Missing Mary : The Queen of Heaven and Her Re-Emergence in the Modern Church

What ever happened to the Virgin Mary in the modern Catholic Church? For the past forty years her presence has been radically minimized. In a groundbreaking work, Charlene Spretnak cuts across the battle lines delineated by the left and the right within the Church to champion the recovery of the full spiritual presence of Mary. Spretnak, a liberal Catholic, sheds new light on the dethroning of the Queen of Heaven at Vatican II, and she traces the rise of a grassroots resurgence of Marian spirituality in recent years. She offers fresh reflections on the meaning of Mary, situating the Marian renewal in the larger context of contemporary efforts to correct the barrenness and sterility of modernity. Spretnak also notes that much of the cosmological symbolism traditionally associated with Mary as the Queen of Heaven and the maternal matrix is simpatico with recent discoveries in scientific cosmology about the profoundly relational nature of the Creation. Moreover, Spretnak asserts that a deep loss ensues for women in particular when Mary's female embodiment of grace and mystical presence is denied and replaced with a strictly text-bound version of her as a Nazarene housewife. Complete with a striking insert of contemporary Marian art, Missing Mary is a deeply insightful reflection on Mary in the modern age. "What ever happened to the Virgin Mary in the modern Catholic church? For the past forty years her presence has been radically minimized. In a groundbreaking work, Charlene Spretnak cuts across the battle lines delineated by the left and right within the Church to champion the recovery of the full spiritual presence of Mary. Spretnak, a liberal Catholic, sheds new light on the dethroning of the Queen of Heaven at Vatican II, and she traces the rise of a grassroots resurgence of Marian spirituality in recent years. She offers fresh reflections on the meaning of Mary, situating the Marian renewal in the larger context of contemporary efforts to correct the barrenness and sterility of modernity. Spretnak also notes that much of the cosmological symbolism traditionally associated with Mary as the Queen of Heaven and the maternal matrix is simpatico with recent discoveries in scientific cosmology about the profoundly relational nature of the Creation. Moreover, Spretnak asserts that a deep loss ensues for women in particular when Mary's female embodiment of grace and mystical presence is denied and replaced with a strictly textbound version of her as a Nazarene housewife."--BOOK JACKET. What ever happened to the Virgin Mary in the modern Catholic Church? Since the 1960s, her presence has been radically minimized. In this work, Charlene Spretnak cuts across the battle lines delineated by the left and the right within the Church to champion the recovery of the full spiritual presence of Mary. Spretnak, a liberal Catholic, sheds new light on the dethroning of the Queen of Heaven at Vatican II, and she traces the rise of a grassroots resurgence of Marian spirituality. She offers fresh reflections on the meaning of Mary, situating the Marian renewal in the larger context of contemporary efforts to correct the barrenness and sterility of modernity. Spretnak also notes that much of the cosmological symbolism traditionally associated with Mary as the Queen of Heaven and the maternal matrix is simpatico with recent discoveries in scientific cosmology about the profoundly relational nature of the Creation. Moreover, Spretnak asserts that a deep loss ensues for women in particular when Mary's female embodiment of grace and mystical presence is denied and replaced with a strictly text-bound version of her as a Nazarene housewife Annotation Was Vatican II right to downgrade the Virgin Mary? This fall marks the fortieth anniversary of the final session of Vatican II (1962-65) at which the Roman Catholic Church brought itself "up to date"--And, asserts Spretnak, fired the Virgin Mary as Queen of Heaven, demoting her to being "just like us," merely the first Christian. Spretnak, a liberal Catholic who agrees with 95% of Vatican II's decisions, cuts across the battle lines of a polarized American Catholic Church, challenging Catholic progressives not to acquiesce to the Catholic Right's claiming of the Virgin Mary as emblematic of their political positions. This is a book about religion and modernity that has reframed the thinking about Mary in our times
Was Vatican II right to downgrade the Virgin Mary? This fall marks the fortieth anniversary of the final session of Vatican II (1962-65) at which the Roman Catholic Church brought itself "up to date"--and, asserts Spretnak, fired the Virgin Mary as Queen of Heaven, demoting her to being "just like us," merely the first Christian. Spretnak, a liberal Catholic who agrees with 95% of Vatican II's decisions, cuts across the battle lines of a polarized American Catholic Church, challenging Catholic progressives not to acquiesce to the Catholic Right's claiming of the Virgin Mary as emblematic of their political positions. This is a book about religion and modernity that has reframed the thinking about Mary in our times.
Front Matter....Pages i-vii Introduction: Being Marian....Pages 1-25 The Virgin and the Dynamo: A Rematch....Pages 27-54 The Quiet Rebellion against the Suppression of Mary....Pages 55-85 Premodern Mary Meets Postmodern Cosmology....Pages 87-111 Where Mary Still Reigns....Pages 113-143 Why the Church Deposed the Queen of Heaven....Pages 145-178 Mary’s Biblical and Syncretic Roots....Pages 179-203 Her Mystical Body of Grace....Pages 205-234 Epilogue: Being Mary....Pages 235-245 Back Matter....Pages 247-280 What ever happened to the Virgin Mary in the modern Catholic Church? Since the 60s, her presence has been radically minimized. Here, Charlene Spretnak cuts across the battle lines delineated by the left and the right within the Church to champion the recovery of the full spiritual presence of Mary. In 1898 Henry Adams, a professor of history at Harvard University, as well as the grandson and great-grandson of two American presidents, encountered the Virgin Mary in Chartres Cathedral. Describes the resurgence of Marian spirituality in the church, offers reflections on the meaning of Mary, and covers how Mary's role in the church was minimized after Vatican II Charlene Spretnak. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [261]-271) And Index.