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Ginny Kubitz Moyer Answers:
If you’re looking for a general overview, I recommend The Catholic Companion to Mary, by Mary Kathleen Glavich. This highly readable book covers key events of Mary’s life and explains Catholic teachings/beliefs about Mary. It also has all kinds of Marian trivia (everything from her influence on female names to the definition of a “Hail Mary” pass in football).
It’s out of print, but the book Mary in the Church: A Selection of Teaching Documents can be purchased used on Amazon. It contains four recent Church documents on Mary, including the National Conference of Catholic Bishops’ 1973 letter Behold Your Mother: Woman of Faith, which is one of my all-time favorite resources about Mary.
If you are interested in Mary’s role in sacred Scripture, the Scott Hahn book Hail, Holy Queen is a terrific resource. It covers the Biblical evidence for the Catholic Church’s teachings about Mary and points out some connections that often surprise Catholics and non-Catholics alike.
On a totally separate note, I have a personal fondness for Beverly Donofrio’s memoir Looking for Mary: Or, The Blessed Mother and Me. It’s a frank, appealing story of a lapsed Catholic who, rather unexpectedly, develops a strong connection to Mary.
And if you’re interested in modern women’s perspectives on Mary, you can check out my own book Mary and Me: Catholic Women Reflect on the Mother of God, which shares the personal stories of women from their twenties to their nineties.
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Though I haven’t read them myself, I’ve heard really good things about Mark Shea’s “Mary, Mother of the Son” trilogy of books.
Erika, that sounds like a great book and I look fowrard to your excerpts. Yes, I also imagine the Annunciation everytime I say the Hail Mary. It’s a great reminder that with true faith, fear is obsolete. Thank you for sharing!! Blessings to you!!
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