Day 343: Praying Through Mary

In prayer, the Holy Spirit unites us to the person of the only Son, in his glorified humanity, through which and in which our filial prayer unites us in the Church with the Mother of Jesus. CCC 2673

In today's reading, the Catechism discusses the tradition of how we pray to Jesus through Mary. This is a stumbling block to many Protestants, but it seems to be quite normal for Catholics, Orthodox, and indeed just about every Apostolic Church I'm aware of. I like how the Catechism goes through each line of the Hail Mary Prayer (CCC 2676-77) and expounds upon the theology behind it. The explanation of how this prayer came to be popular in the West as a substitute among the laity for the Liturgy of the Hours, along with an acknowledgement of Marian devotions in the East, was a nice touch (CCC 2678).

The Catechism Compendium summarizes how Christian prayer is Marian and how the Church prays to Mary:

Because of her singular cooperation with the action of the Holy Spirit, the Church loves to pray to Mary and with Mary, the perfect ‘pray-er’, and to “magnify” and invoke the Lord with her. Mary, in effect, shows us the “Way” who is her Son, the one and only Mediator. Above all, with the Hail Mary, the prayer with which the Church asks the intercession of the Virgin. Other Marian prayers are the Rosary, the Akathistos hymn, the Paraclesis, and the hymns and canticles of diverse Christian traditions. (#562-63)

The Catechism Companion Vol III has some good commentary on this:

The Church honors the Blessed Virgin through the Hail Mary. Most of it is drawn directly from Scripture. Mary is a faultless model of prayer. The Church does not worship Mary. The Trinitarian God is God alone. We worship the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit alone. Mary was with Jesus from the moment of conception until his death. She knew him better than anyone on earth... From the Cross Jesus gave us - the Church - his mother as our mother... The Church recognizes Mary as its mother, and it is always supported by her prayers. (p. 202)

Finally, Fr. Mike Schmit has a great video on the origins of the Rosary: