Customer Reviews

The Seeker's Guide to Mary (Seeker's Series)

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A concise, lucid guide to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and to Mariology, the faith traditions that have grown up around the figure of the historical Mary. It includes historical, hagiographical, and devotional information about Mary, including apparitions, shrines, and popular devotions. The materials of the "guide" are interspersed with reflections of a "seeker": the daily significance and usefulness of the Marian tradition to a contemporary woman. Useful both to the intellectually and spiritually curious.

Finally, an all in one book on Mary for the average person! It was a pleasure to read this book as it contains: the role of tradition, Church teachings, noted theologians, the place of apparations, Marian prayers and personal reflection all in one volume. Most important, however, Ms. Scaperlanda stresses the place of Mary in Catholic teaching and her role thoroughout the book. Mary is "honored" by the Church, not worshiped and her role is to point to Jesus. Mary is a model of obedience, that is, of listening to God, and she shows us what God's grace can do in us when we say "yes" to God. . .it allows Christ to be born in us. A wonderful book for every Protestant as it also contains how founders like Calvin and Luther honored Mary.

Mary, the Mother of God, is a woman whose presence in history and place within the spiritual world/salvation story is often misunderstood. Scaperlanda brilliantly works through the historical and Biblical accounts of Mary's influence on faith. As importantly, she does not shy away from the ever-fascinating world of Mary's appearances throughout the last century. I found myself underlining points that I might use in my own writings, defense of Mary's role, and so on. I gave up. The final two-thirds of the book, in particular, blossoms with information and articulate description at every turn. I wish that the publishers had included an index with this book and others in the "Seeker's" series. On all other fronts, this is a wonderful gift for those who question Mary's role, and for those who fell in love with her years ago.

I found this to be a very readable book about Mary, Mother of Jesus. Mrs. Scaperlanda does a great job of demystifying the person of Mary for the general public. I highly recommend this book and have made it available to my class of adults preparing to enter the Roman Catholic Church.