Mary

[Singinbeauty]

Ok, I know that just by seeing the title to this thread some of you are rolling the eyes or steaming out the ears… Please hear me out…

I would like YOUR interpretation as to who Mary was and what role she played when she walked this earth. Who you think the bible says she is and what convinced you of this.

Thank you! I am not trying to attack I just have always been curious. I know what I have heard catholics think of her but I want to hear it from the horses mouth before I go spouting off something that isn’t true.

 

[E.E.N.S]

Singinbeauty:

Ok, I know that just by seeing the title to this thread some of you are rolling the eyes or steaming out the ears… Please hear me out…

I would like YOUR interpretation as to who Mary was and what role she played when she walked this earth. Who you think the bible says she is and what convinced you of this.

Thank you! I am not trying to attack I just have always been curious. I know what I have heard catholics think of her but I want to hear it from the horses mouth before I go spouting off something that isn’t true.

First off before I type a longer post for you, I want you to know that the Church teaches:

God - latria (worship due to God alone)
saints - dulia (veneration, honor)
Mary - hyperdulia (highest veneration/honor a human can have)

also, Christ was the perfect son and he honors Mary infinitely more than we ever can - and we simply imitate Christ.

 

[Della]

Thank you for wanting to know the truth about Catholics and Mary. You would be surprised how many people come here accusing Catholics of idolatry or with a chip on their shoulders.

Mary is mentioned often in the Gospels as the story of Jesus unfolds. And that is the real emphasis we Catholics put on her–what she meant to the “salvific economy”, i.e., the salvation story.

You have to remember that the authors of the Gospels were primarily interested in telling us about Jesus–his words and actions before anyone else’s, which only makes sense. So, what we know of Mary comes from those passages in which she had something to do with his life and ministry, and she had a lot to do with both.

Mary isn’t mentioned very much after Acts because she retired to live with John and so her part in her Son’s story seemed to be over. However, we probably know what St. Luke wrote about Jesus’ infancy from Mary herself, who would know it better than anyone else, so it could be said that the first few chapters of the Gospels, except for John’s are Mary’s remembrances/information.

How Mary fits into the whole of Catholic teaching, Sacred Tradition and the Bible is a complex issue that really cannot be done justice on a message board. I suggest you read up on her in the Catechism of the Catholic Church and a good Catholic encyclopedia, plus Catholic books on her.

 

[Eden]

Mary is blessed among women (Luke 1:28 and Luke 1:48) and all generations shall call her blessed.

 

[Singinbeauty]

How Mary fits into the whole of Catholic teaching, Sacred Tradition and the Bible is a complex issue that really cannot be done justice on a message board. I suggest you read up on her in the Catechism of the Catholic Church and a good Catholic encyclopedia, plus Catholic books on her.

It can be a, um, fun topic to explore and those reading materials are good to do research on but I want to know who she is to YOU not necessarily the church as a whole.

 

[Robert_in_SD]

Hello Singinbeauty;

I believe what the Catholic Church teaches about Mary. It is summarized in the Catechism of the Catholic Church as follows:

487 What the Catholic faith believes about Mary is based on what it believes about Christ, and what it teaches about Mary illumines in turn its faith in Christ.

**Mary’s predestination **

488 “God sent forth his Son”, but to prepare a body for him,125 he wanted the free co-operation of a creature. For this, from all eternity God chose for the mother of his Son a daughter of Israel, a young Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee, “a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary”:126

The Father of mercies willed that the Incarnation should be preceded by assent on the part of the predestined mother, so that just as a woman had a share in the coming of death, so also should a woman contribute to the coming of life.127

489 Throughout the Old Covenant the mission of many holy women prepared for that of Mary. At the very beginning there was Eve; despite her disobedience, she receives the promise of a posterity that will be victorious over the evil one, as well as the promise that she will be the mother of all the living.128 By virtue of this promise, Sarah conceives a son in spite of her old age.129 Against all human expectation God chooses those who were considered powerless and weak to show forth his faithfulness to his promises: Hannah, the mother of Samuel; Deborah; Ruth; Judith and Esther; and many other women.130 Mary "stands out among the poor and humble of the Lord, who confidently hope for and receive salvation from him. After a long period of waiting the times are fulfilled in her, the exalted Daughter of Sion, and the new plan of salvation is established."131

**The Immaculate Conception **

490 To become the mother of the Savior, Mary "was enriched by God with gifts appropriate to such a role."132 The angel Gabriel at the moment of the annunciation salutes her as “full of grace”.133 In fact, in order for Mary to be able to give the free assent of her faith to the announcement of her vocation, it was necessary that she be wholly borne by God’s grace.

