Trying to fully understand who Mary is

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@Roseeurekacross

There are many layers of understanding in contemplating the great mysteries of God’s creation and work of salvation. Your link includes the following quote from teachings of the Catholic Church:
To All Consecrated Persons, Marian Year, 1988

[Mary’s motherhood] is to be transferred from her as a “model” to the whole Church, which will be revealed to the world on the day of the descent of the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete. 21 Mary, the Mystical Spouse of the Holy Spirit 39
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Thank you - I thought it must be me. I’ve had to book quite a while and just can’t get into it. I believe and understand the teaching on Mary, it’s the devotion which I see/observe in most cradle Catholics. I just keep asking Christ to show me.
 
She’s Lucifer if he had a heart.
She’s as high up as you can go.
She took his place and he hates her for it.
And even if none of that happened she is still greater.

Theological greater than all the other saints combined.

Without her Fiat we would have no salvation.
 
OP. The focus within the Catholic and Ortodox churches is on Mary as the Mother of God while most protestants refer to Mary as Mary, mother of Jesus, which is more of a focus on the human side of Jesus. It takes time to relearn what you have been previously taught. Most issues, those coming into the Catholic or Orthodox Church have, are getting used to the different vocabulary and the meaning of the words used when describing things.

Simply put is: Mary had God in her tummy so therefor she is the Mother of God.

Scott Hahn´s book about Mary, as suggested above, is very good as are the rest of the ones I have read. Highly recommended from a lot of converts as SH writes in a language protestants are familiar with and dives deeper.
 
Very surprised that you did not get a chance to learn correctly about Catholics and Mary during RCIA! I would talk to the instructor about remedying this. We certainly DO NOT worship Mary. That’s a Protestant prejudice that always rears its head and is 100% inaccurate.
 
joyfulandactive said:
If you think about it, it is quite misogynistic to downplay Mary’s role as if anyone could’ve been switched out.
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It’s frankly a horrible insult. It makes me aghast to be honest.
My father was a convert from Protestantism (Methodist and Baptist) and he never struggled with Mary or voiced any sentiment against her in our home. I am quite sure my mother would have hit the ceiling if he had ever expressed such a thing.
 
cbirtell said:
I grew up being taught that she was the virgin who gave birth to Christ, was his earthly mother, and that was it.
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And she is also the Mother of God (as Christ had both divine and human natures) Our Mother (as Christ gave her to us on Calvary) the Mother of the Church, Queen of Heaven and much more.

To me, on a day to day basis, she is my predominantly my Mother and when I think of her in prayers and otherwise, I tend to think of a loving, caring mother.

Speak to her and listen to her, she is waiting for you as a loving mother waits for her child.
 
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cbirtell said:
I have talked about this before but I am still having a really hard time understanding who Mary is. I am a convert to the Faith, ( just converted in march) and I’m still having a hard time fully understanding. I see so many people pray and worship her yet I find that wrong. I only want to worship Jesus and talk to Mary… What does it mean when we pray the Hail Mary? That’s praying to her, but why?
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Adoration is reserved for God alone. Worship includes veneration. The Virgin Mary is Blessed, and due veneration, not adoration.

Luke 1
46 “My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden.
For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed;
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Etymology:

worship (n.)​

Old English worðscip, wurðscip (Anglian), weorðscipe (West Saxon) “condition of being worthy, dignity, glory, distinction, honor, renown,” from weorð “worthy” (see worth) + -scipe (see -ship). Sense of “reverence paid to a supernatural or divine being” is first recorded c. 1300. The original sense is preserved in the title worshipful “honorable” (c. 1300).
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I don’t see it as praying to her per se, I see it as asking her to pray with us, to pray to her son, Jesus. Perhaps breaking out a Catechism on the teaching on Mary would be helpful here. I’m at work, so I don’t have access to a CCC. Maybe someone else can post it. 🙂
 
Catholics use the short phrase “praying to Mary” or “praying to St Whoever” to mean “asking for their intercession” which is asking them to pray to God for us.
Saints by themselves can do nothing.
God does everything.
We don’t “pray to saints” with the idea they themselves will do anything on their own.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
Catholics use the short phrase “praying to Mary” or “praying to St Whoever” to mean “asking for their intercession” which is asking them to pray to God for us.
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Thanks for putting this out there. This is a great way to define what I was trying to say! 😉
 
cbirtell said:
But how is that not praying to her?
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Have you ever said to someone, “I will pray for you”? Have you ever asked somebody to pray for you? Has someone ever asked their Protestant pastor to pray for them? Why is that then not an issue?

God is not some abstract concept, He is a concrete reality. So too with Mary and all the other saints, they are concrete realities, they are real people. Why is it wrong to ask someone to pray for you?

And as Mary is the Mother of Christ, is it so hard to believe that He would not pay particular heed to something his mother would request of him?

I think that as Catholics we see things in very concrete ways. Mary and the other saints are not memories, they are real people and as the Mother of God, Mary will be highly favoured by her son. She is also our Mother (by our adoption to her) given by Christ at Calvary. This is not some theological concept, it is real. As such it makes perfect sense to love her as our mother, to speak to her, to tell her we love her and at times to make requests to her that show can intercede with her son who favours her highly.
 
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cbirtell said:
But how is that not praying to her?
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I understand what you are asking. I keep reminding myself that Christ knows my intentions, and understands my struggles. We are trying to understand with our human minds. Substitute praying with talking. We only worship God, but as a newbie, the terminology can be challenging. RCIA is lot to absorb - I, for one, know it takes the heart time to catch up with knowledge. My Priest said it is very normal for converts to struggle with the devotion part. Cradle Catholics have had a life time of teaching Marian devotion, we’ve just started that journey.
 
cbirtell said:
But how is that not praying to her?
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I can see your problem with the term “praying to Mary” as you might hear Catholics say “I asked my friends to pray for you” but you won’t hear “I prayed to my friends (to pray for you).”

Prayer to God is definitely adoration; each instance may involve one, several or all of: blessing, petition, intercession, thanksgiving, praise.

But by prayer “to” Mary and the saints (those we believe are in the presence of God) we really do mean what Tis_Bearself said earlier, and is the best explanation:
Tis_Bearself said:
Catholics use the short phrase “praying to Mary” or “praying to St Whoever” to mean “asking for their intercession” which is asking them to pray to God for us.
Saints by themselves can do nothing.
God does everything.
We don’t “pray to saints” with the idea they themselves will do anything on their own.
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The terminology is ingrained in the Catholic culture, and “to pray to Mary” means “to ask, to intercede,” nothing more.
 
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Remember, pray has a broad meaning. It is a way to ask something.

A child may pray to his mother for another cookie.

In the Hail Mary we ask Mary to “Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death”. I certainly hope Mary is praying for me!
 
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