Q. Why do Catholics pray to Mary and the Saints?
A. When we “pray to Mary” we are merely asking Mary and/or the Saints to pray for us in exactly the same way as when we ask another Christian to pray for us. This is nothing more than asking for intercessory prayer. And just like most Christians ,when we are in need of prayer we ask those we consider to be closest to God. If I need prayer for healing for my mom with cancer I will not ask the drug dealer on the corner or even a nominal Christian to pray for me. Instead, I ask the holiest Christians I know. After all, James 5:16 says, “the fervent prayer of a righteous man is very powerful”.
Misunderstanding arises between Protestants and Catholics because of our use of the phrase “pray to Mary” or “pray to St. Francis” etc. For Protestants, with a shorter history, prayer is only and always directed to God. However, for Catholics the older uses of the English “pray” have endured through the centuries. In medieval English it was common to use the word “pray” as a synonym for “ask”. I pray thee, good king, give me …. Plus, as usual in human speech this phraseology has endured because it is short and sweet. It is easier to say, I will pray to Mary than to say, I will ask Mary to pray to God for me. While the second sentence is more theologically accurate it is also more than twice as long. So, no one uses it in everyday speech.
Despite this colloquialism, the prayers of the Church are theologically correct. For instance, in the Hail Mary we say, “Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.” and in the I Confess we say, “And I ask blessed Mary, all the angels and saints, and you my brothers and sisters to pray for me to the Lord our God.”
Another difference between Protestants and Catholics is how we view those Christians who have died. Protestants remember them and miss them but once they are dead they are beyond this world and our prayers. And although Protestants certainly believe in the Body of Christ they tend to think of this consisting of living Christians only. Dead Christians are either in Heaven or Hell and no longer connected or affected or interested in events in this world.
But ,for Catholics, all Christians both the living and the “dead” are a part of the Body of Christ. We remain connected to each other. We continue to love, care and pray for each other as brothers and sisters in Christ. Therefore, intercessory prayer continues through the power of God, among the members of the Body of Christ, because we are all alive.
Filed under: Mary, Prayer to Saints
How do we get to Heaven?
Dear Carol,
Please click to see my response How Do We Get to Heaven?
There is one mediator between God and Man and that is the man Christ Jesus. Is there any place in the bible where it says it is correct to pray to Mary and the saints that are in heaven? I know what the word “One” means with no exception. No other comment should try to expand the Word.
Mary the mother of Jesus was a sinner like everyone else who needed Gods grace. Romans 3:23 & Acts 4:10-12.
Dennis,
Your interpretation of One Mediator would then rule out intercessory prayer. Most Protestants do not have a problem with intercessory prayer which is all we are doing when we “pray” to Mary and the saints.
Jeremy,
Please see my posts:
The Sinlessness of Mary and
Martin Luther’s view of Mary
Also this post:
All Have Sinned
Even Mary needed a Saviour when in her magnificat she said My sould rejoices in God my Saviour
Yes, she certainly did need a savior. Please see my post
The Immaculate Conception
Jesus talked in many parables during his ministry. I do not think that Jesus wanted the disciples to tie him up and roast Him over a fire so they could literally eat him or drink his blood.
In John 6:32-40 :
Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” “Sir,” they said, “from now on give us this bread.” Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will not drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of Him who sent me. And this is the will ho Him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”
Later in chapter 6 it gives us the scripture written in the response to Carol on May 27th. But I believe that Jesus was talking in a parable on this section. I believe that Jesus wants us to live, breathe, walk, and talk everyday with him. We are to be His light.
In 1 Corinthians 10:3-5 tells us: 3They all ate the same spiritual food 4and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. 5Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert.
This scripture shows us that we can do all of the things that are listed even partake in communion everyday and God still will not be pleased with us.
I have to go now but please email me back your response so I can have further conversation on this topic.
This has cleared up alot of questions that I found troubling as a Catholic. Being questioned by close friends and even close family who aren’t Catholic I felt small and felt as if I was weak in faith because I didn’t understand the importance of intercession of pray by Our Beloved Mother Mary and All Our Saints in Heaven. God bless
About the Saints it is very simple, Paul rebuked the Corinthians by having divisions among themselves and saying that some belong to him (Paul) or Barnabas etc, he asked them if did he (Paul) die for them or did they get baptized in his name?? So it is with out any reservation that Paul was trying to take them out of Idolatry and what we now have in the catholic church of praying to them because it is not biblical and it is a sin to pray to another human being, Take a good look at the first commandment and we wont have to say much.This applies to mary too.
Asking Mary to pray for us has nothing to do with factions mentioned in the scriptures you allude to.