491 Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, “full of grace” through God,134 was redeemed from the moment of her conception. That is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854:

The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin.135

492 The “splendor of an entirely unique holiness” by which Mary is “enriched from the first instant of her conception” comes wholly from Christ: she is “redeemed, in a more exalted fashion, by reason of the merits of her Son”.136 The Father blessed Mary more than any other created person “in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” and chose her “in Christ before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before him in love”.137

493 The Fathers of the Eastern tradition call the Mother of God “the All-Holy” (Panagia), and celebrate her as “free from any stain of sin, as though fashioned by the Holy Spirit and formed as a new creature”.138 By the grace of God Mary remained free of every personal sin her whole life long.

**“Let it be done to me according to your word. . .” **

494 At the announcement that she would give birth to “the Son of the Most High” without knowing man, by the power of the Holy Spirit, Mary responded with the obedience of faith, certain that “with God nothing will be impossible”: "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be [done] to me according to your word."139 Thus, giving her consent to God’s word, Mary becomes the mother of Jesus. Espousing the divine will for salvation wholeheartedly, without a single sin to restrain her, she gave herself entirely to the person and to the work of her Son; she did so in order to serve the mystery of redemption with him and dependent on him, by God’s grace:140

As St. Irenaeus says, "Being obedient she became the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race."141 Hence not a few of the early Fathers gladly assert. . .: "The knot of Eve’s disobedience was untied by Mary’s obedience: what the virgin Eve bound through her disbelief, Mary loosened by her faith."142 Comparing her with Eve, they call Mary “the Mother of the living” and frequently claim: "Death through Eve, life through Mary."143

(continued on following post)

 

[yochumjy]

Singinbeauty:

Ok, I know that just by seeing the title to this thread some of you are rolling the eyes or steaming out the ears… Please hear me out…

I would like YOUR interpretation as to who Mary was and what role she played when she walked this earth. Who you think the bible says she is and what convinced you of this.

Thank you! I am not trying to attack I just have always been curious. I know what I have heard catholics think of her but I want to hear it from the horses mouth before I go spouting off something that isn’t true.

Mary is the mother of Jesus Christ. She was saved by God from sin at conception. She was foretold throughout the old testament through the use of typology. She is the new Eve, the perfected ark of the covenant and full of the grace of God. She, being fully human, and her acceptance of God’s will in her life is what we strive for. She carried the Word of God within her physically and has a special relationship with Jesus. At her request, Christ performed His first miracle. Catholics believe she has been assumed into heaven; this is part of our doctrine, but it makes sense that someone who loved Christ so much, who gave her life into God’s hands to have Him would be in heaven. Mary always pointed to her Son. We believe that as she did on earth, so she does in heaven. She does no miracles of her own power, but her closeness to Christ and unity with him leads to Christ answering her prayers, which could be miracles here on earth. Christ is the only intercessor to the Father, but Catholics believe that we can have intercessors that help bridge the gap here on earth and in heaven. Mary is a great intercessor for us.

Thanks for asking, and thanks for breaking questions up into different threads!

