Statue of Mary - Is it allowed?

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I noticed that on EWTN, they place a statue of Mary near the altar during the months of October and May.

When we asked the “liturgy committee” at our church to place a statue of Our Lady of Fatima during the month of May, we were told that it was not permissable because it would distract our attention away from Jesus.

My question is, is that true? Is there a document that forbids honoring the mother of God by placing her near the altar during the months of May and October?

If so, why do they do it on EWTN?

Thanks. This really has been bothering me. I don’t see why it’s wrong.
 
According to the GIRM:
  1. In the earthly Liturgy, the Church participates, by a foretaste, in that heavenly Liturgy which is celebrated in the holy city of Jerusalem toward which she journeys as a pilgrim, and where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God; and by venerating the memory of the Saints, she hopes one day to have some part and fellowship with them.132
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Thus, images of the Lord, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the Saints, in accordance with the Church’s most ancient tradition, should be displayed for veneration by the faithful in sacred buildings and should be arranged so as to usher the faithful toward the mysteries of faith celebrated there. For this reason, care should be taken that their number not be increased indiscriminately, and that they be arranged in proper order so as not to distract the faithful’s attention from the celebration itself. There should usually be only one image of any given Saint. Generally speaking, in the ornamentation and arrangement of a church as far as images are concerned, provision should be made for the devotion of the entire community as well as for the beauty and dignity of the images.
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Bolding is mine.

It seems as though your parish committee (or whoever is making this decision) is misinterpreting this directive. It says that care should be taken that they don’t distract from Mass, not that they aren’t allowed at all.

Our parish has a lovely statue of Mary situated on a small table on one of the steps below the altar. It’s not ostentations or distracting in the the slightest, merely a beautiful reminder of Mary’s love for her Son and for us.
 
I saw a statue of Mary near the altar on Sunday.
I never thought to question if it were allowed or not.:confused:
 
Cathedral here has a smallish statue of Mary (and a few angel statues) just above the Tabernacle in their front chapel, although they have a crucifix attached to the top of the Tabernacle itself too.
 
volturno said:
I noticed that on EWTN, they place a statue of Mary near the altar during the months of October and May.

When we asked the “liturgy committee” at our church to place a statue of Our Lady of Fatima during the month of May, we were told that it was not permissable because it would distract our attention away from Jesus.

My question is, is that true? Is there a document that forbids honoring the mother of God by placing her near the altar during the months of May and October?

If so, why do they do it on EWTN?

Thanks. This really has been bothering me. I don’t see why it’s wrong.
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My church also has one (garlanded and Christmas-tree lighted) just outside the sanctuary for these months. Only for October it is put up a little later because St. Francis is displayed in that spot for a few days following his feast.
 
volturno said:
I noticed that on EWTN, they place a statue of Mary near the altar during the months of October and May.

When we asked the “liturgy committee” at our church to place a statue of Our Lady of Fatima during the month of May, we were told that it was not permissable because it would distract our attention away from Jesus.

My question is, is that true? Is there a document that forbids honoring the mother of God by placing her near the altar during the months of May and October?

If so, why do they do it on EWTN?

Thanks. This really has been bothering me. I don’t see why it’s wrong.
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Right after Vatican II more than a few churches removed all Marian statues, paintings etc and openly discouraged the saying of such prayers as the Rosary before or after Mass and pretty much ridiculed those who held on to such old fashioned and non-biblical devotions, .apparently in the interest of ecumenism. You know our separated brethren can’t tolerate a statue of Mary or prayers to her so they were pretty much gone.

In fact until the papacy of John Paul II, Marian devotion as a whole took a nose dive as more and more ecumenically minded and progressive thinkers continued to have their way and impose their views upon the rest of us,
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Fortunately, the late Holy Father not only had a remarkable devotion to the Blessed Mother, he claimed to owe his very life to her intervention in the failed attempt on his life. So under his Papacy the trend was reversed somewhat although there are still pockets of progressive thinkers lurking about.

In short, I’m sad to say, it does sound as though your parish has some of these individuals in charge. There is absolutely nothing wrong with having statues of Mary near the altar at any time really but especially during the times of the year dedicated to her and on her feast days.

As an aside, one sight I’ve seen more and more of lately are crucifixes on the altar, which no doubt shocks and scandalizes those among us to adhere to and long for the ideal of an austere and Calvinist simplicity in the celebration of the Mass.
 
volturno said:
I noticed that on EWTN, they place a statue of Mary near the altar during the months of October and May.

When we asked the “liturgy committee” at our church to place a statue of Our Lady of Fatima during the month of May, we were told that it was not permissable because it would distract our attention away from Jesus.

My question is, is that true? Is there a document that forbids honoring the mother of God by placing her near the altar during the months of May and October?

If so, why do they do it on EWTN?

Thanks. This really has been bothering me. I don’t see why it’s wrong.
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Be careful what you see on EWTN. Keep in mind that they are televising the Mass and may have to arrange thinks for the tv camera’s to pick up.

Your pastor has the say on how your parish church should be arranged.

Jim
 
EWTN is generally a good guide on what is faithful to do and what is appropriate. I am not sure why you should be careful about what you see as it is pretty orthodox.

There are some people who are uncomfortable with Churches looking too Catholic and want to water down the faith to make it so that everybody can accept it without really any effort. This is evidenced by the removal of statues, denial of belief, dismissing of tradition, etc…

Catholic Churches should have a statue of Mary and the only way it can distract is if the Crucifix is removed and it is put in it’s place, or it is done in an out of taste way, such as some of the ugly modern art some people try to pass off as religious art.

