An Exploration of Marian Spiritual Practices: Toward a Daily Transcendent Spiritual Life with Mother Mary

Abstract

Mother Mary has been and can be a spiritual role model for Korean Catholics to live out their faith, a faith that is based on a dynamic understanding of a spiritual model of Mary, that is, spiritual growth coming from Eastern Mariology, particularly Mariology based on Gregory Palamas. For this dynamic understanding of Marian spirituality, I review the Scriptures on Mary, including Luke, and Palamas’ reflection on Mary’s spiritual life. This dynamic understanding of Mary and Her spiritual life never contradicts the static approach to Mariology, the Immaculate Conception, through which Jesus, who is God, was born. I believe Mother Mary in Heaven still loves Her Son and God, and Her love is becoming deeper and deeper in Heaven, which means that some virtues, such as wisdom, knowledge, prudence, vigilance, and endurance, could be interim virtues “until heaven and earth pass away” (Mt 5:19), for love and intimacy with God are permanent in Heaven. This is the belief that we can grow our love continuously with Mary forever.

1. Introduction

We live in a complex, rapidly changing, techno-economic-centric world. The pride of human beings in this techno-economic-centric world often forgets and denies God and has become the most nuanced form of evil today. In South Korea, such a techno-economic-centric lifestyle not only bans our spiritual progress and unification with Christ but also deconstructs and challenges our systems of belief and many social and cultural institutions based on Christianity.

In this regard, quoting Pope Benedict’s words in his encyclical Laudato Si’, Pope Francis (2015, #6) points out that our pride and arrogance are the roots of social and ecological evils: “Pope Benedict asked us to recognize that the natural environment has been gravely damaged by our irresponsible behavior. The social environment has also suffered damage. Both are ultimately due to the same evil: the notion that there are no indisputable truths to guide our lives, and hence human freedom is limitless.”

I deeply resonate with the Pope’s point that the same evil, human pride and arrogance, is the root of social and ecological crises today. In other words, our abuse and misuse of the Earth and nature, triggered by our own self-seeking interests, are deeply related to a self-centered relationship with our neighbors. Moreover, Pope Francis (2015, #6) explicitly describes this evil as “practical relativism” in the encyclical: “Where we ourselves have the final word, where everything is simply our property, and we use it for ourselves alone. The misuse of creation begins when we no longer recognize any higher instance than ourselves, when we see nothing else but ourselves.”

Human beings are becoming the final decision-makers of the Earth, believing that their decisions determine the final destiny of the Earth, particularly with respect to critical issues such as human cloning, AI (artificial intelligence), abortion, and other ethical and social issues that are deeply related to our physical and spiritual lives.

Many people of faith are in need of directional signposts to guide themselves both spiritually and ethically in response to these contemporary challenges. Hence, throughout this paper, I argue that Mother Mary can be a very powerful spiritual partner who can guide us in this rapidly changing and “fickle” society (Isa. 3:4b). Specifically, I argue that Mary’s messages function as the modern version of God’s revelation in our time, especially here, in Korea.

Through this essay, I explore Marian spiritual practices that would allow us to critically assess this rapidly secularizing world and the omnipresent technocratic paradigm. Therefore, my research question is: what is the Marian response to the diverse yet interrelated social and ecological problems today? I suggest Mother Mary as a spiritual role model for Korean Catholics to live out their faith. My interpretation of Mary as a spiritual model is based on a dynamic understanding of Mary’s spiritual growth that originally stems from Eastern Mariology, particularly from Gregory Palamas. This dynamic understanding of Mary and Her spiritual life does not contradict the static approach of Mariology, the Immaculate Conception. As Popes devote the world to the Immaculate Conception of Mary for the peace of the world, we devote all our lives to Mary, from the trivial things to very critical things in our lives. I demonstrate throughout this paper how Korean Catholics live out the two models of Mary. Therefore, I suggest that two models of Mary (a dynamic model and a static model) are being lived out spiritually and synergistically by Korean Catholics.

