Marian devotions

Marian devotions are external pious practices directed to the person of Mary, mother of Jesus, by members of certain Christian traditions.

Orthodox Marian devotions are well-defined and closely linked to liturgy, while Roman Catholic practices are wide-ranging—they include multi-day prayers such as novenas, the celebration of canonical coronations granted by the Pope, the veneration of icons in Eastern Christianity, and pious acts which do not involve vocal prayers, such as the wearing of scapulars or maintaining a Mary garden.

In 787 the Second Council of Nicaea affirmed a three-level hierarchy of latria, hyperdulia, and dulia that applies to God, the Virgin Mary, and then to the other saints.

[10][11] Anglican devotion for the Virgin Mary was revived during the 19th century Oxford Movement of Anglo-Catholicism and by the activities of prominent figures such as John Henry Newman.

[12] British theologians such as Father Frederick Faber (who composed several hymns to Mary) took an enthusiastic approach to the promotion of Marian devotions towards the end of the 19th century.

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams (who made a 2008 pilgrimage to Our Lady of Lourdes) wrote a book on how to pray with the icons of the Virgin Mary.

[24][25] In his 1521 Commentary on the Magnificat, Martin Luther extolled the magnitude of God's grace towards Mother Mary and her own legacy of Christian instruction and example demonstrated in her canticle of praise.

[34] Orthodox theologian Sergei Bulgakov called denominations that do not venerate the Virgin Mary "another type of Christianity".

There are numerous Marian litanies in the Eastern church which may cover a multitude of themes, some dogmatic, others of moral and patriotic character.

A number of local (and often ancient) Orthodox Marian devotions also exist around the world, e.g., to the icon of the Theotokos of the Life-giving Spring in present-day Istanbul.

[44] Similarly, national devotions to Our Lady of Šiluva resulted in Lithuania being formally consecrated to Mary by Cardinal Sladkevicius and the Chairman of the Lithuanian Parliament, in September 1991.

[54] Various icons, images and statues of the Virgin have been associated with reports of miraculous events such as healings and have resulted in local and national devotions and the construction of Marian shrines.

[57][58] Each year around Pentecost, as part of a local Marian devotion, about a million people attend the Romería de El Rocío in Spain.

For example, there has also been the long-established practice of dedicating side altars in Catholic churches, often called Lady Chapels, to Mary.