Your parish Priest has a say in this and I would pray for him and get involved. Sometimes they are overburdened and they allow committees to run the parish, sometimes with horrible results.

In Christ
Scylla
 
scylla said:
EWTN is generally a good guide on what is faithful to do and what is appropriate. I am not sure why you should be careful about what you see as it is pretty orthodox.
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Because EWTN is not the liturgical authority in the Catholic Church, nor the authority in any dioceses.
What happens at EWTN is approved by the Bishop of that Dioceses, and also because it is a televised Mass, there may be slight differences that you won’t see elsewhere.

However, only the Bishop of your diocese, and the pastors who serve under them, can determine the placement of statues in your church.

Jim
 
scylla said:
EWTN is generally a good guide on what is faithful to do and what is appropriate. I am not sure why you should be careful about what you see as it is pretty orthodox.

There are some people who are uncomfortable with Churches looking too Catholic and want to water down the faith to make it so that everybody can accept it without really any effort. This is evidenced by the removal of statues, denial of belief, dismissing of tradition, etc…

Catholic Churches should have a statue of Mary and the only way it can distract is if the Crucifix is removed and it is put in it’s place, or it is done in an out of taste way, such as some of the ugly modern art some people try to pass off as religious art.

Your parish Priest has a say in this and I would pray for him and get involved. Sometimes they are overburdened and they allow committees to run the parish, sometimes with horrible results.

In Christ
Scylla
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Bingo.
 
JimR-OCDS said:
Because EWTN is not the liturgical authority in the Catholic Church, nor the authority in any dioceses.
What happens at EWTN is approved by the Bishop of that Dioceses, and also because it is a televised Mass, there may be slight differences that you won’t see elsewhere.

However, only the Bishop of your diocese, and the pastors who serve under them, can determine the placement of statues in your church.

Jim
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I agree that they are not an authority but I am unsure why you would comment that you should be careful about what you see…

Have you seen some sort of abuse that has been promoted by EWTN, all I can see is a great deal of obedience. Though they might be limited by being on TV so I can see a point on limitations of that communications medium.

Please point out what sort of thing you would be careful of, as I don’t see any abuse or wrongdoing which is what we should avoid.

I agree that the Pastor and Bishop do have the authority to regulate and design the layouts\interiors of Churches in the Diocese. I have no beef with their authority, just sometimes they make tasteless decisions examples can be seen in books such as Ugly as Sin, No Place for God, Etc…

I just point to faithful Catholicism as an example, not as an authority.

God Bless
Scylla
 
scylla said:
I agree that they are not an authority but I am unsure why you would comment that you should be careful about what you see…
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Because what you see at the televised EWTN may not be the norm for your dioceses. For one, the televised Mass at EWTN, use to have the priest with his back to the people. Bishop Foley and Mother Angelica got into a fight over this. Foley won in that the televised Mass must be done according to the Norm for the USA states, with the priest facing the people. However, before this, and there were some other issues, people were going to their local priest and telling them they were abusing the liturgy, because they were not saying Mass as it was at EWTN.

Also, because it is a televised Mass, the position of the Statue of Mary, may closer to the altar than necessary, in order for the cameras to fit everything in.

Again, the priest in your parish is the authority, not EWTN.

Jim
 
Contrary to what others have said, a statue of Mary near the altar during mass IS distracting. How can it not be?

Our thoughts during the mass should be focused on the bread and wine becoming the Eucharist - the sacrifice that is taking place, not on devotions to Mary and saints.
 
I agree that a Statue of Mary close to the altar could be distracting, so that would mean we just move it further way so it is not distracting.

PaixGioiaAmor, thank you for saying that, our thoughts should be on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. We should be focused on the Priest standing there in Persona Christi offering up Christ to the Father.

So they do not do anything wrong as far as I can tell and from what you have said, they do not do anything wrong either. Why should we be cautious, you have not pointed out anything wrong. Is it wrong to do the Mass in the traditional way with the people and the Priest facing the same way? (“back to the people” is a misrepresentation of the practice and meaning)
Is EWTN representative of the proper way to do the Mass? What are they doing wrong?

There is nothing wrong with statues unless they are in the wrong location or done in an untasteful way.

In Christ
Scylla
 
PaixGioiaAmor said:
Contrary to what others have said, a statue of Mary near the altar during mass IS distracting. How can it not be?

Our thoughts during the mass should be focused on the bread and wine becoming the Eucharist - the sacrifice that is taking place, not on devotions to Mary and saints.
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If your mind is focused on Christ, as it should be, how could a statue be distracting? Especially one of the Blessed Mother? Of course, perhaps you are one of those who also feels that a crucifix on the altar is also distracting. Certainly sounds like it.
 
Just a reminder that for those desiring to post photos in CAF posts, it is really helpful to post URL’s rather than IMG submissions.
 
The chapel at my church has a statue of the Blessed Mother Off to the right side of the altar. She is there all year around.

Kathy
 
Thanks for all the replies, they’ve been very informative and comforting.

Does it make a difference if my parish is located in Canada? And is the GIRM relevant in Canada?
 
palmas85 said:
If your mind is focused on Christ, as it should be, how could a statue be distracting? Especially one of the Blessed Mother? Of course, perhaps you are one of those who also feels that a crucifix on the altar is also distracting. Certainly sounds like it.
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Exactly! Since Christ Himself looked upon her during the Sacrifice of Calvary, why should we not do the same during it’s re-presentation?
 
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