The phrase ‘Our tainted nature’s solitary boast’ is from the poem by William Wordsworth. It is also the title of Episode 4 from Fr. Robert Barron’s exceptional series about the Catholic faith. Episode 4 and the Wordsworth poem both are about the Blessed Mother. We have been showing, The Catholicism Series, at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Scottsdale, Arizona for the past 4 weeks, and to say it’s been a hit among the parishioners and those coming from other parishes in the area, would be an understatement. We have been averaging 120-150 people between the morning session and evening session. There is a great hunger at the parish for good, solid, orthodox catechesis. This past week was an exceptional week since we studied Mary, the Mother of God.

So many people who came have a great love and devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, but acknowledged their lack of understanding of her place in Salvation History as well as roles in the Catholic Church throughout the centuries. It is so important to study theology in general so that we may better know it for ourselves, but also to defend our faith when challenged. It is equally important to know the theology about the Blessed Mother known as Mariology. Knowing Mary, the Mother of God will only aid us into knowing our Lord even better. The Council of Ephesus in 431 made important strides in both Christological and Mariological studies. Those studies have only organically developed even more so in the life of the Church.

I would encourage you to learn more about the Blessed Mother and study what has been revealed to us through both Scripture and Tradition. Having a devotion to her is key in our relationship with Jesus Christ, but having knowledge of her theologically will only allow the relationships to grow more intensely with greater fruit coming forth.

On Thursday, we raffled (a free raffle!) off the book – Introduction to Mary by Mark Miravalle. Fr. Chad and I explained that reading this book was like taking the course on the Blessed Mother that we both had while students at Franciscan University of Steubenville. I would also encourage you to read some of my previous posts on the importance of studying Marian Theology – “In a Time of Crisis…Mary Should Not Be Forgotten”, “The Importance of Studying Marian Doctrines”, and “The Importance of Studying Marian Theology.”

I would like to thank the administrators of the Facebook Page – My Mother Mary for sending me William Wordsworth’s poem about the Blessed Virgin Mary. They are a true blessing to all those that follow their Facebook page and they are becoming good friends as well. Thank you! 

Next week: Our Lady of Lourdes