My personal experiences praying to Mary involve a kind of spiritual comfort.

Like a my spiritual mother holding my

spiritual self and comforting my afflictions and bringing me to her Son, Jesus. The rosary is my favorite prayer
because it leaves my loud mind in silence to focus on what she is showing me, her Son. I have a book with Carmelite
prayers(Drink of the Stream) and it is quite clear they were devoted to our "Mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness,
our hope." This is not answering your first question. Well, not the second either.
Take care!

I just thought I might share this.

This is a beautiful thread . Thanks be to God .

I agree with you, Monica, that a strong devotion to Mary is a marvelous defense against evil.
Here are a few quotes about Mary. The saints far better express how vital Mary is to our lives than I could.
"Mary alone gives to the unfortunate children of unfaithful Eve entry into that earthly paradise where they may walk
pleasantly with God and be safely hidden from their enemies. There they can feed without fear of death on the
delicious fruit of the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They can drink copiously the heavenly
waters of that beauteous fountain which gushes forth in such abundance."
~St. Louis de Montfort
"If you put all the love of all the mothers into one heart it still would not equal the love of the Heart of Mary for her
children."
~St. Louis de Montfort
"When the Holy Spirit finds Mary in a soul, He enters that soul completely and communicates Himself completely to
that soul."
~St. Louis de Montfort
"Mary is the lily of God's garden."
~Bridget of Sweden
"No man is delivered or preserved from the worldwide snares of Satan save through Mary; and God grants His graces
to no one except through her alone."
~St. Germanus
"Jesus is the mediator of justice; Mary obtains for us grace; for . . . it is the will of God to dispense through the hands
of Mary whatever graces He is pleased to bestow upon us. With God, the prayers of the saints are the prayers of His
friends, but the prayers of Mary are the prayers of His mother."
~St. Alphonsus Liguori
Think of what the Saints have done for their neighbor because they loved God. But what Saint's love for God can
match Mary's? She loved Him more in the first moment of her existence than all the Saints and angels ever loved Him
or will love Him. Our Lady herself revealed to Sister Mary Crucified that the fire of her love was most extreme. If
Heaven and earth were placed in it, they would be instantly consumed. And the ardors of the seraphim, compared
with it, are like cool breezes. Just as there is not one among all the Blessed who loves God as Mary does, so there is
no one, after God, who loves us as much as this most loving Mother does. Furthermore, if we heaped together all the
love that mothers have for their children, all the love of husbands and wives, all the love of all the angels and Saints
for their clients, it could never equal Mary's love for even a single soul.
~St. Alphonsus Liguori
It is the privilege of the glory of Mary, that after God, our greatest happiness is from her.
~St. Bonaventure
Believe me, there is no more powerful means to obtain Gods grace than to employ the intercessions of the Holy
Virgin.
~St. Philip Neri

Mary is the most sweet bait, chosen, prepared, and ordained by God, to catch the hearts of men.
~St. Catherine of Siena
No matter how sinful one may have been, if he has devotion to Mary, it is impossible that he be lost."
~St. Hilary of Poitiers
"Prayer is powerful beyond limits when we turn to the Immaculata who is queen even of God's heart."
~St. Maximilian Kolbe
What a joy to remember that she is our Mother! Since she loves us and knows our weakness, what have we to fear?
~St. Therese of Lisieux
"The world being unworthy to receive the Son of God directly from the hands of the Father, he gave his Son to Mary
for the world to receive him from her."
~Saint Augustine
There is no danger of exaggerating. We can never hope to fathom this inexpressible mystery nor will we ever be able
to give sufficient thanks to our Mother for bringing us into such intimacy with the Blessed Trinity.
~St. Josemaria Escriva

Isn't there a danger of overestimating, though? I mean, Mary was created out of nothing and would BE nothing
without God. Any holiness she has is from God. She is completely dependent on Jesus as her savior, like the rest
of us. I think it's important to remember that we only approach Mary with our love and devotion because God
wants us to, for he chose to favor her above all the rest of his creation. We love and devote ourselves to Mary out
of obedience to God's will.
And of course, I'm happy to hear of the joy and comfort that my Mother brings to my brothers and sisters!

