Customer Reviews

Blessed Among Women: Encounters with Mary and Her Message

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"One of the most misunderstood and lovely elements of Catholicism, both Roman and Orthodox, is the spirituality which centers around Mary, the mother of Jesus. In my years as a Roman Catholic priest I marveled at the pure, lyrical, and gentle approach to God of many who practiced a devotion to Mary. Yet for those outside the Catholic Church and, frankly, for many Catholics, Marian devotion is a mysterious muddle consisting of Lourdes, charmed objects, and a repetitive prayer mumbled while counting beads on a chain called a rosary. "That was before Scott Sparrow. In a new book with a traditional title, Blessed Among Women , Sparrow has made Mary accessible in a way she has never been before. He also articulates a synthesis of spirituality, psychology, and metaphysics which is rather profound and reminiscent of both Jack Kornfield's A Path with a Heart and William James's The Varieties of Religious Experience. "This book keeps unfolding and deepening, like a loving relationship which is cultivated over time. It is obviously the fruit of the author's earnest and intelligent search for God. "I expected more a work of spiritual journalism in which people's mystical encounters with Mary were related, then put into a helpful perspective by the author - a kind of companion piece to his first book, I Am with You Always, about encounters with Jesus. Yet this book grows out of Sparrow's heart and the spiritual passion of his heart which is devoted to Mary. Thus the book is first the story of his search for and discovery of a spiritual master. And that master is Mary. "As he speaks of his devotion to Mary, he also explicates the character of a feminine spirituality which values silence, intimacy, simplicity, and speaks to immediate problems and concrete concerns. In his own and others' mystical encounters with Mary, he consistently emphasizes the relationship which Mary cultivates with the believer which, in turn, complements and points to the believer's relationship with Jesus. "Miraculous appearances and phenomena, even instances of spontaneous healing, are treated as elements in service of a trusting and loving relationship with Mary and Jesus. Mary's predictions and mysterious prophecies, so often sensationalized in the popular press, are not dwelt upon but are seen in the context of a wider series of encounters with Mary by "everyday mystics." This is one of the great strengths of Sparrow's method of exploring Marian spirituality: He has collected the mystical encounters of ordinary people and pointed out the difference made in the person's life by the encounter rather than concentrating on the encounter itself. "Many of the encounters, while wondrous, are not particularly dramatic; sometimes Mary does not speak and when she does it is often a simple word of encouragement or an expression of love. The effect on the person, however, is dramatic. The point is not the miracle, but the faith it inspires, the courage that it builds, the selfless love it enables. "Blessed Among Women serves also as a kind of practical spiritual handbook which addresses the problems of suffering, spiritual surrender, holiness, and spiritual discipline. He suggests that Mary offers some needed corrections to a male-dominated, aggressive, problem-solving approach to life which is fast becoming reckless and out of control. In addressing suffering, he points out the power of divinely inspired love to melt the grievance of the sufferer so as to make of the suffering a healing and redemptive experience. "Surrender, he suggests, is necessary if the spiritual seeker is to face the attitudes, behaviors, and character flaws which compromise his or her capacity to serve God. Mary's message of surrender challenges a glib self-image building that substitutes denial and bravado for true self-acceptance and humility. In his handling of the simple practice of imitating Mary as the model of holiness, Sparrow gives us an uncomplicated way of living in the world without becoming like its worst elements. Finally, he challenges an escapist spirituality that would make of holiness a place to hide from life and, ironically, from God. Mary asks us to pray, fast, repent, and serve others. The author suggests that in these practices, which Mary advocates over and over again, lies the renewal of our integrity in a time and in a culture which is dishonest and compulsively self-involved. "The most wonderful thing about this book, however, is that it simply rings true. The experience of God is hard to talk about or write about, but you know it when you encounter it. This is not a book about God or about Mary; it is a work of love from a man of faith, and that is why it inspires a response like that of the mother of Jesus: a simple and sincere 'yes.'"

This is a very loving book. I couldn't put it down. How I wish there was more information on this subject. Highly recommended for those who wish to further their spiritual development & who long for a relationship with the Blessed Mother.

I enjoyed reading this book but I found myself flipping past the narratives to fast forward to the experiences in italics which were the most interesting!

This was written in 1997 and that must be remembered when reading it. Many of us were still rebellious against church authority and even in our journeys back home to God we were writing our own agendas, doing our own spiritual thing. We didn't understand the virtue and benefits of obedience and had, in fact, been taught obedience was dumb. We had rejected 2000 years of research, revelation (known as 'tradition') and evidence and decided we could rewrite religion for a New Age.

I was as guilty as the rest and it was the New Age movement that admitted there WAS more that ultimately got me praying the rosary again and brought me back to the Church because, as Scott says,

if you pray to Mary she will lead you to Her Son.

We know now that we don't know what the Catholic Church knows about how to discern a real from a false apparition. And knowing that we are obedient to the church and wait for its very educated and most experienced opinion on such matters.

Well-publicized now - thanks to rather frightening success at Medjugorje -- is the fact that the devil can appear as Mary or Jesus or whoever he wants to within the confines of a person's imagination based on experience and has historically fooled even the most devout. So how much more could he fool us lay people.

Several stories here reminded me of that fact, particularly the experience where a woman living with an alcoholic had a vision of Jesus who said You aren't where I want you which she later took to mean that she needed to leave her husband. Alcoholism has never, in and of itself, been a justification for divorce because alcoholics have an illness that can rather easily be cured. It doesn't hurt anyone else. Abuse or adultery, on the other hand, that may result from it hurts people.

It is VERY unlikely that Jesus would encourage her to divorce her husband rather than get him help, especially when they had kids! It has had me wondering since I read the book what the true source of that apparition was.

Remember that gullibility and lack of discernment make for a prime diabolical target. We must go straight to the priest who has studied the supernatural exhaustively and leave decisions to him, if we want to protect our souls.

Well written and an easy read, I picked up some interesting information here that I haven't been able to find anywhere else.

Comments like I feel her with me, her healing power, etc, continue to prove sacreligious. Mary was a person. There is only One God. Mary cannot save. Only Jesus can. Period.