Mary: Mysteries of the Blessed Virgin Mary

by Francesca Aran Murphy

Devotion to Mary has always been one of the defining characteristics of being a Catholic. Marian feasts, prayers, hymns, places of pilgrimage make up the very fabric of a lived Catholic Faith. Dr Francesca Murphy explores Mary's unique role in the incarnation and how it has always assisted the Church in avoiding theological error. She also explains the art of saying the rosary and how it has helped both the learned and the simple throughout its history to know Christ better.

55 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 10, 2017

Reviews

[Steven R. McEvoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have now read over 50 books and booklets from the Catholic Truth Society over the last year. I first discovered them by tracking down out of print books by Irish author Alice Curtayne. From there have jumped off and read numerous books in several series and have over 100 in my wish list of books to be read. I have read CTS books that have been out of print for over 100 years, and some published in the last few months. All the books I have read have been rated 4 or 5 stars out of 5. And this one is a very solid 5 stars! This volume is the fourth I have read in the Deeper Christianity Series, and every time I prepare a review I stumble across another volume or 2 in this series. There are currently 20 in the series that I have found, 16 are in print, and 15 are available as eBooks.

With each volume I finish in this series, I find that I am more eager to read the next. I have taken to alternating reading this series and another by CTS as a way of slowing down my progress a bit, least I devour the whole series and not get around to reviewing it. The specific chapters in this volume are:

The Practice of Marian Devotion
Apparitions, Hymns and Feasts
The Theology of Marian Devotion
Mary & Christian Faith
Mary’s Intercession

This volume is a little primer on Marian devotions. It is part history, part theology, and part prayers. Considering the length of this volume it packs a lot of useful information. I have read books five or six times the length of this that were not nearly as useful. This book is easily accessible. It is written at a high school reading level but could be read to youth. The ‘Further Reading’ section is an excellent resource, it breaks the recommendations into three sections:

On the Rosary
On the Theology of Marian Devotion
Other Accessible Books Include

Francesca Aran Murphy has 25 distinct works that I have been able to find and list, and yet this is the only one for the Catholic Truth Society. I loved the clarity and succinctness of the writing and will likely track down others by the author to read. And I know for a certainty that I will read all the books I can track down in the Deeper Christianity Series from the Catholic Truth Society.

Read the review on my blog Book Reviews and More and reviews of other books by from the Catholic Truth Society.

Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2019 Catholic Reading Plan!