Mary in the Bible and in Our Lives

This book is a clear and beautiful exposition of what the Catholic Church believes and teaches about Mary. Not a history or a compendium, it is written by a theologian and Carmelite monk who dedicated his life in pondering the mysteries conveyed through Mary. Such a presentation that comes from the deep life of prayer and meditation of the author, and includes the more challenging beliefs about Our Lady for non-Catholics, can be very helpful in conveying the essential teachings to those who may have difficulties with Catholic Marian beliefs and devotion.

The Mariology of the Church cannot be distilled only from statements in the Bible, but has matured through centuries of contemplation of the mystery of the Incarnation in its totality. While the seed is identical to the adult tree, it takes time and experience to prove it is so. The Church's teachings about Mary are the flowers and fruit of the gospel tree. A proper understanding of Mary is the result of a constantly reaffirmed experience of the Gospel to its ultimate consequences.

The Marian dogmas of the Church are guarantors of the unabridged doctrine of the Word become flesh, God made man, and about man's vocation to eternal communion with God. Fr. Stinissen shows how Mariology corrects any attempt to minimize the gospel of God who became man so that man should become like God. As Christ is God-with-man, so Mary is man-with-God, revealing the astonishing truth that God has engaged in intimate communion with man.

In a world today that strives in many ways to reduce and humiliate the dignity of man, the Church shows in Mary the infinitely high value of man in the eyes of God, and God's wondrous love and plan for each one of us.