By Deacon Dan Dombrosky
During the month of May, Catholics honor the Blessed Mother through special prayers and devotions. Many in the Church (maybe you included), and certainly many outside the Church, have a hard time placing Mary in their lives.
A beautiful and simple way of remembering Mary’s role is – ”To Jesus Through Mary.” St. Louis de Montfort (1673 -1716) used these words in his book True Devotion to Mary to explain that devotion to Mary is the best way to grow closer to Jesus, because Mary herself will lead us to her Son if we ask her to do so.
Mary is not God. But, in the same way that Jesus came to us through Mary, we can go to God through her. If Christ is the source of grace, then Mary is the channel.
As the beloved daughter of the Father, Mother of the Son, and Spouse of the Holy Spirit, there is no one closer to the Holy Trinity than Mary. And, it’s through her example and her intercession that we hope to share in that closeness.
“God could make a bigger world or a wider sky, but He could not raise a pure creature higher in dignity than Mary, for the dignity of the Mother of God is the highest dignity that can be conferred on a creature.” — St. Bonaventure.