Dear Vince:

You need to stop reading anti-Catholic hate literature. These two quotes are filled with lies.

The doctrine of the Assumption was never condemned by any Pope. Popes Gelasius and Hormisdas did not condemn the doctrine of the Assumption. Pope Gelasius condemned a book that contained notation of Mary's Assumption in a story of the Apostles rising with Mary to visit heaven. This story of the Apostles and Mary visiting heaven was contrary to orthodox doctrine.  Gelasius condemned the book, not the doctrine of Marian Assumption. Pope Hormisdas simply reaffirmed Gelasius's decree of that one book, not of the doctrine of Marian Assumption.

The writer of this hateful diatribe also does not know what the doctrine of infallibility truly is. Anti-Catholics always think that any utterance of the Pope is infallible. It is not.

Another technique of Catholic haters is to take statements out of context and/or to re-characterize the text to suit their bigotry. This has been done with St. Ligouiri.

For example, the hate-monger says, "Mary was given rulership over one half of the kingdom of God; Mary rules over the kingdom of mercy and Jesus rules over the kingdom of justice." the actual text says, in fuller context:

Kings should then principally occupy themselves with works of mercy, but not to the neglect of the exercise of justice towards the guilty, when it is required. Not so Mary, who, although queen, is not queen of justice, intent upon the punishment of the guilty, but queen of mercy, solely intent upon compassion and pardon for sinners. Accordingly, the Church requires us explicitly to call her "queen of mercy" The High Chancellor of Paris, John Gerson, meditating on the words of David, "These two things have I heard, that power belongeth to God, and mercy to thee, O Lord," says, that the kingdom of God consisting of justice and mercy, the Lord has divided it: he has reserved the kingdom of justice for himself, and he has granted the kingdom of mercy to Mary, ordaining that all the mercies which are dispensed to men should pass through the hands of Mary, and should be bestowed according to her good pleasure. St. Thomas confirms this in his preface to the Canonical Epistles, saying that the holy Virgin, when she conceived the divine Word in her womb, and brought him forth, obtained the half of the kingdom of God by becoming queen of mercy, Jesus Christ remaining king of justice.

The eternal Father constituted Jesus Christ king of justice, and therefore made him the universal judge of the world; hence the prophet sang: "Give to the king thy judgment, Oh God; and to the king s son thy justice." Here a learned interpreter takes up the subject, and says: Oh Lord, thou hast given to thy Son thy justice, because thou hast given to the mother of the king thy mercy. And St. Bonaventure happily varies the passage above quoted by saying: Give to the king thy judgment, Oh God, and to his mother thy mercy. Ernest, Archbishop of Prague, also says, that the eternal Father has given to the Son the office of judging and punishing, and to the mother the office of compassionating and relieving the wretched. Therefore the Prophet David predicted that God himself, if I may thus express it, would consecrate Mary queen of mercy, anointing her with the oil of gladness, in order that all of us miserable children of Adam might rejoice in the thought of having in heaven that great queen, so full of the unction of mercy and pity for us; as St. Bonaventure says: Oh Mary, so full of the unction of mercy and the oil of pity, that God has anointed thee with the oil of gladness!

And how well does blessed Alberlus Magnus here apply the history of Queen Esther, who was indeed a type of Our Queen Mary! We read in the 4th chap, of the Book of Esther, that in the reign of King Assuerus, there went forth, throughout his kingdom, a decree commanding the death of all the Jews. Then Mardochai, who was one of the condemned, committed their cause to Esther, that she might intercede with the king to obtain the revocation of the sentence...

Assuerus, when he saw Esther before him, affectionately inquired of her what she had come to ask of him: "What is thy petition?" Then the queen answered, "If I have found favor in thy sight, oh king, give me my people for which I request." Assuerus heard her, and immediately ordered the sentence to be revoked. Now, if Assuerus granted to Esther, because he loved her, the salvation of the Jews, will not God graciously listen to Mary, in his boundless love for her, when she prays to him for those poor sinners who recommend themselves to her...

Mary was made Queen of Mercy. God, in his love for his children, does not have his children just stand around singing praises. He deigns to involve his children in his glory. He gives his children tasks to perform. It pleases Him to see his children administering his glory in His name.

In fact, every miraculous act recorded in the bible, except for the creation itself, involves human involvement. For example, the Red Sea was not parted by God alone. Moses cooperated. Even the Incarnation was not done by God alone, Mary cooperated.

We read about Esther, a type of our Blessed Mother, who interceded with the King to save the Jews. So thus does our Blessed Mother intercede for us.

It is most fitting that Mary would be Queen of mercy, since God has granted woman a most compassionate and merciful heart.

As for Mary Ann Collins, there is no evidence that she even exists. No one has ever claimed to know her, seen her, or talked to her. There is no trace of her at all. Even Jack Chick, the famous anti-Catholic who is very reclusive, is known to exist and has been seen.

It is not uncommon among certain types of people, especially bigots, to make-up facts to support their point. In fact, anti-Catholics do that constantly. Anti-Catholics have been known to pose as former-priests to give their lies about the Church credibility. This, I think, is another version of that.

In terms of Collins being a former nun, assuming she even exists, is nonsense. According to her "biography" she left the convent when she was a novice. A novice has not yet taken vows. To be a nun a woman must make vows and profession to the evangelical counsels. Thus, she was never a nun. The narrative tries to make a case that she is a nun by misinterpreting canon law. It is a farce.

Devotion to Mary is mandated in the Bible. Luke records Mary saying, "all generations shall call me blessed" (Luke 1:46). As chosen by God to bear the Son, she is above all women.

Devotion to Mary goes back to the 2nd century. Mary is the mother of our Lord, the sacred tabernacle through which our Lord humbled himself to become man. She is thus to be treated with the greatest respect and reverence -- though not above God.

She is the Queen Mother who intercedes for her children, not only as Esther did, but also Bathsheba to King Solomon. Bathsheba was the Queen Mother and a type of Mary, too.

Our Blessed Mother is not to be exalted above God, but she sits beside her Son, the King, as Queen Mother. How would you feel if when people come to you they ignored your mother sitting right beside you? That would be very rude and an insult to the King.

To have a statue of Jesus and not his Mother is incomplete and rather offensive to Jesus, I think. How dare we ignore His mother?

Do not look to other's behavior, look to your own. Devotion of Mary is an integral part of our Faith. Mary is not above her Son, King Jesus, but is beside him as Queen Mother. Offer proper respect.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary