[presently no screen name]

If a Pope has said that we ought to give Mary the same honour that we give God the Father, I’m interested in knowing. I’ve read many RC works, and haven’t come across such a statement—but I focus mainly on works by Popes and saints.

"By awarding the Virgin a central place in the cathedral's narrative, the archdiocese is keeping faith with a long, if fluctuating, Catholic and Orthodox tradition of devotion to Our Lady, a tradition enjoying a resurgence under Pope John Paul II. (The pope's personal motto, "Totus tuus sum, Maria," or "I am all yours, Mary," reflects his belief that the Virgin intervened to save his life from an assassin's bullet in 1981 so that he could help defeat European communism.)" -LATIMES.com Sept 1, 2002 By REED JOHNSON,

And Christians say, "I am all Yours, Jesus".

[Campion]

And Catholic Christians wonder why Protestant Christians think Mary keeps any gift you give her away from her son.

The Lady who said, "Be it done unto me according to thy word" and "Do whatever He tells you" is not in the habit of keeping any gift -- any honor, any person, anything good at all -- for herself apart from God. Since she's in heaven now, there is no "herself apart from God". That's what heaven is, that's why we go there.

Don't you agree?

[Hieronymus]

PNSS—

I need to get a bit of work done before heading off to pray for a handful of Freepers before the God of the Universe—or a wafer—I’ll remember you. While I would like to respond in-depth, work (actually John in the Greek) calls, Campion’s response is very good for a short answer, so I trust that he can take care of whatever God wills be taken care of.

Our Lady’s lines in the Magnificat (the Catholic term for her prayer beginning at Luke 1:46) would seem outrageously presumptuous did we not believe that they were spoken in His Spirit—she is lowly, she is a handmaid, she proclaims the greatness of the lord, the almighty has done (and continues to do) great things for her—God is her savior in the superlative way. He has saved us all, in some sense, and he has saved Mary supremely. On the other hand, he himself needs no salvation.

But here I go waxing poetically.

Prayers for you both.