The paper is structured as follows: first, I briefly scrutinize the Scriptural resources of Mary. Then, I trace the Churches’ teachings on the Mother of God and the Immaculate Conception. At this point, I try to suggest the static and dynamic spiritual model of Mary through Palsmas’ integrative understanding. Then, I explore the relationship between Marian spiritual practices and social change. Finally, I suggest a daily example of a rosary revisited with Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’, which could be some examples of spiritual practices exercised by small communities in South Korea. Through this work, I want to design daily spiritual practices for laypeople, especially the younger generation, in consideration of the messages of Our Lady and Her virtues. As Mother Mary “kept and meditated all these things in her heart” (Luke 2:19), we need to keep and meditate on Mary’s messages and virtues.

2. Scriptural Resources of Mary

Before delving into Marian spiritual practices, it is important to point out that Mariology must be grounded in Christology. Stated differently, Mariology can never be an end in and of itself. This is because as Ronald F. Hock (1997, p. 2) addresses, dealing with Marian practices can have some unexpected byproducts, which we need to be cautious of: “As the twentieth century comes to a close, the Marian cult (I would not want to use the word ‘cult’, just use veneration) is one of the most powerful and divisive issues in Christianity.”

With that being said, I first address the scriptural resources of Mary. Then, I examine the Church’s teaching on Mary’s title as the Mother of God. Lastly, I address the notion of the Immaculate Conception and how it relates to Marian spirituality.

We can find scriptural sources about Mary both inside and outside of the Canon. In particular, we can find many stories of Mary’s birth and youth in the proto-gospel of James. Purportedly written by James, the brother of Jesus, this ancient biography begins with the period before Mary’s birth (Hock 1997, p. 5). Mary’s father, Joachim, learns that he alone among the good people of Israel has no children, and he decides to retreat into the wilderness to fast and pray until God tells him why he is childless (Hock 1997, p. 7). This narrative is very important as it foretells the birth of a spiritual giant and reminds us of Jesus and other prophets going into the desert to encounter God.

After Mary’s birth, Anne transforms the baby’s bedroom into a sanctuary where nothing unclean can touch her (Hock 1997, pp. 8–9). Then, when she is three, her parents fulfill their vow and present Mary to the priests in the Temple in Jerusalem. There, she spends the rest of her childhood, fed by the hand of an angel (Hock 1997, p. 9). Although there are various pictures of Mary’s childhood, they are most likely ahistorical, which is why they are considered non-canonical. For instance, the story of the Virgin living in the temple is incompatible with everything we know about temple practice. Consequently, the stories of Mary’s childhood are rarely heard in South Korea, for Korean Catholics in general read the Canonical Scriptures only. Even though these stories are very popular in the Orthodox culture and in medieval Italy, they are never regarded as based on historical events, and even the story of the Virgin dwelling in the Holy of Holies is deemed historically impossible.

Mariology largely comes from the Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of Matthew, while there is hardly anything of relevance in the Gospel of Mark, and there is considerable ambiguity about the proof passages that are present in the Johannine corpus. The infancy narratives contain inner (chronological and factual) tensions and seem to attest to the presence of different oral traditions that are systematized and organized in a different way.

The main scriptural source of Mariology comes from the Gospel of Luke, which includes the Annunciation of the angel to Mary (Luke 1:30) and the visitation of the Virgin to her cousin Elisabeth (1:41). Luke also writes Mary’s response to the annunciation, which portrays her most outstanding obedience: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word (1:38).”

The annunciation narrative reveals Mary’s absolute obedience to God. Her humble response suggests that a person’s destiny can be realized through absolute obedience. For example, John the Baptist’s special destiny, given by God, was to prepare the way for the Lord, which he fulfilled through obedience to his calling. Similarly, Abraham fulfilled his God-given destiny by moving to Canaan and having descendants there for God’s glory. In the same way, Mary’s obedience leads her to fulfill her destiny as the Mother of God. Mary’s response is an expression of humbly accepting God’s will, which is a steppingstone of modern spiritual practice. Although Mary appears only a few times in the Scripture, her words and deeds serve as a priceless source of Christian spirituality.

