Do you really want to know? (;

I could tell you of Mary’s Immaculate Conception, and her powerful intercession.

I could tell you of Mary’s important role in salvation history as the New Eve.

I could tell you of how Jesus entrusted His mother to us while He was dying on the cross (Jn. 19:26-27).

I could tell you of Mary’s humility.

I could tell you of how Mary crushed the head of the serpent with her foot (Genesis 3:15). HER FOOT (now let’s see what your bare foot can do).

But I certainly can’t fit all the glories of Mary in a brief answer and I certainly can’t speak for all Catholics. But what I hope that what I’m about to say is able to bear relevance and significance not only for Catholics but for the whole human race as well.

Because it was through Mary’s selfless and complete submission to the will of God that our Lord Jesus Christ was able to come into this world, fully human, and fully divine. And yet, though we Catholics venerate and honor Mary as one who is full of grace (Lk. 1:28) and blessed among women (Lk. 1:42), we also acknowledge that it was simply through her perfect cooperation with the will of God and her openness to His grace that she came to be the Mother of Our Lord (Lk. 1:41-43).

In Mary, we find the perfect example of a good and faithful servant whose soul proclaimed not the greatness of her self but the greatness of her God.

For in Mary’s fiat, and in her yes to God’s plan, the whole of creation was recreated to destroy the bonds of sin and death created by man’s indifference and pride so as to usher in a new era of life and salvation through Jesus Christ.

And in my opinion, this is what really gets me about Mary - in five simple words (and through her own example), she was able to reveal to us the secret of how we ourselves, could proclaim the greatness of the Lord through our lives - she told us to do whatever He tells us (Jn. 2:5).

Yeah, I know. I pretty much just swooned over Mary. Get over it. :P

Hope this helps! God bless!

I am familiar to some extent. Are you referring to a “Block Rosary” - where a community is supposed to gather into someone’s house at a given time to pray the Rosary (usually during the month of October)? And yes, there’s usually a statue involved. :P 

I guess that to start off, I wouldn’t exactly say that the importance of this kind of tradition has to do with the statue, but the form of prayer (though, I think there were a number of times where a statue of Our Lady of Fatima came to our parish that traveled all the way from Portugal. I can see how that could be applicable, though).

The idea of these “Block Rosaries” is to help increase devotion to Our Blessed Mother in such a way that goes beyond personal prayer - it becomes communal prayer.

I understand that some people might feel more comfortable with personal prayer - I consider myself to be among them - but it’s also important to remember the importance of praying as a community. Why? Because as Catholics, we acknowledge that there’s more to our faith than just having a healthy one to one relationship with Jesus (though that’s important too!) - we should also remember that as members of a Body of Christ, we are also called to nurture our relationship with God through praying with others as a community of believers.

Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 18:20!

For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

So yes, while you can pray to Mary everyday without having the “special statue,” I think that there’s value in praying as a group and having a tradition that involves bringing that same “special statue” to different homes to encourage and inspire greater devotion to Jesus through Mary within a community.

However, a Filipino myself, I do understand how some Filipinos might miss the point of this tradition and put more significance into the statue than the prayers themselves.. But I think that regardless, we should always remember that God knows our hearts and our intentions whenever we pray. And, well you know, Filipinos have their ways at times, hahaha.

Hope this helps! God bless.