May 6 – Our Lady of Saint John (Italy, 1658)
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A veneration greater than that of angels and saints
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| A fresco of a black Madonna and Jesus in Axum Cathedral, Ethiopia (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
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The
veneration of the Virgin Mary is based on the dignity of Mother of God
and the resulting consequences. We can indeed never overestimate the one
whom the Incarnate Word reveres as His Mother, whom the Father
contemplates lovingly as His beloved daughter and whom the Holy Spirit
looks upon as His favored temple.
The
Father treated her with great respect by sending an angel to greet her
as full of grace, and asked for her consent in the work of the
Incarnation for which He wanted to associate her so closely; the Son
honored, obeyed and loved her as His Mother; the Holy Spirit came in her
and took His delight in her. By venerating the Virgin Mary, we are
simply associating ourselves with the three Divine Persons—we value what
they Themselves value.
This
veneration must be greater than the one we have for the angels and the
saints because by her dignity as Mother of God, her role as mediatrix
and her holiness, she surpasses all other creatures. Therefore, devotion
to the Virgin Mary, even though it is a form of dulia (veneration
reserved for saints) and not of latria (worship reserved for God), is
rightly called hyperdulia, being greater than the one we give to angels
and saints.
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Adolphe Tanquerey,
In Précis de Théologie Ascétique et Mystique, 10th edition, Desclée et Cie, 1928
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Let’s pray together 
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