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As am I. Obviously God used her in a very special way. But I do disagree with the way some view her.
She deserves at least as much honor and attention as, say, Paul or Abraham, I would think. But like Mystic pointed out - well, she's a woman so there's that.
I will never, ever forget one CHRISTMAS SEASON I was the music director for a mid sized Protestant church and I said "I think we should sing Ave Maria" and the assistant pastor pulled me aside and said "No, we don't sing that here."
What the heck was that about? I mean, we sang a song about ZACCHIAS for goodness sakes in vacation bible school (and another one about Noah but I digress) but we couldn't sing Ave Maria during the Christmas concert?
I am a convert. Though I have accepted Mary as the Mother of God and all that, I freely admit that I have never "felt" her comfort me - till yesterday.
Yesterday I attended a retreat in the morning. Just a sort of mini retreat at a local area called Wellspring, not a big deal really. It was more out of curiosity that I went, because I wanted to check out the location.
Anyway, there were gardens, walking paths, etc. and it was beautiful and peaceful. It is also dedicated to St. Francis De Sales, which was a surprise to me and he is the saint I chose for my saint's name (because I admire him but could spell it like a girl's name - LOL). Everywhere, throughout the entire area, there were little signs that said one of my favorite scriptures - "Be still and know that I am God."
There was a garden there with a statue of Mary in it. I had been wandering around so I sat down to wait for my ride and rest. Now - yesterday I was sad because I had found and read all my deceased husband's texts to me over the years - in my phone. I had disconnected his phones but the texts were still saved under his old phone number though they are no longer attached to his contact info if that makes sense. So 15 months after he died, I found those texts and read every single one of them Sunday night. I was so, so sad, missing him SO much. I had even cried the night before. And I also realized anew how perfect we were for each other, how eloquent he was (I always liked that about him) and most importantly, how no one loves me like he loved me, and probably never will. So I was pretty blue still Monday, though I wasn't walking around in sack cloth and ashes.
I just missed him so much. I do miss him every single day but I REALLY missed him yesterday.
Anyway, as I sat in the garden with the statue of Mary, for the very first time in over twenty years, I felt her comfort. I felt her empathy. I felt her love. It was very, very comforting and I hope I will always remember that emotion and that beautiful fall day here.
I got home and immediately ordered a statue of Mary and one of St. Francis as well for my gardens!
God always was and always will be. God has no mother.
The Eastern Orthodox revere Mary as the Mother of God also. Her title is Theotokos, or God bearer in English. https://orthodoxwiki.org/Theotokos
An interesting point also within that link:
Quote:
Many of the major figures amongst the Protestant fathers in the faith believed in the Theotokos's ever-virginity.
John Calvin:
He says that she [Mary of Cleophas] was the sister of the mother of Jesus, and, in saying so, he adopts the phraseology of the Hebrew language, which includes cousins, and other relatives, under the term 'brothers.' - John Calvin, Commentary of the Gospel According to John, on John 19:25
The word 'brothers', we have formerly mentioned, is employed, agreeably to the Hebrew idiom, to denote any relative whatever; and, accordingly, Helvidius displayed excessive ignorance in concluding that Mary must have had many sons because Christ's 'brother' are sometimes mentioned. - John Calvin, Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, vol. II, p. 215 (on Matthew 13:55)
[Note: Helvidius was a 5th-century Christian who denied the perpetual virginity of Mary and was rebuked and refuted by Jerome in his treatise, "On the Perpetual Virginity of Blessed Mary Against Helvidius"]
Huldrych Zwingli:
I give an example: taught by the light of faith the Christ was born of a virgin, we know that it is so, that we have no doubt that those who have been unambiguously in error have tried to make a figure of speech of a real virgin, and we pronounce absurd the things that Helvidius and others have invented about perpetual virginity. - Huldrych Zwingli. "Friendly Exegesis, that is, Exposition of the Matter of the Eucharist to Martin Luther, February 1527," in Selected Writings of Huldrych Zwingli, Volume Two, trans. and ed. by H. Wayne Pipkin, Pickwick Publications, 1984 p.275.
Then the pious mind finds wonderful delights in searching for the reasons why the lamb chose to be born of a perpetual virgin, but in this other case it finds nothing but a hopeless horror. [The other case that Zwingli here refers to is the Real Presence] - Huldrych Zwingli. "Subsidiary Essay on the Eucharist, August 1525," in Selected Writings of Huldrych Zwingli, Volume Two, trans. and ed. by H. Wayne Pipkin, Pickwick Publications, 1984 p.217.
Martin Luther:
A new lie about me is being circulated. I am supposed to have preached and written that Mary, the mother of God, was not a virgin either before or after the birth of Christ, but that she conceived Christ through Joseph and had more children after that. - Martin Luther, "That Jesus Christ Was Born a Jew," in Luther's Works, vol. 45, ed. Walther I. Brand, 1962, Muhlenberg Press, p. 199.
The form of expression used by Matthew is the common idiom, as if I were to say, 'Pharaoh believed not Moses, until he was drowned in the Red Sea.' Here it does not follow that Pharaoh believed later, after he had drowned; on the contrary, it means that he never did believe. Similarly when Matthew says that Joseph did not know Mary carnally until she had brought forth her son, it does not follow that he knew her subsequently; on the contrary, it means that he never did know her. Again, the Red Sea overwhelmed Pharaoh before he got across. Here too, it does not follow that Pharaoh got across later, after the Red Sea had overwhelmed him, but rather that he did not get across at all. In like manner, when Matthew says, 'She was found to be with child before they came together,' it does not follow that Mary subsequently lay with Joseph, but rather that she did not lie with him. - Martin Luther, "That Jesus Christ Was Born a Jew," in Luther's Works, vol. 45, ed. Walther I. Brand, 1962, Muhlenberg Press, p. 212.
John Wesley:
I believe that he was made man, joining the human nature with the divine in one person; being conceived by the singular operation of the Holy Ghost, and born of the blessed Virgin Mary, who, as well after as before she brought him forth, continued a pure and unspotted virgin. - John Wesley "Letter to a Roman Catholic"
Protestants who deny the ever-virginity of the Theotokos are breaking even with their own fathers in faith.
I guess that's what happens when you don't 'hold fast to the traditions which ye have been taught....'
Because of course women are just to be used but are not important in their own right, correct?
This is why I can't take you seriously, and you look like a hypocrite always whining about agape love, but then misrepresenting people. I've never suggested anything like that, but you make this idiotic statement about me. This is wrong, it's rude, obnoxious, and in bad taste.
She deserves at least as much honor and attention as, say, Paul or Abraham, I would think. But like Mystic pointed out - well, she's a woman so there's that.
Yes. She is to be admired, respected, honored.
I've never prayed to Paul or Abraham, and Scripture doesn't support the idea. Her gender is irrelevant to me.
Quote:
I will never, ever forget one CHRISTMAS SEASON I was the music director for a mid sized Protestant church and I said "I think we should sing Ave Maria" and the assistant pastor pulled me aside and said "No, we don't sing that here."
What the heck was that about? I mean, we sang a song about ZACCHIAS for goodness sakes in vacation bible school (and another one about Noah but I digress) but we couldn't sing Ave Maria during the Christmas concert?
When translated to English, it's basically the Hail Mary prayer. Protestants don't do that because we don't pray to Mary. Or any dead human.
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