Thanks for the thoughtful explanation!
I see a lot of devotion to the Theotokos from those that are hurt, that’s a good thing as Mary points to the Jesus on the Cross.
Could you expound on the sentence you said - I’ve heard it from other Catholics that some prayer is more powerful than others based on who is saying them and that makes me curious.
Generally - from the Lutheran perspective, the most ‘powerful’ prayers are those that express a desire that God aligns our will with His.
I
could see that Mary’s will is very much aligned with God’s per her response: “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38)
So I could see that if we pray a worthy prayer to Mary, that she would add her prayer to our - but those prayers would seem to have to be almost perfectly aligned with God’s will.
No asking for world domination or a new Cadillac
Ben,
This is a very kind and cordial post about Our Blessed Mother, kudos to you! I do not mean to jump in and answer any questions on someone’s behalf, but I thought I could maybe help a little.
“the most ‘powerful’ prayers are those that express a desire that God aligns our will with His” you say. This is a good definition! I like it! In fact, it reminds me of what St. James says in his fifth chapter:
“The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” James 5:16 NIV*
First, no one, not one person was ever hailed by any angel of any type, outside of Virgin Mary. In fact, it was precisely men who would hail angels as they (angles) are in fuller communion with God, abandoned fully to grace and His will. There are only two people ever to be hailed in Sacred Scripture, Our Blessed Lord and Our Blessed Mother. Jesus Christ was hailed by Judas and Gentile sinners (not to undermine Him whatsoever!), the other person, the Holy Mother of God, was hailed by an archangel, something that had never happened before and has never been repeated since. Moreover, this archangel not only greeted her with a ‘hail’ but also proclaimed her to be full of grace. Not only declared to be full of grace, but in all actuality and reality, full of grace. Aside from her Divine Son, I could not imagine anyone else, of all the human beings, from Adam to the end of time, to be more “righteous” that Mary. She is perpetually full of grace, how could it not spill over into her children’s prayers, whereby making them powerful and effective?
I think it is also important to note and remember, that it was by Mary cooperating with God’s grace and will, that our redemption won by Jesus Christ, could have even occurred. Think about this; God could have descended to us by any means He willed. He could have formed the person of Jesus Christ just like he did Adam, immaculately from dust. He could have taken a rib from anyone, and formed Jesus Christ like he did woman (Eve). And I am sure you can think of an infinite more number of ways God could have willed to redeem mankind. The point is, God descended to us through Mary. The person of Jesus Christ, initially, did not come to us through the Bible, or through Baptism, or through Holy Communion, or through Tradition, or through anything else. Before a sacrament could even be established, before on stroke of the pen could even hit a canonized Gospel or Epistle, before we could be born into the Kingdom of God, before we could have eaten the flesh and drank the blood of our Incarnate God (ALL of which are effected by Christ, with Christ, and through Christ having been purchased by Him by His life, death, and resurrection)…None of that would have been possible without the simple will of words from a 15 year old Jewish girls saying, “Fiat”.
There is no need to dichotomize the heart of Jesus from the heart of His Mother, Woman. Just as Jesus is 100% fully Divine and 100% fully human, so is He 100% Son of God and 100% Son of Mary. No one on this planet, will ever come close to loving Blessed Virgin Mary more than Jesus Christ. No one will ever honor (honor your mother, fourth commandment) Her more than Jesus Christ. No one will ever go to her for motherly care than Jesus Christ did. Does this undermine the Kingship, Divinity, or mediation of Our Lord Jesus Christ? Not at all! It magnifies it by expressing just how God willed redemption to come to the human race, through Ever Virgin Mary!
“The Church, with the Holy Ghost, blesses our Lady first, and Our Lord second” in Luke 1:42. “It is not that Mary is more than Jesus or even equal to Him - that would be intolerable heresy; but it is that in order to bless Jesus more perfectly, we must begin by blessing Mary.” - St. Louis De Montfort
Hence our prayer: “Hail Mary, full of grace. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.” This prayer is derived from Scripture.
No need to dichotomize, but harmonize! Unity, not division! One, one, one and not many.
Hope that helps a little bit you kind soul!
Eric
.