I do not feel there is much danger in loving the Blessed Mother too much. I have yet to run into someone who
does not fully understand that Mary is a creature, which means no matter how gifted by grace, she is clearly
distinct from God. The Blessed Virgin Mary is the most beautiful creature in the universe, and the Church
recognizes that she is due a very special type of love and devotion (hyperdulia). This is still distinct from total
adoration, which is due to God alone. But with our small human hearts I think it is much more likely we will
love too little, rather than love too much.
If Mary is truly acting in one's life then there is absolutely no danger of going astray. Mary always points to her
Son. Remember her command that came just prior to the Lord's first miracle (which was brought about
through her intercession), "Do whatever He tells you."
Remember, Christ willed that Mary be not only His Blessed Mother, but ours as well. From His Cross, as He
was completing his act of supreme Love, He gave us Mary to be our Mother. And no one should worry that
they love their earthly mother too much, or that they show too much affection towards their earthly mother. So
there should likewise be no fear of showing our Heavenly Mother too much love or affection either.
Her Immaculate heart will quickly lead us into Christ's Sacred Heart if we allow ourselves to be led.

Let us follow God's lead ! Did you notice that the first person to begin praising Mary is GOD. Talk about importance.
God Bless All
onenow1

Dear Monica,
.

For me she is my role model and mentor.

She is a true friend, she helps me in ways I do not evealize need help. She is my comforter, and my mother. And like
a mother she is always there to let me cry and lament to her whenever I find my crosses too great to bear. And when
my crying and lamenting have been spent she always reassures me and dries my tears. Then sends me back on my
journey to her Son. Refreshed and ready to try harder than ever. I am truly indebted to her.
May God bless you with peace and joy,

A modern tendency of religion is to look inside oursides for salvation, to look for peace, quiet, and consolation within
us. As a result we could deceive ourselves by false consolations and false theology. By looking at Mary the Blessed
Virgin, we see true beauty beckon us. We see the goodness which is true and which is outside of us. Mary draws us
outside of ourselves to the fountain of divine truth, which is her Son.

It's all right to ask these questions, I think. Do you think those of us who talk about Mary are obsessed with her for an
illusion of some sort? We talk about Mary because we are in need. She is of great help to us in our spiritual growth; so
we think it might be helpful to others if they know how much she helps us.
Aren't you at least glad that Mary helps US love Jesus more, even if you yourself are not in need of her help?
If you concerned about us, what do you think our problem is? If you say our problem is that we do not love Jesus
enough, well we'll completely agree with you. And that's exactly why we have chosen to go to Mary, in order to love
Jesus better.

Ann, I used to think so too (I'm a convert from Protestantism) but then I changed my mind... I can't speak for everyone
but I'll try to describe how I see Mary. I see her as my Mother, and as someone who really cares for me; is always
there.. I know that she loves me and prays for me. She is not just an intercessor, as the Saints are, Jesus also gave
her to us as our Mother, and from then on the "beloved disciple" "took her into his own home". What St John did, we
should do too
I believe that Mary leads us much closer to Jesus than we come on our own. I used to think that maybe the Catholic
devotion to her was "a bit much", but as St Therese said, we shouldn't be afraid of loving Mary too much because we'll
never love her enough. The more we love Mary, the more she changes our hearts so we can love Jesus all the
more.... our devotion to Mary is centered on Jesus, even if doesn't seem that way from how Catholics talk. We just
use this language for her because we love her.
The early Church Fathers spoke about Mary in much more "extreme" language than most
Catholics... http://campus.udayton.edu/mary//pray...ntsPrayers.htm
when they speak of Mary as relating to our salvation, they mean that she brought us Jesus... if we didn't have Mary,
we wouldn't have Jesus.
Mary has done a lot in my life to bring me closer to Jesus, she brought me to the Church, and she helped me
overcome an area of sin in my life that I struggled with for years.
God bless

thank you Monica. I came from Baptist so the whole idea of even considering Mary other than at Christmas is
rather foreign.
I guess my thought train is that God sent us Jesus to be what it seems like a lot of people are placing on Mary.
Does that make sense? When I'm afraid, need comfort, whatever, I go to Jesus. I always thought that God sent
Jesus here for us to go straight to Him, not Mary, to go to Jesus, to go to God. I even feel really guilty if I pray the

Hail Mary. It just feels like I'm praying or focusing on someone I shouldn't be focusing on. I guess I just don't get
how it helps focus on Jesus.... I'm still learning...obviously...

