The Everything Mary Book: The Life And Legacy of the Blessed Mother Paperback – August 28, 2006

Perfect!

It was a pleasure to read this book. It did contain quite a few pieces of information of which I had not been aware, especially about Scriptures that are thought to speak of Mary by means of typology in the Old Testament. I believe it a very important book to read for Protestants who are adverse to the idea of invoking Mary for intercession and venerating her. The book explains the difference between worship and veneration, and does at one point point out that the Eastern and Western church do not teach or allow worship of any one other than God.This book is also important in that Protestants often/usually criticize those who invoke Mary and venerate her on the basis of false information. The importance of reading this book for Protestants is not primarily to convince them to invoke Mary, but not to falsely accuse people on the basis of things the accusers do not understand. Either in 2 Peter 2 or Jude 1, such false accusations of what we don't understand is condemned and points to a state of lack of true faith in the accusers.What the book fails to say, and I believe it should have been stated, is that the Church (Eastern and Western) anathemizes any worship of Mary and other saints, and considers it blasphemy. Further, the Church anathemizes the idea of praying to any one but God. The book refers to "prayer" to saints and then explains the difference between prayer to God and to saints (in earlier times, the word carried a broader meaning and application than it does today; the people of the past understood the difference in context, while today we do not rightly recognize it). The Church forbids, and rightly so, that saints should be requested to do for or give anything to the one praying. Only God can and does this. The saints may only be venerated as would any person of honor, and the saints may only be requested to pray for us, as we would ask any other believer here on earth to pray for or with us.Further reason I give only four stars is: 1) because what I said above really should be explained better in the book; 2) the book inaccurately refers to contradictions in the Bible that do not exist. For the most part, the supposed contradictions are not given. But in at least one case, what is stated as a contradiction is no contradiction at all. The book states that Matthew refers to Jesus born in a house, while Luke refers to Jesus born in a cave. Neither are true. Luke says that Jesus was born in a manger (no mention of a barn or cave is mentioned, though an inconvenient place for birthing is inferred). Matthew's reference to a house, where the wise men visit, is when Jesus is a "young child" (as Matthew specifically states). Therefore, Luke refers to the birth of Jesus in a manger; Matthew refers to Jesus living in a house as a young child, just before Herod orders the death of children 2 years old and under.The book also fails to mention the second type of apparition, except in reference to those that are possibly rediculous (Jesus in a grilled cheese sandwich and Mary in an oil stain--the public reaction to such is proof, not of faith, but superstition, and even capitalistic profit). The Church declares that there are apparitions of Mary that do not involve Mary herself appearing, but are images of Mary seen in common objects. But also, as I understand it, these apparitions are not visible to all, but to the one or few that are meant to see it (thus Jesus in a sandwich and Mary in an oil spill or a tree stump that all can see all the time does not meet the accepted definition of an apparition). Also, these personal apparitions via common objects are unconfirmable by the Church and remain only recognizable as a possible personal and private experience. The fruit of such experiences in the person's life is the only [partial] validation possible. The instances of the sandwich and the oil stain contain only unspiritual evidences and superstitious evidences in the lives of those involved and therefore are necessarily considered as completed unvalidated.In short, a good book to read. Just remember that the authors made a few blunders.

I've read quite a few books about the Blessed Mother, including In Search of Mary by Sally Cuneen, which is often quoted in Everything Mary. This book is light-years ahead of any of those others. I consider myself a life-long devout Catholic deeply devoted to Mary. Written by non-Catholics, I feared Everything Mary would fall prey to the usual Catholic-bashing found in books of this sort. To the contrary, I was amazed and delighted at how knowledgable and sincerely respectful the Schroedels are of the various faiths' beliefs towards Mary. There are two or three errors about the Catholic beliefs, but they are very minor and in absolutely no way detract from the book. On the other hand, I was able to discover much about the Eastern Orthodox and Anglican beliefs, along with other Protestant religions and even Islam. I now know a good deal more about the differences and similarities of Catholic and non-Catholic teachings of Mary.Just as important, and here's where Everything Mary leaves the others in the dust, it is the most easy-to-read work on the subject of the Virgin Mary I've ever found. Typically, to flesh out the sparse facts of the Blessed mother, these books are filled with preaching, speculations, and personal opinions. Instead, Everything Mary remains true to its title - all sorts of information and trivia - while sticking strictly to facts, and does it all in a light reading format. That's intended as a high compliment because it makes no attempt to come across as a self-important academic tome. I was able to finish the book in a few hours without becoming bored or lost in the verbiage.To sum up, regardless of your denomination, there is nothing in this book to offend, and much to learn and enjoy. Jenny and John Schroedel created a truly marvelous book about the most influential woman in history. I congratulate them and highly recommend it!