hyperdulia

/hʌɪpəduːˈlʌɪə/

Etymology

From Medieval Latin hyperdūlīa, from hyper-, from Ancient Greek ὑπέρ (hupér, “above”) + dūlīa, from Ancient Greek δουλείᾱ (douleíā, “slavery”), from δοῦλος (doûlos, “slave”).

Why this word is great

HYPERDULIA — [Noun] A degree of religious veneration exceeding that accorded to saints but falling short of the worship reserved for God, properly directed solely to the Virgin Mary. From Medieval Latin hyperdūlīa, from hyper- (from Ancient Greek ὑπέρ (hupér, "above")) + dūlīa (from Ancient Greek δουλείᾱ (douleíā, "slavery"), from δοῦλος (doûlos, "slave")). Unlike "dulia" (which honors the holy dead) or "latria" (which kneels before the Almighty), hyperdulia is the candle held just above the others, the bowed head that stops short of prostration, the whispered prayer that hovers between petition and praise. It is the gold-leaf halo in a medieval altarpiece, the incense curling toward heaven at her feast day Mass, the thousandfold repetition of the Ave Maria—a devotion that strains toward the ineffable but knows its mortal place.

noun

A level of veneration higher than dulia but less than latria, properly given to the Virgin Mary only.“By the thirteenth century, the growth of devotion to Mary, the Mother of God, in both East and West led John of Damascus's admirer Thomas Aquinas to formalize a further refinement: the concept of an exceptional sort of veneration, hyperdulia, offered only to the greatest of God's creations, Mary, the mother of Jesus.”