Marian

What it is

Marian names what belongs to the Blessed Virgin in the Church's life: her liturgical feasts, the Marian antiphonsGlossaryA short scriptural or liturgical text sung or said before and after a psalm, canticle, or as a refrain in the Mass and Office. of ComplineGlossaryNight Prayer—the final hour of the Divine Office before sleep, classically including the Nunc Dimittis and a Marian antiphon., hymns such as the Salve Regina and Flos Carmeli, the rosary, scapularsGlossaryA sacramental of two small cloth panels worn over the shoulders, signifying consecration and enrollment in a religious family or devotion., and the doctrine that she is Mother of God and Mother of the Church. The honor given her is hyperduliaGlossaryClassical terms: latria is worship of God alone; dulia is veneration of saints; hyperdulia is the unique veneration due to Mary.—veneration above the saints, never the worship due to God alone.

What it is not

Marian devotion is not goddess-worship. It is not optional sentiment for "Marian types." It is not a rival to Christ—every true honor of Mary terminates in Him. It is not exhausted by aesthetics (blue, roses, soft music) without doctrine and imitation of her fiat.

How a Catholic encounters it

Keep her feasts. Pray a Marian antiphon at night. Learn one Marian hymn in Latin. Wear a blessed scapular if you take the devotion seriously. Ask her intercession as a son asks a mother—then do what she says: Do whatever He tells you.