The Catholic Defender: Never be afraid of loving the Blessed Virgin Mary too much. You can never love her more than Jesus does

This beautiful quote belongs to St. Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish Franciscan friar and martyr who possessed a profound devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

In Catholic theology, this insight addresses a common worry among believers: that honoring Mary might somehow compete with or diminish one's love for God. St. Maximilian Kolbe flips this perspective by pointing to Christ Himself. 

Christ's Example: Jesus loved and honored His mother perfectly. As human beings, our capacity to love her will always fall short of the infinite, perfect love Jesus has for her.

The Destination is Always Jesus: True Marian devotion is inherently Christocentric. Mary never retains glory for herself; her entire purpose is to point people toward her Son. In the words of the Gospel of John at the Wedding at Cana, she instructs: "Do whatever He tells you." 

A Conduit, Not an Obstacle: Loving Mary helps believers learn how to love Jesus with a more humble, pure, and surrender-filled heart, just as she did. 

The Catholic concept of hyperdulia is a unique, highest tier of honor reserved exclusively for the Blessed Virgin Mary, which distinguishes her from other saints while keeping her structurally subordinate to God. Catholic theology organizes reverence into three distinct categories to avoid confusing the honor given to created beings with the worship owed to the Creator

Latria God Alone True Worship & Adoration Recognizes absolute divine sovereignty.

Hyperdulia Virgin Mary Highest Veneration Honors her unique role as the Mother of God.

Dulia All Other Saints Standard Veneration Respects holy virtue and intercessory power.

The core distinction between latria and dulia is that latria is the supreme worship and adoration due to God alone, while dulia is the veneration and honor given to created beings, such as saints and angels. In Catholic and Orthodox theology, this is a qualitative difference in kind—separating the Creator from the creature rather than just a difference in degree.