Mary—Can She Help?
By “Awake!” correspondent in Brazil
“IT WILL BE the most important demonstration of faith in the western world.” Thus was announced the dedication of a shrine of the Virgin Mary during the visit of Pope Paul II, the first by any pope, to Brazil. Since about 90 percent of Brazil’s 120 million people profess Catholicism, the potential was there. And the multitudes who swarmed to see the pope seemed to support the above announcement.
The 12-day papal visit was a full one. Beginning with the nation’s capital, Brasília, the pope visited 13 cities. He ordained 74 priests in Rio de Janeiro, opened the eucharistic congress in Fortaleza, visited a prison in Brasília, a slum area in Rio de Janeiro, and leprosariums in Salvador and Belém. The pope delivered about 70 discourses on various subjects: social justice, violence, materialism, youth, and family planning. But, for Brazilians, the climax was the consecration of the national shrine of the Virgin Mary in Aparecida, a small city midway between Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.
The shrine of Our Lady Aparecida gets its name from the way in which a small image of Mary was found (Aparecida means “appeared, suddenly found”) in 1717. According to the story, three fishermen were assigned to provide fish for the governor of the state. After fishing for some time without success, they drew in their net, but, instead of fish, they had landed a small headless image. Another cast of the net and they pulled up the head of the image. From then on, they caught so many fish that the boat was in danger of sinking.
This “miracle” was the beginning of the devotion given to Our Lady Aparecida, whose 43-cm (17-in.) image is now enshrined in the basilica. This shrine is reported to be second in size only to that of St. Peter’s in the Vatican. So the long-awaited consecration of the basilica was billed as an event of great importance.
But more was expected from the visit.
One newspaper declared that the “Pope comes to promote unity of the Church” and “will be received by the entire nation as a pastor who preaches peace.” That the unity and peace of the Catholic Church in Brazil were in danger there was little doubt.
For weeks prior to the visit there was much publicity about the differences among Brazil’s cardinals and bishops as to the Church’s role in social matters. According to the pope’s emissary, ‘He (the pope) is well informed on the differences, and comes to stimulate unity and friendship among the religious.’ The Daily Post wrote of the “battle between the traditional and the reform wings of the Church,” and concluded: ‘The action that the Church and the Pope will take is designed to ensure the survival of the Church in Brazil.’
Highlighting another problem confronting the Church, the papal nuncio in Brazil, Carmine Rocco, declared, “We have very few ordinations.” Commenting on this, Veja reported: “Brazil may be the largest Catholic country in the world but Brazilians certainly are one of the least enthusiastic peoples today in serving the Church: in the whole country with its presumed 90 millions of declared Catholics, it was possible to prepare only 74 citizens to be ordained as priests by Pope John Paul II. . . . The scarcity of priests . . . is one of the problems that most troubles the Brazilian Church today, . . . worse than that, there are no people interested in being a priest.”
Can Mary Help?
With these problems in mind, and in view of the consecration of her shrine in Aparecida, sincere Catholics could reasonably ask: Can Mary help the Church in this crisis? Can she help me solve my problems? Reflect a moment on what she has already done.
All mankind today is indebted to Mary for having been used to bring forth into the world God’s Son, Jesus Christ, so he could provide a ransom from sin and death. Moreover, in her chastity, humility, faith and obedience, Mary set a fine example for Christian women. Consider the following: When informed that she would give birth to a son by holy spirit, she humbly agreed, saying, “Look! Jehovah’s slave girl! May it take place with me according to your declaration.”—Luke 1:38.
Later, when “heavy with child,” Mary did not complain when she had to travel with her husband to register in their native city, nor when they had to lodge in a stable, resulting in the child’s being born in there. A few days afterward, recognizing her own imperfections, she obediently presented herself at the temple for her purification according to the Mosaic law. (Luke 2:1-7, 22-24; Lev. 12:1-6) Yes, Mary has already done much.