3. Church’s Teaching: The Mother of God

While Proclus and Cyril affirm that Mary is the Mother of God, Nestorius maintains that Mary is the Mother of Christ (McGuckin 2004, pp. 1–20). However, the two notions are not necessarily incompatible. Cyril’s Christology claims that there is only one subject in the incarnate Christ; that subject is the Logos, and the Logos rests in the divine nature but also in the human nature (McGuckin 2004, pp. 175–226). Thus, there is no human subject, according to this interpretation. The incarnate Christ is the one subject, the Logos, with two natures (a human nature and a divine nature) and two wills (a human will and a divine will), particularly according to Maximus the Confessor (??–662) (Maximus the Confessor 2014, p. 84). In other words, Christ is fully divine (100% divine) and fully human (100% human). Maximus addresses the question of ontological differences, meaning, and how he views the hypostatic union as ratifying the differences while affirming their enduring eschatological qualities. The idea is that we preserve our identity even eschatologically.

Mary is the Mother of God. This is something that comes from Cyril’s understanding of the hypostatic union; without that theology, this title cannot be used. It is important to note that the Gospels pay close attention to the human nature of Jesus. For example, “He was surprised that people have no beliefs” (Mk 6:6), “Jesus is angry” (Mk 11:15; Mt 21:12), “Jesus is weeping” (Jn 11:35), “Jesus is hungry” (Mark 11:12), “Jesus is suffering” (Mt 27:46; Mk 12:54), and so forth. In other words, Jesus’ humane feelings and bodily responses are an essential aspect of Christology.

In addition, Jesus’ prayers in the Bible, such as “Jesus prays early in the morning” (Mk 1:35), “Jesus prays overnight” (Mt 26:36; 26:42), “Jesus prays in the desert” (Luke 5;16), and “Jesus prays alone on the mountain” (Mark 6:46) indicate that we should also make a space of communication between ourselves and God. Christ himself prayed to the extent that he was invested with a human nature (Maximus the Confessor 2014, p. 128). The eternal Son was open to a deep communication with the Father which was largely sui generis.

Mariology comes from Christology. The meaning of Her title, the Mother of God, reflects that Mary provides her body for God. As Jesus and St. Paul said, our body is the Church bearing God (John 2:21; 2 Cor 6:16). Mary was the first real example of this bodily Church. The Church should be poor, pure, and calm for God to reside in, which is only possible through God’s grace. Mary’s title as the Mother of God suggests that we must follow Mary’s example to be an individual and collaborative church for God. Therefore, we should practice poverty, chastity, and obedience in our daily lives taking after the Mother of God. This notion of the Mother of God goes into the notion of the Immaculate Conception, which I will explain in the following section.

4. Immaculate Conception and Spiritual Progress

At this point, I will approach the notion of the Immaculate Conception from the dynamic understanding of Mary’s spiritual growth, first introduced by Gregory Palamas (1296–1357 or 1359). For this dynamic understanding of Marian spirituality, I review the Scriptures and other writings on Mary, including Luke and Palamas’ reflection on Mary’s spiritual life.

When Our Lady of Lourdes appeared to the little girl, St. Bernadette, in the early 19th century, she said, “I am the Immaculate Conception” in Lourdes dialect (Burke 2017, pp. 205–7; Ryan 1993, pp. 564–75). In this part, I address the relationship between the Immaculate Conception and a model of Marian spiritual progress. To this end, I first address Cyril’s concept of sin and analyze how it relates to the notion of the Immaculate Conception.

According to Cyril, the sin of the first parents is the first of an endless series of sin (Wilken 1966, pp. 139–56). After the first sin, humanity is born in a world that is marred by sin. Sin is a disease that spreads and infects the whole world, and we are born surrounded by it, and our nature bears the consequences of sin (corruption, illness, death, etc.). In Augustine’s exegesis of Romans, Augustine’s original sin is ontologically distinct from all other sins and as something that is transmitted from generation to generation (through the sexual act) (Gorday 1983). Every member of the human race bears guilt towards God because of this sin, while also bearing the consequences of sin, such as death.

