Mary Our Mother...

Many Non-Catholic Christians do not understand a Catholics deep devotion to the Mother of our Lord. They have accused Catholics of elevating our "honor" for her above Christ's, by kneeling in front of a statue of Her, we are idolaters, many have relegated her to the mere "vessel" God used to usher the Lord to earth. I have done a bit of homework on the topic.  I find it so interesting how words and phrases used in a Catholic’s everyday life comes into SUCH scrutiny by others in attempt to discredit the faith. Many Fundamentalist Christians attack us on the use of the word “worship” when it comes to the saints & Mary.  So, I find it intriguing to learn about the ORIGIN of many words and how they apply to their context in the Bible & our ancient faith.  I hope you enjoy as well.

Taken from “The Essential Catholic Survival Guide” by the staff of Catholic Answers.

Worship: The word has undergone change in meaning in English. It comes from the Old English word “weorthscipe”, which means “the condition of being worthy of honor, respect, or dignity.”  To ascribe to honor, worth, or excellence to someone, whether a sage, a magistrate, or God.  For centuries, the term “worship” simply meant showing respect or honor we see this held over today in England they call their magistrates “Your Worship” we Americans say “Your Honor”.  These terms do not infer that English subjects worship their magistrates as gods, they could potentially despise the person, BUT it is giving the OFFICE the honor it rightfully deserves.  But today, most elsewhere this word has been narrowed to be used ONLY in to indicate the supreme form honor & reverence due God.

In Scripture, the word is used in the older meaning. In the early Christian centuries, theologians began to differentiate between different types of honor, in order to make more clear which is due God and which is not.  The Greek term “latria” came to be used to refer to the honor that is due God alone & the term “dulia” for honor due humans especially those who lived & died in God’s friendship i.e. the saints.  (Matt. 10:41) indicates the special honor due these individuals. A special term was created for the honor especially due Mary “hyperdulia” or beyond dulia.  It is greater in degree, but still of the same kind.  All 3 of these terms used to be lumped together under the English word “worship”.

Another distinction between the honor due to God compared to that of humans has been the use of t he words “adore” or “adoration” to describe the total, consuming reverence due to God, and the terms “venerate”, “veneration” and honor to refer to the respect due humans.  You will sometimes hear Catholics say “We adore God but we honor his saints.”  Without acknowledging these distinctions, one does not understand that aspect of the faith.  Catholics do not practice idolatry, this is patently false.  Catholics DO NOT WORSHIP ANYONE BUT GOD.  At least given the modern term of the word. The Church is VERY clear about the fact that latria, adoration, what contemporary English speakers call WORSHIP is reserved strictly for God.  In Hebrew, the word for worship is “shakhah” and is used many times in the Old Testament (OT) in regard to honoring humans.

How is honor given?  We give it to public officials, in the marriage ceremony we vow to “love, HONOR & obey,” when we address letters to legislators we write "To the Honorable So-and-So", we are instructed to honor our military, our fallen soldiers, our Founding Fathers etc…these practices are entirely biblical in nature.  We are commanded at certain times in Scripture to honor certain people "Honor thy Father and Thy Mother..."  Catholics do not make the distinction between our living or dead when it comes to the worthiness of honor. If they are worthy of honor in their physical life, they are worthy of honor in their spiritual life as well.  So parents, holy religious figures (like saints) etc. are all worthy (living or dead) of our honor. I Peter “Honor all men, Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the Emperor.”

This next section was compiled from a few different sources which I mentioned before each statement. Otherwise they are my personal ramblings.

Honoring Specifically Mary

1) Her blood mixed with Christ’s while He was in the womb.  They share DNA!!  If one cannot stand in Christ’s presence without being 100% cleansed of sin…how could it be for the one who CARRIED him inside her, and brought his earthly life into being.  Her soul could have been nothing but spotless of sin and perfect to carry the SON OF MAN.

2) This info I got from www.catholicbible101.com:  (Luke 1:28) Gabriel’s greeting to Mary “Hail Mary, full of Grace the Lord IS with you” NOT the Lord will be with you shortly, the Lord is coming in the future to be with you, or the Lord WAS with you (indicating he was there then left).” He IS WITH YOU” meaning PRESENTLY.  This event took place prior to Jesus' conception, which means she was pure and holy BEFOREHAND. If not the Bible would NOT have stated it this way. If Mary had said “No” to Gabriel, and had not accepted her path “according to thy will”, some think Gabriel would have just moved on to some other girl!! Some also think that although she DID carry the CHRIST, the Holy Spirit left her at the Incarnation. But ask a Bible Christian where it says that ANYWHERE in Scripture. This is where individual interpretation plus a little word twisting enters into the scene.

3) This info I got from www.CatholicBridge.com  In the New Testament Mary is present at almost every major event in the life of Jesus:

• His conception (Luke 1:2)
•  His development in the womb, including the fetal development of John the Baptist (Lk 1:43)
• His birth (Lk 2:7)
• Offering Him to God (Lk 2:22)
• Early childhood (Lk 2:22-38)
• His confirmation at 12 years old (Lk 2:49)
• His start in public ministry and the first of his miracles, which she instigated. (Wedding at Cana Jn 2:3)
• His death on Calvary (Jn 19:26)
• The birth of the Church at the Pentecost (Acts 1:14).

These many references of her in the NT clearly indicate her role being infinitely greater than any of Jesus’ disciples. 

4)   Mary said "Do whatever he [Jesus] tells you to do." (Jn:2:3) She is the first person IN HISTORY to say this about Jesus. (So Catholics in no way ELEVATE Her above Christ, she herself is telling us who to follow)

5)   Luke and Mathew weren't at Jesus' birth. Mary was likely the one who told them about it (Lk 1-2, Mat 1-2).

6)   Mary received the Holy Spirit at the Pentecost and spoke in tongues 2000 years before Pentecostals got the gift.  (Acts 1:14, 2:3)

7)   In the Bible, Mary clearly spells out her role in eternity(Lk 1:46-49):

My soul magnifies the Lord, And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has regarded the lowly state of his maidservant; For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.

-The Bible says Jesus is magnified by Mary's soul. A soul is eternal and not limited by life on earth. Mary reinforces her eternal ministry by saying "all generations will call me blessed." If the Bible intended Mary's ministry to end with the birth of Jesus, or at his death, or even at Mary's death, it wouldn't use that language. To MAGNIFY is to make something appear larger so we can see it better, so being in relation to Mary's eternal soul does not draw focus away from Jesus, it does the opposite. It magnifies him.

All of this infomation and more can be found at the sites & resources mentioned here.