Seven Related Aspects of Marys Sanctity

Now, except on the one issue of praying to saints, most of the

differences between us [Catholics and Fundamentalists] are matters of
emphasis or sensibility rather than doctrine. But when it comes to
Mary, the greatest saint, doctrine sharply divides. Fundamentalists call
Mariology Mariolatry. Passions run higher on this than on any other
issue.
Yet here too theres a difference in sensibility behind the dispute.
Fundamentalists would be much more open to the Marian doctrines
(the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption) if they understood
the motives behind devotion to Mary.
What motivates Catholic Marian devotion is something even more than
her physical privilege of being the Mother of God, incredible dignity
though that was. It was her spiritual excellence, her perfect modeling
of sainthood. We can distinguish seven related aspects of Marys
sanctity and contrast them with fundamentalisms opposite emphasis.
First, Mary is hidden, almost invisible. She kept all these things and
pondered them in her heart. Like John the Baptist, Mary disappears
before Christ. (Thats why Christ called John the Baptist the greatest of
all the prophets (Matt. 11:11) because his whole program was that He
must increase, but I must decrease (John 3:30). Mary is greatest
because she is smallest. Fundamentalists object that Mary gets in the
way of Christ. In fact, it is the exact opposite. She is like the morning
air to the rising sun (the Rising Son!).
Second, Mary is humble, modest, withdrawn, almost Oriental
compared to the typically American brashness and aggressiveness of
most fundamentalists.
Third, Mary is silent. Fundamentalists talk a lot. Their religion centers
on words in a book, not sacramental mysteries in a church.
Ecclesiastes advises, God is in heaven and you upon earth; therefore

let your words be few.(Eccl. 5:3) This is Jesus attitude too; have you
ever noticed how short His prayers and speeches are? Fundamentalists
preach hour-long sermons. Mary knows more about love than that.
Love seeks silence. Mary must have read Ecclesiastes; for example her
prayer to Christ at Cana was simply, They have no wine. And her
directions to the servers (and to us) were simply Do whatever He tells
you (John 2:3,5).
Fourth, Mary is womanly, a model woman Blessed art thou among
women Mary is the alternative to both chauvinism and feminism,
counterpointing the heat and hate of both. Like Christ, she is new wine;
she transcends our categories and expectations.
Fifth, Mary is willing. Her fiat (Let it be done to me according to
your word (Luke 1:38) is the blindingly simple secret of all sanctity:
the eagerness to say yes to her divine lovers will. Fundamentalists
are no better and no worse at that than any other Christians. Saints, by
definition, are better at that, for that is precisely sanctity.
Sixth, Mary is simple. There is nothing more, nothing added to this one
simple thing, this purity (oneness) of heart. More would be less.
Fundamentalists rarely show this simplicity. (For that matter, neither do
most Catholics.)
Seventh, Mary is heroic. She is worthy of hyperdulia, the highest
human respect. Fundamentalists think we give her latria, the adoration
proper to God alone. They do not usually even give her dulia, the
respect due to rare human excellence in sanctity. (For as noted above,
they tend to be suspicious of superiority as un-American.)
The effect of Mary and the saints on our character and devotion is even
more important than their effect on our belief. Without the saints, our
devotion would be much more humdrum and unheroic (like
fundamentalism). Without Mary, our sanctity would be one-sidedly
masculine, spiritually male. Mary actualizes our anima, the feminine

function of the soul. Fundamentalists tend to be spiritually overmasculine; verbal, aggressive, obvious, non-mystical.
Another effect Mary has on our devotion is that through Mary, matter is
made sacred. God entered matter through a mother! Fundamentalists
believe this but do not feel it. Their spirituality emphasizes the inward,
the subjective. They tend to ignore matter and concentrate on spirit.
Fundamentalism must come to terms with the fullness of the
Incarnation and the sacramentalization of matter and of Mary if they
hope to understand Catholicism and thats a very large step for
them to take.
But many have taken it. Many Catholic converts came from
fundamentalism. For fundamentalists often feel a sacramental vacuum
in their religion. Recently, there have been many conversions from
Catholicism to fundamentalism for the same reason: Many Catholics
feel a spiritual vacuum because many Catholic priests and teachers are
robbing the laity of clear, strong doctrine and morality in the name of
the so-called spirit of Vatican II.
In both cases, the needs of the heart demand to be filled. Only the
fullness of the Catholic faith can do that. Modernism, Catholic or nonCatholic, cannot do that; neither can fundamentalism.