Thomas Merton on Marian Devotion

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the role of the Virgin Mary in the Church is inseparable from her union with Christ. Due to church teaching such as this, the practice of Marian Devotion, which can be described as any act intended to venerate the Virgin Mary, has been pervasive throughout the Catholic tradition. One man who felt a particular connection to the Virgin Mary was the Christian mystic and spiritualist Thomas Merton, as evidenced by his numerous poems which express admiration for the Mother of Jesus. In perhaps his most recognized work of this sort, an essay entitled "Understanding Catholic Devotion to Mary," Merton attempts to explain in detail the relationship Catholics have with the Virgin Mary, and why it is that the Church venerates her so.

Though the poems of Merton explain his own personal relationship to the Virgin Mary, his penned essay on the subject of Marian Devotion looks to take a more generalized view in explaining the relationship from a Catholic perspective. In doing so, the first order of business for the Christian mystic is to correct what he believes to be a major misconception of non-Catholics regarding the veneration of Mary. In the eyes of Catholics, Thomas Merton writes, it is not the case that the Virgin Mary is a divine being, on par with Jesus. Rather, as church teaching dictates, Mary's blessed status is exemplified in the fact that by virtue of her humble nature, she became a great vessel through which God could work. In explaining this, Merton seeks to illustrate that though Mary holds a special place in the eyes of the Catholic Church, she is simply an instrument of God.

After establishing Mary's place in accordance with church teaching, Thomas Merton goes on to explain why Mary was not only an instrument of God, but what made her, as the mystic describes, the perfect instrument. Though being humble is a virtue that is expected of all followers of the faith, Merton remarks that it was Mary's perfect humbleness which set her apart from even the most devoted believers. Because Mary had no desires of her own before God, the Lord bestowed upon her more than any other venerable figure in the Christian tradition, including the saints. In submitting her own will completely before God, Merton writes that Mary was able to find the perfect love of God. It is because of this complete and total submission that Mary is considered immaculate according to church teaching, for she was free of anything that could interrupt a mystic relationship with God.

Thomas Merton goes on to echo the official church teaching that as far as the church is concerned, it is not possible to separate the Mother, Mary, from her Son, Jesus. This is because, the mystic explains, as Jesus was sent to be a perfect gift to the world, the one closest to him was naturally the one who was nearest to him in terms of perfection. This connection, combined with the nature of Mary, made her, as Thomas Merton described, a window which reflected the glory of the Son of God. Merton writes that when praising Jesus the believer is implicitly praising Mary, as the deepness of their connection makes separating the two activities impossible according to church teaching. It is in this way the believer is to understand the teaching of the Catholic Church regarding the Virgin Mary, not as one who compares to the divine nature of the Jesus, but as one who was able to establish a mystic relationship with God through her connection to Jesus and her most humble nature.

Throughout the life of Thomas Merton, the mystic wrote extensively about the love and devotion he felt for the Mother of Jesus. In "Understanding Catholic Devotion to Mary," Merton explores why this relationship exists according to church teaching, and discusses what he feels is the proper way for a Catholic to understand their relationship to the Virgin Mary. For Thomas Merton, The mother of Jesus is nothing more than an instrument of God, and nothing less than the perfect example of humbleness, which allowed her to communicate God's love to mankind.