The greatest honour we give to Mary is that she is the Mother of Jesus, the Son of God. Jesus is not merely a holy man or a great prophet. St Paul says that in Him "the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily" (Colossians 2:9). Jesus is truly God. The woman who conceived Him, carried Him and gave birth to Him is therefore rightly called the Mother of God.
That does not make Mary divine. It tells us who Jesus is. And when we look carefully at Scripture, we also begin to see how important Mary is in the plan of salvation and in the life of the Church.
Highly Favoured and Blessed Among Women
When the angel Gabriel comes to Mary, he does not greet her in an ordinary way. He says, "Greetings, favoured one. The Lord is with you" (Luke 1:28). Some translations render that greeting "full of grace." Scripture itself says Mary was perplexed and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. The very words used by the angel had something special in them. Mary was being shown as highly favoured in the plan of God.
The angel tells her that she will conceive and bear a Son who will be called the Son of the Most High. Mary asks how this can happen, and Gabriel answers that the Holy Spirit will come upon her and the power of the Most High will overshadow her. Mary responds, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord. Let it be with me according to your word" (Luke 1:38). She believes the Word of God and gives herself to it.
Then Mary goes in haste to Elizabeth. The moment Elizabeth hears Mary's greeting, she is filled with the Holy Spirit and the child in her womb leaps for joy. Mary is not preaching to Elizabeth. She only greets her, yet Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit. For me, that says something very special about the presence of Mother Mary. Her presence brought anointing to Elizabeth. Wherever her spiritual presence is welcomed, I believe it brings the anointing of the Holy Spirit in great measure.
Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cries out, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb" (Luke 1:42). That is why I cannot understand the idea that honouring Mary is somehow unbiblical. The first part of the Hail Mary comes directly from Scripture: the angel's greeting and Elizabeth's blessing. Every time we repeat those words, we are repeating the Word of God. The Word of God brings power, healing and anointing. The more Hail Marys we say, the more we are repeating God's Word. We are not repeating a meaningless prayer. Therein lies the power of the Hail Mary.
Elizabeth also asks, "Why has this happened to me, that the Mother of my Lord comes to me?" (Luke 1:43). She considers it an honour that the Mother of her Lord has come to visit her. Mary herself then says in the Magnificat, "Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed" (Luke 1:48). And what do Christians call her? The Blessed Virgin Mary. Scripture itself tells us that generations will call her blessed.
At Cana, She Sees the Need
The wedding at Cana shows us the particular relationship Mary had with Jesus. Out of love, I would even say that Jesus obeys whatever His Mother says. When the wine runs out, nobody comes to Mary and asks her to intervene. She sees the need herself. She goes to Jesus and says simply, "They have no wine" (John 2:3).
Jesus replies, "Woman, what concern is that to you and to Me? My hour has not yet come" (John 2:4). We may hear that as a negative answer, but Mary did not. She immediately turns to the servants and says, "Do whatever He tells you" (John 2:5). Her freedom with her Son was such that she knew her request would be granted. She did not wait for another explanation. She was convinced of the outcome, and the first sign at Cana followed.
Such is the power of her intercession with her Son. At Cana she noticed the need before anyone asked her to do anything about it. Even without being asked, she intervened because she had been invited into that family's celebration. In the same way, if you invite her into your family life, trust her maternal care. You do not always have to explain every need. She sees, she intercedes, and she carries those needs to her Son.
There is another side of Mary that I find even more beautiful. During the public ministry of Jesus, when crowds followed Him, miracles happened and people wanted to make Him king, we do not find Mary trying to share His glory. But when everyone deserted Him and He was suffering, she was there. She stood at the foot of the Cross and watched her Son die.
"Here Is Your Mother"
For me, the first and foremost reason to honour Mary is what Jesus said from the Cross. St John tells us that when Jesus saw His Mother and the disciple whom He loved standing beside her, He said to His Mother, "Woman, here is your son." Then He said to the disciple, "Here is your mother" (John 19:26-27). Even if nothing else had been written in Scripture about Mary, that one word from the Cross would have been enough for me to honour her.
Jesus spoke very few words from the Cross, and every one of them was important. Among those words He said, "Here is your son. Here is your Mother." I understand this as Jesus entrusting the whole of humanity to the motherhood of His Mother. From the Cross, she was given to the world as Mother, and every believer has to receive that gift of Jesus.
The Gospel says that from that hour the disciple took her into his own home. That is also the response asked of us. Receive the Mother Jesus gives you. Let Mary have a place in your Christian life, not because she replaces Christ, but because Christ Himself gave her to us from the Cross.
