As recent posts and comments have brought home, Mary is not a low-profile member of Roman Catholic piety. Although the traditions, expressions and theological considerations may differ, devotion to Mary characterizes both the Latin West and the Eastern Orthodox Liturgies. Certainly the Reformers of the Sixteenth Centuries reacted against the exaggerated Marian devotion, even mariolotry, of the late Middle Ages–and then some! It is interesting that contemporary Protestants, in some cases, are re-evaluating the role of Mary in Christian piety. I find it equally significant that while the Reformation was fermenting in Europe, devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe was developing in Mexico.
It may come as a surprise to Americans of both the northern and southern hemispheres, that there already existed a cult to Our Lady of Guadalupe in Spain centuries before the “discovery” of America. This cult was in the Spanish town of Guadalupe, enshrining a Black Madonna, a statue of the Virgin and Child associated with healing miracles and pilgrimage. Other famous examples in Europe are those images in the Benedictine monastery at Monserrat in Cataluna, on the east coast of the Iberian penninsula and in the Benedictine monastery of Eisedeln in Switzerland.
As a young adult I was very struck by the Church’s acceptance of the cult of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico at a time when Spanish and Portuguese theologians were debating whether the native populations of the Americas were human or not. An apparition of the Mother of God to the Indian Juan Diego, was persuasive evidence that these creatures were indeed human. The earliest account of the apparition, the Nican Mohopua, is a lyrical narrative in the ancient Nuatl tongue, possibly the first Christian composition in that language. That such a debate could exist concerning a people with a developed language, mathematics, urban organization, agriculture and monarchic rule is mind-boggling; how Euro-centric does our thinking remain? The humanity of native Americans was certainly “inconvenient” for European conquest and exploitation. Eurocentric accusations of inhuman barbarism rings hollow against the background of the slaughter and rape of Mexico, Central America, Peru…
Some further reading might be helpful. D.A. Brading’s Mexican Phoenix, Our Lady of Guadalupe:Image and Tradition Across the Centuries (Cambridge, 2001) is a straight forward historical assessment of the history, literature, theology, devotion, society and politics surrounding the cult and shrine at Tepeyac.
A much shorter book, but also a much deeper one, is Virgil Elizondo’s Guadalupe, Mother of the New Creation (Orbis, 1997). Elizondo begins with an exegesis of the beautiful Nican Mohopua and then considers the historical, cultural and religious tensions–past and present–in a symbolic-theological synthesis. This deeply meditative essay is as evocative, concise and stimulating as it is lyrical and challenging.
Elizabeth Johnson’s Truly Our Sister: A Theology of Mary in the Communion of Saints (Continuum, 2003) is a patiently constructed consideration of Mary in the context of her historical, cultural and scriptural background as understand through centuries of Christian reflection and critique.
Elizondo and Johnson are professional theologians. Two other books represent re-evaluations of Mary by thinking, praying lay women. Sally Cunneen’s In Search of Mary, the Woman and the Symbol (Ballantine Books, 1996) is written from the experience of a cradle Catholic who came to re-appreciate Mary as an adult. Her well-informed reflections are structured by the historical development of Marian doctrine and piety, allowing the last three chapters to open up the implications and potential of that development. Kathleen Norris’ Meditations on Mary (Viking Studio, 1999) may be a thin volume with many illustrations (Great Masters’ paintings of the Madonna) but it is not a slight book. Raised as a Protestant, Norris’ personal discovery of Mary is unconventional and insightful, providing abundant food for thought.