Editorial: Devotion to Mary – Second Spring?

Devotion to Mary – Second Spring?

The   readers of The Queen are well aware that this magazine has never doubted for a moment that devotion to our Blessed Lady would undergo a new flourishing in the Church.

When some of our “experts” were assuring us that Marian devotion is a thing of the past, fit only for the ignorant and superstitious, The Queen smiled politely and merely shrugged its knowing shoulders. When these same “experts” told us that the Church was downgrading the Blessed Mother and “putting her in her place,” we again smiled politely. We pointed out that anyone who has the foggiest idea of what is going on in the real Church knows perfectly well that there is not now, or ever will be, any such downgrading.

We pointed out, furthermore, that God had already given Our Lady a place in our salvation, a place that the Church has always recognized. Recent events in the Church have borne out The Queen’s conviction that Marian devotion is undergoing a “second spring” of its own, not at all unlike the “second spring” that Cardinal Newman had predicted for the Church in England. There are too many indications that point to a renewal and revival of devotion to Our Lady, a revival that will equal and perhaps even surpass the veneration given to her in past ages.

The Blessed Virgin Mary Is an Integral Part . . .

There is, for one thing, the insistence of the Popes of the post-Vatican Il era that the Blessed Virgin Mary is an integral part, in fact a central part, of the mystery of mankind’s redemption. Pope Paul VI wrote his Marian encyclical to help the renewal and revival of devotion to Our Lady. He indicated the direction that revival should take: based mainly on Scripture, the Liturgy and the perennial teaching of the Church. And Pope, John Paul Il, had made it amply clear that he intends to keep the Blessed Virgin Mary in the forefront of his teaching, preaching and writing. Hardly a message of his goes by without some reference to the importance of a deep and tender devotion to the Mother of the Redeemer.

In ecumenical circles, where it had sometimes been foolishly assumed that Our Lady and Catholic devotion to her would be a stumbling block, the opposite has proved to be the truth. To those in the know on matters ecumenical it is becoming more and more obvious that she is a bond of unity rather than a disrupting element. Time and again experience has shown that those not of the Catholic faith have little, if any, difficulty in understanding and, to an extent, even accepting veneration of the Mother of the Redeemer.

In study clubs and in university courses, she is assuming a greater prominence than she had before. The Holy Spirit and His inspiring grace are bringing the picture of His Spouse into a clearer and clearer light. And this is true not only among the older and more “conservative” Catholics. It is particularly true among the younger people who now know that, from many points of view, they had been led astray by some who claimed to speak for the “modern” Church.

. . . of Mankind’s Redemption

This “second spring” is flourishing even more among the average Catholic men and women of the United States. Experienced preachers bear testimony to the renewed interest of the Catholic people in the role of Our Lady in our redemption and the honor and veneration that are consequently due to her as Mother of the Redeemer. It is rare indeed when the hush of expectancy does not come over a congregation these days when the preacher mentions that he is going to talk about our Blessed Lady.

Of course, The Queen has always maintained that our Catholic people never really lost their love and veneration for Our Lady. So perhaps to speak of a renewal, a revival, a “second spring” may call for some explanation.

The kind of “second spring” we are talking about is based on, and comes from, the norms for Marian devotion laid down by Pope Paul VI in his encyclical Marialis Cultus. He asks that we make sure our devotion is Biblical, firmly rooted in what the Scriptures, especially the New Testament, tell us about her place in the redemption. He asks further, as did Vatican II, that we make sure our devotion derives from and leads to the Sacred Liturgy.  Pope Paul VI asks that we base it solidly on the Church’s universal and perennial ‘teaching.

A Second Spring

As The Queen sees it, this is what our Catholic people have been doing all along. One has only to mention Our Lady’s various appearances in the New Testament, to show how closely she is related to her Son and associated with Him in our Redemption in order to see that their devotion is indeed what Pope Paul asked that it be.  The same holds true for their appreciation of her role in the Liturgy of the Church and of their understanding of her place in the teaching of the Church.

We look forward to a real flourishing of this “second Marian springe” as any follower of St. Louis de Montfort knows, this kind of spring will enable Christ to grow and increase within us.