A Protestant Discovers Mary

NC Register ^ | March 13, 2010

[NYer]

Romano Guardini wrote in his book on the Rosary, “To linger in the domain of Mary is a divinely great thing. One does not ask about the utility of truly noble things, because they have their meaning within themselves. So it is of infinite meaning to draw a deep breath of this purity, to be secure in the peace of this union with God.”

Guardini was speaking of spending time with Mary in praying the Rosary, but David Mills, in his latest book, Discovering Mary, helps us linger in the domain of Mary by opening up to us the riches of divine revelation, both from tradition and Scripture. Mills, a convert from the Episcopal Church, former editor of the Christian journal Touchstone and editor of the 1998 book of essays commemorating the centennial of C.S. Lewis’ birth The Pilgrim’s Guide: C. S. Lewis and the Art of Witness, as well as the author of Knowing the Real Jesus (2001), has written a rock-solid introduction to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and done so with intellectual rigor and an affable tone.

His book begins with an introduction in which he describes how he came to discover the riches of the Church’s teachings on Mary: “I began to see how a sacred vessel is made holy by the sacred thing it carries,” he writes. “I began to feel this in a way I had not before. I found myself developing an experiential understanding of Mary and indeed a Marian devotion. Which surprised me. It surprised me a lot.”

Unfortunately, he notes, he did not learn about Mary from contemporary Catholics, nor in homilies, “even on Marian feast days.” It seems he learned on his own by reading magisterial documents and going back to Scriptures in light of those documents.

This book shares the fruit of that study. Mills examines the life of Mary, Mary in the Bible, Mary in Catholic doctrine, Marian feast days and the names of Mary. He includes an appendix full of references to papal documents and books on Mary.

Most of the book is done in a question-and-answer format, which usually works well, although at times it feels awkward. Would someone really ask, for instance, “What is happening in the liturgy on the Marian feast days?”

But most of the questions are natural. “What is the point of Marian devotion?” Mills asks. It is “to live the Catholic life as well as we can,” he answers. “This means going ever more deeply into the mystery of Christ, to become saintlier, more conformed to his image, by following Mary’s example and by turning to her for help and comfort.”

Next question: “Does devotion to Mary detract from our devotion to Christ?”

“Christians since the beginning of serious Marian devotion have been careful to emphasize Mary’s subordination to her son,” Mills replies. “In fact, they have said it so often that the reader begins to expect it. In the fifth century St. Ambrose put it nicely: ‘Mary was the temple of God, not the god of the temple.’”

David Mills, with the same radical clarity he showed in Knowing the Real Jesus, has written what has to be one of the best, if not the very best, short introductions to Catholic teaching on Mary, the Mother of God. Discovering Mary is ideal for those wanting to know more about her, whether they be skeptics, Protestants, or Catholics who don’t know the Mother of the Church well enough.

Franklin Freeman writes from Saco, Maine.

DISCOVERING MARY

Answers to Questions About the Mother of God

By David Mills

Servant Books, 2009

148 pages, $12.99

To order: servantbooks.org

[Quix]

INDEED. AND LIKEWISE.

You know of the Tanners, BTW, re the stuff in your neighborhood?

[Quix]

BECAUSE

SCRIPTURE SPEAKS OF ONE

AND NOT AT ALL

THE OTHER.

[T Minus Four]

Why do you think Mary needed God to "keep herself a virgin?" That was the customary expectation of unmarried Jewish women of her time

I'm talking about why would God keep her a virgin AFTER she gave birth. That was most certainly not expected of Jewish woman of that time - in fact, it was scandalous and considered a curse to not produce children.

And if you read my post more carefully, I didn't say she was never pregnant, or never should have been.

I believe she was conceived of the Holy spirit as a virgin and was pregnant with Jesus..

That she gave birth vaginally (pretty much the only option back then)

That when her time of healing was over and she was ritually purified in accordance with Hebrew law, she began normal sexual relations with her husband and conceived and delivered more children over the years.

[T Minus Four]

stfassisi: What I find utterly astounding is that you guys talk about the power given to satan to do “this and that”, but reject that God gives any power to Mary and the Saints.

quix: BECAUSE SCRIPTURE SPEAKS OF ONE AND NOT AT ALL THE OTHER.

[stfassisi]

“”SCRIPTURE SPEAKS OF ONE
AND NOT AT ALL
THE OTHER.””

Not true!(courtesy of scripturecatholic)

Rev. 1:4 – this verse shows that angels (here, the seven spirits) give grace and peace. Because grace and peace only come from God, the angels are acting as mediators for God.

Rev. 5:8 - the prayers of the saints (on heaven and earth) are presented to God by the angels and saints in heaven. This shows that the saints intercede on our behalf before God, and it also demonstrates that our prayers on earth are united with their prayers in heaven. (The “24 elders” are said to refer to the people of God – perhaps the 12 tribes and 12 apostles - and the “four living creatures” are said to refer to the angels.)

Rev. 6:9-11 – the martyred saints in heaven cry out in a loud voice to God to avenge their blood “on those who dwell upon the earth.” These are “imprecatory prayers,” which are pleas for God’s judgment (see similar prayers in Psalm 35:1; 59:1-17; 139:19; Jer. 11:20; 15:15; 18:19; Zech.1:12-13). This means that the saints in heaven are praying for those on earth, and God answers their prayers (Rev. 8:1-5). We, therefore, ask for their intercession and protection.

