Might as well throw in “totus tuus” (totally yours, St John Paul II’s now famous {infamous?} motto in reference to Mary) while you’re at it. Get it all out in the open.
And/or the “Hail Holy Queen”, the prayer at the end of every Rosary:
Hail, holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our hope.
To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve.
To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears.
Turn then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us, and after this our exile show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary!
(Shrugs) I’m not too concerned. Why? Because every Catholic who is true to his faith knows that the only way these prayers and devotions to Mary are possible at all, the reason they are prayed in the first place, the reason there is such devotion, is towards the ultimate goal of seeing JESUS face to face. In other words, all devotion to Mary is a desire for Christ.
It is only those who have an axe to grind against Catholicism who refuse to see this plain truth.
Sorry to interrupt your conversation. Enjoy your “last word”, which I’m quite confident you will post to take, for how much it achieves (which is precisely nothing).
I want to reiterate that I have never met a Catholic who took an idolatrous approach to Mary, despite the impression a superficial reading of devotional literature could produce.
As Cynical Bear very sensibly remarked,
Your joking right? The little girl adored her dad. He adored his daughter. The wife adored her husband. Weren't those children adorable at the Christmas program? Get the picture?
Exactly, CB. Expressions like this show normal hearts welling with affection and devotion. They do not denote idolatry.
Why not cut out the middle 'man'?
The muzlimites say the same thing about Mohammed...Why should someone believe you instead of them???