalty for not believing that any of these apparitions occurred.

I really don’t have any opinion on the apparitions, because I haven’t studied them enough to know whether or not they might have happened, and I doubt that I ever would do that. I do find the stories of the apparitions inspiring but I don’t worry about them too much.

 

[1ke]

I am a traditional Catholic, but I’m just not as Marian as most.

Define “most”. “Most” Catholics I know are not apparition-chasers. “Most” Catholics I know do not build their world around messages, secrets, and chastisements.

I don’t know why one must label themselves a “traditionalist” and then worry about whether they are “traditional” enough. You are a Catholic, period. One does not measure Catholicity based on whether one believes in or follows apparitions. I believe the criteria are found in the precepts of the Church and the Creed, nowhere else.

Is this un-Catholic of me?

No

Is not totally believing in many Marian visions going to damn me if they are genuine?

No. The Church deems them “worthy of belief”. The Church makes no demands on us with regard to private revelation. From the Catechism:

There will be no further Revelation

66 "The Christian economy, therefore, since it is the new and definitive Covenant, will never pass away; and no new public revelation is to be expected before the glorious manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ."28 Yet even if Revelation is already complete, it has not been made completely explicit; it remains for Christian faith gradually to grasp its full significance over the course of the centuries.

67 Throughout the ages, there have been so-called “private” revelations, some of which have been recognized by the authority of the Church. They do not belong, however, to the deposit of faith. It is not their role to improve or complete Christ’s definitive Revelation, but to help live more fully by it in a certain period of history. Guided by the Magisterium of the Church, the sensus fidelium knows how to discern and welcome in these revelations whatever constitutes an authentic call of Christ or his saints to the Church.

And I am also **totally against ** Mary being labelled “co-redemptrix” as an official title.

That’s a different subject, unrelated to apparitions and private revelation.

 

[Sgt_Sweaters]

As I understand it, as a fairly new Catholic, Marian apparitions are for the general edification of the faithful, especially a boost for those who need it. The immediate precursor to my consideration of the Catholic Church (I was raised as a devout Protestant) was my being told the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe. I believe that through the wonders of this apparition Our Lady got her foot in the door that Our Lord might touch my heart. During my conversion I had great devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe. Yet what I’ve found is that as I’ve grown and developed as a Catholic, my devotion to that particular apparition has dwindled. My devotion is to Our Lady, period. Our Lady, Full of Grace; Our Lady, Theotokos; Our Lady, Queen of All Hearts. If you do not have a devotion to her in a particular apparition, that’s fine. But make sure she is close to your heart!

As St Alphonsus says in the introduction to “The Glories of Mary”:

Worldly lovers often speak of those they love, and praise them so that these individuals will be esteemed and praise by others. There are people who claim to be lovers of Mary. Yet they seldom speak of her or endeavor to inspire others to love her. Their love cannot be very great. Those who really love Our Lady do not act in that way. They endeavor to praise her always and everywhere and to make the whole world love her. They never lose an opportunity, either in public or in private, of enkindling in the hearts of others the flame of love towards Our Lady with which they themselves burn.