Contemporary Spirituality
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Contemporary Spirituality
How Can Spirituality be Marian?
– Father Johann G. Roten, S.M.
Published in Marian Studies, Volume 52.
"There is nothing better than true devotion to Mary, conceived as an ever more complete following of her example, to introduce one to the joy of believing." Can this statement, formulated with the spiritual formation of future priests in mind, be applied to all Christians? Is it true that sound Marian devotion is "an essential aspect of Christian spirituality"? Or must we concede that Marina Warner's prophecy has come true, namely, that the "reality of her [Mary's] myth is over; the moral code she affirms has been exhausted"? While reducing Marian devotion to an expression of the "traditionalist counter,movement," a recent sociological study reached a different conclusion: "With the weight of the history I reviewed ... firmly supporting the following conclusion, I contend that Marian devotion will continue well into the next millennium.