Intercessory prayer has nothing to do with idolotry either. Where in scripture does it say that it is a sin to ask for intercessory prayer from one who is a part of the body of Christ in Heaven?
How is this breaking the First Commandment? We do NOT worship Mary and she is not a member of the Trinity. I fear you have been filled with anti-Catholic propaganda which is full of uncharitable judgements, misunderstandings, distortions, and even outright lies.
NOTHING in the Catholic Faith contradicts one thing is Sacred Scripture.
stop trying to defend yourselves. If catholicism followed what the Bible says then a website like this wouldn’t have to be created so that all the unbiblical practices of your religion can tried to be justified with “tradition.” Praying to anyone but those of the Trinity is so so very wrong and blasphemous.
Dear Lily,
Thank you for your opinion. But of course this assertion is only about 500 years old. But Catholic prayers to Mary and the Saints go back to the inception of Christianity. Even Martin Luther and Calvin prayed to Mary. Would you please show me in Scripture where it says that praying to anyone other than the Trinity is a blasphemous or wrong.
Intercessory prayer is when you pray on someones behalf. Mary is dead, she can not pray on your behalf. Jesus died so that we can go to him in prayer, no more sacrifices of lambs
So, if Jesus died, yet we can pray to Him because He is risen and in Heaven, and from reading that Mary is at Jesus’ right hand in Heaven, how is it that she is dead, being at the same place as Jesus, and of course He is not?
May the grace of God be with you!
This idea is to be found nowhere in the Bible. Nowhere does it say that Mary is at the right hand of God. Jesus is at the right hand of the Father (Colossians 3:1) and Jesus hears our prayers and Jesus is the one mediator between God and man (1 Timothy 2:5).
I’d like to point out what I think is so dangerous about the conclusions that the catholic church has reached about Mary: it makes Mary a pale imitation of Christ, eventually replacing Him.
MARY intercedes between us and God, MARY ascended into heaven, MARY was born without sin, and never sinned – did MARY die for your sins? Did she bear the sins of many in order to be obedient to the Father? Was Mary hated, punished, and rejected by her own people? Was Mary crucified (Mark 15)? Was Mary raised to the most glorious position in all of the universe?
NO!
Her son, Jesus Christ, was, whom MARY called “God my Saviour” (Luke 1:27).
It is JESUS that we worship, JESUS that we extol, JESUS whom we preach, whom GOD the FATHER glorifies above all others:
“…which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.” Ephesians 1:20-23
Search your hearts! When you love God with your whole body, mind, and soul, why turn to anybody else but Jesus? For God, “you know me” (Psalm 139:1) and God has given me salvation through CHRIST, and I need no other mediator.
I hope these words aren’t harsh, they are written in love. Ask Jesus who he would have you pray to.
Dear Patricia,
Mary is not dead. She is in Heaven. She is very much alive and able to intercede for us.
Nathan,
Where in Scripture does it say that all religious Truth is only to be found in Scripture? If this cannot be found then you have no reason to criticize Catholic beliefs that you do not find in scripture. Sola Scriptura is a tradition of men.
Patricia and bfhu,
Jesus is a lot bigger than Mary and much more important. He can hear your prayers. Pray to Him.
And like I said, I encourage you to ask Jesus in prayer if He would have you pray to his mother.
In Christ,
Nathan
bfhu,
Where in the scriptures does it say that Mary ascended into heaven?
Dear Lena,
Mary did not ascend into Heaven only Jesus, by His own power ascended. Mary was assumed into Heaven by the power of God just like Enoch and Elijah in the OT. This is not in scripture. It cannot be found in scripture. It is merely an historical occurence like the voyage of the Pilgrims,the first president of the US, although it is miraculous like the OT assumptions.
While it is not found in scripture there is scriptural precedence for the assumption of holy human beings into Heaven Body and Soul. The fact that scripture does not record it is not an argument against it. Especially since St. John records in his Gospel 21:25 “But there are also many other things which Jesus did; which, if they were written every one, the world itself, I think, would not be able to contain the books that should be written.”
So, we know that everything JESUS did and said is not in scripture so there can be no doubt that everything that happened to Mary and the early church is NOT going to be found in scripture.
Early writing record the historical assumption of Mary. Also, the mortal remains of St. Peter and St. Paul are honored and happily possessed in Rome, no city or Christiann center has ever claimed to posses the mortal remains of Our Lady. And certainly they would be regarded as having greater honor than any Saint or Apostle because of her nearness to Christ and her perfect holiness.
And it is most fitting that the body of Mary, who had been preserved even from the taint of original sin, should not have been allowed to corrupt. After all, it was just as easy for God to take her body to Heaven at once as it will be to take the bodies of all of the saved on the last day.
