Our Lady of the Liturgical Movement?

After a brief account of the development of Marian devotion in the West and the United States in particular, this essay looks to American Catholic lay women to discuss the relationship between the liturgical movement and Marian devotions in the mid-twentieth century. In the midst of a powerful Catholic culture which promoted feminine domesticity and Mary’s multi-faceted role in the spiritual lives of the faithful, American Catholic laywomen influenced by the Christ-centered spirituality of the liturgical movement needed new visions of Mary. Rather than rejecting traditional Marian devotions, liturgical movement advocates tended to reclaim them, articulating a liturgical spirituality which placed Mary within a more complex theological landscape: as icon of active participation, located firmly in the unfolding salvation history of the liturgical year; as model of living out the Mystical Body of Christ and social transformation; and as inspiration for communal prayer and unified family life.