Even for some who fully accept the Church’s teachings on the Virgin Mary, the language used can feel over the top. When speaking to Protestants and sometimes even other Catholics, they soften the language, as if this exaltation of Mary were somehow blasphemous or at least unnecessary. They distance themselves from titles like Coredemptrix and Mediatrix of all Graces and the language of Mary’s intercession as “omnipotent by grace” and holy slavery to Mary, used by saints such as St. Louis de Montfort or St. Alphonsus Liguori.
But are we really in danger of exalting Mary or loving her too much? St. Maximilian Kolbe says absolutely not: “Never be afraid of loving the Blessed Virgin too much. You can never love her more than Jesus did.”
This is a common theme when it comes to explaining Marian doctrines that sound almost jarring. “How could Mary be called Coredemptrix?! Jesus is the only Redeemer!” St. Teresa of Calcutta responded in loving simplicity: we know that Mary is the Coredemptrix (and even Mediatrix of all Graces) because she participated in the redemption. Without Mary, there is no Jesus. If we so easily accept that all grace comes to us through Jesus, and Jesus came to us through Mary, then it is simple to say that all grace comes to us through Mary!
The Difficulty of Human Language in Expressing God’s Mysteries
When discussing the language of Marian devotion, we must first admit something foundational: all language about God is limited because human language is finite and God is infinite. Human language is a gift that tries to describe something incomprehensible. This is why St. Thomas Aquinas famously concluded, “All that I have written appears to be as so much straw after the things that have been revealed to me” in describing his work the Summa Theologiae (one of the greatest works of theology ever written).
When applying this to Marian language, we must remember that it is not that our language of Mary is too big, but that our language to express God’s grandeur is too small. Because of the graces God has given to the Immaculata, our language is even too small to express the degree of dignity and grace he has bestowed upon her.
There is an obvious caveat, though. We must be clear that we are never expressing Mary as equal to God. Mary is elevated to her unique position in salvation history purely because of grace. This grace is that of a unique union with the Holy Spirit, which emanates from her unique vocation as Mother of God. (The Fathers say that Mary was created equal to Eve but given more grace due to her vocation.) Therefore, the intention of lofty and poetic language about Mary is not meant to compete with language of God; rather, it is an attempt to do justice to the indescribable work that he has done in her as a gift to the Church.
Mary as the First Theosis
This is the key to understanding the language of Marian devotion: Mary is what we are all called to become. She is the blueprint for the spiritual life. The Church Fathers recognized that “God became man so that man might become God” (St. Athanasius, On the Incarnation). We are called to become, by grace, what God is by nature. That’s theosis. Each of us is called to become partakers of the divine nature, where, in the beatific vision, we participate in God’s life (see 2 Pet. 1:4).
Mary is the model par excellence of this transformation in grace. She received this grace at the moment of her immaculate conception. She was perfectly united to the Holy Spirit and preserved from all stain of original sin (and its formal effects). This gift was given to her in view of her vocation to be the Mother of God and was an application of the grace merited on Calvary. (All grace flows to us from the cross, both forward and backward in time.)
Marian language tries to express this high degree of exaltation God has given Mary through the lens of Mary being a gift to the Church. We also keep in mind that this exaltation provides a foretaste of the reality to which we are all called. Certainly, Mary is exalted beyond where we will all be because of her vocation, but that’s okay!
Now let’s address the two most controversial Marian titles head on.
Coredemptrix
At first hearing, Coredemptrix might throw up a red flag. Does it mean Mary is equal to Jesus in redeeming the world? Not at all.
The prefix co- comes from the Latin cum, which means “with,” not “equal.” So Coredemptrix means that Mary cooperated with Christ in his work of redemption, in a unique and unparalleled way.
She did this by her fiat, her free and total “yes” at the Annunciation (see Luke 1:38), which brought about the Incarnation. She continued by offering Christ to the Father at the Presentation (see Luke 2:22-35) and standing at the foot of the cross (see John 19:25-27), uniting her maternal suffering to Christ’s passion—even suffering the pains of the Passion within her own heart (see Lumen Gentium 58, Salvifici Doloris 25, Luke 2:34-35).
Pope St. John Paul II frequently used the title Coredemptrix. In a 1993 address, he said, “Mary’s role as Coredemptrix did not cease with the glorification of her son.” This does not lessen Christ’s work as Redeemer, but rather gives him more glory by allowing a creature to participate—something God has done from the very beginning, for example in allowing Adam to name the animals in the garden of Eden; using mediators throughout the Old Testament; and using the apostles, bishops, and priests today.
Mediatrix of All Graces
The biggest obstacle to the title Mediatrix is found in 1 Timothy 2:5, where it is clearly stated that Jesus is the one mediator between God and man. So is it an issue to call Mary the Mediatrix of All Graces?
All of us participate in the distribution of graces. We pray for one another, and through our prayers, God blesses others. Neither Catholics nor Protestants have issues with intercession.
Mary simply does this in a more defined and profound way as the one who mediated Christ’s physical presence to us. She continues her mediation now in heaven, sitting in the rightful place of queen mother—who in the Davidic kingdom was responsible for bringing the subjects’ petitions to the king. Mary does this now, bringing our intentions to her son, our king.
Pope Leo XIII wrote that “nothing is imparted to us except through Mary” (Adjutricem Populi 3), and Pius X, Pius XI, Pius XII, and John Paul II all echoed this teaching. As St. Bernard of Clairvaux said, “just as an aqueduct receives water from the spring and conveys it to us, so Mary receives grace from the divine fountain and dispenses it to us.”
Should We Apologize for Marian Devotion?
No. But we must explain it clearly.
We do not worship Mary. We venerate her because of what God has done in her and what he continues to do through her. Her greatness does not compete with Christ—it magnifies him. She is the great magnifying glass, just as she said of her soul in the Magnificat (Luke 1:46).
When we use bold titles for Mary, we aren’t conflating her own actions with God’s. We are praising God’s presence in her and offering thanksgiving for the gift he has given us in her.
The Cult of Mary?
Marian devotion uses poetic, rich, sometimes startling language because Mary’s role in salvation is anything but ordinary. She is the New Eve, the Ark of the New Covenant, the Mother of God, the Coredemptrix, the Mediatrix, and our advocate.
The title of this article is even a little bit of clickbait. The “cult of Mary” throws people off because of the popular notion of the word cult. It is important to have an answer for this: the meaning of “cult” comes from the historical word cultus, which simply refers to formal and liturgical veneration. We have feast days for Our Lady on the calendar, and we celebrate them within the life of the Church. That’s the cult of Mary. It simply describes the Church’s official devotion, veneration, and theology.
So it is my opinion that we shouldn’t be worried about this language. Rather, we should lean into it. It doesn’t pose a threat to Christ, as if his role were usurped by his own mother. Instead, it helps us to glorify him even more!