 

[Robert_in_SD]

(continued from prior post)

**Mary’s divine motherhood **

495 Called in the Gospels “the mother of Jesus”, Mary is acclaimed by Elizabeth, at the prompting of the Spirit and even before the birth of her son, as “the mother of my Lord”.144 In fact, the One whom she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit, who truly became her Son according to the flesh, was none other than the Father’s eternal Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity. Hence the Church confesses that Mary is truly “Mother of God” (Theotokos).145

**Mary’s virginity **

496 From the first formulations of her faith, the Church has confessed that Jesus was conceived solely by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary, affirming also the corporeal aspect of this event: Jesus was conceived “by the Holy Spirit without human seed”.146 The Fathers see in the virginal conception the sign that it truly was the Son of God who came in a humanity like our own. Thus St. Ignatius of Antioch at the beginning of the second century says:

You are firmly convinced about our Lord, who is truly of the race of David according to the flesh, Son of God according to the will and power of God, truly born of a virgin,. . . he was truly nailed to a tree for us in his flesh under Pontius Pilate. . . he truly suffered, as he is also truly risen.147

497 The Gospel accounts understand the virginal conception of Jesus as a divine work that surpasses all human understanding and possibility:148 “That which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit”, said the angel to Joseph about Mary his fiancee.149 The Church sees here the fulfillment of the divine promise given through the prophet Isaiah: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son."150

498 People are sometimes troubled by the silence of St. Mark’s Gospel and the New Testament Epistles about Jesus’ virginal conception. Some might wonder if we were merely dealing with legends or theological constructs not claiming to be history. To this we must respond: Faith in the virginal conception of Jesus met with the lively opposition, mockery or incomprehension of non-believers, Jews and pagans alike;151 so it could hardly have been motivated by pagan mythology or by some adaptation to the ideas of the age. The meaning of this event is accessible only to faith, which understands in it the "connection of these mysteries with one another"152 in the totality of Christ’s mysteries, from his Incarnation to his Passover. St. Ignatius of Antioch already bears witness to this connection: "Mary’s virginity and giving birth, and even the Lord’s death escaped the notice of the prince of this world: these three mysteries worthy of proclamation were accomplished in God’s silence."153

**Mary - “ever-virgin” **

499 The deepening of faith in the virginal motherhood led the Church to confess Mary’s real and perpetual virginity even in the act of giving birth to the Son of God made man.154 In fact, Christ’s birth "did not diminish his mother’s virginal integrity but sanctified it."155 And so the liturgy of the Church celebrates Mary as Aeiparthenos, the “Ever-virgin”.156

500 Against this doctrine the objection is sometimes raised that the Bible mentions brothers and sisters of Jesus.157 The Church has always understood these passages as not referring to other children of the Virgin Mary. In fact James and Joseph, “brothers of Jesus”, are the sons of another Mary, a disciple of Christ, whom St. Matthew significantly calls “the other Mary”.158 They are close relations of Jesus, according to an Old Testament expression.159

501 Jesus is Mary’s only son, but her spiritual motherhood extends to all men whom indeed he came to save: "The Son whom she brought forth is he whom God placed as the first-born among many brethren, that is, the faithful in whose generation and formation she co-operates with a mother’s love."160

(continued on next post)

 

[Robert_in_SD]

(continued from prior post)

**Mary’s virginal motherhood in God’s plan **

502 The eyes of faith can discover in the context of the whole of Revelation the mysterious reasons why God in his saving plan wanted his Son to be born of a virgin. These reasons touch both on the person of Christ and his redemptive mission, and on the welcome Mary gave that mission on behalf of all men.

503 Mary’s virginity manifests God’s absolute initiative in the Incarnation. Jesus has only God as Father. "He was never estranged from the Father because of the human nature which he assumed. . . He is naturally Son of the Father as to his divinity and naturally son of his mother as to his humanity, but properly Son of the Father in both natures."161

504 Jesus is conceived by the Holy Spirit in the Virgin Mary’s womb because he is the New Adam, who inaugurates the new creation: "The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven."162 From his conception, Christ’s humanity is filled with the Holy Spirit, for God "gives him the Spirit without measure."163 From “his fullness” as the head of redeemed humanity "we have all received, grace upon grace."164

505 By his virginal conception, Jesus, the New Adam, ushers in the new birth of children adopted in the Holy Spirit through faith. "How can this be?"165 Participation in the divine life arises “not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God”.166 The acceptance of this life is virginal because it is entirely the Spirit’s gift to man. The spousal character of the human vocation in relation to God167 is fulfilled perfectly in Mary’s virginal motherhood.

