Nothing has ever been able to replace the family, and every civilization that has undercut the family, either by neglect or by trying to replace it with some government agency, has undercut its own foundations. Every civilization that has persisted in that has collapsed. The evidence is overwhelming.

Mary couldn’t be just “found with child,” suggesting that maybe she succumbed to the corruption of her nature the way we all do sometimes, the way Joseph suspected. She could only “be found with child of the Holy Spirit” – never a doubt about the purity of Mary’s will.

The purpose of devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary is ongoing conversion, the power of God to make us worthy of the promises of Christ, and witnesses to the ends of the earth. All believers can get behind that.