 For Catholics, there are two months in the yearly calendar dedicated to Mary our Mother: May and October. While the month of May is focused on our devotion to Mary, the month of October is centered on the Rosary of Mary. We are in the month of May, 2012. Hereafter, I wish to share with our readers my simple reflection on our devotion to Mary.
 We Christians believe that Mary is the Virgin Mary and the Mother of God, that is, of Jesus the Son of God. She is the Mother of the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, who is our Savior and Redeemer. Mary is also our Mother. From the cross, the Crucified Lord Jesus looked at Mary and John the disciple, and uttered the Third Word. Jesus says to Mary: “Woman, behold your son,†and to John the evangelist: “Behold your Mother†(Jn 19:25-27). John then took Mary to his home. From his Cross, Jesus gave to John and to each one of us, his Mother Mary. Because Mary is the Mother of Jesus and our Mother, we are asked to have a special devotion to her, that is, filial love to Mary.There is a distinction between devotion in the singular and devotion in the plural. Saint Teresa of Avila asked her nuns: “Have few devotions and much devotion.
 
Devotion in the singular refers to devotion to God, which means giving honor and glory to God, worshipping him. This devotion is necessary for salvation. It implies adoring God through Jesus in the Spirit. It is called latria. Devotion in the plural refers to devotion to the saints. This devotion is not necessary for salvation. Thus, we are free – to a certain point – to be devoted to one saint or another. It is called dulia! (You may see St. Thomas Aquinas, STh, II-II, 82.)
 The devotion to Mary is above the devotion in the plural to all the saints. It is called hyperdulia. The place of Mary in the Church is “the highest after Christ and yet very close to us†(Vatican II, LG, 54). The Fathers of the Church said that only the Blessed Trinity is above Mary. As followers of Jesus, we all have to be devoted to Mary, the Mother of the Son of God, the Spouse of the Holy Spirit, the favored daughter of God the Father: “All should devoutly venerate her and commend their life and apostolate to her motherly concern†(Vatican II, AA, 4).
 We are asked by our Christian faith and tradition to have a special devotion to Mary. What are the implications of our devotion to Mary?  Mary is our Mother and, therefore, our best intercessor before Christ, and our model in following him, who is our only Way. At Cana, Mary shows her role for us: first, her role as intercessor (“They have no wineâ€); second, her role as disciple of disciples (“Do whatever He tells youâ€). (See Jn 2:1-12)
 To be devoted to Mary entails also to imitate her life and virtues. She is the Mother of God and the perfect disciple of Jesus, the first disciple, the disciple of disciples. She is the true disciple: she lived with Jesus; she shared her life at home with him and for him; she shared his sufferings, witnessed his resurrection, and animated with her maternal love and devotion to Jesus the apostles and the first Christian communities.
 With her unique life, Mary encourages us to practice the virtues of faith (“Blessed are you because you have believed,†Lk 1:19), of prayer (she treasured everything that happened around Jesus in her heart and ponder upon it), Lk 2:51), of obedience (“Let it be, Fiatâ€), of mission (she proclaimed Jesus to Elizabeth, Lk 1:39-45). Moreover, Mary is our example of compassion before the needs of others (she asked Jesus for wine at Cana’s wedding, Jn 2:1-12), of solidarity with the poor neighbor (“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant; he has lifted up the lowly, he has filled the hungry with good things,†Lk 1:46-55). In the Immaculate Conception Shrine in Washington D.C., there is a lovely statue of Mother and Child, with the inscription: “More Mother than Queen.†I love it! Queen also, of course; but above all, Mother of Jesus, our Mother and the disciple of disciples.
  How is our devotion to Mary? For Louis-Marie Grignon de Montfort, true Marian devotion has the following characteristics: it is interior, trustful, holy, constant and selfless. False devotees according to him are the following: the critical, scrupulous, superficial, presumptuous, inconstant, hypocritical and self-interested devotees (cf. his True Devotion to Mary).
Devotion to Mary is really genuine if it takes us to her Son Jesus. As Our Mother, Mary wants us, above all, to follow Jesus. As the first disciple of Jesus, Mary our Mother and model, invites us to follow her Son. It is said that the women of Nazareth commented, when Mary went to the fountain to get water: “Never was there a mother who was so similar to the son.†Mary is, indeed, the best letter of Jesus, the closest witness of his life, the disciple of disciples. (Cf. Francisco MarÃa Lopez Melus, Desierto 1996)
Our filial devotion to Mary is ordered to our devotion to Christ. Christ, devotion to him, that is devotion in the singular, is the end of all devotions in the plural, including our devotion to Mary. Saint Bernard, a great devotee of Mary said: “The reason for our love of Mary is the Lord Jesus; the measure of our love for her is to love her without measure.†Saint Louis-Marie de Montfort, another great devotee of Our Lady wrote: “If devotion to Our Lady distracted us from our Lord, we would have to reject it as an illusion of the devil.†Authentic devotion to Mary reflects devotion to Jesus. St. Louis–Mary added: “If we call “Mary,†the echo repeats “Jesus’.â€
 Mary’s mission is the mission of Christ. Indeed, Jesus is the only Mediator, and she is – subordinated to Christ – the Mediatrix of all graces. As a daughter of the Father, under Christ, in the Holy Spirit, Mary is channel of graces to us: “In her we have a great and faithful Mediatrix before Christ†(Luis de Granada). Thus, Mary guides us to the sacraments, channels of grace, and, in particular, to the Eucharist, in which Christ’s Body of the Virgin Mary becomes really present. (Cf. John Paul II, Redemptoris Mater, 44). In Ecclesia de Eucharistia (2003), Blessed John Paul II tells us that Mary is the Woman of the Eucharist, the first and the best tabernacle of Christ (EE, nos. 54 & 55).
 In his lovely Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae (October 2002), Pope John Paul II invites us to meet Mary in the Rosary. We are asked to go to the school of Mary to “learn†Jesus, to discover his secrets and to understand his message (RVM, no. 14). We are asked to be truly devoted to the Rosary of Mary, that is, to make by the praying of the Rosary a contemplative prayer, a form of Christo-centric contemplation (Ibid. no. 12).
 We all Christians – priests, consecrated men and women, and lay faithful – need to have a strong devotion to Mary, that is, a special love to her. Life is not easy, and our cross appears heavy. However, our cross, our life attempts at being always permeated by hope and love. I am convinced that if we are truly devoted to Mary we will be happy, or at least less unhappy!
Allow me to ask you to pray with me:
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. “Our Lady, Our Mediatrix, Our Advocate, reconcile us with your Son, commend us to your Son, present us to your Son†(St. Bernard) Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us!
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                                   F. G. BERLANA, OP
St. Dominic’s Priory, May 2012