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Heinrich Johann Sinkel, “The Annunciation,” 1862 (photo: Public Domain)

By E. Wesley Ely, MD, MPH, (Blog), National Catholic Register, April 7, 2024

E. Wesley Ely, MD, MPH, is professor of medicine and critical care at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Nashville VA and president of the Nashville Guild of the Catholic Medical Association. He is also author of Every Deep-Drawn Breath, from which 100% of net proceeds go to survivors of critical illness and “Long COVID.”

How is Mary at the center of Christ’s path to the cross?

When I was well into my 40s and en route to a medical meeting, Maddie, a cab driver who had driven me multiple times to the airport, blurted out, “Dr. Wes, what’s the deal with Catholics and Mary?” Having gone to Catholic school in the 1970s, I think my catechesis was a bit lacking. So my answer reflects a poor understanding of my own faith and the Church. “Maddie, it’s all overblown. I get confused by the devotion to Mary myself.” Then, a few years later, I read in Magnificat that Pope John Paul II was profoundly affected by St. Louis de Montfort’s True Devotion to Mary. I bought the book, read it twice straight through, and it changed my faith life forever.

That brings me to this reflection on the Hail Mary itself.  …

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