Also, you may not know this because I didn’t know it until I became Catholic that the bodies of many Saints have been found to be incorrupt years after they should have been decayed. Some of the older ones have begun to decay now but some of them are truly amazing. The body of St. John Neumann was recently given a change of clothes but it was mentioned that there is a mask over his face and yet the body is still miraculously holding together. What state of perfection or decay I don’t know.
Click HERE to see pictures of incorrupt saints.
Also watch the news. The body of St. Padre Pio is going to be exhumed soon to find out if his body is incorrupt.
Prayer is only ot be directed to our God, who can listen and hear my prayer… if we preay to Mary at the same time at different part of this world do you think she could hear us?… only God could hear us all at the same time anywhere any place in this universe for our God is all present all at the same time… Can mary or any other saint could do that?… they are not God but just man a sinful man like you and me…we have already a mediator between man and God that is Jesus Christ who die for us, So our prayer or anything we will ask should and should only be directed directly to Jesus Christ our God and redeemer alone, and to no one for He has not commanded us to do so.. But to Him alone we ask or pray… For our God is a jealous God He want all our prayer to be directed only to Him alone not to Mary or to any other saint or person whom He has just created… So our prayer should be directed only to our creator alone and not to Mary or anybody else…. Regarding on James instructing us to pray for one another the instruction is for alive person not dead to pray for us because it avail much and we ask it thru Jesus name as Jesus instructed us to ask anything in His name it shall be given… And not thru Mary name because she is not God and can do nothing to hear us or intercede in behalf of us…. God Bless U all… Pray to Jesus Christ and ask anything in His name and received what you prayed for…
NAV: Prayer is only to be directed to our God, who can listen and hear my prayer…
BFHU: Could you please support this with Scripture?
NAV: If we pray to Mary at the same time at different part of this world do you think she could hear us?… only God could hear us all at the same time anywhere, any place in this universe for our God is all present all at the same time… Can Mary or any other saint do that?…
BFHU: Not by their own power. But God could make it possible for them.
NAV: they are not God but just man a sinful man like you and me…
BFHU: True we know they are human and not divine.
NAV: we have already a mediator between man and God that is Jesus Christ who die for us,
BFHU: Then do you think asking friends to pray for you is wrong? If asking Mary and the Saints to pray for us makes them other mediators then anyone who prays for us is also another mediator. And yet scripture commands us to pray for one another. So, I would like to suggest that intercessory prayer is not a form of mediation that would somehow usurp the uniqueness of Christ being The Mediator between God and men.
NAV: So our prayer or anything we will ask should and should only be directed directly to Jesus Christ our God and redeemer alone, and to no one for He has not commanded us to do so..
BFHU: I would have to see where God has commanded us Not to ask for the intercessory prayer of the Saints in Sacred Scripturre. Actually, He has, in fact, commanded us to pray for one another. And the Saints in Heaven and on Earth and in Purgatory are all a part of the Body of Christ. And we all commune with each other through our prayers. We don’t “pray” to them as gods but as brothers and sisters in Christ.
NAV: But to Him alone we ask or pray… For our God is a jealous God He want all our prayer to be directed only to Him alone not to Mary or to any other saint or person whom He has just created…
BFHU: Scripture support, please?
NAV: Regarding, James instructing us to pray for one another the instruction is for a live person not dead …
BFHU: True, I guess the difference between Protestants and Catholics is that we don’t see our Saints as dead but alive in Christ and in Heaven. Only their bodies are dead but their souls are very much alive.
NAV: (prayers of a righteous man avails much) because it avail much and we ask it thru Jesus name as Jesus instructed us to ask anything in His name it shall be given… And not thru Mary name because she is not God and can do nothing to hear us or intercede in behalf of us…
BFHU: We only ask Mary and the Saints to pray FOR us. We don’t ask our prayers in the name of Mary or in the name of St. Francis. We ask in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
bfhu,
I came to the internet in order to find answers about Mary and the Saints. Thank you so much for your replies.
I’ll print them. God bless your heart.
I heard from a preacher saying that if one pray by the name of a Saint he will be rewarded as a value of the Saint’s remuneration. But I could not find it out from the holly scripture if you can help me if it is there within the holy scripture
That is not in scripture as far as I know and it is not Catholic belief .
