Seems to me that we're straying from the *study* of medieval religion
into what can be reasonably interpreted as a critique of its modern
practice. Perhaps it would be more fruitful to discuss the evolution
of prayers to Mary--see, for example, The Cult of the Virgin Mary in
Anglo-Saxon England by Mary Clayton (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1990), esp.
her chapter "Private Prayer to Mary," which opens with the sensible
statement that "In the early period [of Christianity], such [private]
prayer was addressed to the Father, Son or Holy Ghost. Subsequently,
as their cults grew in the early church, prayers were addressed to the
saints. Belief in the saints' powers of intercession encouraged
appeals to them, and there can be little doubt that prayers to Mary,
too, were uttered from an early date, although they are firsts attested
in public rather than private contexts." Her footnote (and what a
wonderful thing it is to have true foot-of-the-page notes!) reads
"For a very full treatment of prayers to Mary, see Barre', _Prie`res
anciennes."
On Sat, 26 Sep 1998, Pardon E. Tillinghast wrote:
> Mr. Martin: actually I was using the, I thought, standard distinction
> between proskinesis and latria. One venerates many saints; one prays,
> surely TO only the lord alone; I'd think the other prayers/salutations
> were 'through' rather than 'to'. Pardon Tillinghast
>
>
> >
> > On Fri, 25 Sep 1998, Pardon E. Tillinghast wrote:
> >
> > > One suggestion: the Ave Maria is NOT a prayer; it's a salutation.
We pray
> > > to God alone. Thus 'Amen" doesn't belong at the end of it. Pardon
> > > Tillingahst
> >
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