John S. Romanides (1956) addresses “the ancestral sin,” which is the Cyrillian understanding of the first sin of the first parents, rather than the original sin which he associates primarily with the Augustinian paradigm. Original sin is the core of Christian doctrine, which holds that humans inherit a tainted nature in need of God’s salvation. Some orthodox theologians tend to follow this practice. The whole understanding of the Eastern tradition of spirituality essentially builds on the Cyrillian understanding of sin, whereas the western understanding of spirituality builds on the Augustinian understanding of sin. For instance, regarding the Baptism and the Eucharist, in the East, the sacraments are seen as “medicines” against the “disease” that is caused by sin. Similarly, according to John Chrysostom’s celebration of the Eucharist, the Eucharist is a sacrament of immortality. Augustine views baptism as the only way to rectify our relationship with God because baptism is needed to erase the guilt of original sin.

When it comes to Mariology, the Eastern tradition presupposes an understanding of spiritual life as a gradual process of development and inner healing and growth. Later, Western, Latin, and medieval scholars began developing the teaching of the Immaculate Conception. In other words, the Eastern Christian theology has no room for the teaching of the Immaculate Conception because there is no need for it.

From the Cyrillian perspective, no one is guilty of original sin; therefore, Mary does not have to be preserved from it. This perspective is more in line with the Eastern Patristic vision, which views Mary as a paradigm of spiritual/gnostic development. While the Western tradition affirms her holiness and that she is “full of grace” (Panagia), there is no need to affirm her perfection. In fact, the Eastern approach would question the teaching of the Immaculate Conception and maintain that it actually detracts from Mary’s holiness because the Western approach fails to acknowledge her spiritual progress. In the Western approach, on the contrary, she cannot be a model of spiritual “growth” because She is already perfect.

5. Palamas’ Integrative Understanding

Gregory Palamas tries to integrate these two approaches. Palamas presents the Virgin Mary as the paradigm of the monastic who engages in hesychastic meditation, an approach to an inner stillness that retrieves gnostic elements but is grounded in a dialectical relationship with God (McGuckin 2009, pp. 152–63; 2004). His Mariology is developed as an apologetic tool for his opposition to scholasticism and for his defense of Athonite hesychastic monasticism. Mary is seen as someone who progresses into deeper and deeper communion with the divine. He takes this episode from the proto-gospel of James, which is very unhistorical but artistically, culturally, and theologically significant. Consequently, Mary becomes the monk, who reaches the highest level of noetic purification. Therefore, Mary is the dwelling place of the Logos.

From the traditional Patristic perspective, salvation takes place because there is a synergy of causality between grace and our human effort. Palamas’ understanding of Mary’s own salvation through hesychastic practice relies on this synergistic vision. Aquinas equally talks of a synergy of causality in which God is the primary cause and invests us with a power of agency that is a kind of secondary causality. There is no tension between the primary cause and the secondary cause. However, Scotus seems to challenge this notion and develop a univocal reading of causality in which divine and human causality are in tension or even in competition (something is either caused by God or by non-divine causes) (Adams 2000, pp. 153–83).

The teaching of the Immaculate Conception is the result of the conflation of an Augustinian theology of original sin and a Scotist theology of causality brought to bear on our understanding of soteriology: God can intervene and prevent Mary from inheriting the guilt of original sin so that she becomes the dwelling place of the Logos. Interestingly, the Eastern tradition, including Palamas, explains that the Virgin Mary is a paradigm of monasticism that engages in hesychastic meditation. The Bible writes, “Mary treasured Jesus’ words”, (Luke 2:19) meaning that she is an excellent meditator, like monks. The Origenistic spiritual model also supports that Mary is someone who progresses into a deeper and deeper communion with the divine throughout her life, thus becoming a model of spirituality for us.