Why would anyone ask a dead person to pray for them when we have all been given the opportunity to go directly to a living God? When Jesus died, the veil of the Temple was torn in two which opened the way for each person to go directly to God. Jesus arose to be our high priest, our sacrifice, our advocate and our mediator. People no longer need a priest to ask for our forgiveness of sins, for us. We confess our sins to Jesus Christ and ask for His forgiveness and He is faithful and just to forgive us. 1 John 1:9 – If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 2:1 – My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: –
Heb 4:14-16
14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. – KJV
Are people afraid of God? Like the children of Israel in the wilderness? They wanted Moses to talk to God for them. Why? because they were afraid. They lacked that personal relationship with Him that Moses had. Why would a child that needed something from his Dad get another person to go ask for him? A logical reason is because of fear. Perfect love casts out fear. God is longing for His people to develop a personal relationship with Him. We can’t have that unless we communicate with Him. Prayer is communication. If people are communicating with the dead, (saint or no saint) that is not good. Deut 18:10-11 “There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, 11 Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.” Deut 18:12
“For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD:”
Mary was an honorable virgin woman and chosen of God to birth the Messiah. This does not mean she was sinless. She even had other children by Joseph after the birth of Jesus. Matt. 13:55, Mark 6:3 She died just like everyone else. I find no scriptural reference to where she resurrected or where it says she is our mediator. 1 Tim 2:5 – “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; ” Jesus is not dead. He resurrected!
There is a great gulf between us and all the dead. God did not intend for us to communicate with them!
I suggest that you read my article on praying to the saints. Just because someone is dead, it does not remove them from the kingdom of Christians. Just as you ask another, “I’m going through a hard time, can you pray for me?” or, please put my name down on the prayer line so people can pray for me. Why would God disconnect us spiritually with those that are in his kingdom in Heaven with those that are Christians on earth? Are you doubting that God can not let a Saint in heaven hear our prayers?
check out my post on http://www.catholicsview.com and click on praying to the saints near the top for a real world example.
Catholics View
Has everyone forgotten the Lord’s prayer? When the disciples ask Him to ‘teach us to pray’ He did not say pray to, or ask for help from Mary or one of the Saints. He said to go directly to “Our Father which art in Heaven!!” Luke 11:1-4
Since you asked for scripture.
Praise the Lord
My Dear Beloved Brothers & Sisters In Jesus Christ,
Perhaps the most outstanding proof that Mary worship developed out of the old worship of the pagan mother goddess may be seen from the fact that in pagan religion, the mother was worshipped as much (or more) than her son! This provides an outstanding clue to help us solve the mystery of Babylon today!
True Christianity teaches that the Lord Jesus Christ and He alone is The way, The Truth and The Life; that He alone, of all the earth’s creatures, has ever lived a life that was never stained with sin; and He is to be Worshipped, never His mother but Roman Catholicism showing the influence that paganism has had in its development in many ways exalts the MOTHER also.
One can travel the world over, and whether in a massive cathedral or in a village chapel, the statue of Mary will occupy a prominent position. In reciting the Rosary the “Hail Mary” is repeated nine times as often as the “Lords Prayer”. Catholics are taught that the reason for praying to Mary is that she can take the petition to her Son, Jesus Christ and since she is His mother He will answer the request for her sake. The inference is that Mary is more compassionate, understanding, and merciful than her Son Jesus Christ. Certainly this is contrary to the scriptures! Yet this idea has often been repeated in Catholic writings.
One noted Roman Catholic writer Alphonsus Liguori, wrote at length telling how more effectual prayers are that are addressed to Mary rather than to Christ. Liguori incidently, was canonized as a “Saint” by Pope Gregory XIV in 1839 and was declared a “doctor of the Catholic Church by Pope Pius IX. In one portion of his writings, he described an imaginary scene in which a sinful man saw two ladders hanging from heaven. Mary was at top of one and Jesus on top of the other. When the sinner tried to climb the one ladder, he saw a angry face of Christ and fell defeated, but when he climbed Mary’s ladder he ascended easily and was openly welcomed by Mary who brought him into heaven and presented him to Christ! Then all was well. The story was supposed to show how much easier and more effective it is to go to Christ through Mary.
The same writer said that the sinner who ventures to come directly to Christ may come with dread of his wrath, but if he prays to the Virgin, she will only have to “show” the son “the breasts that gave him suck”
And his wrath will be immediately appeased! Such reasoning is in direct conflict with scriptural example. “Blessed is the womb that bare thee”, a woman said to Jesus, “and the paps that thou has sucked!” but Jesus answered, “Yea, rather blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it”. (Luke 11:27-28).
Such ideas about the breasts, on the other hand, were not foreign to the worshippers of the pagan mother goddess. Images of her have been unearthed which often show her breasts extremely out of proportion to her body. In the case of Diana, to symbolize her fertility, she is picture with as many as one hundred breasts!
