Bob --
Let's look at some of these statements:
"With equal truth may it be also affirmed that, by the will of God, Mary is the intermediary through whom is distributed unto us this immense treasure of mercies gathered by God,
Why is this a problem? Don't you know that the scriptures promise to all believers a portion of the authority of God?
2Ti 2:12 If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:
Re 20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
Do you see that? We shall "rule and reign" with Him, which means that we shall bear His rule and authority. And it also means that there will be a hierarchial ladder of authority.
Now when we shall rule and reign, we most certainly will not do so
by dint of our own fiat but will instead faithfully carry out the will and the orders of He Who rules all as our King.
Therefore, why is it a stretch to believe that the Blessed Virgin Mary does not do the same thing now that we will do someday with Him and in Him? Why should She not be the Queen of Heaven, seeing that there must be a Queen for every King in a kingdom family?
for mercy and truth were created by Jesus Christ, thus as no man goeth to the Father but by the Son, so no man goeth to Christ but by His Mother....How grateful and magnificent a spectacle to see in the cities, and towns, and villages, on land and sea—wherever the Catholic
faith has penetrated—many hundreds of thousands of pious people uniting their praises and prayers with one voice and heart at every moment of the day, saluting Mary, invoking Mary, hoping everything through Mary." - Pope Leo XIII, Octobri Mense
Do we have direct access to our Lord? Certainly.
"Come unto me all ye who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest."
Blessed words from our Lord and a source of comfort for all who hear them. Yet do they deny that one might ask the intercession of another by which to move the heart of God? If not, then why do we ask others here to pray to God for those things which are near to our hearts? (Healing of loved ones, a new job, salvation for loved ones, etc.) Somehow we know that having others approach God for us in some mysterious way is beneficial to our meager prayers and desires.
Again, then, what problem with having the Blessed Virgin and the saints, who having put on Christ are love personified, pray for us to the Father?
"O Virgin most holy, none abounds in the knowledge of God except through thee; none, O Mother of God, obtains salvation except through thee, none receives a gift from the throne of mercy except through thee." - Pope Leo XIII, Adiutricem Populi
Well, here's an interesting thought. If the Blessed Virgin Mary is indeed the spouse of God, then She is so closely united to Him so as to be one in union with Him. In essence then, Her will is nothing more than the express extension of the will of the Holy Spirit (Who, interestingly enough is called in theology, the "holy sophia" [feminine wisdom] of God). There is a mystical union between the Blessed Virgin and the Holy Spirit as Her spouse which we cannot completely understand here, yet which is pictured in the earthly marital covenant.
Just as an earthly father makes decisions which the mother carries out
in his authority, so could we see the same principle working itself out through the relationship of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Her divine Spouse. Therefore, it is not without merit to say the above, given Her high and exalted position as the spouse of the Holy Spirit.
"Is the Blessed Virgin powerful enough to obtain the salvation of her true servants? Yes. The Blessed Virgin is powerful enough to obtain the salvation of her true servants, that is, those who from the bottom of their hearts without ceasing ask her to help them to rise from sin, to live in the light of the Gospel, and to die in the love of God."
- Short Catechism Of Mary, Cardinal Charles Journet, pg 56
The thing you must remember is that the Blessed Virgin Mary is the New Eve. You need to go back to the Garden and extrapolate what would have happened to the human race had Adam and Eve not fallen. Adam would be king and Eve would be queen. They would bear rule over all of God's creation, so that the will of the one would be the will of the other. They would act in complete harmony and unity, something we, cursed by sin and selfishness, do not understand. As such, Eve would bear rule equal to that of Adam, yet always in subjection to him as covenant head and final authority.
Jesus, the
man is the Last Adam [1 Corin. 15:45]. He is the redemption of that lost covenantal headship which was destroyed by the Fall. But in order for the Garden Family to be completely redeemed, He must also have
a human Eve, a redemption of the "mother of all living" who is His helpmeet and sharer in all that is His.
Only the Blessed Virgin qualifies for this, for Her creation was akin to that of the first Eve. both created without sin (one by creation, one by the redemptive work of the Immaculate Conception), both created from the rib of their covenantal head (Eve from Adam, the Blessed Virgin from the wound in Christ's side, which Blood made possible her being Immaculately concieved), both are "Mother of all Living", (Eve the mother of all who would ever live, the BVM the Mother of all who are truly alive in Christ as adopted children of God).
See if you can find more parallels.
"Mary is all powerful with her divine Son who grants all graces to mankind through her" - Pope Benedict XV, Fausto Appetente Die
Note that he says
WITH her divine Son. This is a statement of covenantal unity between the covenant Head and His helpmeet. She never acts in contradiction to His will, as neither will we when we rule and reign subservient to His will.
"All power is given to Thee [Mary] in heaven and on earth that at the command of Mary all obey, even God." - Alphonsus de Liguori, Roman Catholic Cardinal and "saint", from his book The Glories of Mary
Maybe Carson can answer this one. Carson, help....
WHATwas Liguori thinking when he wrote this? Does this mean what it certainly seems to mean by the most bare faced reading of the text, or am I missing something. Every time I read this quote, so often tossed in our faces by the Protestants, I just WINCE!!
This is very, very hard to defend, however, let me say that this is
Liguori's opinion only and is not written anywhere I have seen in the Catechism of the Church as either
infallible teaching or something I personally must subscribe to (and I most assuredly do not think that the Blessed Virgin gives God orders -- HORRORS!!!!

)
Since the Mother, then, should have the same power as the Son, rightly has Jesus, who is omnipotent, made Mary also omnipotent; The Glories of Mary. (pp 180-181)
Again, I do not understand what Liguori meant here, unless he was speaking of the rulership of the BVM which she has UNITED TO HIM. Do we mean to say that Mary, by and of herself is ominpotent? I don't think that is what he means here, but his explanation gives me the willies when read without thinking about it.
"She is omnipotent, because by her prayers she obtains whatever SHE wills. (The Glories of Mary pp 182)
Is it possible that in the perfection of Heaven, She could have
any other will but that of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit? Simply put -- NO!! Her will is again, that of Her divine Spouse, the Holy Spirit of God. She cannot act in rebellion against Him. But again, either Liguori did not explain this well, or this is a very selective quote trying to make Catholics look bad.
It all has to do with the bearing of the authority of God, which, as I showed earlier, we will all bear someday in some measure and amount.
Always keep in mind the covenant and the relationship that covenant establishes with God for each one of us.
Cordially in Christ,
Brother Ed