Is There Danger in Marian Devotion?

The most worrying sign of the current priestly crisis is that we are witnessing the construction of a mindset according to which Marian devotion is something accessory, bureaucratic, something that hinders or weakens our contact with Christ. 

This misunderstanding must be eliminated.

The plan of God to which we must adhere is a wise plan, not an arbitrary one. Therefore, it is not enough to refer to God’s will; it is necessary to investigate the intimate purposes of this will of God with regard to the presence of Mary in the worship proposed by the Church. Clearly, the matter cannot be resolved in an encounter that ends in the Virgin, for the Mother always points to Christ as the sole mediator and leads us ever further into the setting of the new Covenant. Otherwise Mary would be an obstacle, whereas she is an element of the event of redemption, or, if we wish, to use a lyrical term:

“Mary is part of the conspiracy that God devised for the salvation of humanity”.

The relationship with Mary cannot be seen as a kind of step between us and Christ, as if she were the one who intervenes to fill a void. 

This idea sometimes appears in preaching. Jesus is merciful, but at the same time He is judge: being God, He is very far from us, infinitely distant. To fill this void, there is a series of mediators, including the Virgin. It is not in this sense that Mary’s mediation should be presented. If there were a void, we would certainly fall into Christological monophysitism, according to which the divinity absorbs the humanity and Christ is no longer the manifestation of the Father’s mercy. There is no void to fill, not only because Christ is close to us as Savior, but also because Christians are already immediately united to Christ through Baptism and the Sacraments, to the point of forming one body with Him.

Maternal influence does not hinder immediate contact with Christ; on the contrary, it facilitates it (Lumen Gentium 60). So there is already an immediate contact with Christ at the ontological level; in this sense the presence of Mary in the worship of the Church does not produce union with Christ, but fosters intimacy: it serves the perfecting of that union and the maturing of the relationship with Christ in faith.

Indeed, there are various ways that bring baptismal grace to maturity: 

• religious consecration or married life are two examples of encounter with Christ, directly or through a human creature. 
• Marian devotion is a third example of encounter with Christ in the maturity of faith.

In what sense does Mary facilitate our encounter with Christ? 

This can be understood by always keeping the Church in view. The Church can be considered as united to her Head, to whom she looks to find the model she needs for her reunion with the Father. And she can be considered as distinct from her Head and, therefore, as the bride of Christ, to whom she must give a response of faith and love. 

Mary fits into this dynamism. In this response that she must give to Christ, the Church turns to the one who is her model, because Mary is the Church before the Church, not only chronologically speaking but also qualitatively, inasmuch as she preceded the Church in the perfection of holiness.

The problem of the passage from the Old to the New Testament consists above all in the necessary relationship with Christ in the life of faith. It is understandable that, by being in harmony with the Virgin, one becomes aware of the demands of following Christ and progresses in faith, hope, and charity, in adherence to Him. 

In this regard, we recall no. 65 of Lumen Gentium, in which the Council virtually affirms that the Church is essentially Marian, because both by looking directly at the Virgin she penetrates the mystery of Christ, and by seeking the glory of God she progresses in faith, hope, and charity, becoming like her sublime figure.

The imitation of Mary is structural in the Church, because the Church in her deepest dimension, that is, in her mystical and theological aspect, is shaped after the example of the Mother of the Lord. Thus, we could compare Mary to a gene that promotes the growth of the organism from within. The idea of Mary as type of the Church is admirably developed in the Second Vatican Council, where the Virgin is seen in the dimension of an ecclesial figure, as the one who helps the Church become aware of her vocation. 

Mary cannot be an impediment to the encounter with Christ, but is a mirror that makes us more aware of what we must be. The Church looks to Mary in order to continue her journey in meditating on the Word of God, in virginity and motherhood understood in their theological sense, in the progress of faith, and in the hope of being conformed to her eschatological image.

Moreover, Mary’s center is Christ, her Son and Savior. The theology of Mary’s life emphasizes how her whole history was directed toward union with Christ and participation in His mission: Mary is consecrated to the person of the Son and to His redemptive work.

Today the priest is concerned with the problem of unity of life: how is the antinomy between action and contemplation, between union with God and ministry, to be resolved?

The solution is found by looking to Christ, who accomplished everything according to the will of the Father, as the Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests Presbyterorum ordinis states. Mary is an example and guide in this prolonged gaze upon Christ, so that we may understand His attitudes and follow in His footsteps. If the priest is essentially a configuration to Christ, and if Mary is the creature most closely united to Christ in conformity and most consecrated to Him, the priest’s relationship with Mary can only find its resolution in the deepening of his own consecration and self-giving.

Mary is above all an example in two particular virtues essential to the priest: 

• faith in Christ 
• dependence on Him. 

The priest, being in contact with the body of Christ and with supernatural realities, must overcome appearances and the routine of habit. Mary is the great pilgrim of faith, who journeyed on, overcoming obscurities and difficulties: her exemplary faith certainly helps the priest, who must deal with spiritual things without becoming a functionary.

And dependence on Christ is necessary for the priest, because in his ministry he acts in His name and must therefore be intimately united to Christ and wholly available to His action. Reference to Mary, the handmaid of the Lord, will remind the priest of his dependence on Christ.

We must not fear that emphasizing the relationship with Mary will overshadow the worship of Christ, just as we must not fear that dedication to the priestly ministry will hinder the relationship with Christ.

For guidance on authentic Marian devotion, see the apostolic exhortation Marialis Cultus by Paul VI, on the criteria for the true cult of Mary.

Take your studies further: explore Mariology, Marian Theology, Marian apparitions, and the Postgraduate Program in Mariology.