Hi Ann, I think part of the problem is that sometimes your objections may be correct. I have no doubt that
some Catholics who aren't very educated about their faith do in fact pray to Mary as if she were equal to God.
This is clearly wrong and if you see someone doing this you should politely inquire to make sure this is in fact
what they're doing and then kindly explain to them that the love given to Mary (hyperdulia) is not and should
not be the same love given to God alone (adoration). That said, the Church teaches that the special type of
love shown to Mary should be greater than any which would be given to saints or angels, etc.
There is nothing wrong with asking Mary to pray for us. It is no more wrong to ask Mary to pray for us than it
is to ask a friend or relative to do so. The difference lies in how effective those prayers may be. Of all God's
creatures Mary is the closest to God. I do not mean this in a sense that she is "like" God, I mean that she is
close to God in a loving relationship with her Creator. She has conformed herself to God's loving will better
than any other creature has. Mary has a few advantages that the rest of us do not which allow her to be
closer to God than we currently are 1) she was immaculately conceived and so has no stain of original sin 2)
she lived her entire life without sinning 3) she bore the Savior of the world 4) she was bodily assumed into
Heaven and 5) she was made Queen of Heaven and Earth by her Son. So Mary's closeness to God is due to
an unimaginable outpouring of grace as well as how fully she shared the sufferings of her Son.
As for your concerns about praying the "Hail Mary", it would be good to break down this prayer and see that it
is not simply about Mary. It illustrates how Mary reflects God ("My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit
rejoices in God my Savior").
Hail Mary: This is just a formal salutation.
full of grace: These were the words spoken by the angel Gabriel when he greeted Mary at the Annunciation.
Also, their meaning is straight-forward. Mary is "full of grace", she has been filled by God's grace in order to
make her a suitable Mother for our Lord. (Luke 1.28)
the Lord is with thee: This is connected to the previous statement that Mary is full of grace. Mary's grace
comes from the fact that the Lord is with her.
blessed art thou among women: Mary is blessed among women, in fact blessed among all mankind, for
numerous reasons. Mainly that she was given the singular grace to be immaculately conceived, thus allowing
her to be the Mother of Christ, which follows immediately on the heels of this statement. (Luke 1.42)
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus: Here, at the center of the prayer, is Christ. As if anchoring the
rest of the prayer, illustrating the true focus, we meet our Lord who was born of the Virgin Mary. (Luke 1.42)
holy Mary, Mother of God: Again, it is reiterated that Mary is holy because she is Christ's Mother. And since
Christ has always been God, He was God even at the moment of His conception in Mary's womb, thus Mary
truly is the Mother of God or Theotokos as she is known more widely in the Orthodox churches.
pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.: Here we see clearly that we are asking Mary to
pray for us. This is again very different than praying to someone, we are simply asking her to join her prayers
to our own. Not only are we seeking her prayers for us now, but throughout our life and even at the hour of
our death when we need prayers the most.
Amen.: This is the normal way to end prayers. It is a derivative of a Hebrew word meaning to "confirm". More
loosely it is an assertion of belief.
Ok, I've rambled on far too long yet again.

I hope that helped at little.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ann1231

thank you Monica. I came from Baptist so the whole idea of even considering Mary other than at Christmas is rather
foreign.

