Mary: what she can and cannot do

[coolduude]

Hi all,

I have been doing a devotion to the Blessed Mother recently (it is the Novena of 3 Hail Marys for Purity of Heart I believe).

Anyway, in the prayer it says Mary has Power bestowed on her, mercy bestowed on her, and love for penitent sinners. I understand the love she has now after I started a different thread about it. But what about the power Mary has? How much does she have and what can she do with it as an independent being of God?
Also, how can she have mercy on us if she is not the one judging us? This confuses me

So if anyone can explain this all, that’d be great

here’s a link to read the Novena yourself:
ewtn.com/devotionals/novena/3hailmarys.htm

Thanks,
coolduude

 

[stuart12]

One can have compassion, mercy or pity for a homeless person and assist them (by alms giving, praying for them or by just talking to them). One is showing mercy, even though one is not God.

The Holy Theotokos has mercy upon us, not by forgiving us our sins, but by praying her us to God.

 

[chessmane4e5]

Essential Mary’s will is perfectly aligned to God’s will. So whatever God wants, Mary also wants. It is also true that the converse can be said: What ever Mary wants, God wants. This does not mean that Mary controls God, it is just the reality that Mary desires what God desires.

That being said, I suppose you can say that Mary has the power of God. It is not that she physically has this power, but that if Mary wants something to happen, then God does as well.

Can’t remember exactly where I read this, but I think it was somewhere on catholic.com

 

[Monica4316]

Remember she only ever does God’s will…

but her prayers are powerful because she is so close to Him as His Mother and loves Him so perfectly