Further attempts to exalt Mary to a glorified position within Catholicism may be seen in the doctrine of the “immaculate conception.” This doctrine was pronounced and defined by Pius IX in 1854 that the Blessed Virgin Mary “in the first instant of her conception … was preserved exempt from all stain of original sin.” It would appear that this teaching is only a further effort to make Mary more closely resemble the goddess of paganism, for in the old myths; the goddess was also believed to have had a supernatural conception! The stories varied, but all told of supernatural happenings in connection with her entrance into the world, that she was superior to ordinary mortals, that she was divine.
Little by little, so that the teachings about Mary would not appear inferior to those of the mother goddess, it was necessary to teach that Mary’s entrance into the world involved a supernatural element also!
Is the doctrine that Mary was born without the stain of original sin scriptural? We will answer this in the words of The Catholic Encyclopedia itself: “No direct or categorical and stringent proof of the dogma can be brought forward from scripture”. It is pointed out, rather that these ideas were gradual development within the Church.
Right here it should be explained that this is a basic, perhaps the basic, difference between the Roman Catholic approach to Christianity and the general Protestant view. The Roman Catholic Church, as it acknowledges, has long grown and developed around a multitude of traditions and ideas handled down by Church fathers over the centuries, even the beliefs brought over from paganism if they could be “Christianized” and also the Scriptures. Concepts from all these sources have been mixed together and developed, finally to become dogmas at various Church councils. On the other hand, the view which the Protestants Reformation sought to revive was a return to the actual scriptures as a more sound basic for doctrine, with little or no emphasis on the ideas that developed in later centuries.
Going right to the scriptures, not only is any proof for the idea of Immaculate Conception of Mary lacking, there is evidence to the contrary. While she was a chosen vessel of the LORD, was a godly and virtuous woman –a virgin—she was as much a human as any other member of Adam’s family. “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Rom3:23), the only exception being Jesus Christ himself. Like anyone else, Mary needed a Saviour and plainly admitted this when she said: “And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my SAVIOUR” (Luke 1:47).
If Mary needed a Saviour, then she needed to be Saved, Forgiven and Redeemed as others. The fact is our Lord’s divinity did not depend on his mother being some type of exalted, divine person.
Instead, He was divine because He was the only begotten Son of God.
His divinity came from His heavenly Father.
The idea that Mary was superior to other human being was not the teaching of Jesus Christ. Once someone mentioned His mother and brethren. Jesus asked “Who is my mother? And who are my brethren?” Then stretching forth his hand towards His disciples said “Behold my mother and my brethren! For WHOSOEVER shall do the will of my Father which in heaven, the same is my brother and sister and MOTHER” (Mathew12:46-50). Plainly enough, anyone who does the will of God is, in definite sense, on the same level with Mary.
Each day Catholics the world over recites the Hail Mary, the Rosary, the Angelus, the Litanies of the Blessed Virgin and others. Multiplying the number of these prayers, times the number of Catholics who recite them each day, someone has estimated that Mary would have to listen to 46,296petitions a second!
Obviously no one but God himself could do this. Nevertheless, Catholics believe that Mary hears all of these prayers and so of necessity, they have had to exalt her to the divine level –scriptural or not!
Attempting to justify the way Mary has been exalted, some have quoted the words of Gabriel to Mary, “Blessed art thou among woman” (Luke1:28), but Mary being “blessed among women” cannot make her a divine person, for many centuries before this, a similar blessing was pronounced upon Jael, of whom it was said: “blessed above woman shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be ….” (Judges5:24).
Before Pentecost, Mary gathered with the other disciples waiting for the promise of the Holy Spirit. We read that the apostles “all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus and His brethren” (Acts1:14). Typical of Catholic ideas concerning Mary, the illustration (as seen in the Official Baltimore Catechism) attempts to give Mary a central position but as all students of the Bible know, that the disciples were not looking to Mary on that occasion. They were looking to their resurrected and ascended CHRIST to outpour on them the gift of Holy Spirit. We also notice in the drawings and in pictures show Mary in the center of the disciples and the Holy Spirit (as a dove) is seen hovering over her! Yet as far as the scriptural account is concerned, the only one person upon whom the spirit as a dove descended was Jesus himself – not His mother!
On the other hand, the pagan virgin goddess under the name of Juno was often represented with dove on her head, as was also Astarte, Cybele and Isis!
Further attempts to glorify Mary may be seen in the Roman Catholic doctrine of perpetual virginity.
This is the teaching that Mary remained a virgin throughout her life. The Encyclopedia Britannica explains the doctrine on the perpetual virginity of Mary was not taught until about three hundred years after the ascension of Jesus Christ. It was not until the council of chacedon in 451 that this fabulas quality gained the official recognition of Rome.
