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Does the Rosary worship Mary?

Updated: Jan 3, 2022

In short: no. In fact, Catholics never worship Mary because worship belongs to God alone. Mary is, however, honored as the Mother of God. She is also held up as a beautiful example of a disciple and turned to as a powerful intercessor (more on that later).


It's easy to think, with 50 Hail Mary prayers, that the Rosary is not really about Jesus. But the Rosary is much more than the prayers recited (even though those are important)... the 'meat' is in the Mysteries that are contemplated during each decade. These reflect on important moments surrounding the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. In fact, if you pray a 'scriptural Rosary' there is a Gospel passage for each bead! Therefore, the Rosary is a powerful tool to contemplate Jesus' message, His sacrifice and, ultimately, His love for each of us.


Having said that, Mary is mentioned a whoooole lot each time the Rosary is prayed. Sometimes this leads to the misconception that she is glorified, even worshiped (and it doesn't help when some people go way over board with Marian statues!). But Mary is turned to and mentioned in the prayers for some important reasons:


  • Without Mary, no Jesus!


Mary had the free will to say no to God's plan for the salvation of humanity. She absolutely could have rejected the Angel Gabriel's proposal and gone on to live a normal life. But she said yes. And the rest is (salvation) history.


  • Mary points to Jesus.


In Scripture, Mary is always pointing us to her son. This is through her words ("Do whatever He tells you") and her actions ("near the cross stood His mother...") Mary is never the protagonist in Scripture, but she is a key character who teaches us how to follow and love Christ.


  • Mary is an intercessor


Mary never 'answers' prayers, but she is considered a powerful intercessor. This means that she can pray for those on earth, and her prayers receive special attention from God. Of course, we can direct our prayers straight to Jesus and they will be heard. But consider the special relationship between any mother and her child... it isn't a long stretch to think that if Mary takes something up with Jesus, that He would listen (just like at the Wedding of Cana).


You can learn more about Mary in the FRG ministry online course which is linked in therosaryproject shop.





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