scapular and reliance on mary

[linate]

despite not being a catholic, i say the hail mary consistently. it's a thoroughly biblical prayer and makes good sense. i see as plausible the other sorts of devotions such as wearing the scapular and such. but i fear people take it too far, and place too much trust in mary instead of Jesus. if i were to try wearing one, id fear i was basically using Mary as my catchall instead of where my reliance should properly go. i guess you could wear one with the intention of knowing Mary will intercede for you in your last hour, and that isn't so bad, but even that in some sense is trying to have her be the ultimate fail safe.  

id probably say trying to keep things about interceding and not the ultimate reliance is proper but it can be tricky territory. 

i know even PJII said sometimes people take marian devotion too far. 

so how far can you legitimately and healthfully go in relying on mary?

[Tab'le De'Bah-Rye]

All devotion to Mary is supposed to do is increase our devotion to God. A good mother loves to tell everyone about the good of her sons and introduce people to him. A good son is a boquet of fragrant flowers upon the head of any mother. Though Mary is not god she leads us to her son Jesus as do the angels and saints. I find if I'm doing the holy rosary daily along with regular mass and confession my love of Jesus increases and love of others, I am less judgemental and sin flees, my head and heart have peace and I desire the increase of virtue in my life and others, my want for distractions are diminished and I can be still and examine my life and the way mentally, ie like the old testament says be still and know that I am god. All in all if we meditate upon the mysteries we are inviting Jesus more deeply into our life and I just love asking others to pray for me and others I know, all kinds of things actually. He that asks only a little receives a little and he that asks a lot receives a lot.

[chrysostom]

Saint Maximilian Kolbe said: "Don't be afraid of loving Mary too much. You can never love her more than Jesus did."

Mary is our mother in the order of grace just as Jesus is our brother (and of course many other things!). So go to her as much as you like. She will only lead you to Jesus. It's a family. So no one need worry about counting Hail Marys versus Our Fathers and seeing if you are paying, somehow, an inordinate amount of attention to Mary. Mary was - and is - the God-Bearer. She gave birth to Jesus 2k years ago...and she gives birth to Jesus in the hearts of any who call on her.

For a longer quote on the role of Mary...here's Blessed Columba Marmion.

 

If Christ Jesus is the Son of God by His eternal and ineffable birth in the Bosom of the Father, He is also the Son of Man by His temporal birth in the womb of a woman.

This woman is Mary; but she is also a Virgin. It is from her, and from her alone, that Christ takes His human nature. It is to her that He owes His nature as the Son of Man. She is truly the Mother of God. For this reason Mary occupies a position in Christianity which is unique, exalted and essential. Just as Christ's character as the 'Son of Man' cannot be separated from that of the 'Son of God,' so also is Mary united to Jesus; in fact, the Virgin Mary shares in the mystery of the Incarnation by a claim which belongs to the very essence of that mystery.

This is why the Virgin Mary is associated by such close ties with the economy of the fundamental mystery of Christianity, and, consequently, with our supernatural life that Divine life which comes to us from Christ, the God-Man, and which Christ gives us as God, but through the instrumentality of His human nature. Like Jesus, we too should be a 'Son of God' and also a 'Son of Mary.' He is both the one and the other in a perfect manner. If we wish to reproduce His likeness in ourselves, we should likewise have this two-fold character.

Our piety would not be truly Christian if it did not include the Mother of the Incarnate Word. Devotion to the Virgin Mary is not only important, but essential, if we want to draw abundantly from the fountain of Divine life. Separating Christ from His Mother in our devotion is tantamount to dividing Christ. To do this is to lose sight of the essential role of His sacred humanity in the dispensation of Divine grace.

[Luigi]

If you were to pray only the rosary and wear the scapular, without going to Mass or receiving communion, you would be relying too much on Mary. If you attend Mass, and receive communion, (and maybe pray the Stations of the Cross, or any of a myriad of other Christocentric options), then you can pray the rosary and wear the scapular without feeling like you're slighting Jesus or substituting Mary in his place. 

I think one reason (just one - there are any number of others) that people pray to Mary is that many people find her more approachable than the sometimes starkly depicted Jesus. And we can learn how we ought to relate to Jesus by considering how Mary related to him. 

[Tab'le De'Bah-Rye]

7 hours ago, chrysostom said:

Saint Maximilian Kolbe said: "Don't be afraid of loving Mary too much. You can never love her more than Jesus did."

Mary is our mother in the order of grace just as Jesus is our brother (and of course many other things!). So go to her as much as you like. She will only lead you to Jesus. It's a family. So no one need worry about counting Hail Marys versus Our Fathers and seeing if you are paying, somehow, an inordinate amount of attention to Mary. Mary was - and is - the God-Bearer. She gave birth to Jesus 2k years ago...and she gives birth to Jesus in the hearts of any who call on her.

For a longer quote on the role of Mary...here's Blessed Columba Marmion.

 

 

 

I preferred your personal take on it.