Invoking the Virgin never implies shunning God or reason

It is time that we rediscover the solid theological and spiritual basis for the veneration we ought to give to the Virgin Mary (different from the latria, the cult of adoration that we owe to God only). And the best way to do this is to look at how Mary was associated to the Holy Trinity and to the mystery of Redemption.

Authentic Marian devotion takes us straight to the heart of the Christian faith, where we can no longer separate Mary from the action of the Trinity towards humanity. The Virgin is entirely dependent on God. Her mission and spiritual motherhood are not intended to stop our gaze on her person, but to orient it towards the Trinity, source and aim of all Salvation.

Rightly placed in the Trinitarian perspective, our love for the Virgin highlights the harmony and the architecture of God’s plan of salvation into which the Virgin Mary was called on to play a role. ...

Our hearts swell with love when shown God’s providential designs that reserved such a special place for the Virgin in the plan of salvation, and the reasons for this decision. Therefore invoking the Virgin never implies shunning God or reason. What the Triune God did in, by, and for Mary, was for our redemption and the deification of all of us. This is another reason for remembering Mary’s glorious titles: God established her as our Mother in the order of grace.

By presenting Marian devotion from this theological angle, I’m sure that those who wonder about our fervor in honoring the Mother of Jesus will agree that our love for her has a solid doctrinal foundation, which makes it something more than a subjective devotion based on a personal emotional need.

Jean-Michel Castaing, French author and Catholic speaker

Aleteia, May 7, 2019