Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary indeed can be life-changing. Once we surrender ourselves into her motherly arms, she never lets us go. One of my favorite Marian authors has a new book published by Sophia Institute Press that I know you’ll love (I sure do!). How They Love Mary: 28 Life-Changing Stories of Devotion to Our Lady is a powerful 30-day devotional to help you invigorate your love for Our Lady by exploring the many ways in which holy men and women have venerated Mary throughout time.
Fr. Edward Looney is a Catholic priest of the Diocese of Green Bay, a Marian theologian, and President of the Mariological Society of America. His main interests are Marian apparitions, Marian devotion, devotions of saints/to saints, and pilgrimages to shrines throughout the world. Fr. Looney was kind enough to write the Epilogue to my latest book, America’s Mary: The Story of Our Lady of Good Help and I am beyond grateful.
I also am grateful that Fr. Looney took the time out of his busy schedule to do an Author Q&A with me about How They Love Mary. Enjoy!
1. Where did your deep love of Mary come from?
My devotion to Our Lady seems to have been innate, given to me at birth. My mother wasn’t a religious person. I did live with my grandmother and she was a devout, EWTN watching Catholic. I remember watching Fr. Mitch Pacwa’s Holy Land Rosary before school. It aired at 6:30am. A lady from my parish organized pilgrimages to Marian shrines throughout the world and I went with her at the age of 16. From high school on, my research interests have always been Our Lady.
2. How did the idea for your book develop?
In my academic writing, I realized that I had researched the Marian devotion of many American saints and holy men and women. Those articles were published in journals and no one was reading them because who goes to the library and reads a theological journal? I thought that these holy men and women have lessons that they could teach us and I thought why not write for a more popular audience? This has been a book a long time coming. And as it’s gone through the years it took different shapes and forms. I am happy with the final product.
3. How long did it take from concept to publication?
I have had the idea for the book for the last four or five years. Publishers were always interested in it, but they always told me it wasn’t the right time, or it wasn’t the format they were looking for. I began my podcast How They Love Mary to create a “following” around the topic which hopefully would lead to a book. Sitting with the book though allowed it to develop and look different than the original concept which would have focused only on Americans.
4. What interesting story or stories do you have about the writing of the book?
Being a priest, you can imagine I have a devotion to priest saints. When I needed more women saints, I just happened to be having lunch with Meg Hunter Kilmer. She recommended a handful of people for me to potentially research. One of them, concludes the book. This individual had a really strong impact on me. And I also heard a radio interview about a different author and his biographical work that he wrote about Venerable Aloysius Schwartz. I bought the book, read it, and I would have to say it was one of most influential biographies I have ever read. I also was given copies of the homilies of a Benedictine Monk that I featured in the book and visited the nuns in Roswell to talk about Mother Mary Francis and celebrate Mass at their monastery.
5. How is the book organized?
The book serves as part autobiography. I share a lot of my own connections with the different individuals that I selected. Going from birth all the way to the present day. That’s why some people might say why isn’t so-and-so in the book? It’s because they didn’t have a major impact or influence on my life.
The book is organized into 28 lessons. I share my connection and share biographical info of the individual, their contribution, and then tips to allow their writings and work to influence your own life.
6. How is the book best used?
Reading a lesson a day or a lesson a week allows one to internalize the material presented about that individual. Of course, an individual could read the book in its entirety in just a few days.
7. What do you hope readers will gain from your book?
I want people to realize that devotion to the Virgin Mary isn’t cookie-cutter. One person’s devotion can look different than the next person’s devotion. There are a lot of crossovers between the different individuals but yet each one had a unique form and expression. I hope they will try a new form of Marian devotion.
8. What feedback have you received so far?
Readers have told me that it really has opened their eyes to the brightness and depth of Marian devotion. They’ve thought about things in new ways and considered new topics for meditation.
9. What are your hopes for the future of this book?
I’ve been doing a weekly podcast going through sequentially the lessons of the book and going deeper with an interview with someone about that person’s life and contributions. It is awesome! I hope to continue writing different lessons and to keep researching and exploring with different individuals. A few I hope to cover soon are St. John Vianney, Mother Cabrini, Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Irving Houle, etc. I imagine these reflections will find an online home at catholicexchange.com.
10. Any last thoughts or remaining points to cover?
Besides covering some of the more significant and important people throughout history, I also wanted to introduce people to some unknown individuals – people that I have found and read and studied along the way. A few examples are Mother Mary Francis from Roswell New Mexico and Fr. Lukas Etlin of Conception Abbey.
Thank you, Fr. Looney!
How They Love Mary: 28 Life-Changing Stories of Devotion to Our Lady is available at Sophia Institute Press, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and at your local Catholic bookstore.
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