Logically, the concept of the Immaculate Conception partly implies that Mary has reached a spiritual maturity in Her meditation and spiritual life in God’s grace. As a result, one can say that Mary does not need to further progress in spirituality. However, the Eastern tradition develops a dynamic dimension of Mary’s spiritual progress (Palamas 2005). Thus, it is probable that Mother Mary developed Her spiritual life during Her life with Jesus as She “kept and meditated all these things in her heart” (Luke 2:19) as Jesus “grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him” (Luke 2:40).

Mary is the Mother who always prays, walks, and guides us towards God in our spiritual life. However, as a spiritual model, it is very new and strange to employ the model of dynamic growth of Mary’s spirituality, which sees Mary as a monk who develops Her spirituality during Her life. Palamas’ understanding of Mary’s own salvation through hesychastic practice relies on the synergistic vision that salvation takes place because there is a synergy of causality between grace and our human efforts. Yet Palamas’ understanding is more nuanced and focused on Mary’s own efforts of spiritual progress than on the reception of grace.

In terms of our spiritual life, Mary as a spiritual model of progress is helpful to revisit the traditional “passive” understanding of faith. Although Mary’s spiritual progress appears to seemingly contradict our understanding of faith at first sight, it can be compatible if we believe that the Virgin Mary still grew spiritually even after the Immaculate Conception, reconciling the Eastern and Western perspectives.

Throughout this section, I examined the biblical resources on Mary, the Church’s teaching on her title, “the Mother of God,” and the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception and how it relates to Mary’s spiritual progress. In the following section, I explain the spiritual meaning of the Immaculate Conception in the 21st century and how it can be adapted to the Korean context. To that end, I first pay attention to the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima and Guadalupe and their theological significance.

6. Marian Spiritual Practices and Social Change

What can we learn from Marian spirituality and her faith? Mary’s life and faith show us that we need to practice giving up our pride in material wealth such as assets, wages, and other incomes daily, which I have addressed. For theologians and academicians, it is also important to practice giving up pride in academic achievements, such as the number and the quality of academic papers, project funding and its size, and related reputations. From a different spiritual perspective, we need to practice giving up the obsession with happiness stemming from family, such as parental satisfaction. Ultimately, this practice will lead us to give up the advancement of knowledge and sometimes spiritual progress itself. This means that nothing remains but God’s grace. Mary is the best example through which we can become humbler in our spiritual lives. As Sergei Bulgakov argues, the Spirit is manifest in the Mother of God (Louth 2009, pp. 243–57; Bulgakov 2009). However, Mother Mary, as a humble servant of God, might not want this kind of proclamation.

In spirituality, Marian devotions and sociocultural change are closely related (Pelikan 1996). Marian devotion goes beyond the territory of the Church. It provides social and cultural implications for the people through the message of the Church and the spiritual practices performed by the people of God. To find the relationship between social change and Marian devotions, it is important to understand Mary’s spiritual role in the community of faith and the secular society (Newman 2001; Tillman 2005). For example, Marian piety in the 19th century arose worldwide against the Enlightenment, rationalism, and the values of the French revolution.

Pius IX (1846–1878) defined the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception in 1854 (Ineffabilis Deus). Four years later, in 1858, the amazing Marian apparition in Lourdes occurred: Mother Mary confirmed the Dogma to the little French girl, St. Bernadette, in the Lourdes dialect (Agnew 2015, pp. 516–35; Matter 2001, pp. 125–53). As Our Lady of Fatima intervened in the 20th century with Her decisive visions and messages, Our Lady of Lourdes intervened in the 19th century with Her own word, “Immaculate Conception”, and healings (Astell 2012, pp. 5–28; de Jesus 1995; The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith 2000).

Partly, the papacy uses Mariology as a way to reassert its theology and even its political authority. Pius XII responded to neo-modernism and proclaimed the dogma of the Assumption that Mother Mary was taken into heaven bodily. Thus, it is appropriate to consider the various aspects of Marian piety, though the theological dimension is distinct from the decision to proclaim a dogma, which is influenced by circumstances that can change.