After the Crucifixion, we find Mary again with the disciples as they prepare for Pentecost. Acts tells us that they were constantly devoting themselves to prayer "together with certain women, including Mary the Mother of Jesus" (Acts 1:14). The Bible does not forget to mention her name there. The first Pentecost took place in the presence of Mother Mary. The great outpouring of the Holy Spirit that marked the beginning of the Church took place with her there. This is why I say there can be no real Pentecost without Mary, and there can be no Church without Mary.
Can anyone stand two thousand years later and excommunicate St Peter or the other Apostles from the Church? No, because they were there at the beginning. In the same way, Mary was there at the beginning of the Church. We cannot look back centuries later, remove her, and then act as though nothing has changed. Do not dare to excommunicate Mary from the Church. She was there from the beginning. In that sense, I say there can be no valid Church without Mary.
Why Ask Mary and the Saints to Pray for Us?
Some people ask why Christians should seek the intercession of Mary or the saints. But we already understand intercession in ordinary Christian life. I can ask you to pray for me, and you can ask me to pray for you. We usually ask the prayers of people whom we know to be prayerful and close to God. Why should that mutual help suddenly stop with death?
Jesus says that God "is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to Him all of them are alive" (Luke 20:38). The difference between life and death is a difference for us, not for God. I am alive to God now, and I remain alive to God after death. For that reason, I believe any holy person can be asked for prayers. If Mary's intercession was powerful while she was bodily with Jesus, how much more now, when she is closer to the Lord and has been given to us as our Mother.
The prophet Elisha gives us a striking biblical example. After he had died, a dead man was thrown into his grave. When the man's body touched Elisha's bones, he revived and stood on his feet (2 Kings 13:20-21). Elisha was a man of God, a person who had lived for God. I see in that incident a witness to the power the saints have with God, the power of intercession and prayer.
Again and again in Scripture, God chooses to work through another person's prayer. At the end of Job, God tells Job's friends, "My servant Job shall pray for you" (Job 42:8). Saul is directed to Ananias, who comes and prays for him (Acts 9:10-18). The direct relationship with God is real, but Scripture also shows us that certain things are asked for and received through intercession. That is exactly what we already practise in the Christian community when we ask one another to pray.
Honour Is Not Worship
The same distinction is necessary when we speak about statues, pictures and medals. Let me make this clear: if anyone worships an image, he or she is committing a mortal sin. Worship belongs to God alone. But an image is not automatically an idol.
Most families understand this without difficulty. You may keep a photograph or painting of a grandfather who has died. When you look at it, you may be filled with gratitude and affection, not toward the paper or paint, but toward the person represented there. The person is not inside the picture. The image is a reminder that brings back a memory. That is how holy pictures and statues are meant to function.
Scripture itself shows that God did not forbid every religious image. In the wilderness, when the Israelites were bitten by serpents, God told Moses, "Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live" (Numbers 21:8). Moses made the bronze serpent, and those who looked at it lived. Not only was the image made, but the people were told to look at it. So what is sinful about looking at a statue of Mary? Nothing, as long as we do not worship it.
Even an image of Jesus is not meant to be worshipped as an object. Nobody worships the material image. It is a reminder. It evokes holy memories and points us toward the person represented. When God forbids making an idol, the problem is not the existence of every image. The problem is making a god for worship.
A Prayer I Have Never Stopped
My own devotion to Mary began very simply. When I was a boy in Year 9, the desire to become a priest came into my heart. I kept it secret because the circumstances were not favourable. My elder brother was already in the seminary, and I knew my father would not permit another son to go. I was even afraid to tell him about my desire. I did not know what to do, but something within me kept urging me: "Say three Hail Marys every day for this intention."
At that time I did not even know that there was a devotion of the Three Hail Marys in the Church. Nobody told me to do it. Every night before going to bed, I simply began to say three Hail Marys: "Mother Mary, help me to join the seminary." I did that faithfully for a few months. Looking back now, I understand that she helped me miraculously. Within about a month my father's heart dramatically changed, the obstacles were removed, and I was allowed to enter the seminary.
I continued that prayer after I joined. Even today, before going to bed, the one prayer I will not miss is those three Hail Marys. It has become a lifetime commitment. Three years after I entered the seminary, my younger brother also joined. He was the one my father would have been least willing to send because he was the smartest of us and had done very well in college. Yet he too entered, and I was still continuing the Three Hail Marys. Thanks to God and Mother Mary, all three of us brothers became priests and are serving the Lord.
I was helpless when that journey began. I did not know what to do. All I knew was that something in me said, "Say three Hail Marys every day." That was the beginning of a journey I hope to continue until my last breath. She is our Mother, the Mother of the Church, and one day we will meet her in her most radiant form in Heaven. Let her be very precious to you and to your family. She will take care of us.