Talkin' To Mary, Part 47 (?)
I've been praying the Rosary a lot, as the title suggests. It started out as a spiritual work of mercy for my family, and I guess it still is that. But I attended Mass yesterday, and some things started to fall into place. When you pray the Rosary, you're participating in the Eucharistic liturgy. As I like to say, "This is that." I'm not just praying by myself and for myself; I'm joining myself to that sacrifice. If you think about it, it makes sense. Christ is everything; the love He offered on the Cross he still offers today in every Mass. This is what many people don't understand about the Rosary (and about Mary): everything we say about Mary and to Mary is inextricably connected to her Son. No, really. Everything. Everytime you talk to her, it's like she says, "Isn't my Son great?" Like any mother would do. But in this case, she's the mother of the Word incarnate. That's bound to get interesting. What would have to be true about her, given what we know about Him? Pretty exalted stuff. We already know from Scripture that she doesn't mind being overshadowed! So it is here. Never once have I prayed a Marian devotion and gotten confused as to who the Savior is. She herself said, "My soul magnifies the LORD, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior." Elizabeth doesn't seem confused. And yet, there's an honor there. She definitely doesn't say, "Well, you're a sinner like the rest of us, but I'm glad your Son is here." Read Luke 1 in a while? Elizabeth talks like a Catholic. Maybe the ecumenical councils read the Scripture better than we gave them credit for. Obviously. The fact that you don't necessarily see it in Scripture means little; I'll use the same argument you use against the fundamentalist when he doesn't see gobs of Reformed theology in there, either: "You're reading it wrong." And since that discussion should it come out in your favor rests on no less real an appeal to ecclesiastical authority as I would make, it sharpens the point of the medieval Church against the so-called Reformers to its very essence: "Who asked you?" I digress.
Mary ordered everything in her life to the glory of God. Nothing wrong with saying 'Thank you' for it. A great hymn said of the Church, "Yet she on Earth hath union/With God the three in one/And mystic sweet communion with those whose rest is won." No mystic sweet communion without conversation of some sort. Why not with the Queen of All Saints herself?
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