Bowing to Mary vs Bowing to Jesus
A Knight knows the difference
This article was inspired by a conversation of X (what we used to call Catholic Twitter) in which a non-Catholic Christian asked me to explain the difference between a typical, respectful bow to a person and how we box to Mary. He attempted to show, through pictures, that there is a big difference and that the Catholic bow to Mary is somehow over-the-line and into territory of worship, as if to a deity.
I often post my response on my Substack because it allows me room for a lengthier response. Also, I might as well use this opportunity to promote my little platform here.
The question was,
Do you honestly think bowing to someone out of respect ( i.e., karate match , Chinese tradition ect ) is the same and justified for you to get on your knees to a statue of Mary ?!?
And he posted this picture,
My answer-
Yes, it can be difficult for an outside observer to know the difference. I, myself, have seen video of people raising up their arms at a Protestant worship service and wondered, "What's the difference between this & a music concert?"
But if you ask the people who are actually doing it, there is a big difference, internally.
Example:
Yesterday, my family prayed the Rosary. We knelt on our knees. We all did it voluntarily and a little bit nonchalantly, much like one of those nice pictures in the X reply. It was reverent and somewhat in between that customary karate match bow that was mentioned and the King Solomon bow to the Queen Mother that I mentioned.
In contrast, I was recently at a Catholic youth conference at Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio. We had a lot of discussions on identity as children of God and male & female aspects. We did praise & worship songs and confessions (the Sacrament of Reconciliation) and Holy Mass.
When it came time for Eucharistic adoration, where the Holy Eucharist was processed throughout the aisles with over one thousand young men & women, everywhere the deacon brought the Eucharist (which contains the Body, Blood, Soul & Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ), the people in the crowd fell to their knees, cried, wept in a mixture of joy and awe and feeling of unworthiness & sheer gratitude and wonder at the power of the presence of God.
As was written in Philippians 2:10-11,
that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
This kind of bow is something you are compelled to do, with your knees shaking, with your heart pounding, with an overwhelming sense of obligation, at the might & majesty before you. Once you have experienced that, you know the difference between that & when you bow to a person out of respect for their position, title or office, such as with Mary.
And yes, you may point out, "why didn't this happen at the Holy Mass that you mentioned?"
Well, I agree. It should. And there are reasons that we Catholics have gotten a little bit casual about Holy Mass. But that's an issue we are starting to work on.
I hope that clears up the difference.
Non nobis.
PS — I also like to share my favorite Catholic meme that I created, and I use every time a non-Catholic Christian tries to tell us how it is somehow “unbiblical” to bow down to any person or object:
(source: Joshua 7:6)