True Devotion to Mary A.K.A. Mary’s Got Your Back

We are back from our family adventures in Croatia. It was an amazing trip! Let’s just say I am left with an overwhelming sense of gratitude for our time there and the graces received.

If I were to sum up the spiritual theme of the trip, it would be “True Devotion to Mary”.

I returned with a strong sense that Mary really is our Mother and, like any good mother, she adores us and wants to better equip us to fight the battles of our life and overcome our enemies.

And I know that some people reading this will feel a repugnance at that idea — because maybe it seems a bit like I’m raising Mary up to the level of God.

If you are one of those people, please believe me when I tell you that I get it.

As a kid I had my own questions about Mary’s role in the life of a Christian and I even doubted the “rightness” of things like the Rosary and praying before a statue of Mary.

I completely get the doubts and fears of giving to Mary what only God deserves.

So let me say — as a woman who had her own doubts growing up — a true devotion to Mary would never, ever take a person farther away from Jesus. 

In fact, the beauty of a true devotion to Mary is the it does quite the opposite of that.  A true devotion to Mary will only lead you closer to Christ. 

But how?

It starts with a simple truth: if God chose Mary, out of all the woman of the world, to be His mother than this woman would have to be incredibly special.

Furthermore, this woman would have to be a pure vessel, as it wouldn’t be fitting for God to reside within the womb of a sinful woman for 9 months.  

Nor would it be fitting for God to take on the flesh of a sinful woman — God’s body and DNA came from Mary, and if His body were to remain without the stain of sin, it makes sense that Mary’s body would need to be free of sin as well.

Mary was conceived without sin — a grace that was extended to her by virtue of of the cross and virtue of the fact that she would pass on what she had to her Son.

In other words, Mary was born in the same state of grace that Adam and Eve were born into.  

Unlike Adam and Eve, though, she remained in that original state of grace because she chose to continue to say “yes” to His plans all of her life. 

But this post isn’t meant to be a deep dive into the Philosophy and Theology of the Immaculate Conception.  

It’s meant to explain a devotion that has slowly grown over the years as I have begun to realize that, not only is it a good thing to develop a love for Mary, it actually pleases God immensely to love His Mother.

Even more than that, I believe God wants us to take Mary as our own mother because the battles of this life will be many and Mary knows more than any other human being the best way to fight those battles. 

I have to laugh at the “kick-ass” women we encounter in movies and comic books who pale in comparison to the fierceness of Mary.   

She literally became an integral part of defeating sin and death with her “yes” to God.  Ain’t no Marvel hero, Game of Thrones Queen or other fierce woman who can compare with that. 

And yet, so often, we paint this picture of her as a meek little girl who barely does anything but give birth to a baby.

You guys, Mary is a warrior and she is trying to train us up to be warriors, too.  

Her enemy is the devil and the demons who prowl about the world looking for souls to devour, and if you give her a chance, she will train you up to be a fierce warrior yourself. 

You know, one of Mary’s titles is “Terror of Demons” so I think we need to revaluate the fierceness of this woman. We could learn a thing or two from Mary.

Who doesn’t want to learn to be strong and fierce and capable of striking terror into demons?  I know I do, because the alternative is to be a scared victim who finds herself paralyzed by the darkness and evil that is before her. 

Whether or not we know it, we are in a battle and if we are to win this battle for souls that is going on around us, we need to learn from those who have overcome the darkness around them.

Mary overcame the devil and all of his temptations and tactics and she wants to prepare us to do the same.

Mary is no different than any other good mother who wants to equip her kids to go into the world, overcome their enemies and do the good that is before them.

But here is where she is different from the rest of us mothers, her perspective is a heavenly one.  

She can see the real battles going on, even when we can’t.  She can send angels to protect and guide us (Queen of Angels is another title of Mary).

She is the Spouse of the Holy Spirit (that’s how Jesus was conceived) and this means that staying close to Mary results in more of the Holy Spirit in your own life. 

Who doesn’t want more of the Holy Spirit in their own lives?  Even if you don’t want that, who doesn’t need more of the Holy Spirit in their lives?  

I know I do.

The truth is that the world we are living in is beginning to resemble, more and more, the pagan world that the Apostles of the early church found themselves in.

If you look back at those early days of those apostles, you will find a group of men who were afraid and in hiding because Jesus had been killed.  You would find women who were weeping at the loss of their Savior.

You would find a group of men and women who needed the Holy Spirit in order to overcome the darkness around them and in their souls.   

Mary was specifically pointed out in Acts 1 as praying for the Holy Spirit to come down upon those gathered in the upper room — and oh boy, did the Holy Spirit come!

The Holy Spirit transformed those men and women into the Saints we now admire.  It transformed them from scared and afraid to fierce and fearless.

They changed on that day, and it was a result of their own prayer and the prayers of Mary. 

Which brings us back to our trip.  

We always make our trips a pilgrimage of sorts and we always try to find a Marian pilgrimage sight because we want to develop in ourselves and our kids a true devotion to Mary — not a fanatical, superstitious devotion, but one which is rooted in the truth of who she is and who we are.

A devotion that takes seriously the words of Christ on the cross, “Here is your mother. Take her into your home”.

This trip we decided to go to Medjugorje.

For those of you who aren’t familiar, Medjugorje is still under investigation to confirm that Mary really did appear to 6 children in 1981 and in subsequent years and gave them messages for the world.

Some of the children, now grown, still receive yearly messages and therefore no final approval can take place until all apparitions have ended.

In some ways, it really doesn’t matter if Mary ever appeared — the days are full of prayer, Mass, the Rosary, Adoration and amazing encounters with faithful pilgrims.

I mean, I hope that she did appear there, but the lasting fruit in many people’s lives is undeniable and that is enough for me.

But what struck me most of the messages of Medjugorje are a call to shake ourselves out of our lukewarm attitudes towards the faith and begin to engage in the real battle that lies before us.

We all have an important place in God’s plan for salvation.

He wants to include us in it, and He is sending us people (including Mary) to help prepare us to engage in our battles more effectively.

So in the next few weeks and months, I hope to dive deeper into what a true devotion to Mary really means.

I hope to dive deeper into real fasting and prayer and shaking off my lukewarm soul that just wants to be comfortable.

I don’t know where it’s going to lead, but I figured I’d take you along for the journey and hoping maybe you’ll even join me along the way.

Because you and I — we were made for greatness, and greatness begins with how we live today.

Have a great weekend!

Sharing over at Kelly’s.