Why do Catholics Pray to Mary?
I know the common response is that they are not praying to Mary but asking Mary to pray for them. But when you read the prayers the Roman Catholics have on their own website, they're clearly to Mary and asking Mary to grant and do things for them that I as a Christian would only ask God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit of.
http://www.catholic.org/prayers/prayer.php?p=308
Below are excerpts from the link above:
"O valiant Lady, you have conquered hell. Give me strength to triumph over the devil, the world, and the flesh. You are our life and hope, please grant me holy, final perseverance in the grace of Your Divine Son. See to it that I live and die saintly, and love You in Paradise forever."
"Give me the grace to annihilate my will before the Will of Your Divine Son so that the Will of Your Divine Son be mine."
How can a dead person grant you anything?
Update:I've seen several people say her power is great and that she is a special intercessor for Jesus. Where is this found? You can't use 1 descriptive incident in John (the wedding) and make it prescriptive for eternity. I read in the book of Hebrews that I pray directly to Jesus and he intercedes for me and the Holy Spirit in me intercedes for me the groanings of my soul. I never see anything about Mary in heaven by the throne or Mary given any special position post-mordem.
Also, the Catholic lady who said Jesus is dead.....yeah....
Update 3:Do evil people who have died come back to assist Satan in his work and help his worshipers who are still alive?
Update 5:A lot of people are still sticking to the "you don't pray to Mary, you ask her to intercede." But the prayers the official Catholic website gives have you asking her to persevere you and make you more holy, that she is life and hope, that she is glory in heaven. I can't rationalize that with my understanding of Scripture.
Comments
Even though Catholics say they are praying to God, and asking Mary to pray in their behalf, they are still praying to Mary. She can't get the message to intercede for you unless you pray to her.
Making an analogy of asking a fellow believer for intercessory prayer is apples and oranges, since you don't pray to them, nor have they died and gone to heaven. You have to pray to Mary to intercede in your behalf. Whether she's passing it along or not, that's praying to her.
I looked at the prayers you posted, and they sure do seem to be praying to Mary to grant their prayers, not God. And I believe many Catholics do credit Mary for answering their prayers.
Nothing in the Bible tells us to direct our prayers to deceased saints. I've heard that practice orginated in the early days of the RCC because of a belief that there were too many prayers going to God for God to handle; so, a system of patron saints was devised to handle certain categories of prayers.
I was raised Catholic and have gone away from it, (am a Christian and do not follow a certain denomination). I have a relationship with Jesus. This is one of the reasons I could not remain a catholic. The bible teaches that we are to ONLY pray to God thru His Son, Jesus Christ. Mary is to be respected and led a life of a devout christian, but was still human with sin that needed forgiven just like the rest of us. No one was perfect, except God/Jesus. And once someone dies, their destination is judged by Jesus. There is no praying someone into heaven after they die like catholics believe in......this is not biblical. Catholics do have the christian doctrine, but they've brought with them alot of paganistic ideas (and many catholics are not even aware of this). I'm not dogging catholicism, just some of their ideas are not biblical.
"How can a dead person grant you anything?"
You are right...they can't.
The Catholics believe that Mary will interceed for them. Like she is 'extra special' and that God will listen to her.
UH...NO!
She was human. She was born with and died with original sin. She did NOT become a diety when she was with Jesus in her womb. She is not in heaven asking Catholics to pray for her... or to her... or past her... or anything...she IS dead.
The saints, also, are not dieties... these are other prayer idols the Catholic church has it's followers pray to. They aren't God. They aren't Jesus... they aren't...anything.
Christians don't pray to Mary... or to Saints, because it is wrong... just wrong. YES... I said wrong... where, does it say in the bible to pray in the name of Mary? But...it says that Jesus will interceed to the Father for us, and that we are to pray in JESUS' name. PERIOD. No mention of his earthly mom.
Catholics don't know a lot about their own church, because the Catholic church wants it that way. For centuries, my family was Roman Catholic, right from Ireland... until... my dad, stopped and released that something was not matching up... the bibles weren't written 'the same'... the Catholics changed things, eliminated things, heck, they didn't even promote having or reading bibles. My dad, still working in a Catholic school... to this day... has been there over 30 years. He comfortablly, felt he knew pretty much everything about the Catholic church that was to be known...but, last year... I asked him about the BLACK POPE. He asked me what that was. I was surprised, because, he of all people should have heard of him. He didn't. I won't get into the Black Pope, or the society that he leads, etc. You can find that on the websites...I'll give you some... and you can see for yourself.
:-)
First. Mary is alive in Heaven. She is Queen of Heaven (and Earth) and the Mother of God.
Second. When Catholics pray to Mary they pray for Her intercession. That is, they are asking Her to petition God on their behalf for some favour or grace.
Catholics ask Mary to intercede for them because She has a far closer relationship with God than anybody else. Thousands of miracles have been achieved through Mary's intercession. Try it sometime!
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
For them Jesus is the only way to God but to get to Jesus, you need Mary, the 12 Apostles, The Popes and so on.
You are desperately trying to insist that Catholics worship Mary. She is simply a very powerful intercessor for Catholics. Her power is great, but she is still only a creature. She has been given the the power to crush the power of satan, because she is truly the Mother of God in the second person of the trinity. Her submission to the will of God during her own life time is certainly a model for us. Powerful intercessors to powerful figures here on earth are also a reality.
Catholics pray to lots of different "dead people", saints, Mary, Jesus. It's just part of their faith. Mary was the mother of Jesus Christ and therefor must have been a pretty special person for God to choose her.
I suppose catholics believe that if Mary was important enough for God to choose her, then she must be amazing.
It's all in the Bible.
You sound doubtful, but even if you don't agree wih the catholic faith I certainly encourage some kind of belief. Where's the fun in thinking that there is nothing more than our world, no being higher than people...that seems pretty crap to me.
There is one mediator between God and man, Jesus. No other person in Heaven can be your mediator. The Holy Spirit will pray for you, this is where you get intercessory pray, from the Holy Spirit. No one comes to Jesus unless the Father draws them, and no one comes to the Father but by way of Jesus, the Christ.
God be with you,
William, a bond-servant of Jesus
<'(((><
P.S. The only way to be saved is by the Blood of Jesus, not by the Catholic Church, as the Pope would have you believe.
Mary is not a dead person. Jesus said that those who follow Him "will never die". Catholics believe Him. Asking her to pray for me is no different than asking any Christian friend to pray for me. Don't mistake any prayer you happen to find online for the official teaching of the Church. Anyone can write a prayer, and such prayers do not necessarily reflect the true teaching of the Church. I have seen some that really went overboard, especially where Mary is concerned.
+PAX
First, Mary is in Heaven with her glorious Son. If you notice, the prayers are asking her to help us to be like her Divine Son.
Only God through Jesus can answer prayer. She would lay these requests at the foot of the throne of the Lord and put in her good "two cents" so to speak or intercedes with her Son just as she did at the Wedding feast in Cana. Jesus said, "My time has not yet come, woman". But he changed the water to wine anyway- He honored his mother by doing her bidding.
The answer of prayer comes only from God.
In Humility,
t