Could someone who really knows and understands tell me why Catholics seem to hold Mary in the same regard as?

Question

Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit?

I mean no disrespect, but as I understand it Mary was just a very human girl who God used for his glory. Saint status I see, but then again don't you guys pray to the saints too?

I'm not now nor ever have been Catholic so all I have to go on is what I see on TV so please enlighten me to the truth.

Oh and by the way I did not mean *used* in *that* way. I meant *called to serve*.

Answer 1

Catholics hold no one in as high reagard as we do God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

However the Blessed Virgin Mary is important to Catholics because the Bible says she is important to God.

+ Mary is the handmaid of the Lord (Luke 1:38), a servant of God just like us.

+ Mary is the first Christian. All other Christians follow her on the road of faith. She is the model for all of us because she actively cooperated with the Will of God by saying "Yes" to God in the plan of salvation.

+ Mary is the model of faith. Mary's faith never wavered throughout Jesus' life, even while watching him die on the cross when most of the Apostles ran away.

+ Mary is full of grace. The angel Gabriel called her, "Full of grace" and said, "The Lord is with you." She is full of grace at that moment; the Lord is with her at that moment, before she says "yes" to the angel's question. Catholics believe the state of grace was with her since her Immaculate Conception. God prepared her for her later role as the mother of Jesus.

+ Mary is the mother of Jesus Christ, of God the Son.

+ Mary is a dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, a tabernacle. The angel Gabriel says to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow." (Luke 1:35)

+ God praised Mary through His messenger, the angel Gabriel, "Rejoice, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you." If God and his angels praise Mary, shouldn't we?

+ Jesus honored Mary. Jesus kept the Commandments and did not sin. Jesus fulfilled the Commandment to honor both his father and his mother. WWJD? What would Jesus do? Jesus would and did honor Mary, his mother.

+ The Holy Spirit inspired praises of Mary. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit,
cried out in a loud voice and said, "Most blessed are you among women," and "Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled." (Luke 1:41-45)

+ The Scriptures tell of Mary's place with Jesus. Mary gives birth to Jesus, presents him to the shepherds, to the wise men, to God in the Temple. She lived with him for many years in Nazareth, intercedes with Jesus in Cana, suffers with him at the foot of the Cross, and prays to him with the apostles in the Upper Room.

+ Mary was a prophet. "Behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed. The Mighty One has done great things for me." (Luke 48-49) As Christians who believe the Bible, we must call Mary "blessed."

+ Mary is our Mother too. While he was on the Cross, Jesus said to his beloved disciple (who represents all Christians), "this is your mother." (John 19:27)

The Blessed Virgin Mary is not a goddess but the blessed daughter of God the Father, mother of God the Son, and dwelling place of God the Holy Spirit.

The Hail Mary prayer simply recites Bible passages (the Word of God) and asks Mary to pray for us:

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, (The angel Gabriel said she was full of grace and Elizabeth said she was blessed.)

Mother of God, (the Bible says Mary is the mother of Jesus Christ, God the Son)

Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. (A simple request to pray for us.)

Amen.

With love in Christ.

Answer 2

You must understand that there is a distinct difference between prayer and worship.

Worship is God's and God's alone. HE created. Not Mary, not the saints, not the angels. GOD did. You worship that.

Prayer, on the other hand, is simply communicating with heaven -- though admittedly, it's a bit one-way. But that's the idea; they are in heaven, they've run the race and they've made it.

Is it a sin to call your mom and ask her to pray for you because you just found out you have cancer? Does that take away from the fact you both will be giving the Glory to God? Would it be a sin if you pulled out a photo of your mom to feel 'closer' to her while you made that phone call?

Why then an image of Mary and a one-way 'phone call' asking her to worship god and pray for you?

Answer 3

Mary is held in high regard because God chose her to be the vessel to give birth to His son, Jesus. She is not on the same level as God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit - at least she isn't supposed to be. There are a very small group of Catholics that do put Mary on the same level, but they are NOT representative of the rest of us Catholics.

We do pray to Saints (of which Mary is one), but it isn't the way most protestants think. We pray to them and ask them to pray with us and for us. We do not pray to any of the saints and ask them to do anything for us - it is only through God that they have any ability in the first place - we ask them to ask God. Really, it isn't any different than you asking your friends and family to pray for you. The saints are part of our family, since we are all called to be saints. This is what we mean when we say the "communion of saints".

