YOUCAT Question n. 149 - May we worship Mary?
(Youcat
answer) No. Only God can be worshipped. But we can revere Mary as the Mother of
our Lord.
A deepening through CCC
(CCC 971)
"All generations will call me
blessed": "The Church's devotion to the Blessed Virgin is
intrinsic to Christian worship" (Lk 1:48; Paul VI, MC 56). The Church
rightly honors "the Blessed Virgin with special devotion. From the most
ancient times the Blessed Virgin has been honored with the title of 'Mother of
God,' to whose protection the faithful fly in all their dangers and needs....
This very special devotion... differs essentially from the adoration which is
given to the incarnate Word and equally to the Father and the Holy Spirit, and
greatly fosters this adoration" (LG 66). The liturgical feasts dedicated
to the Mother of God and Marian prayer, such as the rosary, an "epitome of
the whole Gospel," express this devotion to the Virgin Mary (Cf. Paul VI,
MC 42; SC 103).
Reflecting and meditating
(Youcat comment)
By worship we mean the
humble, unconditional acknowledgment of the absolute superiority of God over
all creatures. Mary is a creature like us. In faith she is our Mother. And we
should honor our parents. There is a biblical basis for this, since Mary
herself says, “For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed” (Lk
1:48b). So the Church has Marian shrines and places of pilgrimage, feast days,
hymns, and prayers, for instance, the rosary. It is a compendium of the
Gospels.
(CCC Comment)
(CCC 2679)
Mary is the perfect Orans (pray-er),
a figure of the Church. When we pray to her, we are adhering with her to the
plan of the Father, who sends his Son to save all men. Like the beloved
disciple we welcome Jesus' mother into our homes (cf. Jn 19:27), for she has
become the mother of all the living. We can pray with and to her. The prayer of
the Church is sustained by the prayer of Mary and united with it in hope (cf.
LG 68-69).
No comments:
Post a Comment