MANILA, Philippines — Thirty-six years ago, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines published a pastoral letter on the Blessed Virgin Mary entitled Ang Mahal na Birhen: Mary in Philippine Life Today. Devotion to Mary, according to this document, “is the safeguard for the preservation of our faith and the principle of deeper and fuller evangelization.”

But it also cautions against some aspects of Marian devotion that have strayed from genuineness and purity, and hence are in need of reform and renewal. The document points to the lack of doctrinal instruction as the main cause of such deviant forms of Marian veneration. Here are some guidelines for a more authentic veneration of the Blessed Mother, as outlined by the document:

1. Mary is not a goddess. Therefore, the veneration of Mary is to be subordinated to the adoration of the triune God and of Christ who is the Mediator.

2. The faithful should venerate Mary out of love for her and appreciation of her dignity and not primarily to obtain personal and material favors. 

3. The presence of several images of Mary in the same house, chapel, or church should not be encouraged. For, this leads the devotees to compare the power of their statues with the others, as though these images were rivals.

4. Medals, scapulars, and votive candles associated with Mary are by their very nature religious symbols and are means to express devotion. These should not be considered as magic talisman for material gain or bodily protection.

5. Devotees of Mary must not easily accept news of Mary’s apparitions, visions, and messages from self-proclaimed visionaries.

6. People must be wary of so-called faithhealers who use devotion to Mary to persuade others that their faith-healing power comes from her or through her intervention.

7. The Eucharist is the fount of all graces, being the sacrament of the redemptive death of Jesus. One should pay greater attention to the participation in the Eucharistic celebration on Sunday than to any form of Marian devotion.  Priests must be vigilant to prevent the facile incorporation of novenas into the Eucharistic celebration.

8. Public and traditional Marian celebrations like the Flores de Mayo and Santacruzan must be prevented from becoming fashion shows that take away their spiritual meaning, with the danger of converting Marian devotions into beauty parades.

9. Novena prayers should be renewed periodically by making them more scriptural, avoiding a verbosity present in some of them and a sentimentality less in consonance with today’s religious attitudes.

10. The faithful should rediscover the value of the rosary as a community and family prayer.