A Sunday Thought About a More Mature Relationship with Mary

As Mary's Month of May winds down, here's something I came across that urges us to allow our relationship to Our Blessed Mother to mature. Father E.J Cuskelly M.S.C suggests that just as our relationship with our earthly mothers matures over time, so should our relationship with the mother of our supernatural life. We accomplish this by deepening our relationship. Rather than focus so much on all those pious practices we've developed since we were children, we seek to understand Our Lady better by considering how her relationship to Our Lord grew in time.

Our seeking after further knowledge of Mary will not be so much a search for new truths about her, but rather an effort to penetrate more deeply into the supernatural realities of her relationship with Christ and the Body of Christ. And this – since it is supernatural – can come only from the light of God’s grace. Thus does our devotion grow more perfect, in its ontological reality and in its deeper personal level – simpler and more unified because more centrally contained in the simple reality of our union with God in Christ.

We don't abandon our devotions, but we rely less on those "good feelings" we might derive from them. The "good feelings" reminded me of the hymn we posted last week, and the memories it evoked. Nothing wrong with such feelings, but we don't stop there. Ideally our relationship with out heavenly Mother will mature, again just as it does with our earthly mothers, while we transition into adults, in this case spiritual adults.

...in Marian devotion, too, there will be the necessary transition stage – with its inherent worries about loss of devotion, because of loss of delight in these older things, less inclination to multiplication of practices, novenas, medals, and so forth. This is an entering into the phase of deeper and more mature devotion. In it we will come closer to Mary in the depths of our soul: in her cleaving to God in darkness, in the renunciation of all that as ‘natural’ in her relationship with Christ, a renunciation culminating in her standing beneath the Cross. We will come closer to her in charity – in the depth of our personal dedication to Christ and the Father’s will; closer to her in hope, trusting in God when our world is shattered about us, and our looking to God only for spiritual realities, not for human consolation. We will now learn more of her true dignity and glory. Our devotion will be more theological and more true.”

We certainly may retain some of our childlike affection, but our relationship grows broader and deeper. And so the lovely song we heard last Sunday, "Queen of the May," still moves us by tugging at our heart strings, even as adults we can appreciate more meaty hymns like the wonderful English version of Immaculate Mary, also known as the Lourdes Hymn. It's called this because the melody comes from the Pyraneean area where Bernadette lived. The words are apparently anonymous, but in their succinct manner they capture that wider and deeper relationship we yearn to have with Mary. As you listen to it this time, read the words provided and take in And this time, take the time to listen to each verse. If you do, they will likely enlighten your mind even as they penetrate your heart.

Ave, Ave, Ave Maria!