Mary for Today: Renewing Catholic Marian Devotion After the Second Vatican Council Through St. Louis-Marie de Montfort's True Devotion to Mary

Date of Award

2019

Degree Name

M.A. in Theological Studies

Department

Department of Religious Studies

Advisor/Chair

Advisor: Elizabeth Groppe

Second Advisor

Advisor: Daniel Thompson

Abstract

The purpose and content of my thesis is to investigate and assess how St. Louis-Marie de Montfort's True Devotion to Mary contributes to a renewal of Marian devotion in the Catholic Church after the Second Vatican Council. My thesis focuses on a close reading of the primary texts of St. Louis-Marie de Montfort (True Devotion to Mary), the Second Vatican Council (Lumen Gentium, the Constitution on the Church), and St. John Paul II (Redemptoris Mater). As part of my theological method, I renewed my Marian consecration and interviewed four other people who currently practice Marian devotion. The character and limitations of my interview methodology did not allow me the resources or time to interview a large group of people on a sociological scale. Although diverse in age and gender, the persons I interviewed were small in number (4) and were selected by me rather than by a random sampling. The interviews gave an impression of how Marian devotion is understood and practiced by some in the Catholic Church today. I interviewed the participants with the approval of the Institutional Review Board (IRB) and in conformity to their guidelines. My interviewees were all North Americans. Based on the interviews and my study of primary and secondary textual sources, I determined St. Louis-Marie de Montfort's True Devotion to Mary is consistent with the type of Mariology articulated in chapter eight of the Second Vatican Council's Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, and Saint John Paul II's Redemptoris Mater. All three sources emphasize the same theological criteria for true Marian devotion. According to the three sources, true Marian devotion should be ecclesial, soteriological, eschatological, Christological, and Trinitarian. True Devotion to Mary meets all of these criteria.

Keywords

Religion, Theology, Spirituality, Religious History, Marian Devotion, Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Louis-Marie de Montfort, Second Vatican Council, Saint John Paul II

Rights Statement

Copyright © 2019, author

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