Veneration of the Blessed Mother

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MANILA, Philippines - Thirty-six years ago, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines published a pastoral letter on the Blessed Virgin Mary entitled Ang Mahal na Birhen: Mary in Philippine Life Today. Devotion to Mary, according to this document, "is the safeguard for the preservation of our faith and the principle of deeper and fuller evangelization."But it also cautions against some aspects of Marian devotion that have strayed from genuineness and purity, and hence are in need of reform and renewal. The document points to the lack of doctrinal instruction as the main cause of such deviant forms of Marian veneration. Here are some guidelines for a more authentic veneration …