The question came up: Why pray to Mary? - A short reflection by Fr. James Walling, CPM

The question came up:  Why pray to Mary?

Does not praying to Mary go against the first of the Ten Commandments:  “I am the Lord your God, you shall have no strange gods before me?”  By this commandment, doesn’t God forbid placing a creature in between Himself and the person who prays?  So why go to Mary?

Underneath the question, there is a presupposition: one has presupposed that Mary is an obstacle in between us and God; both, in going to God and in God coming to the person who prays.

Now, having such a quick ear, you can notice that common sense is the best approach for answering this question.

First, Mary cannot be an obstacle for God coming to the person who prays, since He already came to each of us by being born “ex Maria virgine,” that is, outof the Virgin Mary.  When the innkeeper at Bethlehem refused Mary, he also refused the Messiah, Jesus Christ. God is the one who placed Mary in between us and Himself.  Dare we refuse?

Second, Mary cannot be an obstacle for the person who prays toward God because Mary is not the object of the act of faith.  It’s something like how people use eye glasses for corrected vision.  One does not look at the glasses.  Rather, one always looks through the glasses for the purpose of seeing the object beyond more sharply.  It is the same with praying to Mary, or more precisely, throughMary.  When we pray through Mary, and that is the same thing as praying with her, we are able to see the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit more clearly.  Mary is not an obstacle.  Mary is an amplifier.  Mary amplifies our prayers to God, and through her, God amplifies His love to us. After all, she did say, “My soul magnifies the Lord.”  Finally, Pope Saint John Paul the Second encourages us to “enter into the school of Mary,” where she presents to us the sacred countenance of Jesus Christ, who is the object of our acts of faith, our hope, and our charity.

May Our Lady of Fatima protect you and may her mantle cover you and your family.