IS MARY GREATER THAN GOD? by Atty. Marwil Llasos of Defensores Fidei Foundation

Mary at the Rose Garden, Ever Humble Before God

10:1 – Is Mary greater than God?

The same blogger [castroj1] who posted in the comments section of Fr. Abe Arganiosa’s blog raised a question regarding praying 10 Hail Marys for every one Our Father in the rosary. I will respond to that question which, hopefully, clear the lingering doubts in Castroj1’s mind.

Here’s the link: http://thesplendorofthechurch.blogspot.com/2009/03/bereans-poor-scholarship-shows-in-their.html

Mary was a great woman; but I just don't understand and can't understand why when Catholics pray you have 9-10 Hail Mary's for each Abba Father prayer.

Mary is the most important woman mentioned in the bible as she was the mother of the Messiah (Jesus Christ) but I don't see how it is OK to pray 9-10 times to her per each time we pray to God. It is almost as if she is 10 times more important than God. This is bordering dangerously close to idolatry (sic).

This is typically asked by those who do not know the essence or meaning of the rosary. Just like Castroj1, they accuse us Catholics of paying more attention to Mary because we address TEN Hail Mary’s to her while just ONE Our Father to God. Invariably, Protestants ask why Catholics say ten Hail Mary’s for every one Our Father. Is Mary greater than the Father?

The ratio of 10:1 (ten Hail Mary’s to one Our Father) actually shows God’s infinite greatness compared to Mary’s finite greatness. Mary remains a creature. Her greatness is due only to the sheer munificence of God’s grace given her to the fullest. It takes ten Hail Mary’s to equal one Our Father. Otherwise stated, it takes ten Hail Mary’s before we can even consider approaching one Our Father.

Protestants take Catholics to task for mentioning Mary more than Jesus in the rosary. Well, they should realize that the rosary is primarily a means of devotion to Mary. Even then, the core of the rosary is really Jesus. In the Hail Mary, Jesus is at the center: “blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.”

The frequency of the mention of Mary in any particular setting really depends on one’s perspective. In our experience as Catholics, Mary is not the core component of our faith. Jesus is. However, we cannot simply neglect Mary because she plays an integral role in the redemption of the whole world. She said “Yes” to God’s plan and Jesus was born to redeem us. One cannot simply talk about Jesus without being grateful to His mother for giving Him to us. It is true that without Mary’s free acceptance of her calling from God, we would not have Jesus. Moreover, the fact that the Bible refers to her in such a very special way is good enough reason to talk about her.

Mentioning Mary often, even more than Jesus, does not make Jesus less important. In the Protestant version of the Book of Esther, “God” and “Lord” do not appear. Does that mean that God does not exist? Would the absence of any mention of “God” or “Lord” in Esther make the author of that book an atheist?

So, there’s no Biblical basis for your accusation that praying 9-10 times to her [Mary] each time we pray to God’ is “bordering dangerously close to idolatry.” Furthermore, your statement that “[i]t is almost as if she is 10 times more important than God” reveals that you are judging us based on your erroneous perception (“as if”) on how we Catholics pray. I just don’t know what you mean by “bordering dangerously close to idolatry” because you don’t define what is meant by idolatry.

Again, by just consulting a Bible concordance, one can easily find that David is mentioned more than Jesus in the Bible (Moses follows Jesus in frequency). Does this mean that David is greater than Jesus? In the New Testament, Paul is mentioned more than Jesus. That also does not mean that Paul is greater than Jesus. So, even if Mary is mentioned more than Jesus in the rosary, it does not mean that Mary is greater than Jesus. The “statistical” argument does not hold any water whatsoever. In fact, Jesus even said, “Not every one that saith unto me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he who that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Mt. 7:21).

The rosary is just one of the devotions we have to Mary. And, please note that the rosary is not our only prayer. Formulary prayers, like the rosary, are not the only prayers Catholics pray. The Catholic Church has a beautiful theology of prayer that Protestants vaguely know about. The Church encourages her children to engage in spontaneous prayer, vocal prayer, mental prayer, contemplative or meditative prayer, liturgical prayer, as well as a host of other forms of prayer constituting her inexhaustible treasury of prayers that ascend like fragrant incense to the throne of the Almighty. Perhaps, the reason why the rosary invites your attention is that it is “a very Catholic thing to do,” hence, your bias and prejudice as a Protestant or Evangelical makes you react against it. But please understand, the rosary is no longer just a Catholic thing; it is fast becoming a Protestant thing as well. We may thus conclude that praying the rosary is actually a Christian thing to do.