I know what you mean

Quote:

I guess my thought train is that God sent us Jesus to be what it seems like a lot of people are placing on Mary. Does
that make sense? When I'm afraid, need comfort, whatever, I go to Jesus. I always thought that God sent Jesus here for
us to go straight to Him, not Mary, to go to Jesus, to go to God. I even feel really guilty if I pray the Hail Mary. It just feels
like I'm praying or focusing on someone I shouldn't be focusing on. I guess I just don't get how it helps focus on Jesus....
I'm still learning...obviously...
I felt this way too, at first, but - well there's no competition between Jesus and Mary.. if you are talking to Mary, or praying
the Rosary, Mary is listening to you but Jesus at her side, listening to you too. They are together in Heaven. The Holy
Spirit unites the Church Militant (on earth) and Church Triumphant (in Heaven)..Mary is aware of what is happening in
your life, and if we ask her for prayers, we can make her a part of our life too... she helps with many things, especially
guarding against sin, and spiritual protection..
When I need help, or am afraid, sad, worried, etc, - I go to Jesus but I also go to Mary. I don't think that Jesus is
displeased when we talk to His Mother
especially because He gave her to us to be our mother too. There are also
other times when I just go to Jesus.
The Saints were all very close to Jesus, but they had a lot of devotion to Mary as well. For example, St Gemma
Galgani... http://www.stgemmagalgani.com/ She knew Jesus so intimately, she had visions of Him and she spoke to Him
with so much love.. her prayers are very beautiful. But she was also very close to Mary... If the Saints' devotion to Jesus
wasn't hindered by their devotion to Mary, (but quite the opposite), I think it must be pretty safe
here's a quote from the
website:
Quote:

"Whoever could have imagined," thus she wrote "that this evening my dear Mother would have come to see me? It was
not even to be thought of because I believed that my bad conduct would prevent it. Yet she had compassion on me. Her
presence quickly put me in a state of recollection, and then, as often happens, I lost my senses, and I found myself, I
think, with Our Lady of Sorrows. Oh, what happiness! What sweetness of heart I felt during those wonderful moments!
Let whoever can, explain it. It seemed to me, after some moments of emotion, that she took me in her lap and made me
rest my head on her shoulder and keep it there for a short time. My heart during that time felt perfectly happy and
con*tented without any other desire. "Do you love only me?" she asked me now and then. "Oh, no!" I answered her,
"before You I love someone else." "And who is it?" She said, pre*tending not to know. "It is one so dear to me! More
dear than all else. I love Him so much that I would now, this moment, give my life for Him; for His sake I regard not my
life." "But tell me, who is it?" she asked me "If You, Mother, had come the evening before last, You would have seen Him
with me. I instead go to Him every day [she meant in Holy Communion], and I would go more often if I could. But do You
know Mother," I continued, "why I do so? Because I know that He wishes to see, by His keeping so far away from me, if
I am capable of ceasing to love Him. But quite the contrary, the farther He keeps away, the more I feel drawn to Him!
And she repeated: "Tell me, who is He?" "No," I replied, "I won't tell thee. If only You have seen Him, Mother! He is like
Thee in beauty; His hair is the color of Yours." Mother, then embracing me, seemed to say again: "But my child, tell me
of whom are you speaking." I then exclaimed aloud, "Do You not understand me? Of Jesus, I speak of Jesus." "Repeat
it still louder," she said. Then, smiling, she looked at me and pressed me closely to herself, saying, "Yes, love Him, but
love Him greatly; Listen well! Love Him alone!" "Don't be afraid," I said to her, "no one in the world shall taste my
affections! Jesus alone." Again she pressed me to her; she seemed to kiss me on the forehead. Then I awoke [meaning
that she came out of the ecstasy], and I found myself stretched on the floor with the crucifix near me."
One 'secret' that I discovered (from a Saint, but it's been true in my life as well) is that we come closer to Jesus when we
go through Mary, than if we were to simply go to Jesus. I know with a Protestant background, this might be very hard to
understand or to feel comfortable with. I sort of wrestled with it for a while lol. But I found it to be true.. and that's because
Mary helps us to love Jesus more and so we're more open to Him.. she gives us graces that we don't even know we need
to ask for. For example, Mary has brought many people to the Church.. here's a cool story about
that: http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/ne...ns_the_church/
For years, I tried to overcome a sin. I prayed a lot about it but nothing helped. But when I asked Mary for help (just once),
she helped me instantly and I've never sinned in that way again. She just made me stronger, so I can resist temptations or
suggestions of the enemy, and of my own fallen nature.

