RC Mariology - Marian Devotions and Traditions

Marian Devotions and Traditions

Main article: Marian devotions See also: Rosary, Consecration to Mary, and Rosary and scapular

Marian devotions are highly prominent within the Roman Catholic tradition and a wide variety of devotions ranging from Consecration to Mary, to the wearing of scapular, to multi-day prayers such as Rosary Novenas are practiced by Catholics.

The spread of Marian devotions, such as the Rosary via lay organizations, has also influenced popular interest in Mariology, the growth of Marian devotions building sensus fidelium, which influences the public interest in specific aspects of Mariology. Marian devotions generally begin at the level of popular piety, often in connection with the religious experiences and visions of simple and modest individuals (in some cases children), and the recounting of their experiences in time creates strong emotions among numerous Roman Catholics to build sensus fidelium.

Theologians have at times cited in support of their Mariology this constant sensus fidelium, e.g. Saint Alphonsus Liguori valued texts and traditions of the Church Fathers as expressions of the sensus fidelium of the past and attributed great weight to the argument that "the greater part of the faithful have always had recourse to the intercession of the divine mother for all the graces which they desire". Speaking of the witness of the Church Fathers in attributing certain titles to Mary, in Fulgens Corona Pope Pius XII wrote:

If the popular praises of the Blessed Virgin Mary be given the careful consideration they deserve, who will dare to doubt that she, who was purer than the angels and at all times pure, was at any moment, even for the briefest instant, not free from every stain of sin?

The Marian dogmas of the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption of Mary were defined in part on the basis of the sensus fidei, "the supernatural appreciation of faith on the part of the whole people, when, from the bishops to the last of the faithful, they manifest a universal consent in matters of faith and morals". In the case of the dogmas of Immaculate Conception and Assumption, the two popes concerned consulted the Catholic bishops worldwide about the faith of the community before proceeding to define the dogma.

Referring to these dogmas, in 2010 Pope Benedict XVI called the People of God the "teacher that goes first" and stated:

"Faith both in the Immaculate Conception and in the bodily Assumption of the Virgin was already present in the People of God, while theology had not yet found the key to interpreting it in the totality of the doctrine of the faith. The People of God therefore precede theologians and this is all thanks to that supernatural sensus fidei, namely, that capacity infused by the Holy Spirit that qualifies us to embrace the reality of the faith with humility of heart and mind. In this sense, the People of God is the 'teacher that goes first' and must then be more deeply examined and intellectually accepted by theology."

Marian devotions have been encouraged by popes, and in Marialis Cultus Pope Paul VI stated:"From the moment when we were called to the See of Peter, we have constantly striven to enhance devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. In Rosarium Virginis Mariae, Pope John Paul II stated: "Among all devotions that which most consecrates and conforms a soul to our Lord is devotion to Mary.

Devotion to the Virgin Mary does not, however, amount to worship - which is reserved for God; Catholics view Mary as subordinate to Christ, but uniquely so, in that she is seen as above all other creatures. In 787 the Second Council of Nicaea affirmed a three-level hierarchy of latria, hyperdulia and dulia that applies to God, the Virgin Mary and then to the other saints.