506 Mary is a virgin because her virginity is the sign of her faith “unadulterated by any doubt”, and of her undivided gift of herself to God’s will.168 It is her faith that enables her to become the mother of the Savior: "Mary is more blessed because she embraces faith in Christ than because she conceives the flesh of Christ."169

507 At once virgin and mother, Mary is the symbol and the most perfect realization of the Church: "the Church indeed. . . by receiving the word of God in faith becomes herself a mother. By preaching and Baptism she brings forth sons, who are conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of God, to a new and immortal life. She herself is a virgin, who keeps in its entirety and purity the faith she pledged to her spouse."170

126 Lk 1:26-27.
127 LG 56; cf. LG 61.
128 Cf. Gen 3:15, 20.
129 Cf. Gen 18:10-14; 21:1-2.
130 Cf. 1 Cor 1:17; 1 Sam 1.
131 LG 55.
132 LG 56.
133 Lk 1:28.
134 Lk 1:28.
135 Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus (1854): DS 2803.
136 LG 53, 56.
137 Cf. Eph 1:3-4.
138 LG 56.
139 Lk 1:28-38; cf. Rom 1:5.
140 Cf. LG 56.
141 St. Irenaeus, Adv. haeres. 3, 22, 4: PG 7/1, 959A.
142 St. Irenaeus, Adv. haeres. 3, 22, 4: PG 7/1, 959A.
143 LG 56; Epiphanius, Haer. 78, 18: PG 42, 728CD-729AB; St. Jerome, Ep. 22, 21: PL 22, 408.
144 Lk 1:43; Jn 2:1; 19:25; cf. Mt 13:55; et al.
145 Council of Ephesus (431): DS 251.
146 Council of the Lateran (649): DS 503; cf. DS 10-64.
147 St. Ignatius of Antioch, Ad Smyrn 1-2: Apostolic Fathers, ed. J. B. Lightfoot (London: Macmillan, 1889), II/2, 289-293; SCh 10, 154-156; cf. Rom 1:3; Jn 1:13.
148 Mt 1 18-25; Lk 1:26-38.
149 Mt 1:20.
150 Isa 7:14 in the LXX, quoted in Mt 1:23 (Gk.).
151 Cf. St. Justin, Dial., 99, 7: PG 6, 708-709; Origen, Contra Celsum 1, 32, 69: PG 11, 720-721; et al.
152 Dei Filius 4: DS 3016.
153 St. Ignatius of Antioch, Ad Eph. 19, 1: AF II/2 76-80; SCh 10,88; cf. 1 Cor 2:8.
154 Cf. DS 291; 294; 427; 442; 503; 571; 1880.
155 LG 57.
156 Cf. LG 52.
157 Cf. Mk 3:31-35; 6:3; 1 Cor 9:5; Gal 1:19.
158 Mt 13:55; 28:1; cf. Mt 27:56.
159 Cf. Gen 13:8; 14:16; 29:15; etc.
160 LG 63; cf. Jn 19:26-27; Rom 8:29; Rev 12:17.
161 Council of Friuli (796): DS 619; cf. Lk 2:48-49.
162 1 Cor 15:45,47.
163 Jn 3:34.
164 Jn 1:16; cf. Col 1:18.
165 Lk 1:34; cf. Jn 3:9.
166 Jn 1:13.
167 Cf. 2 Cor 11:2.
168 LG 63; cf. 1 Cor 7:34-35.
169 St. Augustine, De virg., 3: PL 40, 398.
170 LG 64; cf. 63.

Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to be as specific as possible in presenting a Catholic perspective of Mary. Truly, this is just an overview from 30,000 feet.

 

[Eden]

Mary is the “Mother of God” (Theotokos):

Matt. 2:11 - Luke emphasizes Jesus is with Mary His Mother, and the magi fall down before both of them, worshiping Jesus.

Luke 1:35 - the child will be called holy, the Son of God. Mary is the Mother of the Son of God, or the Mother of God (the “Theotokos”).