According to the scriptures, the birth of Jesus was result of a supernatural conception (Mathew 1:23) without an earthly father, after Jesus was born, Mary gave birth to other children–natural offspring of her union with Joseph her husband. Jesus was Mary’s “first born” son (Mathew1:25) it does not say He was her only child. Jesus being her first born child could certainly infer that later she had second born child, possibly a third-born child etc. That such was the case seems apparent for the names of four brothers are mentioned 1)James, Joseph, Simon and Judas (Mathew13:55). Sisters are also mentioned. The people of Nazareth said: “…. and his sisters are they not all with us?” (Mathew13:56) The word “sisters” is plural, of course so we know that Jesus had at least two sisters and probably more, for this verse speaks of “all” his sisters. Usually if we are referring to only two people we would say “both” of them, not “all” of them.
The implication is that at least three sisters are referred to, if we figure three sisters and four brothers, half brothers and half sisters of Jesus this would make Mary the mother of eight children.
The scripture say “Joseph … “knew her not” till she had brought forth her first born son: and he called his name “JESUS” (Mathew1:25, Luke 2:7). Joseph “knew her not” until after Jesus was born, but after that, Mary and Joseph did come together as husband and wife and children were born to them.
The idea that Joseph kept Mary as a virgin all of her life is clearly unscriptural.
During the times of the falling away, as though to more closely identify Mary with the mother goddess, some taught that Mary’s body never saw corruption, and she bodily ascended into heaven, and now the ‘queen of heaven’. It was not until this present century; however, the doctrine of the ‘assumption’ of Mary was officially proclaimed as a doctrine of Roman Catholic Church.
It was in 1951 that Pope Pius XII proclaimed that Mary’s body saw no corruption and was taken to heaven.
The words of St. Bernard sum up the Roman Catholic position: “On the third day after Mary’s death, when the apostles gathered around her tomb they found it empty. The sacred body had been carried up to the Celestial Paradise … the grave had no power over one who was immaculate … But it was not enough that Mary should be received into heaven. She was to be no ordinary citizen … she had a dignity beyond the reach even of the highest of the archangels. Mary was to be crowned Queen of Heaven by the eternal Father; she was to have a throne at her Sons right hand … Now day by day, hour by hour, she is praying for us, obtaining graces for us, preserving us from danger, shielding us from temptation, showering down blessings upon us.”
All these ideas about Mary are linked with the belief that she bodily ascended into heaven.
Beloved, The Bible says absolutely nothing about the assumption of Mary.
On the contrary John 3:13 says “No man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.” – Jesus Christ himself.
He is the one that is at God’s right hand, He is the one that showers down blessings upon us.
Jesus Christ is the only mediator between God and men. 1Timothy2:5
Jesus said “I am The Way, The Truth and The Life.” John 14:6
Jesus said “No one comes to the Father except through Me”. John 14:6
“Believe in Lord Jesus Christ and be Saved – you and your household”. Acts 16:31
Jesus said “So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time”. Mark 13:23
God Said “My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge”. Hosea 4:6
Read the Word Of God listen to the His sweet voice.
Jesus Said “My sheep hear my voice, I know them, They follow me, I give then eternal life and no one can snatch them from My hand”. John 10:27
This is the Fantastic Promise Jesus gave us.
Beloved,
Whatever your cross, whatever your pain,
There will always be sunshine after the rain.
Perhaps you may stumble, perhaps even fall,
But God’s always there to help through it all.
“Love and Peace be with you forever”
Amen!!
God Bless You
In His Mission
Bro. Alex Dhanvate
Mumbai
I N D I A
The Catholic Church condemns the worship or adoration of anyone or anything other than the Blessed Trinity One God. The worship of Mary would be idolatry. We honor our Mother of our Brother, Jesus Christ.
You are mistaking our love for the Mother of God for worship.
Bro. Alex Dhanvate,
So poignant are your words and understanding as well as your ability impart that knowledge to rest of us that I am overflowing with the Holy Spirit. I thank you for your words of wisdom wrapped in undeniable truth. I wish I could study with whomever taught you. I wish that I could share the Gospel the way you did in this forum. Reading what you have written has validated my understanding of Christianity and my faith. I don’t doubt my faith in Jesus and today my faith has been renewed as it is daily. It’s just that today I felt Spirit filled and I can’t wait to share this experience with all I come in contact with.
Thank you for your wisdom. Be Blessed!!!
“Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made.” —Isaiah 2:8
God hates idolatry!
