It is the first day of the new year, and the last day of the Octave of Christmas – the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.

In the Catholic Church, a solemnity is a feast day of the first rank, and very often a Holy Day of Obligation – that is, you should not really be skipping church without prior permission, or a very good excuse. Christmas and Easter are by far the most important solemnities, marking the birth and resurrection of the Lord, but the Solemnity of Mary is not to be sniffed at, either.

While her place of honor is unquestioned by Catholic and Orthodox Christians, Marian devotions are often a stumbling stone for Protestants. Can it be right to hold services for even the Lord’s late mother, or ask her for prayers, rather than God? Does doing so lead Christians towards idolatry, or even a kind of pagan goddess worship?

Catholics and Orthodox often reply that the Virgin Mary, like all the saved, is not truly dead, as the Bible teaches that whosoever believeth in Jesus Christ does not perish, but has “everlasting life.” Asking her, or any of the faithful departed forming the “cloud of witnesses” described in the Epistle to the Hebrews to pray for us is in this view no different than asking our loved ones or well-meaning strangers to pray for us.

‘WE CAN NEVER HONOR HER ENOUGH.’  

This is not a debate we can resolve in a few paragraphs, but it is instructive to recall that many Protestants through history have held the Virgin Mary in high regard. And not just half-in, half-out Anglican and Episcopalian types, but no less a figure than Martin Luther himself.

Luther, despite his distaste for the Catholic Church and much of its doctrine, never abandoned the devotion to the Mother of God which contemporary Protestants often regard as a bit too suspiciously Catholic.

“The veneration of Mary is inscribed in the very depths of the human heart,” he declared in 1522. Almost a decade later in 1531, he had not changed his mind, preaching she was the “highest woman and the noblest gem in Christianity after Christ… nobility, wisdom, and holiness personified.”

“We can never honor her enough,” he added – though he warned “honor and praise must be given to her in such a way as to injure neither Christ nor the Scriptures.”

Whether your beliefs allow you to countenance attending a Catholic service for Christ’s mother on the Eighth Day of Christmas or not, you might consider taking some time to reflect on her essential role in the Nativity today. Perhaps make a special effort with your own mother too, if  at all possible.

Happy New Year!