I visited the site but it does not mean Catholics "worship" Mary, but she did play a part in the Atonement for our sins in that it was she, of her own free will, that said yes to the Angel so Christ could be born and enter the world. But it was Jesus who atoned for our sins.
If I can continue.
You said: "You say Catholics don't worship Mary. I see it everytime an unusual fencepost is discovered. It seems to be particularly appealing to middle aged women."
We sure have a devotion to her...........and sometimes some overly devout take it too far. But that is not Church teaching. Would you argue about whether 3 nails or 4 nails were used to nail Jesus to the Cross? Yet some of your Protestant colleagues would. You could quite rightly reject it as not part of protestant teaching.
"Novena to Our Lady of the Atonement http://www.atonementonline.com/devotions.php#Atonement"
Nice site! By the way, a Novena is an undertaking to pray for 9 days in a row according top some plan.
Note that at the top of the page we have an octave (8 days) of prayer for Christian Unity where we pray for (you get a mention):
January 18: For the return of the "other sheep" to the One Fold of our Lord Jesus Christ. January 19: For the return of the Eastern Orthodox Christians to communion with the Apostolic See. January 20: For the return of the Anglicans to the authority of the Vicar of Christ. January 21: For the return of all Protestants throughout the world to the unity of the Catholic Church. January 22: That Christians in America may be one, in union with the Chair of Saint Peter. January 23: That lapsed Catholics will return to the Sacraments of the Church. January 24: That the Jewish people will be converted to the Catholic Faith. January 25: That missionary zeal will conquer the world for Christ.
"That catholic tradition you speak of leaves a lot of room for creative thinking and writing under the cloak of infallibility."
Infallibility of the Pope is a rarely used function, it is not used willy-nilly. The last time the Pope spoke infallibly was in 1950, if I remember the year correctly. Creative thinking does not come into it. Remember we have a 2000 year old memory.
"I suggest you follow the majority of traditions back to their pagan sources."
An interesting idea. I've been thinking about that recently. How about this for an idea. Christ, with his death and resurrection, sanctified the human body. The Church has now sanctified the activities of human kind by taking a pagan event, like the winter solstice, and turned it to a Holy thing, like Christmas where Christ's birth is remembered. It is a continuation of Christ's transforming work because He has sanctified us.
"Ps Very presumptious of you thinking only catholics go through deprovision to spread the word and love of Christ.I'm sure the most sincere keep their names out of the media."
Well inform me. I happen to know a Protestant couple rather well who are setting up a home for orphans in the Philippines. They are operating on Faith that God will provide, and so far so good. I know quite a few others who are working for God in their own way as missionaries, but as married couples. But what they do I think they do at a cost to their families. The 19 yr-old son of one couple was recently sentenced to 3 yrs because of pedophilia charges. I know the boy well and am rather upset by it all.
Most Catholics who make the sacrifice also "keep their names out of the media" as well. It is just that sometimes the work cannot be ignored as was the case with Mother Teresa. She did not seek publicity.
