The Titles of Mary

By Ed de Vera

Of all things Catholic, perhaps the most misunderstood if not disturbing to our Separated Christian Brethren, are the numerous titles of Mary. Most of them feel that these titles and the devotions connected therewith give her more importance than her Son, Jesus. Consider a few: Mother of God, Queen of Angels, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, etc.; non-Catholics find these and other titles superfluous, thus their most common plaint is Catholics have made Mary a goddess and are therefore guilty of idolatry.

Actually the titles of Mary are all biblically rooted. However our Protestant brothers, cut off for five centuries from the Apostolic Tradition whence all devotional traditions from practice of the Faith emanate, are adrift and consequentially cannot relate. When the Reformers rejected Christ’s Real Presence – body, blood, soul and divinity in Eucharist – they split into four distinct separate groups which over time splintered to today’s sad reality of over thirty-five thousand independent groups that call themselves churches in denominations, sects, non-denominational assemblies, faith fellowships, cults, etc.