Why so much hatred of Marian devotion on the part of sectarians? Are they right to accuse “disorders” in devotion to Mary?

Just as the apostle Saint John, by command of Jesus Christ, at the foot of the cross, took the Virgin Mary into his home, in the same way there is no Catholic home where its inhabitants do not receive into it the Mother of God: the Virgin Mary, symbolizing this action by having in their house her beautiful image under one of the many invocations by which she is acclaimed, and by turning to her valuable intercession under countless titles.

In the face of the Marian fervor of the Catholic faith, there appears, on the other hand, the eagerness of countless sects to put an end to it. All sectarians know that our people’s devotion to the Virgin Mary is one of the most difficult barriers to tear down. They know that any Catholic who abandons his veneration of our Mother in Heaven will then easily join those destructive groups. This is the reason why sectarians do not rest in trying to destroy all devotion to the Virgin Mary among Catholics.

It is also important to note that among Catholics who do not like to deepen very much in the knowledge of their faith, there are mistaken ideas about what historic Protestantism and Christian and pseudo-Christian sects accept concerning the Virgin Mary. Generally a Catholic of the type already mentioned, in order to get by, simply limits himself to saying: “it is that they (the non-Catholics) do not believe in the Virgin Mary”; therefore, it is necessary to reflect on what the members of the denominations already cited “believe” about the Virgin Mary.

The great majority of the serious Churches of historic Protestantism, such as the Lutheran, Anglican, etc., do indeed accept that the Virgin Mary is the Mother of God. Luther proclaimed this until the end of his life and never ceased to venerate her with the prayer of the Magnificat. In these churches there are currently efforts among their members to restore the cult of veneration of the Virgin Mary within their temples, and some Anglicans have even made pilgrimages to famous shrines such as Lourdes in France.

The Protestant writer Max Yunnickel confessed: “It is very cold in the Lutheran Church. We have to warm it a little. How? By bringing in a Mother: Mary… let us return to songs to Mary, let us adorn our Churches with the flowers of the field. Let us celebrate, as at the return of a Mother, because a Mother has reappeared in our Church… Mary full of grace, I greet you”.

The panorama glimpsed in historic Protestantism regarding the restoration of devotion to the Virgin Mary is very encouraging; by contrast, in the sects it is quite the opposite.

While relevant leaders or pastors from the environment just mentioned are making great progress in doctrinal ecumenical dialogues with representatives of the Catholic Church, sadly, on the other hand, the same disposition does not exist in the denominations born from historic Protestantism, much less in the sects of very recent appearance. As proof of the foregoing, I transcribe what the Baptist theologian Emilio Antonio Núñez says in this regard in the booklet “La Iglesia Evangélica frente al nuevo catolicismo”, p. 11. Discouraging the ecumenical work born of Vatican II, the theologian Núñez warns the members of his faith of the following “risks” in that work, against the evangelical faith as he conceives it: after objecting to several Catholic doctrines, such as the Primacy of St. Peter, Purgatory, Tradition, etc., he says about the Virgin Mary:

“Mary is still on her throne as the Mother of God and the mediatrix of all grace, the dogmas of the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption remain unaltered…”.

With the brief reference above, we can realize what the sects that came out of historic Protestantism “do not believe” about the Virgin Mary.

Since it is impossible for the sects to destroy the immense relevance that the Virgin Mary has in the Bible, and thereby put an end to the well-known veneration for her held by our Catholic faith, and then destroy this bulwark that prevents many Catholics from passing into destructive groups, they eagerly devote great effort to devaluing her to a very inferior or minimal plane, so that the very important role that She has, after her Son Jesus, in the history of salvation may go unnoticed and, in some sects, even bring about in their followers total rejection of the Mother of God.

In the great majority of sects the Virgin Mary is recognized only as the Mother of Jesus the man; therefore they do not consider her Mother of God. By denying her this beautiful title, which is the origin of all the others by which our faith proclaims her, logically for sectarians the Virgin Mary was not Immaculate in her birth, nor was she taken to Heaven in body and soul, nor can we invoke her, because she is dead and her body corrupted in the tomb; and still more: for them she is not the ever-Virgin Mary, as the most ancient Christian tradition mentions her, much less our spiritual Mother and our Advocate before her Son Jesus, the one Mediator between God and men.