Historically, Mariology was a strong tool for Jansenism, particularly in France in the 17th century. Mariology was also a very powerful tool to support and fight against the Enlightenment, rationalism, and the values of the French revolution such as freedom, equality, anthropocentrism, and neo-modernism (Sweeney 1956, pp. 368–413). Of course, the Enlightenment, rationalism, and neo-modernism have contributed to development and historical progress. However, we cannot deny that these values have estranged human beings from God. In this regard, Charles Taylor (2009, pp. 5–9) skillfully describes the structural change of the world into a more secularized world and addresses the growing distance between God and this secular world in various aspects. However, while he provides a diagnosis of how we got where we are, he does not provide any ultimate solution to solve this problem.

At the individual level, Marian practices help protect our faith from cultural, institutional, religious, social, and relational threats, which we cannot handle without Mother Mary’s help in this modern age. As Jesus said, the good and the bad are put together in our culture (Mt 13:29). We need to discern them with Mother Mary’s help. This stream of thought is very similar to Stephen Bevan’s counter-cultural model of theology (Bevans 2002, p. 115). According to this model, theologians have recognized the deeply anti-Christian nature of all contemporary Western culture: “This model would say that the native soil of a particular context needs to be weeded and fertilized so that the seeds can be planted. The soil itself otherwise could not support the healthy growth of the plant, and thereafter it needs continued care and vigilance” (Bevans 2002, pp. 117–18).

This model is based on the assumption of the “theology of redemption,” meaning that culture should be changed and redeemed by Christ’s instruction. Numerous pastors in Korean Protestant circles and Korean Catholic circles are deeply rooted in this model. The counter-cultural model is much more centered on the Scripture and the traditions of the Church than the translation model and other models of theology.

It should be noted that the Marian messages of Fatima are intended to reform and change the modern world (Apostoli 2010). In addition, the Bible teaches us to transform our situation, behaviors, habits, relations, and attitudes according to the teaching of the Bible (Bevans 2002, p. 126). Therefore, I believe Marian spiritual practices informed by the counter-cultural model of theology can keep us from the negative aspects of modern culture and its complexity.

What is the role, then, of Marian spiritual exercises in today’s (post)modern, secular society, where relativity and relativism, inter- and multi-religiosity, diversity, and other new values play critical roles? I suggest that in a way, this response can be formed through the Rosary in reflection on the features of postmodern world, described in Laudato Si’, which will be provided in the next section. In South Korea, Korean Catholics have frequently devoted China and North Korea to the Immaculate Heart of Our Lady for several years. This consecration is still ongoing on the divided border area between South Korea and North Korea, where the statue of Our Lady of Fatima has been built. We consecrate not only these large countries and regimes of errors but also our small communities, our works, and our relationships in the world and the Church. We consecrate our family, our descendants, our Earth, our ecological sustainability, our daily lives, and all others to Mother Mary, our solid foundation of belief. The consecration of our lives is still at the center of our life of faith in the 21st century, and of course, the March 25th consecration should be seen in continuity with this earlier history. Before delving into the Rosary, I want to mention how Korean Protestant circles are partially succeeding in making bridges between faith and secular society. Korean Protestant circles and their practices in the world provide good examples. Instead, Korean Catholics seem to make these examples through Mother Mary. Although Vatican II attempts to overcome the binary, such as the secular and the sacred, the material and the spiritual, the laity and the priest, the Church and the world, and the temporal and the permanent, it seems that the world is becoming more secular, while the area of the sacred (and the Church) is shrinking and becoming smaller (O’Malley 2010; Gaillardetz 2012, 2020).

Korean Protestants make Christian languages accessible in the secular society in order to overcome the binary of the secular and the sacred. For example, “Logos Management Review” is a representative Korean journal in Christian business research that endeavors to make Christian ways of business in the secular world. Numerous Protestant Korean economists and business researchers publish their works, combining Christian principles and real economic problems. However, publications from Catholic scholars are few compared to those by Protestant scholars in this or other related journals. There are very few Catholic economists and business professors encompassing faith and business in South Korea.

