Manual for Marian Devotion

First, this is a beautiful little book - which is, of course, appropriate. It's lovely soft, flexible leather (or feels like leather), that will easily fit into a coat pocket or your purse; it's the right size for my (smallish) adult hands. It's a book that you want to open, to hold, to approach again and again - again, absolutely appropriate.I shouldn't say this, because I have not investigated every book about Marian devotion, but I'll say it anyway: if I wanted to buy ONE book to help someone come to know Mary, appreciate Mary, and enter into more 'relationship' with Mary, I'd get this book. It would be an excellent choice for a new Catholic convert, especially for someone for whom the 'Mary issue' is still something of a struggle or something alien. It contains enough 'apologetic' material to say, 'There is a reasonable explanation for all this' without being an apologetics book. Anyone who finds the simple explanations intriguing can always explore further.I'd definitely recommend 'looking inside' to see the Table of Contents, if it's available. The book is divided into two parts: Preparing for Marian Devotion, which explains Mary in God's Plan, Marian Doctrines, Historical Highlights of Marian Devotion, and Marian Devotion in Practice. Each of these sections is small and easily digested; I took it to daily Mass with me and read a few of the short texts after Mass each day.The second and larger part is Aids for Marian Devotion. Here you get teachings on Marian devotion, which I found a welcome 'moderate' approach. I have read Louis de Montfort and found him overwhelming - a bit like the 'Marian' version of the guy on the street who gets in your face and insists that you 'need to be saved, NOW.' I live in a country with strong Marian devotion, and some de Montfort-formed people are so extreme as to be very off-putting. The texts in this book have the sanity and sense that one expects from nuanced Church documents - again, excellent for anyone who is 'Mary-shy' because of coming from an anti-Mary background or who has been put off by Marian extremists.There's a wonderful section on Mary in Scripture - again helpful for people coming from a Bible-only background. Reading through this book - everything in short, manageable pieces - is like getting a thorough overview of Mary in the Scriptures, Mary in the lives of saints and religious, Marian devotions and miracles over history and around the world. Then you come to Marian prayers - including some with the Spanish and Latin versions. There's something for everyone here, for every style of prayer. Especially helpful for me (I admit having the most wandering mind during the Rosary) are the short texts connected to each mystery of the Rosary, as well as a list of scriptural meditations (you have to look up the texts yourself) for each mystery. There are probably prayers here that you've never heard of before - a real treasury. There are short texts and prayers connected with every Marian Feast in the calendar as well as selections of poetry (nothing cheesy or trite).A charming, and sadly neglected Marian devotion is the crowning of Mary's statue in May. This book gives you the Hymn for crowning, and then a delightful list of flowers that have been associated with the Blessed Virgin over the centuries. I knew a few - like marigolds ('Mary's Gold') and Lady Slipper, but had no idea how many other flowers had alternative Marian names or were associated with Mary. This list invites plenty of exploration for children, gardeners, nature loves and simply trivia or history buffs. Home-schooling parents could create a wonderfully educational project from researching the flowers to growing them and having your own Marian crowning at home.This book is a wonderful compendium of Marian teaching, tradition and prayer; I really can't imagine needing any other book for Marian devotion. At the same time, it is a good launching point if you want to go deeper into teachings about Mary (it may introduce you to saints or papal documents you didn't know about). Great for cradle Catholics, for seminarians, for converts - even for open-minded non-Catholics who are willing to explore Marian devotion without prejudice. Just don't lend them your copy - you might not get it back.

I understand so much more about Holy Mother Mary now, and I have never loved her more. Great prayers inside and much resource and information about what we believe about her and where our beliefs come from. If you are skeptical about Mary I recommend you check out this book! Pray for us now, and at the hour of our death!

The binding and formatting of this book makes carrying and reading it a pleasure, not just for the content. I will be keeping this with me, for both the many devotional excerpts for meditation and the many prayers. I was pleasantly surprised at how much was in Latin as well as English in the prayers section, but I would encourage them to add even more in the future.

I have purchased the kindle edition several months ago. I like this book. The Sisters and Publishers have done a wonderful job in editing this volume. There are many prayer books devoted to Mary. However, I believe this is the first to add brief summaries from various Catholic sources like Catechism, Church Councils, Papal Teaching that support and enhance one's understanding and devotion to Our Blessed Mother. I especially enjoy meditating on the Old Testament types of Mary. Made me go dig deeper into scripture for fuller understanding. Of course adding the Fathers of the Church etc--makes this a wonderful guide,.along with the inclusion of antiphons from the LOTH is just great idea as it shows unity between liturgical prayer and private devotion. My only slight disappoint (being French descent and from New England) is that there was no mention of the appearance of Our Lady of LaSalette---there is even a National Shrine in Attleboro, MA. However this does not prevent me from rating this Manual a 5.

This book is beautifully printed with silver edges and lovely blue leather binding. The content is excellent, reminiscent of the old Fr. Lasance prayer books, giving much solid information about Our Lady, which is much needed in our day and hard to find in one place. It also fosters a devotion to Our Lady using many formulas handed down to us over the centuries. I have one major objection: why did the good sisters use updated translations of the traditional Marian prayers? Even the familiar "Hail Mary" now contains "you" instead of "thee", "are" instead of "art", "you" instead of "thou", "your" instead of "thy". The traditional words are still used in the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church in the official English translation, and the Catholic Household Blessings and Prayers (at least for the "Hail Mary"), published by our American bishops.. This causes a division among generations, especially in praying the rosary. I would have thought the sisters would have taken the high road in utilizing the traditional reverent and poetic phrasing of these precious prayers. One shouldn't tamper with poetry. I am also surprised that the publishers went along with this decision.

I liked that this book can help my soul and spirit rise to heaven so I may be at peace with myself and this world. This is book is a blessing to own to strengthen my good soul. Bless you from your halos down to your good souls and toes for making her known. Amen.

Has plenty of info to get you started knowing the blessed mother.

Of course I’m biased.....5 Big Stars.The best way to Jesus is through His mother Mary.The book not only includes Marian devotions. It’s about as complete as a book can get regarding Mary. I especially like the chapter dealing with Marian-types in the Old Testament.

This was an excellent collection of biblical passages, catechism, prayers, devotions, poems, etc. It was also bound and printed beautifully.

This book will bring you closer to Mary, our Mother and intercession. She is the way to Chrissy who is the way to the Father.Highly recommended.

Very positive experience book as described and fast delivery. I highly recommend this bookseller.

Some useful material here. Very nicely printed and bound, the cover is excellent as a non leather cover. Feels really nice and opens at any page flat. I would have like a different approach to the prayers here, maybe a separate section that could be used purely for prayer. Some of the material is fairly basic, for example there is surprisingly little about the Rosary.Good as it is but I wanted more. The physical book is excellent and a pleasure to own, it's the contents that need more depth.

Lovely book to handle. The cover is very leather like and the pages are silver edged. The content is varied covering almost every Marian Reference ever made! A great treasure to keep for yourself but also a lovely present for someone!