“Salve, porta,” declares the ancient Marian antiphon Ave Regina Caelorum. “Hail, Gate of Heaven.” This is just one of the countless titles lavished on Mary, the Mother of Jesus, throughout two thousand years of Catholic tradition: she is the New Eve, the Ark of the Covenant, the Seat of Wisdom, the Morning Star, the Mystical Rose—the list goes on and on.

But is all of this emphasis on Mary unbiblical or unnecessary? What is Marian devotion all about?

Gate of Heaven: Reflections on the Mother of God offers readers of all backgrounds—Catholic, non-Catholic, and even non-Christian—a meditative summation of the Church’s love for Mary. This unique collection features passages from Scripture, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and various saints and spiritual masters; a rich treasury of prayers, poems, and hymns; and a foreword and poetry from Sally Read, the author of The Mary Pages: An Atheist’s Journey to the Mother of God. Structured around the four Marian dogmas, four Marian antiphons, and four key roles of Mary revealed in Scripture—Daughter of Zion, Mother of Jesus, Mother of the Church, and Queen of Heaven—these pages invite us into the Church’s loving gaze, one that always looks through Mary to Christ, and through the gate to the heaven it contained.