Catholic theology of holiness. Prayers and devotions asking for her intercession, such as the rosary, the Hail Mary, and the Memorare are common Catholic practice. The Church devotes several liturgical feasts to Mary, mainly the Immaculate Conception, Mary, Mother of God, the Visitation, the Assumption, the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary; and in the Americas the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Pilgrimages to Marian shrines like Lourdes, France, and Fátima, Portugal, are also a common form of devotion and prayer. Men become bishops, priests or deacons through the sacrament of Holy Orders. Candidates to the priesthood must have a college
Veneration of Mary in the Catholic Church of Mary in salvation and redemption continued with Pope John Paul II's 1987 encyclical "Redemptoris mater" It was through Mary's intercession, through compassion for the hosts, at the marriage feast of Cana, that Jesus worked his first miracle. The "Catechism of the Catholic Church" states: "From the most ancient times the Blessed Virgin has been honored with the title of 'Mother of God,' to whose protection the faithful fly in all their dangers and needs." The Eastern Catholic Churches observe the feast of the Intercession of the Theotokos in October. Roman Catholic views of the Virgin Mary as refuge and