Protestants are now beginning to appreciate the beauty of the rosary as a Gospel prayer. Neville Ward, a Methodist pastor, wrote a book on the rosary – Five for Sorrow, Ten for Joy. For him, the rosary is a symbol of “religious hoping and wanting” and is a “stimulus for praying in new ways.” The mysteries of the rosary speak of human existence; they are “forms of experience” – illustrated in the life of Jesus and his mother. They are “images of reality.” “Nothing can happen to us that is not contained there; all that is there can happen to us now. To pray the Rosary is to try yet again to keep in touch with life in its fullness, to insure that we do not evade or miss anything”

(cf. http://www.udayton.edu/mary/respub/Summer2003.html)

Anglicans have also recently developed their own version of the rosary. They admit: “The use of prayer beads, or Rosaries, has not been common to Anglican prayer life. Many objections have been raised on apparent ‘Marian’ nature of the Catholic Rosary. However, there is a growing interest in the tradition of using prayer beads as an aid to contemplative prayer”

(cf. http://www.franciscan.org.au/anglicanrosary.html). A Lutheran scholar, Very Reverend Dr. H.W.M. Tajra gave a lecture on The Psalter of Mary: A Lutheran Approach to the Holy Rosary for the Ecumenical Society of the Blessed Virgin Mary. According to him, “The Holy Rosary is an evangelical exercise of piety entered on the life of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is a quiet, gentle meditation on God’s wondrous plan for the salvation of mankind which was fulfilled by the incarnation, passion and resurrection of his only-begotten Son, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. It is he, the Christ, the divine Master, who is the focus of the Rosary, and the one who is chiefly celebrated therein. The Rosary is above all a Christocentric exercise of devotion, which places our Lord, as he ought to be placed, in the very center of our prayers and concerns.” Dr. Tajra concluded his lecture with a very touching appeal: “May we all, praying in that Psalter each day, be accorded the grace to enable us to follow the way to salvation, the way to her Son, which the Blessed Mother, who is also our Blessed Mother, indicates so clearly to us” [Dr. H.W.M. Tajra, The Psalter of Mary: A Lutheran Approach to the Holy Rosary (UK: Ecumenical Society of the Blessed Virgin Mary, January 1999) 3]. So, there’s no reason for Protestants and Evangelicals to attack Catholics for praying the rosary if they also don’t attack their brother Protestants. That would mean double standard.

Nobody will ever question that Mary is in Heaven, but a lot of Catholics that I have known through the years would not say much if somebody curses Jesus or God but if they curse Mary; then they get extremely angry. By the way, I want to be clear that I don't course on anyone's name and certainly not Mary, God, Jesus, etc. Nor do I believe it is OK to do so by anybody else.

This comment, I’m afraid, is borne out by prejudice or bias. Castroj1 claims: “a lot of Catholics that I have known through the years would not say much if somebody curses Jesus or God but if they curse Mary; then they get extremely angry.” I think that this comment is based purely on perception, hence, subjective. While I don’t want to question our brother Castroj1’s experience, I wish to point out, however, that he is making a hasty generalization. His own subjective experience cannot serve as a basis for a conclusion. Let me stress objective facts.

Protestants and Evangelicals, I believe, don’t curse God. So, the opportunity for Catholics to get “extremely angry” at them for cursing Jesus or God [Is Jesus not God to you?] is almost nil. Chances are, Protestants and Evangelicals say things against the Blessed Virgin Mary which really upsets us. Our reaction is borne out by our love for the Lord Jesus whose Mother she is.

The history of the Church proves that when Our Lord is blasphemed or cursed, Catholics rise up to condemn the outrage. When Arians blasphemed Our Lord Jesus Christ by denying His Divinity, the Church held the Council of Nicea to condemn Arius’ heretical teachings and anathematized him. The same thing happened to Nestorius when he denied the hypostatic union. The Church condemned him in the Council of Ephesus. When the Nazis and Communists mocked God by denying His existence, the Church vigorously condemned their godless ideology and teachings.

When God is exorcised from the classrooms by banning school prayer, Catholics are in the frontlines denouncing this evil. When God’s handiwork – the unborn babies – are sacrificed in the altar of convenience with the sanction of the State, who do you think most vociferously and resolutely acts against it? The Catholic Church. Is not abortion a way of cursing God, the origin and giver of all life?

I recall that when the blasphemous and heaven-insulting The Vinci Code was shown, we were the ones who opposed and rallied against it.

So, please brother, don’t let your Protestant or Evangelical prejudice and bias blind you to the greater reality and objective truth. I hope and pray that you will be less judgmental of us Catholics next time. Better yet, why don’t you study the teachings of the Catholic Church right from Catholic sources and not what your pastors and teachers tell you about what we Catholics believe. Your posting in the comments section of Fr. Abe is a good sign. I welcome it as God’s grace. May you continue your search, in an attitude of humility and love for God’s truth, by communicating with us directly. My email address is bro_marwil@yahoo.com. Or, you may opt to correspond to Fr. Abe through email at splendor236@yahoo.com.

God bless you!