TIME Magazine: Hail, Mary--Yes the Blessed Virgin Mary

And Protestant devotion to her...some influenced by the influx of Hispanics...ironic? Perhaps unity will come about once the Hispanics take over the main line Protestant churches.



Evidence that God works in mysterious ways...



From TIME Magazine: Hail, Mary:



"Had the Rev. Brian Maguire hit on the idea 30 years ago, he might have found himself facing some very annoyed congregants. Four hundred and fifty years ago, someone professing similar notions might even have been hanged.



The 35-year-old pastor's brainstorm concerned a scheduling conflict on the day of the Annunciation. The holiday, which celebrates Mary's learning from the angel Gabriel that she will give birth to the Messiah, always falls on March 25, precisely nine months before Christmas. But this year the 25th is also Good Friday, when Christians somberly recall that same Messiah's Crucifixion.



Roman Catholicism, which traditionally observes both dates, has rules for this eventuality: Catholics worldwide will mark the Annunciation on April 4 this year. But Maguire is not Catholic; he is the pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Xenia, Ohio. "