Q. Does the title Mary the Mother of God mean that she existed before God ?
A. Absolutely not. She is fully human. During the early centuries a heresy arose concerning the nature of Jesus Christ. This heresy claimed that Jesus was not divine but only a human being. So, Christians coined the term “Mary, Mother of God” as a pithy way of affirming the authentic Christian doctrine that Jesus was both fully God and fully human. Logically, if Mary gave birth to Jesus, and if Jesus is God, then Mary is the mother of God.
Q. Do Catholics worship Mary?
A. Absolutely not. Catholics worship God alone. The Church condemns the worship of Mary. So, anyone who worshipped Mary would be a heretic.
Q. Then why do Catholics kneel and pray in front of pictures and statues of Mary?
A. We are merely asking Mary to join her prayers to
ours as we make our request to God. We are simply
asking Mary, as a member of the body of Christ, to
pray for us.
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Bread From Heaven 
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
Your Bro. In Christ
Alex Dhanvate
Mumbai
I N D I A
We do not worship Mary.
That is an urban legend dating back to the middle ages. It wasn’t Martin Luther who started it either.
Before writing such a long post that you spent so much time on you should do more research and get your facts straight.
Christian persecution is bad in parts of India. Are you feeling threatened? Stay safe. We will ask for the protection and prayers of our Blessed Mother Mary.
bfhu,
One of the things I am enjoying while learning about the Catholic Faith is how mislead and misinformed so many are. It is amazing how many times this has come up in discussions.Of course, this is a protestant girl talking, but what seems to be so confusing about Mary? I am a simple girl, but obviously she was special to be chosen to be the Mother of our Lord!!!???. To ask for prayerful intervention from Mary or any saint, really doesn’t seem any different(to me) then asking my friend,mother, sister to pray for me. I don’t know of any one in the Catholic faith (that I have talked with) who believes Mary is the one to answer those prayers.
Thanks Happy,
Well, Protestants are told that Catholics worship Mary. Then when they see a picture or go into a Catholic Church and see people kneeling down in front of a statue and they jump to the conclusion that this is proof positive that Catholics worship Mary, Saints and/or statues–idolatry!
It never occurs to them to ask the person kneeling if they are worshiping Mary. Well… that would be pretty rude but not ruder than the conclusion to which they jump. Or at least ask another Catholic if they worship Mary. But then even when Protestants are told that Catholics don’t worship Mary they don’t believe it because they see kneeling and praying in front of a statue and for them that alone signifies worship.
It really is a case of cultural differences that are not understood. Like an English missionary in Polynesia labeling all the girls prostitutes because they are topless.
Yes, Well I could write a book on misconceptions I had heard about the Catholic faith. Daily, I am finding truth to be revealed. It is amazing how some of these things get so twisted.