The most honoured woman in history
No woman in history has been loved, painted, sculpted, or prayed to as much as Mary of Nazareth. The Catholic Church holds that this young Jewish girl said yes to the angel Gabriel and conceived in her womb the eternal Son of God. Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word (Luke 1:38). On her yes, the salvation of the world hung.
Catholics do not worship Mary; worship belongs to God alone. Catholics honour her and ask for her prayers because Christ Himself gave her to the Church. Behold, your mother (John 19:27).
The four Marian dogmas
The Church has formally defined four truths about Mary. Each one is really a truth about her Son.
- Mother of God (Council of Ephesus, AD 431). The Person Mary carried is God the Son. She is truly the Mother of God, Theotokos.
- Perpetual Virginity. Mary remained a virgin before, during, and after the birth of Christ.
- Immaculate Conception (Pope Pius IX, 1854, the same Pope who founded the Diocese of Shrewsbury in 1851). From her first moment Mary was preserved from original sin by the merits of her Son.
- Assumption (Pope Pius XII, 1950). At the end of her earthly life, Mary was taken up body and soul into heaven.
The Catechism gives the heart of all four.
Mary's role in the Church is inseparable from her union with Christ and flows directly from it.
Catechism of the Catholic Church §964
Why Catholics ask Mary to pray
People ask: why pray to Mary when you can go straight to Jesus? Same reason you ask a friend to pray for you. Mary is the closest of all the saints to her Son. Asking her to pray is no different from asking your grandmother, except her prayers carry the weight of being the Mother of God.
The Hail Mary itself is two scripture verses joined to a request. The angel Gabriel's greeting (Luke 1:28). Elizabeth's blessing (Luke 1:42). And then, Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. The whole prayer is doctrine, addressed as a request.
Mary in the Diocese of Shrewsbury
The Cathedral of this diocese is dedicated to Our Lady Help of Christians and St Peter of Alcantara. Mary's name is on the title deed of the Mother Church. The original design was drawn up by Augustus Welby Pugin, a man whose entire architectural ministry was an act of love for Mary and the Mass. The Cathedral was opened in 1856 by Cardinal Wiseman, two years after Pope Pius IX defined the Immaculate Conception.
Bishop Mark Davies led the diocese on a Holy Year pilgrimage in 2025 and renewed the diocesan act of entrustment to Our Lady. He speaks of Mary as the model of joyful faithfulness, the one in whom faith and humility met without strain.
The Cathedral parish includes a second church, St Winefride's, named for the Welsh saint whose well at Holywell has drawn pilgrims for nearly 1,400 years. The rosary is prayed there daily. The shrine has been raised to national status by the Bishops' Conference, and St Winefride's relics rested in the Benedictine Abbey in Shrewsbury for centuries before the Reformation.
The Rosary, the simplest path
The Rosary is the prayer most associated with Mary, though it is really a prayer about Christ told from her side. Twenty mysteries are spread across four sets, walking through the Gospels.
- The Joyful Mysteries. Annunciation, Visitation, Nativity, Presentation, Finding in the Temple.
- The Luminous Mysteries. Baptism in the Jordan, Wedding at Cana, Proclamation of the Kingdom, Transfiguration, Institution of the Eucharist.
- The Sorrowful Mysteries. Agony in the Garden, Scourging, Crowning with Thorns, Carrying of the Cross, Crucifixion.
- The Glorious Mysteries. Resurrection, Ascension, Pentecost, Assumption, Crowning of Mary.
One set takes twenty minutes. St John Vianney, whose relics rest in the new altar at Shrewsbury Cathedral, prayed it daily. St Bernadette, whose relics visited the Cathedral in September 2022, was praying it when Our Lady appeared at Lourdes.
Mary and the Church
Mary is not just one disciple among many. She is the Mother of the Church because she is the Mother of its Head. A great sign appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun (Revelation 12:1). To pray with Mary is to pray with the Church. To love Mary is to love the Son she gave us.
Your next step
Pray one decade of the Rosary today. Take the first Joyful Mystery, the Annunciation. Read Luke 1:26-38. Then say the Our Father, ten Hail Marys, and the Glory Be. Notice that you have prayed scripture and asked the Mother of God for ten things.
If you want to walk further, the diocesan Marriage and Family Life Office hosts pilgrimages and devotional events. Email jane.deegan@dioceseofshrewsbury.org to find out what is on. Or come to Shrewsbury Cathedral, sit in front of one of Margaret Rope's stained glass windows, and pray a single Hail Mary slowly. The Mother of God is closer than you think.