The above example shows that when it comes to Marian exercises in this postmodern age of technology and its complexity, it is necessary to find a strong, faith-based link between the Church fathers’ praxes and Marian exercises that speaks to post-modern values. For instance, the present-day global today can be a link for reflection between faith and the secular world. Although all the links are critically controversial and counter-acting, a growing number of people feel a sense of an imminent eschatology, regardless of their religious backgrounds, due to climate deterioration. Thus, the climate crisis can be a link of reflection between faith and the secular world.

7. An Example: A Rosary Revisited with Laudato Si’

Christ has mediated between the Father and human beings through incarnation. Similarly, Mother Mary mediates between Christ and us, such as in the case of Cana. Among human beings, Mary is the humblest example we could follow in our spiritual practices. There are many laypeople who simply practice simple devotions to Mary and recite the Rosary even though they do not seriously consider the complex theological dimension of this spiritual tradition. They repeat Marian devotions and perform the Rosaries in their daily lives, making the strongest bridge between them and Christ through Mother Mary.

Our planet is affected by severe climate changes and pollution. Our society is quickly becoming more secular, with accelerating technological innovations such as artificial intelligence, cloning, cognitive science, and trans-humanity. What will the future of religion and Christianity be? What will the future of Marian spiritual practices be? The first step will be a Rosary in small communities, such as families and prayer meetings.

Here, I want to suggest a Rosary to contemplate this postmodern world and consecrate this world to Mother Mary. I suggest a provisional prayer of Rosary with Mary in reflection of Laudato Si’, as in

Table 1. Rosary of Joyful Mysteries with Laudato Si’.

Rosary of Joyful Mysteries	Reflection through Laudato Si’ (Features of Modern World)	Spiritual Practices with Mary
The Annunciation	“Pope Benedict asked us to recognize that the natural environment has been gravely damaged by our irresponsible behavior. The social environment has also suffered damage. Both are ultimately due to the same evil: the notion that there are no indisputable truths to guide our lives, and hence human freedom is limitless.” (Laudato Si’, #6)	With Mary’s humbleness, we should devote human beings’ greed to the Immaculate Heart.
The Visitation	“Where we ourselves have the final word, where everything is simply our property, and we use it for ourselves alone. The misuse of creation begins when we no longer recognize any higher instance than ourselves, when we see nothing else but ourselves.” (Laudato Si’, #6)	With Mary’s whole dependence on God, we should devote human beings’ pride to the Immaculate Heart.
The Nativity	“Saint Francis, faithful to Scripture, invites us to see nature as a magnificent book in which God speaks to us and grants us a glimpse of His infinite beauty and goodness.” (Laudato Si’, #12)	With Mary’s openness to God, we should devote our nature and earth to the Immaculate Heart.
The Presentation of Jesus at the Temple	“The continued acceleration of changes affecting humanity and the planet is coupled today with a more intensified pace of life and work which might be called “rapidification”. Although change is part of the working of complex systems, the speed with which human activity has developed contrasts with the naturally slow pace of biological evolution.” (Laudato Si’, #18)	With Mary’s prudence and vigilance, we should devote our rapid and crowded world to the Immaculate Heart.
The Finding of Jesus in the Temple	“Moreover, the goals of this rapid and constant change are not necessarily geared to the common good or to integral and sustainable human development. Change is something desirable, yet it becomes a source of anxiety when it causes harm to the world and to the quality of life of much of humanity.” (Laudato Si’, #18)	With Mary’s fathoming and treasuring, we should devote our anxiety to the Immaculate Heart.

Note: the column of Reflection through Laudato Si’ (Pope Francis 2015).

, which can make us live a life of faith with Mary’s eyes in the 21st century. The Rosary is not only a prayer on Mary’s reflection on Jesus’ life but also our reflection on Mary’s heart in Her life with Jesus. Therefore, I suggest that praying the Rosary implies both a dynamic approach to how Mary feels, reflects, and thinks on Jesus’ birth, ministry, death and resurrection and a static approach in which we devote ourselves to Her Immaculate Heart. In particular, I want to provide a Rosary in reflection of the fast-changing (post)modern world described in Laudato Si’ with Mary’s virtues. I start with Joyful Mysteries in Table 1, which reflect the features of the fast-changing world with Mary’s virtues of humbleness, whole dependence upon God, and openness.

