Note to my fellow Catholics: please don't call a statue of Mary "her"!

[mammallama]

Our parish has a traveling statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Our family decided we would “host” the statue in our home for two weeks. I took my 4 year old to the parish office to pick up the statue which was all wrapped up for safe transport. Her crown was wrapped seperately in a small tupperware container. I said to my daugher, “I’ll carry Mary, you can carry the tupperware.” To which she said, “Is this her food?”

What a HOOT!..children are just so sweet

 

[mammallama]

Ok. Just to play the devil’s advocate here…

What about creating scandal? Many in this thread have said it’s not their problem what others think of their practises, but isn’t that part of why we are vigilant about not creating scandal?

We should be conscious of what we are portraying to others, lest we create the image that we’re sinning in someone else’s mind. That’s why, for example, we should not sleep at our boyfriend’s apartment, even if we’re planning to be chaste, lest it create scandal. Of course, we could say, “I don’t give a hoot what others think of my sleeping at his apartment. I know I’m being chaste, and God know that, so that’s all that matters.”

So, even if we know we’re not idolizing Mary, perhaps by calling the statue “her” we’re creating scandal??

In my mind scandal would be calling the statue a derogatory name,or portraying him/her in a disrespectful way…

 

[yellowbird]

I think that people often refer to statues as he or she - and not just Catholics. When people view the Statue of Liberty they say, “Oh she’s beautiful… lady liberty!” When in South Dakota, we saw Mt. Rushmore and people talked about how authentic “they” (the presidents) looked.

It’s only a fool who would even suggest that Catholics believe that the statue is ACTUALLY a person. It’s sooooo ridiculous - I don’t think we should even bother to worry about such silliness on someone else’s part. Besides, calling the statue an “it” wouldn’t satisify them… the next thing out of their mouth would be something along the lines of why do you talk to dead people anyhow?!! They can’t hear you!!!

 

[PRmerger]

In my mind scandal would be calling the statue a derogatory name,or portraying him/her in a disrespectful way…

Yes, that could be scandalous, but that doesn’t necessarily exclude any other forms of scandal related to this topic.

 

[mammallama]

Yes, that could be scandalous, but that doesn’t necessarily exclude any other forms of scandal related to this topic.

You’re have fun with this aren’t you:wink:

 

[Cari]

What about creating scandal? Many in this thread have said it’s not their problem what others think of their practises, but isn’t that part of why we are vigilant about not creating scandal?

As you have noted below, creating scandal deals with sin. Actual sin, not what other’s conceptions of sin may be.

We should be conscious of what we are portraying to others, lest we create the image that we’re sinning in someone else’s mind. That’s why, for example, we should not sleep at our boyfriend’s apartment, even if we’re planning to be chaste, lest it create scandal. Of course, we could say, “I don’t give a hoot what others think of my sleeping at his apartment. I know I’m being chaste, and God know that, so that’s all that matters.”

Frankly, I’m horrified at your suggestion that honoring Our Lady would be something sinful in your mind, even if you are playing devil’s advocate.

If we follow this reasoning, we shouldn’t genuflect towards the tabernacle, kneel at the consecration, or engage in Adoration, as Protestants and others don’t believe in the Real Presence, and view our worship of the Eucharistic Lord as idolotry.

Should we also then curb those practices, too?

 

[domb89]

Dear PRMerger,

I feel we should pay respect to our great lady that is Mary, and I beleive she is an example of motherhood to all. I look up to her as I look up to my own mother.

We all have a special intimate relationship with Mary, and this intimate relationship differs from person to person, for example some people may see her as a symbol of motherhood, whilst others a symbol of strength and suffering, some people both of those things. She has served and supported each and every one of us at one point through different times of different troubles, therefore I do say to you, because of the uniqueness of Mary, I feel the addressing of Our Lady of Victories is a purely personal and subjective one.

Please do not take this the wrong way, and do not feel I am attacking you as I wouldn’t do such. However in my opinion I do not feel you or anyone of us are in a position to tell other people what to call mary. Some people may beleive the spirit of Mary dwells within the visual symbols and statues of Mary. When I visit my local shrine, I see it as Mary being in the statue, it doesn’t mean I am right or wrong, it means my special relationship means that is how I see it, and so I will address the statue as Her. I feel it shows respect and I feel it is a very nice thing to do, to speak of the statue as if Mary were a part of it, because some people may find comforting in knowing that she is…So please refrain from dictating to people how to refer to their statues and be thankful to God that these people are appreciating the symbols and Mary herself on such a spiritual level.

Thankyou and God Bless.

Amen.

Dom x

 

[yellowbird]

, I see it as Mary being in the statue, it doesn’t mean I am right or wrong, it means my special relationship means that is how I see it, and so I will address the statue as Her. Dom x

Did I understand you correctly? You feel that Mary - her spirit - is actually “in” the statue???

 

[domb89]

Not entirely correct lol. Of course Our Blessed Mother could be anywhere. When I say her spirit is there etc, I mean from the statues or when I look at or meditate on them, I feel a presence and get a vibe or feeling from them which indicates to me that I would be perfectly justified in calling her.

Either way PRmerger, with all due respect, has no business telling people what to called their blessed mother because he has know idea about the personal relationship or feeling between them.

