I am at a lost how to explain the very, very small subset of people on FR who don't get this; who misinterpret all of the common forms of religious veneration found in the Bible, as adoration.
There isn't any Christian veneration in the Bible to anyone other than God...So we don't misinterpret anything...And I'd say we don't get what you say because apparently your religion teaches otherwise...
"If the Son is a King," says an ancient writer, "the Mother who begot him is rightly and truly considered a Queen and Sovereign". "No sooner had Mary," says St. Bernadine of Sienna, "consented to be Mother of the Eternal Word, than she merited by this consent to be made Queen of the world and of all creatures." "Since the flesh of Mary," remarks the Abbot Arnold of Chartres, "was not different from that of Jesus, how can the royal dignity of the Son be denied to the Mother? Hence we must consider the glory of the Son, not only as being common to, but as one with, that of His mother."
Although a queen, Mary, is not a queen of justice, intent on the punishment of the wicked, but a queen of mercy, intent only on commiserating and pardoning sinners. And this is the reason why the Church requires that we should expressly call her "the Queen of Mercy." Commenting on the words of David: "These two things have I heard, that power belongs to God, and mercy to You, O Lord," - the Medieval author John Gerson writes: "The kingdom of God consists in power and mercy; reserving the power to Himself, He, in some way, yielded the emperor of mercy to His Mother." This is confirmed by St. Thomas, in his Preface to the Canonical Epistles, saying, "that when the Blessed Virgin conceived the Eternal Word in her womb, and brought Him forth, she obtained half the kingdom of God; so that she is Queen of Mercy, as Jesus Christ is King of Justice."
And if Jesus is the King of the universe, Mary is also its Queen. "And as Queen," says the Abbot Rupert, "she possesses, by right, the whole kingdom of her Son." St. Bernadine of Sienna concludes that "as many creatures as there are who serve God, so many there are who serve Mary: for as angels and men, and all things that are in heaven and on earth are subject to the empire of God, so are they also under the dominion of Mary." The Abbot Guarricus, addressing himself to the Divine Mother on this subject, says:
If Mary is Divine, she requires worship...
She is not divine. She is the mother of a person who is divine.
I think you are misunderstanding what “Divine Mother” means, just like many misunderstand what is meant by “Mother of God.”
I believe neither that she is divine, nor that she requires worship.
If she is called "the divine mother" by the abbot you quoted, he did not mean that she was a goddess, but that she is the mother of a divine Son. It's like calling the court comedian the "the royal jester" --- it doesn't mean the jester is the king, it means he serves the king.
Divine has a range of references:
Scripture tells us not to be a respecter of person's, that its' a sin. Right out of the book of James, the Catholics favorite book of the Bible.
James 2:1-11 My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. 2 For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, 3 and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” 4 have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 5 Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? 7 Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?
8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. 9 But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. 11 For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.
Making people saints and *venerating* them is the epitome of respecting individuals.