8. Conclusions

Throughout the essay, I have tried to argue that Mother Mary has been and can be a spiritual role model for Korean Catholics to live out their faith, which is based on a dynamic understanding of a spiritual model of Mary, that is, spiritual growth coming from Eastern Mariology, particularly Mariology based on Gregory Palamas. For this dynamic understanding of Marian spirituality, I have reviewed the Scriptures on Mary, including Luke and Palamas’ reflection on Mary’s spiritual life.

During Lent, Korean Catholics perform the Rosary and pray the “Way of the Cross” to sympathize with the heart of Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows, who watches Her son suffer on the way of the Cross. In particular, the fourth station, “Jesus meets His Mother,” they are deeply, emotionally, and spiritually involved in Mary’s heart, with the dynamic and static approach to Mariology synergistically blossoming into faith. From this prayer, Korean Catholics live out their Mariology, taking after Mother Mary. These prayers drive them to deeply reflect Mary’s sorrow during the life of Jesus and Mary. Therefore, Korean Catholics are already very friendly with Palamas’ understating of Mariology. Korean Catholics achieve deeper intimacies with Jesus through Mary and sympathize with Mary in all Her life. Mariology is a tradition deeply embedded into Korean Catholics.

Of course, this dynamic understanding of Mary and Her spiritual life never contradicts the static approach to Mariology, the Immaculate Conception, through which Jesus Christ, God, was born. As Popes devote the world to the Immaculate Conception of Mary for the peace of the world, Korean Catholics devote all their lives, from the trivial things to the very critical things in their lives. They already devote North Korea, China, and other threats to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Therefore, I can say that two models of Mary (a dynamic and a static model) are being lived out spiritually and synergistically by Korean Catholics.

I believe Mother Mary in Heaven still loves Her Son in communion with the Holy Trinity, and Her love is becoming deeper and deeper in Heaven, meaning that some virtues, such as wisdom, knowledge, prudence, vigilance, and endurance, could be interim virtues “until heaven and earth pass away” (Mt 5:19), for love and intimacy with God are permanent in Heaven. It is my belief that I can grow my love continuously with Mary forever.

The wind from the world is becoming stronger and stronger with the storm of speedy technological change, economic and political polarization, and sociocultural stratification. In South Korea, conflicts are growing among groups and classes in terms of sexuality, age, region, political preference, income level, and religion. The country is changing from a mono-cultural society to a multi-cultural society due to the influx of immigrants.

The Church has decided to permeate the world since Vatican II. However, how can the Church permeate a Korean society with harsh conflicts and deep polarization? The lives of numerous Christians are divided into two spheres: the Church and society. Different and sometimes conflicting principles are at work in the two worlds. Thus, it is hard to live an integrated life between the two.

Currently, the Korean Catholic Church is trying to make every bridge to the world: a bridge to the economy, modern technology, environmental protection and sustainability, sexuality, and social issues such as population decrease, late marriage, a lower birth rate, and public education. However, the more radical approach is be to go to the world with Mother Mary. Therefore, for the Church to permeate into the world, it needs to take these issues seriously and pray about them to Mary. Finally, I conclude this thesis by quoting Pope Francis’ (2022) prayer to Mary for the peace of the world:

• Therefore, O Mother, hear our prayer.
• Star of the Sea, do not let us be shipwrecked in the tempest of war.
• Ark of the New Covenant, inspire projects and paths of reconciliation.
• Queen of Heaven, restore God’s peace to the world.
• Eliminate hatred and the thirst for revenge, and teach us forgiveness.
• Free us from war, protect our world from the menace of nuclear weapons.
• Queen of the Rosary, make us realize our need to pray and to love.
• Queen of the Human Family, show people the path of fraternity.
• Queen of Peace, obtain peace for our world.