Haha! The funny thing is, my parents are a "mixed marriage" in that one is Catholic and the other is Protestant. So I definitely encountered the "maryolatry" idea on the protestant side. And also the regular rosary and mass and other services on the Catholic side. Didn't really see what the big deal was-- it seemed like probably some Baptist somewhere was starting rumors based on his neighbor's statuary, rather than on actually attending a Catholic church.
Then, when I started attending my first Orthodox church, it was clear that Mary was a waaay bigger deal there than even in the Catholic church-- from the huge Panagia right there on the wall behind the altar to the approximately 500 times she gets a mention and a bow during the regular services, to the Akathist and Paraklesis services done in her honor-- and I thought back to my childhood protestant acquaintances and their "maryolatry" accusations and it was like... if they think *Catholics* are overdoing it, they'd probably explode on visiting an Orthodox service :D
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2021-07-13 10:32 pm (UTC)Then, when I started attending my first Orthodox church, it was clear that Mary was a waaay bigger deal there than even in the Catholic church-- from the huge Panagia right there on the wall behind the altar to the approximately 500 times she gets a mention and a bow during the regular services, to the Akathist and Paraklesis services done in her honor-- and I thought back to my childhood protestant acquaintances and their "maryolatry" accusations and it was like... if they think *Catholics* are overdoing it, they'd probably explode on visiting an Orthodox service :D