Reflecting on the above, we can see the immense abyss that exists between what sectarians “believe” about the Virgin Mary and what we Catholics proclaim about her in our faith. Every time someone before us tries to undermine devotion to the Virgin Mary in our parish communities, entrusting our actions to God our Father, let us proclaim before whoever is necessary the following: Saint Elizabeth calls the Virgin Mary “the Mother of my Lord”, Lk 1:45; that is, “Mother of God”. Or are you more inspired than Saint Elizabeth in denying the Virgin Mary that title?

Many sectarians firmly believe that very soon they will be “raptured” through the air, in body and soul, to meet Jesus. How then do you not believe that the Virgin Mary was taken, better than you, before her Son in body and soul to Heaven? If Christ promised that the one who conquers would sit with Him on His heavenly throne, Rev 3:21, will He deny this to His Mother? The flesh and blood that the Word took when acquiring human nature came from the Virgin Mary, and now the body of Jesus in its glorious state is in heaven. Why can you not believe the same about the body of the Virgin Mary, origin of the body of the Incarnate Word?

All non-Catholic Christians are sure that, according to Jesus’ promise, “they will reign with Him in heaven”, 2 Tim 2:12; how then can you not accept that the Virgin Mary is the Queen of Heaven? Or do you have greater dignity before Jesus than She does?

The Angel Gabriel greets the Virgin by calling her “full of grace”, Lk 1:27. Sectarians reply: “Stephen is also called ‘full of grace’”, Acts 6:8; but let us observe that here the term serves as a qualifying adjective, whereas, in the case of the Virgin Mary, in addition to that, the definition “full of grace” performs the function of a pronoun. The Angel does not call her by her name, Mary, but “full of grace”; by this we know that She is in herself the “full of grace par excellence”.

If the Virgin Mary is full of grace, it is not possible that even for an instant she had been in Satan’s power through sin; if this were so, in such a case the Bible could not consider her in herself “full or plenary of grace”, but would mention her with an inferior qualification. Sacred Scripture assures her that “the Lord is with you”, Lk 1:28. It is not credible that the Devil too, even for a brief moment, was with her by means of sin. For this and other reasons, Catholics recognize her as the “Immaculate Conception”.

The sects do not miss an opportunity to point out distorted situations regarding misunderstood devotions that, for lack of evangelization, exist in some people who consider themselves Catholic; in reality these Catholics with little formation practice actions very far removed from what right veneration of the Virgin Mary is. Whenever it is within our reach, when this occurs, let us try, within our possibilities, to alert those who carry them out consciously or unconsciously to correct them, and thus not give cause for scandal to the enemies of our faith, who immediately use them in favor of their sectarian proselytism.

Among this type of faults, let us mention some:

  • Dissemination of supposed Marian messages which, without ecclesiastical approval, announce terrible and imminent catastrophes, days of darkness, etc.
  • Whoever promotes the foregoing is perhaps, without knowing it, proclaiming that Pope John Paul II is mistaken in his pastoral approach, since he is inviting us to a Jubilee for the year 2000, whereas according to these prophets of calamities he should be foreseeing the supposed terrible events soon to occur or that we should stock up on certain blessed candles, etc.
  • To be aware that every devotion or cult to the Virgin Mary must end in Christ. The point of reference will always be Him. The Virgin Mary is a finite creature and Christ is infinitely greater than She is.
  • To distinguish between the Virgin Mary as a person and what is her image or sculpture. When we visit a Marian shrine, instead of saying “I am going to see the Virgin”, it is better to express ourselves, especially if we are in the presence of a sectarian: “I am going to visit the image of the Virgin”.
  • To avoid knowing down to the smallest detail supposed Marian messages to certain seers while being largely or completely ignorant of the dialogues and teachings of Jesus contained in the Bible.

In conclusion, every time we invoke our blessed Mother, the Virgin Mary, begging her to pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, let us also keep in mind the counsel she gave us about listening to her Son Jesus: “Do whatever He tells you”, Jn 2:5.

See also: The Protestant reformers and the Virgin Mary

Author: José L. Fierro, Mexico

Source: Apologetica.org