The Queen: Editorial: Does the Church Discourage Devotion to Mary?
Fr. James McMillan, SMM
Does the Church Discourage Devotion to Mary?
OId soldiers never die,” . . .
said General Douglas MacArthur, quoting from a song that was popular in his younger days, “they only fade away.”
This may very well be true of old soldiers. But it certainly isn’t true of some die-hard critics of devotion to our Blessed Lady. We’ve had more than our share of them in letters addressed
to The Queen.
Long before Vatican 2 we too were being told that we make much of the Mother of God, that we make her the equal of Christ Himself, that we turn her into a “Fourth Person of the Blessed Trinity,” that we should stop referring to her as . . . “Spouse of the Holy Spirit.”
But while the critics haven’t at all faded away, they have taken on a more subtle touch in the past few years. It goes something like this (quoted from a popular missalette): “Does the Church in fact discourage devotion to Mary? Does the Church wish to take away treasured memories from our childhood? Answers to these questions are found in the Liturgy Constitution of the Second Vatican Council.
In this document, the bishops of the Catholic Church invite us to change our thinking and to re-orient our prayer life . . . our faith is to be centered not on private devotions but on the liturgy: the Mass, the sacraments, the Divine Office, and the liturgical year.”
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“Does the Church in fact discourage devotion to Mary?”
This is the kind of reasoning that would have sent St. Thomas Aquinas right up the wall. Note how it goes. You ask the question: “Does the Church in fact discourage devotion to Mary?” You get the answer: “Our faith is to be centered not on private devotions but on the liturgy.” Now, “the answer,” as you can see, is no answer at all: it tells you nothing about whether or not the Church discourages devotion to Our Lady. In fact, it answers an entirely different question: “Should our faith be centered on private devotions or on the liturgy?”
What Did Vatican 2 Really Say About Private Devotions?
It would take more space than we have available to weed out all illogisms in that one short paragraph. Instead, let’s take a look at what Vatican 2 really said about private devotions: “The spiritual life is not limited solely to participation in the liturgy. The Christian is indeed called to pray with others, but he must also enter into his bedroom to pray to his Father in secret…
Popular devotions of the Christian people, provided they conform to the laws and norms of the Church, are to be highly recommended, especially where they are ordered by the Apostolic See” (the emphasis is ours).
Of course our faith should be centered on the liturgy.
Nobody in his or her right mind would deny it for a minute. But centering your faith on the liturgy is not the same thing as cutting out or diminishing popular and private devotions. Vatican 2 made it as clear as you can get: they are to be highly recommended.
The Church in Fact, Encourages Devotion to the Mother of God
Now, back to the original question, the one that the missalette failed to answer: “Does the Church in fact discourage devotion to Mary?” And the best way to find out is to let the Church speak for itself. Here’s how Vatican 2 put it:
“According to her (Our Lady’s) own prophetic words: ‘all generations shall call me blessed, because He that is mighty has done great things to me.’. . . The various forms of piety toward the Mother of God, which the Church has approved within the limits of sound and orthodox doctrine, according to the dispositions and understanding of the faithful, ensure that while the mother is honored, the Son through whom all things have their being and in whom it has pleased the Father that all fulness should dwell is rightly known, loved and glorified and His commandments are observed.”
Now there is the Church’s official answer to the missalette’s question. The Church does not discourage devotion to the Mother of God. The Church, in fact, encourages it as being highly recommended ensuring knowledge, love and glory of Christ, Our Lord, and the observance of His commandments.
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