Marianismo
In their book "The Maria Paradox: How Latinas Can Merge Old World Traditions with New World Self-esteem" (1996, G. P. Putnam), Rosa Maria Gil and Carmen Inoa Vazquez credit Stevens with introducing the concept of marianismo, citing the "ground-breaking essay written by Evelyn P. Stevens in 1973". They also discuss use of the term by academicians such as Sally E. Romero, Julia M. Ramos-McKay, Lillian Comas-Diaz, and Luis Romero. In their book, Gil and Vazquez use it as applicable across a variety of Latino/a cultures.
History of Catholic Mariology
The majority of Western Marian writers during this period belonged to the monastic tradition, particularly the Benedictines. The twelfth and thirteenth centuries saw an extraordinary growth of the cult of the Virgin in western Europe, in part inspired by the writings of theologians such as Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153). Bernard of Clairvaux was one of the most influential churchmen of his time. In the "Sermon on the Sunday in the Octave of the Assumption" he described Mary's participation in redemption. Bernard's "Praises on the Virgin Mother" was a small but complete treatise on Mariology. Pope Pius XII's 1953 encyclical "Doctor Mellifluus", issued in commemoration of the eighth centenary of Bernard's death, quotes extensively from Bernard's sermon on Mary as "Our Lady, Star of the Sea".