While there do seem to be some devotions to Mary in the month of May which began in the Middle Ages, it was not until the Jesuits started promoting and popularizing the Marian devotion in the 19th century that May became Mary’s month. This was done in part because of the solemn definition of Mary’s Immaculate Conception, whereby she was given the freedom from original sin by the Holy Spirit.
It is possible that there can be a false type of devotion to Mary as cautioned by St. Louis de Montfort and many other saints. When one focuses on Mary in such a way that eclipses a devotion to Christ, love of the Church, and an unwilling acceptance of the role of the Pope and his successors, then this love is false.
Staying away from confession or Holy Communion out of devotion to Mary is a practical contradiction. The sacramental celebrations of Christ’s paschal mystery were to serve as the principal means whereby we could journey to heaven under the influence of the Holy Spirit and his divine life or grace.
At the Annunciation, the Blessed Virgin gave herself completely to the plan of God when she consented to the request of the angel Gabriel. At that point, she began a kind of motherhood to the rest of humanity since we needed a savior. She is the “New Eve” because she brought the cause of divine life into the whole world and became his associate. If she would have said “no” to the angel because she had other plans, we might still be waiting for God to become man. And if the world is in such dreadful shape now, multiply that a hundredfold without the consent of Mary.
Just as Eve brought death to the world by encouraging her husband to disobey God as she did, Mary brought the beginnings of redemption and divine life to the world by her willing obedience. Hence the Fathers of the Church speak of her as the “life-bringer.”
That does not mean that everyone is automatically saved personally, nor does it mean that all it takes to get into heaven is to pray to Mary. On the contrary, each person has the great ability to resist grace freely, more or less on a host of differing circumstances. But relying on Mary’s intercession is yet another great help in seeking our ultimate happiness.
Because Mary gave birth to the Son of God made a man, and because of her fullness of grace, she had a special relationship or affinity with each person of the Blessed Trinity we do not have. By giving her genetic makeup to the human nature of the son of God, she is related to each divine person by blood. So, she became more than an adopted daughter of God the Father, spiritually speaking.
Mary gave birth to God and therefore is truly a mother to God. Finally, because of her fullness of grace and the cause of her pregnancy, she became a bride of the Holy Spirit far beyond a one flesh union. Therefore, she experienced each person of the Blessed Trinity by faith and love in her soul much deeper than any mystic beyond our ability to imagine.
Because of Mary’s fullness of grace, she can and did merit grace for the whole world without in any way prejudicing, reducing, or even augmenting the work of her son in meriting through suffering for the whole world. God accepted the merits for the world by her life’s offering and her place at the foot of the cross for our salvation not out of justice but of mercy due to her extraordinary union with him.
As God depended upon Mary while living in his human nature, it is only reasonable that we should in some way depend upon her as well. Moreover, we owe great thanks to Christ for having given us Mary to be a spiritual mother for the whole world.
At the cross, our Lord gave her to us through the presence of St. John, when he said to both of them that they were mother and son to one another. By this consecration, Mary’s motherhood to all which began at the Annunciation was made definitive.
And as many faith filled Catholics have learned from experience, she too has not been our mere “baby-sitter” as we challenge ourselves to excel in the life of virtue. God knew we needed a spiritual mother to guide us along the way through her prayers for us.
If Adam and Eve had one major trial to endure and failed, Mary had many trials and always she trusted God without whining or complaining. The Church speaks of her as sinless and most holy. Mary’s goodness came from a dependency on the grace of the Holy Spirit. She was definitely not a parrot or a marionette of God. She freely consented to and often endured the will of God much like ourselves. Yet it was only with the greatest possible love imaginable, due to her fullness of grace, which grew and aided her cooperation with the providence of God.
It has been the experience of the saints and ordinary Catholics that love of Mary produces many fruits of virtue and many favors both expected and unexpected. Many popes have told us over the years that to grow in holiness or intimacy with God without Mary is like trying to fly without wings. If she was the principal cause of the cause of our redemption (Jesus), then it stands to reason that turning to her in truth leads us closer to her son and the fulfillment of our destiny.
As we celebrate the Feast of the Visitation on this day, we too should “make haste” to bring Christ to others in a culture that has forgotten the source of true life and love. True devotion to Mary helps us to participate fully in the life of Christ so we can evangelize and transform the hearts and minds of the people around us
Mary being a real mother keeps us realistic when we place ourselves under her tutelage through devotion to her. Paying tribute to Mary in the month of May with processions, crowning of her statues and the like, leads all of her sons and daughters to think of her every day in this valley of tears. Becoming her devoted children will enable us to work fruitfully as we defend the lives of our brothers and sisters that are threatened by a selfish culture of death.
Ite ad Mariam!
Father Basil Cole, O.P. is currently a Professor of Moral and Spiritual Theology, Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception, at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C. Father is also author of Music and Morals, The Hidden Enemies of the Priesthood and coauthor of Christian Totality; Theology of Consecrated Life. A native San Franciscan, Father has been a prior in the Western province of the Dominicans, a parish missionary and retreat master, and invited professor of moral and spiritual theology at the Angelicum in Rome.