“The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.” —Isaiah 2:11
“Confounded be all they that serve graven images, that boast themselves of idols” -Psalm 97:7
There is NOTHING in the Bible about praying to statues. There is NOTHING in the Bible about not eating meat on Fridays. There is NOTHING in the Bible about worshipping the dead. There is NOTHING in the Bible about digesting Jesus’ flesh and blood. The Catholic religion can’t make up it’s mind and keeps changing it’s dogma (doctrine). They also ADD good works to faith alone in Christ Jesus. Catholicism is a false religion, based upon faith in good works and the Roman Cult…not the Lord Jesus Christ. Roman Catholicism bases many of their beliefs upon TRADITIONS, which they esteem as also being inspired by God. This is a lie of the devil, unsupported by the Scriptures. Read more on TRADITION. The Apocrypha is not part of the Word of God and was rejected by the King James translators for good reason…the manuscripts were corrupt! Is the Catholic church’s doctrine infallible?
Amen, Bro!
But, Roger, please tell me where in the Bible it says that everything has to be in the Bible?
Would you be so kind as to name one?
We are just following St. Paul who said that he was filling up what was lacking in Christ.
No, no, no. You have it all wrong. Salvation is by the grace and mercy of Christ. Our good works help purify us from dead works, just like it says in the Bible.
Traditions in the Catholic faith mean the TEACHING OF THE APOSTLES handed down from the apostles…that is what the word tradition means…handed down. Everything was not written down;as St. John clearly tells us when he says in his gospel that the world could not contain the books if all were written down. These are not ethnic or family traditions we are talking about but the very teachings of Christ to His apostles. That is why the are inspired.
You claim that the Catholic Faith is a lie of the Devil b/c it is unsupported by scripture. But the problem with your accusation is that NOWHERE in Scripture does it say that all things pertaining to the Christian faith are to be found in Scripture let alone that anything unsupported by scripture is a lie of the Devil.
The King James translators certainly did include the deuterocanonical books in their Bible. Martin Luther is the one who took them out b/c they contradicted some of his heretical theology.
YES! The Doctrine of the Catholic Church is Infallible.
God be with you.
Alex Dhanvate laid out a very good assessment of Mary’s role in scripture versus her role in the catholic church. As you point out in several different postings, you ask why everything has to come from the Bible. To the church, tradition is just as important. Tradition is fine, but the God’s Word is the final authority. No where in God’s word does it say that any human institution (the church) is infallible. Christ, the head, is infallible, but we are not.
You have offered several explanations to defend the catholic church’s view of Mary. We can agree it is not based on scripture, but tradition. My question for you is if God is God, Jesus Christ is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, and Christ is the one mediator between us and God, why spend ANY time asking Mary to pray for you? Why not just pray to God? He indeed will hear, and Jesus repeatedly says, Come to me. No one else. What is the heart behind your personal convictions to ask Mary to pray for you? How do you even know that she can hear you?
God bless,
Nathan
Nathan,
No, I don’t ask why everything has to come from the Bible. Protestants reject the practice of asking the Saints to pray for us to God Intercessory prayer, BECAUSE they can’t find any explicit recommendation IN SCRIPTURE for this Catholic practice. My actual question is;
WHERE DOES SCRIPTURE SAY EVERYTHING WE BELIEVE AND PRACTICE MUST COME FROM SCRIPTURE?
I contend that Protestants, while condemning Catholics for unscriptural beliefs are themselves adhering to the unscriptural belief of Sola Scriptura. NOWHERE IS GODS WORD DOES IT SAY THAT ALL RELIGOUS TRUTH IS IN SCRIPTURE.
Sola Scriptura is a PROTESTANT TRADITION invented by Martin Luther a mere 500 years ago. It truly is a tradition of men.
You ask why don’t we just pray to God? WE DO, Don’t you ever ask other Christians to pray about this or that for you? This is intercessory prayer and I know Protestants believe in it. Our “prayer to Saints” is no more mediation than intercessory prayer. We ask the Saints TO PRAY TO GOD FOR US. They don’t answer our prayers by their own power any more than one of your friends who you ask to pray for you is the ONE who answers your prayer request.
Protestants have a double standard that they have been blinded to.
I respect catholics, even though i dont not practice what they do nor do i agree…but that does not mean i condemn them or judge them..they way i look at it is Christ will return and the truth will be laid out…I think we should pray that we walk in truth and not deception and The Lord Jesus Christ will guide us….so please stop arguing…it only creates quarrels
May God Bless you all!
Thanks for taking the time to write back to me. Last year I became a
Christian and my life’s been totally changed by living for Jesus
Christ. It’s been great. Last week I went to mass with a friend who
has had a similar awakening in the past year, only he is Catholic. He
feels there is a large void between myself and him, although we are
both trying to live for God. I’ve since been reading a lot about
Catholicism and while I think it’s stupid for Christians to argue among
themselves I think it is healthy for us to talk about these things.