How else does one explain the crying statues etc and other miracles, I beleive that can only happen when there is a spiritual presence of Mary.
x

 

[PRmerger]

If we follow this reasoning, we shouldn’t genuflect towards the tabernacle, kneel at the consecration, or engage in Adoration, as Protestants and others don’t believe in the Real Presence, and view our worship of the Eucharistic Lord as idolotry.

Should we also then curb those practices, too?

I understand what you’re saying, Cari. But these are practices of our Church and we certainly should not curb them in order to avoid scandalizing our protestant brethren. Our Church instructs us to do these things, and do them we shall!

However, calling a statue of Mary “her”, as if it’s truly Mary and not an inanimate object, is not something we’re required to do. IMHO, it confuses those who don’t understand our devotion.

 

[Cari]

I understand what you’re saying, Cari. But these are practices of our Church and we certainly should not curb them in order to avoid scandalizing our protestant brethren. Our Church instructs us to do these things, and do them we shall!

However, calling a statue of Mary “her”, as if it’s truly Mary and not an inanimate object, is not something we’re required to do. IMHO, it confuses those who don’t understand our devotion.

Show me where the Magisterium tells us NOT to call inanimate objects- ANY inanimate object- by gender-specific pronouns, and I’ll concede you have a valid point. Otherwise, I’m chalking it up to a strange sort of Marian-embarrassment.

*****Should we not participate in May Crownings, for fear of giving scandal to non-Catholics? Should we not have processions with statues? Should we not dress statues of the Infant of Prague in different robes? Should we not place flowers at the statue feet of Our Lady? Should we avoid quiet prayer in side chapels in our Churches?

Where does our sensitivity to non-Catholics end in this scenario?*****

 

[PRmerger]

Show me where the Magisterium tells us NOT to call inanimate objects- ANY inanimate object- by gender-specific pronouns, and I’ll concede you have a valid point. Otherwise, I’m chalking it up to a strange sort of Marian-embarrassment.

*****Should we not participate in May Crownings, for fear of giving scandal to non-Catholics? Should we not have processions with statues? Should we not dress statues of the Infant of Prague in different robes? Should we not place flowers at the statue feet of Our Lady? Should we avoid quiet prayer in side chapels in our Churches?

Where does our sensitivity to non-Catholics end in this scenario?*****

Again, those are all common practices of our Church. We should continue to show our devotion to Our Lady through these beautiful practices, as long as make certain that we do not believe this statue, this inanimate object, is truly Mary. Calling it a “her” seems to me a step in the wrong direction.

 

[Cari]

Again, those are all common practices of our Church. We should continue to show our devotion to Our Lady through these beautiful practices, as long as make certain that we do not believe this statue, this inanimate object, is truly Mary. Calling it a “her” seems to me a step in the wrong direction.

Explain to me how a May Crowning isn’t on par with referring to a statue with a feminine pronoun?

 

[surfinpure]

I have yet to read a single official document that requires us to refer to the image of Our Lady as “it.” I’m puzzled as to where the OP’s idea originated.

 

[mammallama]

As some of you may already know,I collect Catholic antiques…well anyway a few years ago I was at an auction and spied an old concrete statue of the baby Jesus.He was made such so that ‘he’ could rest in a manger scene.So anyway when ‘he’ came up for bid no one knew that ‘he’ was Jesus.The auctioneer described the statue as “a little baby wearing a diaper”…I jumped up and shouted “NO! That’s THE BABY JESUS and you’re holding Him all wrong”…I ended up having the winning bid and carried Him around with me the rest of the auction as if He were a living child…because after all what else could I do that would be respectful??..Leave Him in the same pile with my other stuff??No way.

 

[PRmerger]

I stand corrected. I suppose it is indeed consistent with Catholic teaching to call a statue of Mary “her”. I went to the Vatican website and found a document in which the Holy Father describes visiting a Marian shrine and was"praying at her feet"

My apologies!

 

[Cari]

Cool.

 

[yellowbird]

I stand corrected. I suppose it is indeed consistent with Catholic teaching to call a statue of Mary “her”. I went to the Vatican website and found a document in which the Holy Father describes visiting a Marian shrine and was"praying at her feet"

My apologies!

I think it’s an admirable quality to be able to stand corrected.

If I’m ever wrong, it’s what I intend to do.

 

[st_lucy]

I am prepared to be assailed by not a few well-meaning Catholics, but here goes:

I am a devout, orthodox Catholic who gives honor to our Blessed Mother. We have a statue of her in our garden. (Note: this sentence, in which I call Mary “her” is not what I’m referring to in this thread! )

However, I am calling on all Catholics to be cautious when talking about statues/icons/devotionals. Please do not talk about the statue as if it were Our Lady herself. I cringe when I hear my dear fellow Catholics saying about a statue, “Please put her right here.” The statue is NOT Mary. It is a reminder. An image.

Just like if I had a photo of my dad I would not say, 'Please put my dad on the wall".

Lest our dear Protestant brethren hear our innocent comment and interpret it, mistakenly, as idol worship, we ought to be cautious about our language when talking about our Blessed Mother!

I just wanted to point out that you violated your own rule in your OP.

 

[kristie_m]

I can see your point, but I, like many others I have referred to images etc, as “him” or “her”. Just made for easier conversation. I think if I knew I were in the presence of someone who would NOT understand, I might be a little more careful with my words.