Monday, May 01, 2017

Mary, by any other name...

We got an interesting query today after sending out the first installment of "A Minute a Day for the Month of May." A reader wondered if the Daughters of St Paul were really Catholic, since the daily message referred to Our Lady as "Mary" and not "the Blessed Virgin Mary." I was surprised, because as a lifelong Catholic I have always understood the name "Mary" to refer first of all to Our Lady, and only when that was patently not the case (for example, when my younger sister Mary was involved) anyone else by the name.

Have you ever found yourself noticing that someone phrased something in an unexpected way and wondering if everything was on the up-and-up? I have. And especially in Catholic circles in the  70's and 80's changes of phraseology sometimes did mean that the speaker or writer was attempting to reinterpret (or even replace) a concept that he or she didn't quite approve of. Maybe that was the writer's experience, too.

Thankfully, there is nothing like that going on with us (or with me since I prepared the series!).

In each "Minute a Day for the Month of May," Our Lady is most frequently called by her name, and by a few titles: Queen of Apostles, Mother of the Good Shepherd, Our Lady of the Rosary, Our Lady of Fatima. It is not necessary to always speak of Our Lady in a comprehensive way. We can call out to her in many ways, because she is our mother. 

Most of the reflections for the month of May are drawn from the writings of our Founder, Blessed James Alberione. He refers to Our Lady most often by name or as "Queen of Apostles." Blessed James was one of the Blessed Mother's great devotees of the 20th century, and perhaps ranks with the greatest Marian devotees of all time, so we can be confident in following his example.

If you signed up for our daily May message, I hope you will find the reflections, prayers, music and art inspiring, even if they do not always refer to the Blessed Mother in the way that you yourself usually do. Thankfully, our Mother Mary knows the sound of her children's voices in whatever way we call upon her!


5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Sister Anne, I signed up for the Minute a Day for the Month of May e-mails, but so far (4:40 p.m. Eastern), have not yet received one. Is there somewhere I can go to troubleshoot? Thank you.

Sister Anne said...

Today's message already went out (let me see if I can find a link for you), but you should get tomorrow's bright and early, and hopefully on time!

Sister Anne said...

Here is today's message; feel free to share it on social media and invite your friends to subscribe!
http://newsletters.getresponse.com/archive/mayminuteaday/A-Minute-a-Day-for-the-Month-of-May-407161703.html

Anonymous said...

Thank you Sister! I appreciate the link, & look forward to receiving the e-mails in the near future.

Anonymous said...

Where I grew up Mary was often referred to as "Holy Mary" or "Our Holy Mother", and I learned to refer to her as "Mother Mary". There was no doubt as to who someone was referring to. In my current parish there are a few people who have questioned the use of "the Mass" believing we should all say "the Holy Mass" and question our devotion to our Lord as well as our reverence. It's always interesting when these situations arise and leaves me wondering what to make of them? Having met a number of Daughters of St. Paul while living in Toronto I can assure everyone they are as Catholic as our Holy Father. -Jean