Luke 1:38 - Mary’s fiat is “let it be done to me according to thy word.” Mary is the perfect model of faith in God, and is worthy of our veneration.

Luke 1:42 - “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.” The phrase “blessed are you among women” really means “you are most blessed of all women.” A circumlocution is used because there is no superlative in the Greek language. Note also that Elizabeth praises Mary first, and then Jesus. This is hyperdulia (but not latria which is worship owed to God alone). We too can go through Mary to praise Jesus. Finally, Catholics repeat these divinely inspired words of Elizabeth in the Rosary.

Luke 1:43 - Elizabeth’s use of “Mother of my Lord” (in Hebrew, Elizabeth used “Adonai” which means Lord God) is the equivalent of “Holy Mary, Mother of God” which Catholics pray in the Rosary. The formula is simple: Jesus is a divine person, and this person is God. Mary is Jesus’ Mother, so Mary is the mother of God (Mary is not just the Mother of Jesus’ human nature - mothers are mothers of persons, not natures).

Luke 1:44 - Mary’s voice causes John the Baptist to leap for joy in Elizabeth’s womb. Luke is teaching us that Mary is our powerful intercessor.

Luke 1:46 - Mary claims that her soul magnifies the Lord. This is a bold statement from a young Jewish girl from Nazareth. Her statement is a strong testimony to her uniqueness. Mary, as our Mother and intercessor, also magnifies our prayers.

Eph. 1:1; Phil. 1:1; Col. 1:2 - the word “saints” (in Hebrew “qaddiysh”) means “holy” ones. So Mary is called Holy, the greatest Saint of all.

Luke 2:35 - Simeon prophesies that a sword would also pierce Mary’s soul. Mary thus plays a very important role in our redemption. While Jesus’ suffering was all that we needed for redemption, God desired Mary to participate on a subordinate level in her Son’s suffering, just as he allows us to participate through our own sufferings.

Luke 2:19,51 - Mary kept in mind all these things as she pondered them in her heart. Catholics remember this by devoting themselves to Mary’s Immaculate Heart and all the treasures and wisdom and knowledge contained therein.

 

[Eden]

Mary is our Mother:

John 19:26 - Jesus makes Mary the Mother of us all as He dies on the Cross by saying “behold your mother.” Jesus did not say “John, behold your mother” because he gave Mary to all of us, his beloved disciples. All the words that Jesus spoke on Cross had a divine purpose. Jesus was not just telling John to take care of his mother.

Rev. 12:17 - this verse proves the meaning of John 19:26. The “woman’s” (Mary’s) offspring are those who follow Jesus. She is our Mother and we are her offspring in Jesus Christ. The master plan of God’s covenant love for us is family. But we cannot be a complete family with the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Christ without the Motherhood of Mary.

John 2:3 - this is a very signifcant verse in Scripture. As our mother, Mary tells all of us to do whatever Jesus tells us. Further, Mary’s intercession at the marriage feast in Cana triggers Jesus’ ministry and a foreshadowing of the Eucharistic celebration of the Lamb. This celebration unites all believers into one famiy through the marriage of divinity and humanity.

John 2:7 - Jesus allows His mother to intercede for the people on His behalf, and responds to His mother’s request by ordering the servants to fill the jars with water.

Christ offers us the opportunity to see His mother as our own. We may go to her to ask that she intercede for us with her Son but this is not required for Salvation. Jesus loved His mother dearly and He is not offended that we may show her that love and veneration as well. Catholics are not required to pray to Mary or the saints at all. If it something we desire to do, it is also not in contradiction with the Church’s teachings. Mary knows her Son like no human being has ever known Him. She serves Him too and all of her energy is for the purpose of pointing us in the direction of her Son.

Also, God the Father chose to bring His Son to us through Mary. He does not take offense at all if we chose to go through her to her Son if we feel the motherly intercession is useful for our petitions.

 

[Della]

Singinbeauty:

It can be a, um, fun topic to explore and those reading materials are good to do research on but I want to know who she is to YOU not necessarily the church as a whole.

