There are many that are not sure why Catholics revere Mary, the mother of Jesus with such high regard. Even many Catholics have voice concern about Marian devotion. This devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mother, Mary, may seem worriesome to the uninformed. But that is actually the only difference between a non-Catholic and a Catholic, misinformation. Some of the greatest teachings and devotions of the early Christians have largely been forgotten or just ignored by most professing Christians today. My attempt in this article is to explain why Mary is just so important to anyone who claims Christ as their God. 

Mary to Jesus 

To begin, no true Catholic worships the Blessed Virgin Mary. No, never! This would be a blasphemous outrage to the eternal God! Mary however, is God’s greatest creation.
In divinely revealed revelation to the Church, Our Lady was conceived and born without sin, just as Eve was created without sin. She was with-held from the stain of Original Sin which cursed the world since the fall from grace of Adam and Eve. 
For this Dogmatic truth is as true and important to behold as the Dogmatic truth of Christ’s divinity! Or else, we are to say, that the pure, sinless God was formed, flesh and blood in a tainted woman? That the Holy Spirit overshadowed and formed within her and mingled with sinful flesh?
And so, because His mother was stained with Original Sin, and as all mother’s children inherent such a curse, you mean to say that Our Lord Jesus Christ also shares in the stain of Original Sin?

The lamb without blemish to be sacrificed on the Cross had a blemish? Such a demonic lie that could ever be spread to say that such a thing could exist.
Unfortunately, many professing Christians do not see this as a connection and do all they can to ignore it. But to look closer at Our Lady is to see the perfect Christ within and therefore perfection. She, like Eve, was perfect and the only difference between Mary and Eve is temptation did not take Mary as all humans are tempted. Eve, the mother of sin and death and Mary the mother of purity and life!  

Mary the Ark of the Covenant

  We all know the story of the Ark of the Covenant. We remember the perfect presences of God within this hallowed Ark. His presence was so great that if any person other than His Priests were to touch it, they would be struck death because of their imperfection. But recall the instructions from God to Moses to build the Ark.For the wood used to build the ark was called Acacia wood (or Shittim wood) meaning ‘the incorruptible wood’as well as adorned with the glorious glow of jewels and gold. Remember also the contents within the Ark;the Rod of Aaron, the Bread from Heaven (the Manna), and the Ten Commandments.

But what was inside of Mary at the time of the Holy Spirit’s conception? Is not Jesus a King who will rule with the Iron Rod? Is not Jesus the Bread from Heaven? Is not Jesus also the Word made flesh? Therefore, the Blessed Virgin Mary is the human version of the Ark of the Covenant! The Jews did not worship the Ark of the Covenant but the Presence of God within but they did bow down in reverence before the Ark none-the-less! Also recall 2 Samuel 6:9, when King David saw the returning of the Ark of the Covenant to him as he stripped his clothes bear and said, “How is it that the Ark of my Lord should come to me?” How see in the New Testament such things fulfilled as in Luke 1:43 when Mary’s cousin Elizabeth uttered, “How is it that the Mother of my Lord, should come to me?!” Take note also that the babe within Elizabeth’s womb danced for Joy at the sound of Mary’s greeting. 

Mary’s Psalter

  Our Good St. Dominic was a holy Priest who pleaded with God to help convert the Albigensians of their demonic heresies against Christ. So, he prayed and wept bitterly for days in a near by forest until Our Lady appeared before him. He was given the Holy Rosary, the weapon the Blessed Trinity devised to reform the world by the power of prayer. You see, the Rosary is no more than the Bible on a string. When a prayerful soul prays the Rosary, he/she is meditating on something called Mysteries. Not that they are secret but rather they are moments in the life of Jesus and Mary that hold graces innumerable. 
 For example, in the Joyful Mysteries, we are to contemplate on the moments in the life of Mary being visited by the Angel Gabriel to announce her motherhood over the Messiah, the visitation to her cousin Elizabeth, the Nativity (birth of Jesus), and the finding at the Temple (where Jesus was lost for 3 days to foreshadow His future death only to resurrect).

We contemplate on these things as these moments are found in Scripture and whereas to read Scripture is good and holy but to pray Scripture far exceeds in holiness. Therefore, praying the Holy Rosary is a divinely inspired devotion one should not shy away from unless he wishes to not know God through His mother’s eyes.  

Mary’s Intercession 

We may speak of her in so many wonderful ways but until you recognize the importance of intercession, you may never truly grasp the importance of Mary’s heavenly assistance.
We use intercession daily whether you know it or not but most of us don’t think about using it in prayer, oddly enough.

But think of it, let us say that you needed to borrow a very important tool to help you fix something in your home. Let us also say that this tool is available but is owned by my father-in-law but you do not know my father-in-law like you know me. So who will you ask to try to obtain this tool? You shall ask me of course! You will do this because you know that I know my father-in-law in a personal way and thus more likely be able to obtain the tool you need. In the same way, Jesus loves His mother and because Jesus is God and obeys His own commandments, He cannot deny His mother something Holy as Mary is apt to ask only according to God’s will. 
Therefore, since Mary ONLY asks for things that are within the essence of God’s will, God CANNOT deny Mary anything she asks! Though Jesus be all mercy, He cannot put aside His justice as it too must be satisfied. But Our Lady, interceding for us by devoting ourselves to her guidance, stands in our place to ask her Son for mercy and blessings as she did at the Wedding of Cana. And in the end, if Mary is good enough for Jesus and you love Jesus…then she is Good enough for you! So ask your mother, who is in Heaven, to assist you in your prayers. Do not be afraid, as Mary said in the Wedding of Cana, “Do as HE (Jesus) tells you”. Amen.

Jesus Bless you all
Nicola