To the Editor of The Tablet.
There is a pressing need, in the present time, for Catholics to rediscover and intensify their devotion to Our Blessed Mother, Mary.
When Christians lose their devotion to her, there is a danger that they will also lose their belief in the Divinity of Christ.
Equally, those who intensify their devotion to her gradually acquire that belief.
During October, we made a commitment, in our parish, to come together on Friday mornings to say the rosary, to pray for peace and reconciliation in the world, especially in the light of the present conflicts.
I recognised, with sorrow, that I had too long neglected this important aspect of my faith which had become impoverished as a result.
Whilst reciting the words of the Hail Mary, praying for less enmity between Jews, Christians and Muslims, I remembered, from my reading of the Koran, that the Muslims, like us, already consider Mary to be the most blessed of all women in heaven, taking precedence even over Fatima, the Prophet's beloved daughter.
Mary has requested that she be known, in the future, as Mary, The Lady of All Nations.
This is just one more of the clues she has given us towards solving the problem of wars between nations.
Any discussion we might have with a Muslim brother or sister should not, therefore, commence with an argument about our differences, but with a celebration, instead, of the fact that that we share a devotion to Mary.
We should be confident, moreover, that Mary will always bring anyone who is devoted to her to Christ, her divine Son.
(It would be helpful, too, if, in so doing, we were to refer to her as Our Lady of Fatima, a name that has resonance for Muslims.)
Having agreed that we honour the same Blessed Lady, our task would then be to show that Chapter 19 of the Koran is taken from the Gospel of Luke, wherein we will learn that Mary is "blessed amongst women", not for her purity alone, but because she bears the Christ, her divine Son and Saviour of the World.
Christ, then, is what makes Mary so special and without whom her existence would have passed unrecorded, like that of any other mother of her time.
May the Year of Mercy that is about to commence coincide with a renewed commitment in our hearts to Our Lady of All Nations.
Jill Langford, Castle Douglas
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