Yes, I know that Roman Catholic doctrine does not support worship of the Virgin Mary as a deity. She’s only “venerated,” used as a conduit for prayer.
Still, though, I can’t help but notice all the lawn shrines featuring the BVM; I haven’t seen any showing Jesus. I’ve seen Catholic services where the mention of the BVM far exceeds that of Jesus and God. There’s the Marian movement, thousands of people who make pilgrimages to see cast shadows that resemble the silhouette of the BVM, some support of making the BVM a co-redemptrix, and extreme veneration of the BVM to the exclusion of God and Jesus in some cultures. On EWTN broadcasts, Mary also seems to get the bulk of attention. I’ve read and heard prayers to the BVM that doesn’t involve inrercession; they’re to the BVM, not through her to the Big Guy.
I know Catholics aren’t supposed to worship the Virgin Mary. Still, though, are there some who haven’t gotten the memo from Rome, and do so anyhow? Do some hear mixed messages from their priests and Sunday School teachers, and crank up veneration to the next level?
Near as I can tell, speaking as a former Catholic who still has Marianist tendencies, the worship of The Goddess was never completely wiped out and has been transferred to Mary.
RCs may only ‘worship’ god himself, but they ‘pray to’ and revere many other entities, including the BVM and saints. They would say the various statues, shrines and other tangible memorabilia are put up as signs of devotion to the BVM, and to provide a focus for prayers offered to her.
The RC church teaches that the BVM can and does intercede in answer to prayers, which is why they spend a lot of time requesting her to do so. So, it’s not ‘worship’ in the sense of the worship which is reserved for god himself, nor is the BVM a deity, but it’s a fine distinction.
The doctrines of the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption give Mary a unique status among humans in Roman Catholic theology. That, and the fact that Mary is often seen as more “accessible” than Jesus is enough to justify the fixation that many Catholics have.
That said, I have certainly seen “Jesus in a bathtub” displays in many yards.
It’s a style thing… The Catholic Church has a “mystic” wing – people who are big on miracles and signs and wonders – and a “rational” wing. Marianism comes and goes, along with a lot of other trends. Pope John Paul II is a strong Marianist, and there have been some who feared that he would declare Mary to be a co-redeemer with Christ. (I consider it highly unlikely that he would do such a thing… He hardly needs to worry about his historical legacy!)
I frequently ask the Blessed Mother to intercede in prayer for me. I also just talk to her a lot when I’m praying, the way someone might talk to a close friend or even their mother, tell her my problems, ask her to pray for me for help. God, in Christian Theology, is masculine in nature, and there are some things that a woman just wants to talk to another woman about. Since I don’t have a lot of female friends, that leaves me with Mary. I do have a particular devotion to the Virgin of Guadalupe, even composed a prayer to her. But I don’t worship her the way I worship God. I usually turn to Mary after I’ve spent some time sayng prayers of praise and worship to God. I also pray directly to God. I really don’t see petitioning Mary and the Saints and Angels for prayer as any different than asking another Christian who is still down here on earth to pray for me. I do venerate the Blessed Mother because of her rather unique status, but I also recognize that she is a human woman, not a goddess. Same goes for the saints, only not quite as much.
I’ve been a practicing Catholic for six years, and I’ve never been to a liturgy where Mary was given more attention than Christ- not even on Marian feast days.
There are some Catholics who take devotion to the Blessed Mother to the point of idolatry, but I would have to say that they are a slim minority of Catholics.
Once, when I was visiting a little chapel in Ronda, Spain, I decided to count all the icons, statues, alters, etc, to see who of Mary and Jesus would have the most “column inches” dedicated to them - Jesus won, 24 to 21 IIRC, but the result was a lot closer than I expected…
It is no surprise that the official liturgy does not favour Mary, as this has (as has been said before) always been the doctrine of the church, the danger lies in the practice of the “masses” - whether or not they do elevate the BVM higher than they ought.
The prayers are addressed to her, asking her to pray (or intercede) on our behalf. Just as when my son says " Mom, can you ask Dad to fix my bike?" , the request is addressed to me, but he’s not asking me to do the actual fixing.
As far as statues on the half-shell, I’ve seen (separately) Jesus, Mary, St Anthony, St Francis, St Joseph and some that I couldn’t identify. I’d say mostly Mary, but it’s not restricted to her at all
You may have, but they weren’t Masses. I can think of a couple of reasons for that - either the event or the parish name. For example, at a Rosary Altar Society meeting, you’re going to hear mostly Marian prayers. At a May crowning, mostly Marian prayers. And at my parish , just about anything involving prayer that is not a Mass (from the morning prayers said in the parochial school to the opening prayers at a stewardship meeting) has as the last prayer " Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal , pray for us" . Can you guess the name of my parish?
Are there some Catholics who didn’t get the memo? Sure. But that’s not restricted to those who turn veneration of the BVM into something at least bordering on worship. Pick any teaching of the Catholic Church and you will be able to find Catholics who don’t know about it or misunderstand it. I’d bet that 50% of the Catholics I know don’t know who was immaculately conceived.
Actually, there are akathist prayers and molebens to Mary that can go on for fifteen minutes or more that are not requests for intercession, but all of them are concerned with her rather unique relationship to her Son. We only break them out at certain times of the year, though. They aren’t part of the regular liturgy.
I find that hard to believe. I would be interested in knowing which services these would be. A Marian feast day, perhaps?
Because the standard Catholic Liturgical Rubric (the Norvus Ordo Mass) mentions Mary only twice, and one of those is in a litany. Jesus, on the other hand, is all over the Mass. It’s all about him.
So I’d be interested in hearing specifics about these services where Mary is the focus, not Christ. Because the only real service, the only one that counts, in Catholicism is the Mass.
Even if he did name Mary a Co-Redemptrix, that would not be the theological boondoggle that some think it would be. In Catholicism, original Latin meanings are important. The prefix “Co” in this case indicates one who works with, but is subservient to, another. Thus it is an accurate description of Catholic Mariological beliefs: she worked with Christ in his salvational work as a subordinate.