ATTACKS ON MARY

Just as the devil saw how successful he was in destroying the human race by merely attacking the first woman, Eve, he has willed to destroy the rest of the human race by attacking the WOMAN. But unable to corrupt the WOMAN as he had done to Eve, he is content on removing the thought of the WOMAN from the minds of men. 

By removing Mary from one's spirituality, the devil knows that mankind will be like a ship tossed about by a storm without the stars to guide him.

God made Eve to be a helper of man. But through the devil's machinations, she who was meant to be of help became the source of a great disaster to her husband and children. Mary was made by God to be a helper to man again. Uncorrupted, she can fulfill this role most ably if mankind invokes her name.

And so, even from the earliest times of Christianity, the devil's tail is evident in that Mary's role was questioned, argued and rejected , more specifically in the THEOTOKOS debates. And through the Reformation up to the present, amongst the "born-again", her role is not only relegated but the very thought of her is hated. But clearly the gates of hell have not prevailed against devotion to her. Her attackers have merely hurt themselves.

Liturgy is one of the better sources of Catholic beliefs where devotion to Mary, specially showing her role as a great help to salvation, abound. First and foremost is the feast of Christmas, a popular feast of our Lady.

In the Egyptian Liturgy, about the second century, the Divine Motherhood's feast was widely celebrated. In the third century the Sub Tuum Praesidium was part of the liturgy.

The popular feasts of Our Lady were the Meeting of the Child Jesus and Simeon or the Purification and Presentation, the Dormition, the Annunciation, and the Nativity of Our Lady (a feast taken from the Apocrypha.) All these feasts formulated her important role in the history of salvation and were observed by both Eastern and Western Churches.

The Constitution on the Liturgy declaring the essential link between doctrine and liturgy states: "In celebrating the annual cycle of Christ's mysteries, Holy Mother Church honors with special love the Blessed Mary, Mother of God, who is joined by an inseparable bond to the saving work of her Son." Thus, the Concilium, while assigning all Sundays as the Lord's day,  also assigned all Saturdays for the veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Pope Pius XII, in Mediator Dei, emphasized the fact that whatever is in the Liturgy makes up the Catholic Faith in as much as it is a public profession of faith in the Church. And the Church Liturgy has always honored Mary and acknowledged her invaluable help in the  work of Christ--the salvation of man.

(12-07-02)