The Handmaiden

Let me begin by saying as a Catholic striving to live with orthodoxy, I acknowledge all the Church teaches us about the Blessed Virgin Mary, including her Immaculate Conception, bodily Assumption, and role as Queen of Heaven.

I bet you wish your mother was as awesome as she is. :)

That said, there's something that has left in me a sense of unease since my return to the Church. Have you ever noticed that, in times of trouble, many Catholics will flee to their rosaries? Some will talk about Mary more than even their own Savior.

Now, don't get me wrong; this is all well and good. Our Lady is indeed our number one intercessor. She loves to pray to the Lord for us and with us, and because she is the Mother of Christ, prayers from her are particularly powerful.

However, I cannot help but make an observation similar to the one Kimberly Hahn (wife of Catholic theologian Dr. Scott Hahn) made before her conversion to Catholicism. In their book, Rome Sweet Home, she writes:

It seemed that Catholics focused on Mary the way we [Protestants] focused on Jesus: she was the approachable one--you could hide in her skirts rather than face the Father in his anger; Mary was the broad back door into God's favor, while Jesus remained the narrow front door.

Again, let me stress that my concern isn't with the Blessed Mother, but with those who cling so closely to her. I don't blame them, really; who better to turn to than one who will pick us up and dust us off, rather than facing the shame and rightful judgment of the Almighty?

The truth of the matter is that it is a grey area. The line can be far too thin, it seems, when our pious devotions become more than the hyperdulia that we show to Mary.

It doesn't escape me that, as I seek the intercession of my Mother at my home parish, as I face her, my back is to the crucifix. My back is to the tabernacle that houses my Lord and Savior truly present in the Sacred Host and Precious Blood.

So what does Our Lady think of all this?

Well, she tells us in the first chapter of St. Luke's Gospel:

48For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.

49For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name.

All generations did and do call her "blessed amongst women". But both Mary herself and modern Catholics extol her Son in the next breath.

Mary's eyes, in my parish, are not on those that pray before her, but on Christ on the cross. I think that if she were alive and among us today, she would pull us up from our place on our knees, take us gently by the shoulders, and turn us to face her Son. Blessed as she may be, she is merely human, honored by God with perfect grace and holiness. In the end, salvation comes from Christ alone. Mary knows that, but do we?

It is so important to know our place in the covenant, as Scott Hahn presents it: Christ is our brother, and His Mother is ours--but God is our Father. They, with all the saints, are there for us, but God is number one.

Still, it never hurts to tell our Mother that we love her.

Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee! Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the our of our death.

Amen.