Scripture doesn’t ever say that all truth comes from the bible, for
example, you couldn’t find out how to change a flat tire anywhere in
it. But Scripture is our highest authority, I think we can both agree
on that. If lesser authorities don’t match up with Scripture, we know
they are false. The Bible is God’s Word, and Jesus tested and debated
theological ideas or questions with scripture, Paul does too. In this
way they show that the Bible is the measuring stick by which we test
all ideas, and if they don’t line up, we shouldn’t apply them to God.
Anyways, what I’m really interested in is not church history or who is
right or wrong, I’m curious to know what there is to gain from a prayer
relationship with Mary. The difference between her interceding for me
and a friend is that my friend is in front of me, on the phone – I can
physically communicate to them my prayer request. But Mary is in
heaven, hanging out with her Son and God the Father and God the Holy
Spirit – how do you know that she can hear you? That idea is nowhere
to be found in scripture.
The danger (to me) is the fine line between “praying to” and “asking to
pray for”. Prayer, by definition, is “communicating with a spirit or
deity”. Asking someone to pray for me is fine, because between them
and me is a relationship that involves human to human communication, be
it by phone, e-mail, in person. But when I communicate with God, that
is prayer, because God is spirit, and he, unlike me or my friend, is
omniscient and omnipotent. He knows everyone’s thoughts (Psalm 94:11).
Throughout the Bible this is the regular mode of communication between
God and man.
Mary is in heaven. To communicate with her would, by definition, be
“prayer”. You have to communicate with her by spirit because
physically, it is impossible for her to hear us (and as far as I know
she doesn’t have a cell phone or something to communicate over long
distances).
My friend Jordan who took me to mass talked to me about this, and got
frustrated when I said it seems like he prayed to her. It’s “asking
her to pray”, but she is not bodily here to hear that request. When
Jesus taught us to pray he said to pray to “Our Father”. He is saying
we can pray directly to God. While it is nice to also pray for each
other, I just wonder why we should spend so much time (a Hail Mary is
said nine times – right? – for every Our Father) talking to Mary when
we can go directly to God.
Whew, this was probably too long, and I’m sorry if I’ve wasted your
time. The heart of this issue that worries me is the elevation of Mary
to the position that Christ alone holds as mediator between God and man
and savior between man and God. I’ve heard stories defending Mary’s
elevated position where there are two ladders to heaven, and a man is
climbing them. At the top of one is Jesus, and he is angry and
furious. The man is not able to get in. Instead he climbs Mary’s
ladder, and Mary convinces Jesus to let the man in. I’m not saying you
believe this or that it is the teaching of the church, but you can see
how inverted this situation is – a situation where we need a savior for
a savior! What kind of a savior would Jesus be if he didn’t save?
Take care and may the grace of Jesus Christ be with you,
Nathan
My response can be found here–>Where is Sola Scriptura in Scripture Alone?
Nathan,
FYI, Catholics are not the only group to pray to saints for intercessory prayer. I know of at least one protestant group who does and has many many churches named after saints. I think there are not “patron” saints of…….. in this group is the only difference.
Have a good day
No one truly knows the implied definition of “mediator” back in those days. It could have several meanings. Many of the old words in scripture had several meanings to choose from. When I read that only Jesus is the Mediator between God and man, I took it to mean that it is only through HIM that we can be saved… we must believe in Him.
When other areas of scripture refer to not talking to the dead, please remember that there are references in the bible to the “dead” being those who are not alive in Christ (in other words, those who refuse to believe in God and Jesus). There are several occasions where people who are alive were called “dead”, due to them being dead in spirit (not believing). So there can be many interpretations of passages in the bible; just look at the fact there are 2 different descriptions of the creation of the world. This is what happens when you get numerous translations over the years, and the original words can have several meanings.
Dear Rachel, Thanks for your excellent comment.
God Bless Pam Forrester bfhu.wordpress.com
As far as various interpretations of sacred scripture goes there truly is only one interpretation that is valid and it is the Catholic Church. The authority on earth was given to His Church built upon Peter (the first Pope). I suggest that everyone has truly an open mind and start exploring the Catholic Church for what she truly is, the first Church instituted by Christ. Just start reading Acts and you will find in it the beginnings of the Church. Then read Corinthians and you will finally see that there was an authority given to the Apostles and continues up thru today. Today a lot of people don’t believe in what we are suppose to believe in because “it’s not right for me”, “my family goes to this church”. Start considering what was right for Christ and the Apostles for once!