Ah. Well, Mary is many things to me. She’s my spiritual Mother, my primary prayer partner, my queen who intercedes for me, my example of perfect Christian discipleship, my friend (she once laughed at me good-naturedly ), my inspiration as a woman, someone I hope to imitate in virtue, and so on and so on.

I thank God daily that he allows us to know her–to communicate with she who is alive with Christ, her Son, and sits at his right hand in glory in order to offer to him our hopes, our desires, and our prayers filtered through her immaculate heart and pure intentions.

 

[MEP]

What felicitous timing since yesterday was the Feast of the Assumption and one of the priests at my parish delivered a fantastic homily about Mary. What is Mary to me? Well, I won’t quote direct church doctrine because I’m still studying that myself, I’ll just say what I was raised to believe (my mom is very strong when it comes to Marian devotion) and what I feel about Mary. Don’t take this as canon unless you read it in actual canon

1. Mary was sinless, making her completely obedient to the will of God and therefore a model for all Christians to follow. She never asked God why. She just said, “Let it be done according to your will…” How could you not respect that?
2. Mary was the Mother of God, chosen because she was incorruptible in body and spirit. Being the Mother of Jesus, she is honored by Jesus in accordance with Hebrew law. Remember the part of the New Testament when Mary tells Jesus to make some wine for the wedding, and he just does it. It’s his mom, he has to.
3. Mary is the mother of the church. This is true for multiple reasons. She is the first Christian, being the first human on Earth to accept Jesus before he was even born. And she is the “mother” of the apostle, John the Evangelist of the Church. Mary is our spiritual mother in the resurrection. Just as through Eve, we are all born into original sin and death, through Mary we are all born into Christ’s promise of salvation and new life.

We don’t worship Mary, but we honor her and venerate her. She is not a divine figure, but a model of Earthly human perfection, being totally submissive to the will of God. She, like all Christians, can pray for us on our behalf. Since she is the mother of Christ, she is an influential intercessor on our behalf, and her maternal nature also means she is a comfort to the broken hearted and poor in spirit. She is our spiritual mother and just like our real mothers, she offers solace and consolation in our times of need. She also offers guidance and teaching like our real mothers do, for her life sets the example that we should all be striving for.

Marian doctrine is not one of worship, but a doctrine of love, humility (in our own shortcomings) and profound respect for a Christian on Earth and now in Heaven who personified everything that our Savior wants for each and every one of us.

Heh, and some people think Catholics want to oppress women – wierd.

 

[Fidelis]

Singinbeauty:

I would like YOUR interpretation as to who Mary was and what role she played when she walked this earth. Who you think the bible says she is and what convinced you of this.

Well, now that others have layed the groundwork, more of us can answer your original question with the understanding that you know where we’re coming from–that there are good, biblical reasons for how Catholics can believe what they do about Mary, personally and theologically. That we don’t consider her the equivalent of God in any shape, manner or form, but simply give her the honor she is due as the Lord’s Mother, our spiritual Mother, and as a model disciple who played a key part in the salvation of the world (as we all do, to some extent).

So then, as practically a convert to the Faith from 28 years of dormant Catholicism, the late start in my relationship with Jesus and his Mother Mary has had time to grow and mature. I never started out with a “Cradle Catholic” child’s understanding–starting my faith walk as an adult was like being a kidnapped infant that is reunited with his family after he was grown up.

To make a long story short, as I’ve grown in my understanding and relationship with Jesus, my brother, I’ve come to recognize Mary as my spiritual Mother who had been looking and waiting for me all those years. I see her in the Scriptures, and in the Liturgy, and in the teachings, and in the devotions of the Church by others who know her, and I’ve grown to love her. I’m not much of a touchy-feely guy anyway, so our Mother and son relationship is quiet and comfortable. I’m not one of those types that is drawn to very public expressions of devotion, but I’m not like that in my other relationships. Some people are, of course.

Finally, I have grown to love and trust her because I have seen her solicitude in my life when I have invoked her assistance in prayer. I feel her concern for me and my family and it is a source of comfort and joy to know one so close to Our Lord is so close to me.

