What's the reason Catholics pray to Mary? The Bible never says to pray to Mary but only to God in the first commandment.
2006-09-24 16:09:00 · 18 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Where does the 1st Commandment say that??? Prayer is NOT worship. It is conversation. People understood this years ago, when they would say to each other, 'I pray thee, what art thou doing?' The Bible says that we are to pray for one another. Why can't Mary pray for us? Remember, absent from the body IS present with the Lord. The Saints are not sleeping. In fact, the martyrs ask in Revelation, 'How long, O Lord, before we are avenged?' Protestants are ignoring a powerful tool.
2006-09-24 16:25:50 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 3⤋
Well, since the Bible is God's inspired book for us, it's best to see what it says about the matter.
The Bible says that you should only pray to God and not to anyone else and that you should present the prayer through Jesus Christ as a mediator.
It never says anything about praying to Mary or any other saint.
Is the veneration of images of Mary in harmony with Bible Christianity?
The practice was definitely encouraged by Vatican II (1962-1965). “This most holy Synod . . . admonishes all the sons of the Church that the cult, especially the liturgical cult, of the Blessed Virgin, be generously fostered. It charges that practices and exercises of devotion toward her be treasured as recommended by the teaching authority of the Church in the course of centuries, and that those decrees issued in earlier times regarding the veneration of images of Christ, the Blessed Virgin, and the saints, be religiously observed.”—The Documents of Vatican II, pp. 94, 95.
So, as you can see, there are no scriptures to back up this practice, simply a statement from the Vatican. So this is a church teaching, not a bible teaching.
Says Catholic priest Andrew Greeley: “Mary is one of the most powerful religious symbols in the history of the Western world . . . The Mary symbol links Christianity directly to the ancient religions of mother goddesses.”—The Making of the Popes 1978 (U.S.A., 1979), p. 227.
2006-09-24 16:44:09 · answer #2 · answered by AmJ 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I have wondered the same also! Mary and the Saints can't hear them as they sleep. The Bible is clear on this subject as there is only one mediator between man and god, Jesus Christ. The Catholic Church have concocted all sorts of mumbo jumbo and its little wonder the Lord will destroy the Catholic Church during the tribulation ( Revelations Ch.17 V.1-9) as it has led countless millions down the path to hell and has made a mockery of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
2006-09-24 16:21:20 · answer #3 · answered by mandbturner3699 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Read the book of Esther. She prefigures Mary. She intercedes for us. We do not pray to her for her to save us or anything like that Only Jesus saves us but, she can intercede for us and so can all the Saints. They just kind of put their 2 cents in as far as our request to the Lord go. The bible says "The prayers of a righteous man availeth much" I remember from my own life that when I wanted something and didn't know if it was gonna be o.k with my Dad, I would ask my mom to soften him up for me.. it's kind of like that. The Scripture says we must become like little children and all little children need their Mother don't they?
Here we have all the non Catholics answering for Catholics again. What are they afraid of? That we might say something that makes a little sense?
2006-09-24 16:17:56 · answer #4 · answered by Midge 7 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Mary is a good friend; the mother of the Savior. Through the centuries Mary has had great impact on the church. Refer to the
Council where Mary was proclaimed as "Theodocus"!
It is amazing the deep affection & devotion Catholics hold toward the BVM.
The late John Paul ll had on his papal crest the saying: "Totus Tuus."
2006-09-25 19:14:50 · answer #5 · answered by ThomasR 4 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Before Jesus Christ died for our sins and opened the gates of heaven there were no saints in heaven. Therefore there are no Old Testament writings that would mention them.
Very few of the new Christians died before most of the New Testament was written. Therefore there is little in the Bible about asking saints to pray for us.
However the last book of the Bible does talk about the saints in heaven praying.
Revelation 5:8: Each of the elders held a harp and gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of the holy ones.
Revelation 8:3-4: He was given a great quantity of incense to offer, along with the prayers of all the holy ones, on the gold altar that was before the throne. The smoke of the incense along with the prayers of the holy ones went up before God from the hand of the angel.
The Holy Spirit guided the early Church in many things not explained in the Bible including how does the Body of Christ (believers) on Earth relate to the Body of Christ (saints) in heaven. We are still one Body.
Catholics share the belief in the Communion of Saints with many other Christians, including the Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, Episcopal, and Methodist Churches.
The Communion of Saints is the belief where all saints are intimately related in the Body of Christ, a family. When you die and go to heaven, you do not leave this family.
Everyone in heaven or on their way to heaven are saints, you, me, my deceased grandmother, Mary the mother of Jesus, and Mother Teresa.
As part of this family, you may ask your family and friends here on earth to pray for you. Or, you may also ask the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Andrew, or your deceased grandmother in heaven to pray for you.
Prayer to saints in heaven is simple communication, not worship.
With love in Christ.
2006-09-26 18:24:04 · answer #6 · answered by imacatholic2 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
The Bible says that Jesus is the Mediator, the go between for us and God. Mary had Jesus but God could have picked someone else for that. Jesus was our one and only hope!
2006-09-24 16:16:22 · answer #7 · answered by Diane 3 · 4⤊ 0⤋
If we were to follow the Protestant belief of praying straight to Jesus and not asking favors from saints, then they should practice what they preach by not praying for one another. I’ve seen Protestants asking their brethren to pray for them, and If that is the case, ask them why not pray straight to Jesus?
We Catholics ask The Virgin Mary and Saints to pray/intercede for us to God because just like any mortal here on Earth who can pray for us, Heavenly beings can pray for us as well.
2006-09-26 23:53:34 · answer #8 · answered by Kurt 2 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Let me start off by saying I'm not in the Roman Catholic Church.
1. Roman Catholics don't pray to Mary, they ask Mary to pray to G-d for them. The same applies for saints.
2. The first commandment says that "Thou shalt have no other gods before me". It says nothing about not asking somebody to pray for you.
3. The reason is that it's seen in Roman Catholicism as the same thing as asking your friend to pray for you, the difference being Mary is the mother of Jesus.
2006-09-24 16:17:04 · answer #9 · answered by Nowhere Man 6 · 2⤊ 5⤋
The Bible never said to post religious questions on Yahoo, either.
For all the answers, go here:
http://mariology.com/
2006-09-24 17:55:54 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