Rev. 8:3-4 – in heaven an angel mingles incense with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne of God, and the smoke of the incense rose with the prayers of the saints from the hand of the angel before God. These prayers “rise up” before God and elicit various kinds of earthly activity. God responds to his children’s requests, whether made by his children on earth or in heaven.

Old Testament

Gen. 20:17 - God responds to Abraham’s intercession and heals Abimelech, and also his wife and slaves.

Gen. 27:29; Num. 24:9 - blessed be everyone who blesses you. If we bless others in prayer, we are also blessed.

Exodus 32:11-14, 30-34; 34:9; Num. 14:17-20; 21:7-9 - these are many examples of God’s response to Moses’ saintly intercession.

1 Sam. 12:23 - Samuel says that he would be sinning against God if he didn’t continue to intercede for the people of Israel.

1 Sam. 28:7-20 – the deceased prophet Samuel appears and converses with Saul, which is confirmed by Sirach 46:13,20).

1 Sam. 28:7; 1 Chron. 10:13-14 - Saul practiced necromancy. He used a medium, not God, to seek the dead and was therefore condemned. Saul’s practice is entirely at odds with the Catholic understanding of saintly mediation, where God is the source and channel of all communication, and who permits His children to participate in this power.

Gotta Go!

[wmfights]

It is leading people away from whom they should run to for everything.

The apparitions are outside of Scripture. The closest you can find a dead human being sent is Moses meeting with Jesus. I don't put Elijah in that because he never died. What gets forgotten is neither Elijah or Moses said anything to anyone besides Jesus.

There are no examples in Scripture of dead humans coming back and floating around giving messages to people. Also, these apparitions are relativly recent. Finally, all Christians should be aware of who is running around this earth decieving people leading them away from truth.

[betty boop]

That when her time of healing was over and she was ritually purified in accordance with Hebrew law, she began normal sexual relations with her husband and conceived and delivered more children over the years.

I don't dispute that. The point is she was a virgin at the time of her conception by the Holy Spirit. That's why Catholics speak of the Immaculate Conception.

Nobody in their right mind disputes that Mary had other children after Jesus. One of them was actually opposed to Jesus, theologically speaking. But even he came to his right senses, in time.

[Marysecretary]

Not strange at all to us. They are dead at the present time, just like anyone else on earth who has died. The saints God talks about are the ones on earth who know Christ as Saviour.

[T Minus Four]

I don't dispute that. The point is she was a virgin at the time of her conception by the Holy Spirit. That's why Catholics speak of the Immaculate Conception.

You'd better go back to CCD. The immaculte conception is the exclusively Catholic doctrine that MARY was conceived without sin, and led a sinless life.

All Christians believe Mary was a virgin when she conceived Jesus.

[Marysecretary]

oh, and satan has no real power unless WE open ourselves up to him.

[T Minus Four]

Nobody in their right mind disputes that Mary had other children after Jesus

Tell that to the HOLY ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH please. They most emphatically do. "The ever-virgin Mary"

[betty boop]

Basically, ALL the events of Fatima are in keeping with, consistent, with, of the type of fairly common UFO phenomena of the last 100 years or more.

Good grief, dear brother in Christ! If this is all you see in Mary, then you must be spiritually dead, after some fashion....

But WHAT fashion would that be???

Why on earth would "Protties" — at least some of certain confessions — "go after," hound, and persecute the Mother of God???

WHY?????????????????

[A most agonizing question for me.]

[Quix]

INDEED.

[T Minus Four]

God has no mother.

[T Minus Four]

You really seem to be doctrinally confused Ma’am. Maybe YOU are not quite ready for prime time. No offense.

[betty boop]

You'd better go back to CCD.

I missed out on CCD, having been deprived of the privilege by my Deist father, who considered CCD a form of "brainwashing."

Ya wanna make something of THAT???

My point is: I have attempted to struggle along in the Light of the Holy Spirit, not having had a "proper" theological education. My resources: the Bible; the Catholic Catechism; papal encyclicals. These, plus my own hard-won experience as a lover of God, produce the worldview that I hold today.

[Quix]

I find your

PERSONAL INTERPRETATIONS

layered on top of those Scriptures a poor fit for the Scriptures and their context.

Those Revelation Scriptures are talking about particular END TIMES AND AFTER

CEREMONIES OR OTHER ONE TIME EVENTS OF THAT UNIQUE TIME IN HISTORY-FUTURE.

I find no evidence in those Scriptures for an ongoing anything for the last 1600 years.

Moses, Samuel et al were still NOT GRADUATED from this life. They were this side of the GULF GOD FIERCELY PUT IN PLACE TO KEEP THE SPHERES DISCONNECTED in terms of mortals’ options in the matter.

[betty boop]

God has no mother.

But Jesus of Nazareth — the Christ — DOES.

Idiot.

[Quix]

PRAISE GOD FOR DEMONSTRATING YOU ARE IN YOUR RIGHT MIND ON THOSE ISSUE! That’s a relief, for sure!

However, Dear Sister, we have had many rabid ‘true believer’ types of Roman Catholics et al hereon screechingly insist that our perspective is totally wrong on such scores.

Amazing. Shockingly amazing. They insist that the Scriptural reference to Christ’s brothers and sisters meant His cousins—as though the languages could not distinguish and the translators were stupid.

Sigh.

[Iscool]

Discovering Mary is ideal for those wanting to know more about her, whether they be skeptics, Protestants, or Catholics who don’t know the Mother of the Church well enough.

Well here's the rub on that one...We already know as much about Mary as any Catholic does...We know everything there is to know...

Believing fables fabricated by the one world religion is not knowledge...