Mary: A History of Doctrine and Devotion

Rating:
Summary: A must for those seriously interested in the Virgin Mary
Review: I have had the oportunity to work extensively with this book as a theology student studying the history and development of the doctrine and devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. I am a Catholic priest and I work in Latin America in the Family Rosary Apostolate. I have been taking this past year to study, and as much as I can I have finally been getting to the more in depth study of Marian devotion that I have wanted to do for years. This book, together with Jaroslave Pelikan's "Mary through the Centuries" have been the most valuable resources, and someone who did not have much time to study could simply work with these two books and come away with quite a bit of depth and breadth in their Marian knowledge. Mrs. Graef offers a wealth of detailed yet broad knowledge about Marian devotion and Mariology as it has developed through the centuries. Her treatment is at the same time reverent and questioning in a healthy way (i.e., she questions tendencies to excess that at times have entered into Marian devotion. As John XXIII said, Mary is not pleased when she is elevated higher than her Son.) The work is well written, and is appropriate equally for the scholar and any intellegent and interested reader.