We can also see the Catholic doctrines about Mary in Scripture: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUdYeYy3NQA
God bless!

Here's another thought

we know everything by its 'fruits'... good tree, good fruit. The 'fruit' of devotion to Mary has always been a greater love
for God. Some Protestants think that the Mary apparitions (Fatima, etc) are demonic deceptions.. but their 'fruit' has
been conversion, repentance.. it's the same with the Rosary, and with other Marian devotions.
About the Rosary.. here's something from the book "The Secret of the Rosary" by St Louis de Montfort:

Quote:

One day when Saint Mechtilde was praying and was trying to think of some way in which she could express her love of
the Blessed Mother better than she had done before, she fell into ecstasy. Our Lady appeared to her with the Angelic
Salutation in flaming letters of gold upon her bosom and said to her: "My daughter, I want you to know that no one can
please me more by saying the salutation which the Most Adorable Trinity sent to me and by which He raised me to the
dignity of Mother of God.
"Bye the word Ave (which is the name Eve, Eva), I learned that in His infinite power God has preserved me from all sin
and its attendant misery which the first woman had been subject to.
"The name Mary which means "lady of light" shows that God has filled me with wisdom and light, like a shining star, to
light up heaven and earth.
"The words full of grace reminds me that the Holy Spirit has showered so many graces upon me that I am able to give
these graces in abundance to those who ask for them through me as Mediatrix.*
"When people say The Lord is with thee they renew the indescribable joy that was mine when the Eternal Word became
incarnate in my womb.
"When you say to me blessed art thou among women I praise Almighty God's divine mercy which lifted me to this
exalted plane of happiness.
"And at the words blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus, the whole of heaven rejoices with me to see my Son Jesus
Christ adored and glorified for having saved mankind."
*the title "Mediatrix" doesn't mean that Jesus isn't the sole Mediator between the Father and human beings for our
salvation. Mary's mediation is secondary to His and it's a mediation of intercession, not like Christ's. (His mediation is that
of redemption). Mary has a very unique role in our salvation, by bringing us Jesus (as His Mother), giving Jesus His
human nature, and being with Him as He died on the Cross

Mary is a mere creature, though very highly privileged. She is an outstanding disciple of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and
the perfect model for us.
In St. Louis Marie de Montfort's "True Devotion to Mary" he explains that the end of all devotion to Mary is the love of
Our Lord Jesus Christ. Her spirit is one with her Son. Jesus gave her to us as she was suffering in union with Him at
the foot of the Cross. The devil hates Mary, because she, a mere creature is so highly privileged. Our Blessed Mother
wants nothing more than for us to totally love her Son. She is "full of grace", and wants to clothe us in her virtues. We
are so blessed to have her for our Mother.

.
I just remembered an image given by St. Louis Marie de Montfort in the full book "True Devotion to Mary".
I am paraphrasing as I don't remember the exact words of what he said, but he was describing how we are made
more virtuous and thus more holy. He mentioned that when we go to Jesus without Mary it is as though we are being
chipped away at with a hammer and chisel. Then he said when we are mindful of Mary as we go to Jesus, it is like
being poured into a mold.

I highly recommend reading the entire book "True Devotion to Mary". He explains true and false devotion to Mary. I
recently made this Consecration (33 days of special prayers), for about the 8th time, and it brought many blessings to
me. It is best to make it once a year.

Thank you!
Hail Mary...full of grace!
Daughter of the Father, Mother of the Son, Spouse of the Holy Spirit!
He has made her for us!
She is one with Jesus Our Lord!
I strive to stay close to my mother, as she is the "eye of the hurricane", and loves Jesus and us.
The devils tremble at her sight.....
Mary, our Mother, a creature like us, though highly privileged.
I once heard it described that she is as a clear pane of glass with no smudges (sin) that allows the Holy Trinity to
shine through!!! She is nothing without the Lord, and knows it! What humility.....