But, what about now? Is Mary the one to whom to turn for help? Many believe she is. One journal commented: “This faith in their saint is observed not only in the existence of the Basilica. . . . in the Hall of the Miracles, . . . there are piled up crutches, enormous crosses, photographs and hundreds of objects with which the pilgrims claim to testify to the graces and miracles conceded by the Patron Saint.” A newsmagazine reported: “The Pope gives special importance to devotion to Our Lady, placing in his pontifical shield the classic symbol of the Virgin: the ‘M’ as in Mary.” Also, during his consecration discourse, he referred to Mary as “the mother of God” and as being ‘venerated and invoked as Mother and patron saint, mediator and advocate.’
Unhappily, many who have invoked her help have been disillusioned. Consider, for example, the situation of Catholics in Chile and Peru, whose patron “saints” are the Virgin of Carmen and Santa Rosa. Many Chilean women dress in brown all their life to show their devotion to the Virgin of Carmen. But what happened in the War of the Pacific (1879-1883)? Vows and prayers were made by Chileans to the Virgin of Carmen and by Peruvians to Santa Rosa while their armies were engaged in mortal combat. Chile defeated Peru. Did this mean that the Virgin of Carmen was more powerful than Santa Rosa? How could this be, since each is representative of the same Virgin Mary?
Might it be that what the Bible says about prayer is being overlooked—that acceptable prayers are to be directed to someone else and through someone else and for something very different? (See for yourself what the Bible says at Luke 11:2; Philippians 4:6; John 14:6; 15:16; James 4:1-3; 1 John 3:22; 5:14.)
Equally disturbing in Brazil is the intermingling of devotion to Mary with that given to Iemanjá, an Afro-Brazilian goddess. Dominican Friar Raimundo de Almeida Cintra said that for the practitioners of Candoblé, a form of voodooism, “there is a real identification . . . between Iemanjá and Our Lady of the Conception.” (Italics added) According to the same friar, the documents of Vatican Council II “invite us to assimilate and incorporate some of these elements [of different religions].” (Italics added) Hence, it is not surprising to find statues of Mary and Iemanjá on the same altar for veneration and prayers being addressed to Iemanjá in the same style and rhythm as those of the Catholic Church.
This intermingling of cults raises the question: Who receives the veneration, Mary or Iemanjá? Moreover, a report indicates that 70 percent of nominal Catholics in Brazil also practice some form of spiritism. So it can be understood why one of the objectives of the pope’s visit was “to ensure survival of the Church in Brazil.” It was hoped that a massive gathering for the consecration of the basilica might help ‘many faithful ones to return to Aparecida to renew their faith.’
However, in regard to venerating any creature, human or otherwise, Catholics should have in mind what an angel told the apostle John when he fell down to worship the angel. He said: “Be careful! Do not do that! . . . Worship God.”—Rev. 19:10.
In view of the foregoing, and in spite of the crowds who flocked to see the pope during his visit, do you feel there exists a solid basis for believing that Mary can be of help to you or to the Church in Brazil?
Source of Help
What will help sincere Catholics is well illustrated by the experience of a Chilean woman dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Her daughter, who was studying the Bible, told her mother that it was not right to call on “Holy Mary, mother of God.” One day she asked her mother, “Who made the world?” “God, of course,” was the answer. “Then, how can he have a mother?”
After meditating for some time on that question, the mother began to ask questions, and the daughter suggested: “The next time Jehovah’s Witnesses pass by, why not ask them to explain it to you from the Bible?” She did so, and after a few discussions, using her own Catholic Bible, she learned that Mary was not the mother of God, but was the mother of Jesus, God’s Son. She learned, too, that God does not approve of the use of images in worship and so she disposed of all she had. She has come to appreciate the value of what the Bible says at Psalm 121:1, 2: “From where will my help come? My help is from Jehovah, the Maker of heaven and earth.”
As a sincere Catholic, have you wondered about the reason for the disunity in your Church, or the lack of “friendship among the religious” or the rampant mixing of pagan rites with Catholic ones? A knowledge of the Bible will help to answer your questions. During the past years, Jehovah’s Witnesses have helped thousands of Catholics, spiritists and others to gain this knowledge. They will be happy to help you too. Why not do the same as the Chilean woman mentioned above and take time to talk to Jehovah’s Witnesses the next time they pass by your way?