The Dangers of Devotion to Mary

Acknowledging the dangers of devotion to Mary, The Catholic Encyclopedia states: “That popular devotion to the Blessed Virgin was often attended with extravagance and abuses, it is impossible to deny.” As far back as the end of the fourth century, Catholic “saint” Epiphanius condemned the offering of cakes to Mary, stating: “Let no one adore Mary.” The same encyclopedia tells us: “As early as 540 we find a mosaic in which she [Mary] sits enthroned as Queen of Heaven in the centre of the apex of the cathedral of Parenzo.”

Was it not exactly this kind of pagan worship that provoked God to anger back in the time of Israel? The Bible relates: “The children gather wood, the fathers kindle fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven; and they pour out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke me to anger.”​—Jer. 7:18; 44:15-30.a

This danger still exists. Daniel L. Migliore, associate professor of theology at Princeton Seminary, recently wrote: “Our violations of Mary are legion. . . . We have made her the Queen of Heaven.” Catholic Archbishop Carter of Toronto gave the following explanation of the reason why Vatican II tried to tone down adoration for Mary: “The Council had in mind the kind of abuses seen, for example, in some Latin-American countries where Mary sometimes took precedence over everything else.” The “abuses” to which adoration for Mary can lead become very visible at such places of Marian pilgrimage as Lourdes, in France, and Fatima, in Portugal.