Almost Lent, So… In Defence of Mary: A Passionate Rebuttal to the Doubters

As we stand on the cusp of Lent, a season of reflection, repentance, and profound intimacy with Christ’s suffering, I find myself compelled to address a grievance that resurfaces time and time again. It is an accusation flung at Catholics with an almost tiresome predictability, a claim made not in the spirit of inquiry but of condemnation: “You worship Mary.” I hear it with exasperation, with sorrow, and, I confess, with a degree of anger – not for myself, but for the wilful ignorance it perpetuates. The Catholic veneration of Mary is not idolatry. It is not a displacement of Christ. It is, rather, a deep and scripturally grounded recognition of her singular role in salvation history. And yet, we are shouted down, dismissed as if we were some ancient cult, clinging to superstition. This I cannot abide.

Veneration Is Not Worship

The heart of the Protestant objection lies in a misunderstanding – either accidental or deliberate – of what Catholics mean by veneration. Worship is reserved for God alone, and the Catholic Church has never taught otherwise. Adoration (latria) belongs to the Holy Trinity; Mary, as the highest of God’s creatures, receives hyperdulia – a unique form of veneration, but veneration nonetheless. She is not divine. She is not a goddess. But she is blessed among women (Luke 1:42), and I will not be shamed for acknowledging it.

I ask, then: do those who rail against Marian devotion ever stop to consider their own double standard? They do not hesitate to honour great men and women of faith, to erect statues of reformers, to speak glowingly of preachers and theologians who have shaped their traditions. They will name churches after them, quote their words, celebrate their lives – and yet when Catholics honour Mary, the very mother of God Incarnate, we are accused of blasphemy. It is an absurdity. If they permit themselves to honour mere men, how much more should we honour the one who bore Christ in her womb?

“The Only Way to God Is Through Jesus”

How often have I heard this thrown in my face, as if it were some devastating rebuttal to Marian devotion! But who would deny it? Who among us would claim that salvation comes through any name but Christ’s? Certainly not the Church, which has proclaimed for two millennia that there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12). But what these critics fail to understand is that to call upon Mary is not to bypass Christ – it is to approach Him in the way God Himself ordained.

Consider this: the very first miracle of Christ’s public ministry was performed at His mother’s request (John 2:1-11). They have no wine, she tells Him, and despite His initial response, she turns to the servants and instructs them with words that should ring in every Christian’s ears: “Do whatever he tells you.” It is she who intercedes. It is she who, with the love and boldness of a mother, petitions Him on behalf of others. And it is she who, even now, continues to do so for us all. To ask for Mary’s intercession is not to diminish Christ’s role as the Mediator, but to follow the scriptural precedent He Himself established. If He would not refuse her at Cana, why should He refuse her now?

The Power of the Rosary

And then there is the Rosary, that most beautiful and meditative of prayers, so often dismissed by those who do not understand it. Why pray to Mary? they demand. Why repeat the Hail Mary over and over again? As if the prayer itself were not almost entirely drawn from scripture! Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee (Luke 1:28). Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb (Luke 1:42). These are not words conjured from Catholic imagination; they are the very words of the angel Gabriel and Saint Elizabeth. To recite them is to immerse oneself in the Gospel.

But more than this, the Rosary is not a prayer to Mary – it is a prayer with her, a journey through the mysteries of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. To pray the Rosary is to meditate on His incarnation, His passion, His triumph over the grave. Mary does not distract from Christ; she leads us to Him. Always, in every devotion, she points not to herself but to her Son.

The Hypocrisy of the Deniers

I have grown weary of the accusations, weary of the wilful blindness of those who refuse to see the depth and beauty of Catholic devotion. It is one thing to disagree, another to slander. They cry sola scriptura, yet dismiss Mary’s prophecy in Luke 1:48: “All generations shall call me blessed.” If they will not honour her, they disobey scripture. They insist that all prayer should go to Christ alone, yet they ask their friends and pastors to intercede for them. If they truly believed that no one but Christ could pray for us, they would never request the prayers of another soul. And yet they do, because deep down, they know that intercession does not diminish Christ’s role – it strengthens our unity in Him.

A Challenge for Lent

As Lent approaches, I challenge those who reject Marian devotion to look beyond the tired accusations and seek the truth with open hearts. Consider the Annunciation. Consider the Visitation. Consider the agony she endured at the foot of the Cross. If Christ Himself honoured His mother so profoundly, can we do any less?

And to my fellow Catholics, I say this: let us not be ashamed of our love for Mary. Let us not shrink before the accusations of those who do not understand. Let us instead proclaim, with the confidence of the Church and the words of scripture, that Mary is blessed among women, that she is our mother, given to us by Christ Himself at the foot of the Cross (John 19:26-27). And let us entrust ourselves to her care, knowing that she will, as she always has, lead us ever closer to her Son.

Mary does not take us from Christ. She leads us to Him. To deny her is to deny the one whom God Himself chose as the vessel of salvation. I will not do so. And neither should you.