Catholics-why is Mary revered to such an extent?

Question

One of my Catholic friends once told me Mary is her savior. Up until that time I thought Catholics, like other Christians, believed only Jesus saves. Catholics just have different ideas about the role of Christians, particullarly the ones they name Saints, once they are in Heaven. Did I miss something about how you guys view Mary the mother of Jesus?
God Bless

Answer 1

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. (These are the words the angel Gabriel said to Mary, a Bible quote.)

Blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. (This is Mary's cousin Elizabeth's greeting, another bible quote.)

Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. (The request to pray for us.)

It is the Scriptures inspired by God, not the Catholic Church, that positively states that God thinks of Mary so highly.

The person described by God in this way is just a little different from the rest of us.

Catholics believe this difference is because she was conceived without the taint of original sin (the Immaculate Conception) and committed no personal sin.

Mary believed that Jesus was going to be the Messiah while he was in her womb and therefore she was the first Christian.

Mary is, of course, not God. But just like any other saint in heaven or on earth (the Communion of Saints), she also can pray to God for us.

With love in Christ.

Answer 2

If your friend said that Mary was her "savior", she meant it in the sense of a person who rescues you from a burning building is your "savior". She didn't mean that Mary was her Savior. When Mary went to visit Elizabeth, she herself said, "Henceforth, all generations shall call me blessed." Catholics are merely honoring that. Those who belong to the original Churches of Christianity - the Catholics, the Orthodox, and the Copts - acknowledge Mary as the living Ark of the Covenant who bore the New Covenant within her and who was not to be touched by men. But Mary, like the Saints, is a member of Christ's Mystical Body (Rom 12:4-5), and just as Christ's body cannot be dismembered, neither can the souls of the righteous in Heaven be separated from those here on Earth in their duty as members of that Body. Therefore, the Saints can intercede for us in Heaven just as those here on Earth are commanded to do (Rom. 15:30; 2 Cor. 1:11; Eph. 6:18-19; 1 Thes. 5:25; 1 Tim. 2:1; James 5:14-18), and Christians have been praying to the Saints for their intercessions since at least the 2nd century.

Answer 3

Mary was elevated to the position she holds in the roman church way back in the 4th century when Rome took over Christianity. Romans worshiped goddesses and wanted to keep this practice alive. Mary was as handy a goddess substitute as any.

You really need to go to a catholic church sometime. Check out the vestments that the priests wear. Straight out of 4th century roman times. This was the only real place that Latin the old dead roman language was spoken until a few years ago.

They are also the ones who dreamed up the idea of worshiping God. The Romans expected worship from all of the different peoples they had dominion over. They could not imagine a God that would not want to be worshiped, so that is where the paradigm for the idea of a God that is so insecure he wants people to worship him. Silly idea these people have about God.

Love and blessings
don

Answer 4

Catholics only worship the Trinty - God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. All one in the same God.

Saints are nothing more than holy men and women who have given us examples of how to live good lives in the eyes of God. Catholics will say that they pray *to* saints, but that's really not quite accurate. The reality is that we are praying *to God* with the saints. It's like down here on earth when you ask someone to sit with you, be with you, pray with you. Catholics believe that death isn't the end, so why not draw on the help of holy men and women of the past?

Mary is sometimes known as "first among the saints." Catholics believe that she was born without the stain of original sin and freely consented to be the mother of our Lord. She is human, nothing more nothing less, but she is a model of humanity. Catholics revere Mary and give her a special place in our faith life as the Mother of God, but she does not save or answer prayers. When we pray to Mary, it is just like praying to/with the other saints. And no, praying to Mary will not somehow "change" God's mind.

Some sociologists have speculated that Mary's prominent role in Catholicism is to provide a more femine balance to the very masculine religion. (Anyone hearing echos of the book version of Da Vinci Code here?) Many Catholic women I know feel more comfortable praying to/with Mary becuase she was a woman and mother and there is the belief that she can empathize with women.

I cannot stress enough, however, that the center of a Catholic's faith is God/Jesus/Holy Spirit.

Answer 5

Jesus was perfect, Jesus was a Jew. Jesus was a perfect Jew, the perfect Jew will be perfect about being Jewish. A perfect Jewish Jesus would follow all of the ten commandments perfectly. The fourth? commandment is Honor the mother and father. Mary was Jesus' mother. Jesus honored Mary. What should good Christians do? Strive to be more like Christ. What would Jesus do? Honor Mary. What should good Christians do?
Any questions?

P.S. No Catholic told you that Mary is their savior. You are lying. Jesus wouldn' t lie.

Answer 6

The one and only savior is Jesus Christ and any well-informed Catholic will tell you that. Unfortunately there are many who grow up with certain beliefs and traditions that are not true. We revere Mary because she is the mother of Jesus. The angel said, "Hail favored one, the Lord is with you". When she went to see her cousin Elizabeth , she proclaimed "Blessed among women are you and blessed is the fruit of your womb".
Jesus did a miracle at the wedding of Cana because his mother asked him even tho he was not ready to start his ministry.

Catholics believe in the intercession of those who have gone before us that we believe are with God in heaven. We believe Mary is there and that we can ask her help just like we can ask our earthly mother or friends to pray for us. That does not mean we do not ask Jesus but we can ask her too.

Answer 7

Only Jesus Saves. Mary is honored as the first Christian to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as her personal savior. She also became the physical mother of Jesus, and her blood ran through His vains, which was sacrificed for our human sins.

By the fourth commandment Catholics honor her as the human mother of God.

We believe that Jesus conquered death once and for all. While at this time our bodies still die, our spirits are in journey to heaven, unless of course we reject Jesus Christ.

Thus all saints, and those who have die in unity with Jesus, and those of us still on earth are part of the Body of Christ. We are the community of believers in Christ.

I hope this helps. Mary is not our Savior, she is the mother of Jesus, thus honored as such.

Answer 8

They misinterpret their own beliefs just like any other religion does. All Christians are guilty of this, not just Catholics. I see so many times that a lot of Christians think they go straight to Heaven when they die, when clearly in the Bible it states that you don't, you have to wait for the day of judgement. Buddhist worship Buddha when they are not supposed to, he was just their teacher not to be worship as a God, the whole religion is base off on no personal God, but you still see people bowing down to Buddha statues. It boggles the mind. I guess it's because these people don't read their own religious doctrine and fill in the rest that they have not read about.

Answer 9

While the Catholics and Orthodox rever Mary, both have divergent views on her role.

Orthodox ask Mary to intercede to her Son on our behalf.

Catholics focus on the weeping Mary at the feet of her dead, crucified Son. From the Rosary - "Hail Mary full of grace the Lord is with thee." Catholics forget that Jesus rose from the dead and that Mary died, rose from the dead and instantly wound up in Heaven.

Answer 10

One of the problems I have with Catholicism is how their parishioners are genuinely ignorant of their own Bible. I don't mean that as a slur, but as a comment on the Church's neglect in having their people know and understand the Bible.

I really dislike dishing anyone, but I've always felt that the Church did that on purpose, in fear and lack of faith that their people would question the Bible and they'd have to explain some of their actions in the past.

If more Catholics would actually read and study the text for themselves, they'd see how incredibly wrong it is to even have saints ... elevating anyone other than Jesus and God is just wrong.