Many Protestant Christians believe that Catholic devotion to Mary eclipses Jesus, or involves improper worship of a human creature. In this short article, Dr. Miravalle, whose wife Beth is a convert to the Catholic Church, explains a proper view of Catholic devotion to Mary.

Despite the radicalism of early Protestantism toward many ancient Catholic “distinctives,” such as the Communion of the Saints, Penance, Purgatory, Infused Justification, the Papacy, the priesthood, sacramental marriage, etc., it may surprise many to discover that Martin Luther was rather conservative in some of his doctrinal views, such as on baptismal regeneration, the Eucharist, and particularly the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The Hail Mary, traditionally known as the Ave Maria, is a Biblical prayer. In the first half, the words are directly from the Gospel of St. Luke, while the second half reflects what this could mean to us, praying Christians in the Body of Christ, pondering these things in our hearts. The account of the angel Gabriel announcing to Mary that she is to be the mother of our Savior is familiar to all Christians. We find here the first elements of the Ave Maria. The angel’s words are “Hail, O favored one,” (Luke 1:28 RSV), or as Jerome translated it in his 4th century Latin edition, “full of grace.”