 

[carol_marie]

Who is Mary to me?

Well she is the Mother of God. My Church tells me that she was sinless so I accept that. I feel that I can ask her to pray for me - like a mother would pray for her child. My own earthly Mother is not a Christian so I am so thankful that I can go to Mary with my concerns and prayer requests and I know she’ll take them to her Son. I think she is an excellent example of what a follower of Christ should be.

It saddens me to know that many Protestants (myself formerly included) want NOTHING to do with her - for fear that thinking of her would somehow be taking away from Jesus. I now appreciate that nothing could be further from the truth. Mary always points the way to Jesus. It is her desire that we live our lives for Him.

P.S. Singinbeauty,
I think you ask GREAT questions!

 

[Genesis315]

Singinbeauty:

It can be a, um, fun topic to explore and those reading materials are good to do research on but I want to know who she is to YOU not necessarily the church as a whole.

She’s the one who magnified the Lord for me.

Here’s a little thread I started on the subject:
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=46167

 

[CARose]

Genesis315:

She’s the one who magnified the Lord for me.

I think this probably best states my feelings towards Mary. “My soul doth Magnify the Lord” she states in the Magnificat and this is what I see when I read passages about Mary in Sacred Scripture. Mary, even as she asked Jesus to perform his first miracle at the wedding of Cana, merely told the servants to do as Jesus asked, not telling them to do anything other than follow Our Lord.

Even when Jesus was a young man of 12 and was lost at the temple, her comments to him were of how what he had done confused her. She had total trust in him even when she did not have full knowledge of what he was doing or why. At the same time, she took her responsibility as His mother seriously and brought Him home with her, so that he might continue to grow in wisdom.

On a personal note, she’s the most incredible friend a person could want, especially if you accept that we are meant to honor her as Christ honored his mother, in accord with the ten commandments, and that he subsequently gave her to us as our spiritual mother. She really answered my prayer in the most wonderfully gentle way when I prayed to her for guidance regarding the Truth as given to us by God.

If it doesn’t frighten you too much, I’d like to suggest you give it a try. Pray to Mary that she lead you gently to know all that Christ desires you to understand about the Truth as He came to teach.

She won’t give you everything at once, she’s a gentle teacher, but if you continue with the intention of being open to the workings of the Holy Spirit, you can trust Mary to intercede for you.

CARose

 

[Philthy]

Singinbeauty:

It can be a, um, fun topic to explore and those reading materials are good to do research on but I want to know who she is to YOU not necessarily the church as a whole.

She is someone I have known as long as I can remember.
She is someone who prays for me and who helps me to pray.
She is someone in Heaven.
She is the Giborah of Jesus’ eternal kingdom.
She is the mother of God incarnate.
She is a model of humility and obedience: “Let it be done to me according to your will”
She is actively miraculous.

Is this the kind of stuff you’re lookin for?

Phil

 

[Semper_Fi_1]

To me,

Mary is the mother that will always be by my side. She is the one that gave birth to my Lord thru her own free will thus making my salvation possible. She is the one whom the Lord performed His first miracle for. She was the first Christian (being that she was the first to believe the Angel Gabriel’s words that she was “full of Grace” and believed in Christ first). She is the ultimate example of what a person can only hope to achieve to become. She is the perfect Christian and all we can do is hope to emulate her love for her Son and to honor her as He did. Without Mary, my salvation would have been impossible for by her own free will she accepted the incarnate manifestation of God the Son.

 

[Tonks40]

The Blessed Virgin Mary is my inspiration, my guide to what a mother should be to her children. I connect deepest with her when I reflect on the kind of agony she must’ve felt seeing her son die on that cross. I also reflect during the Fifth Joyful Mystery of the Rosary when she realized that she didn’t have her son by her side, and she and Joseph frantically looked for him until they found him in the temple. I think about the immense joy she must’ve felt when she gave birth to Him.

But her love doesn’t just start and stop with her son Jesus. It’s there for all of us, and is just as deep. It is very, very comforting for me to know that she will always care for us, just like a mother cares for her child, forever and for always.