If you must get your information on Catholics from TV, please watch a Catholic TV station such as EWTN (hey, take a Saturday evening or Sunday morning and go to a Catholic Mass. I am sure you will find that we aren't all that different). If you do not have it in your area, go to http://www.ewtn.com and watch some of the programs available there, or listen to the EWTN radio. I would recommend listening or watching Mother Angelica or Fr. Mitch Pacwa. Even better if you can catch an episode of "Web of Faith", Frs. Levi and Tregillio answer questions about the Catholic faith.

If you have more questions, or need/want clarification, please contact me and I will be more than happy to help you out - and I promise I will not push Catholicism on you.

Answer 4

Here is the thing. There was a vision see by three kids. That was Where mary showed up. Secrets were reveled. Predictions were made. etc. IN this vision it was Mary who showed up and that's where the acclaim come in.
These kids were called liar etc because nobody believed. Finally Mary showed her self to the kids and a crowd. This those who were sick in the crowd were healed etc. That's when Mary was put on the same class. Because Mary her self said it was the will of her son.

Been a long time but that's how the story goes.
By the almost all the predictions have come to pass.

Answer 5

Catholics do not hold Mary in the same regard as the Trinity. They regard her as the mother of God, chosen by God. That's a lot more impressive than her just being some chick he "used." She is the mother of Christianity because without her, there would have been no Christ.

And yes, Catholics pray to saints.

Answer 6

Im a catholic and well.... in my point of view I dont think we hold mary in the same regard as jesus, god, and the holy spirit. We do consider her a saint and we pray to her like we pray to any of our other saints.......The difference from mary and the other saints is that we respects her alot. I mean she was the mother of jesus, so we respect her and pray to her more then any of our other saints, God did chose mary for a reason.... but I mean anyways its not something like we HAVE to pray to her or anything like that... I think its just tradition and choice. But dont forget mary led us to jesus and told us "do as he tells you".

I hope this helped =)

Answer 7

I have often wondered the same thing! Mary was only the chosen vessel to bring Jesus from heaven to earth and nothing more. As to suggest that she was the mother of God is nothing short of laughable as Jesus always existed as per John Ch.1 V1-14. It is also interesting to note that whilst the Lord appeared to several people in the Bible he never appeared to Mary but an Angel of the Lord appeared to her and gave her the news of the coming birth of Jesus. The Lord had never intended for Mary to be the focal point of the Gospel as there is very little mentioned about he in the scriptures and the entire point of focus is to be on Christ as Mary can't save any one neither can any of the "Saints" accordingly I am left to assume that this chanting of "hail Mary full of grace" is nothing more than another concoction of the Catholic Church as she can't hear any of this and I am further advised that The Catholic Church tend to discourage its followers from Bible study, little wonder as a lot of what they teach is no where to be found in the Bible. Little wonder the Lord will destroy the Catholic Church during the tribulation for the reasons given in Revelations Ch.17 V1-9 as under their leadership next to no one could ever come to a saving knowledge of the truth (born again)

Answer 8

Catholics DO NOT worship Mary. Good question. Prayer is simple communication on a spiritual level. You should also include the Greek, Ukranian, Russian, and Eastern Orthodox Churches with their prayers to Mary. It is not just Catholics who venerate her as the Mother of God, the Queen of heaven and earth. Prayer to her is not "worship" as some people think but communication on a spiritual level.

God also commanded us to honor our father and mother. Mary, the mother of God (Jesus Christ), is our spiritual mother when Jesus said to John, "...behold your mother..." Scripture reveals that Jesus Christ is the "new Adam" for the new creation (spiritually). This is called scriptural typology which reveals truths and I suggest you research this subject. As such Mary is the "new Eve". Even Jews who have converted to Christianity have come to recognize this.

Then, in Revelation, Mary is seen by John as the Ark of the Covenant (ch 11-12). The Ark of the Covenant contained 3 things from God: the manna (spiritual), the Ten Commandments(mental), and Aaron's staff (a source of physical power). These 3 things resemble Jesus contained in the Ark. The Ark of the Covenant was considered to be the most Holy vessel whose design was given to us by God himself. Mary in like the Ark of the Covenant containing the physical, mental, and spiritual essence of God, Jesus Christ. As such Mary was the Holiest vessel God has made.

Mary is the most pure human being that ever existed. She had no sin whatsoever, not even original sin. This truth is revealed in Genesis when God says he will put "enmity" (total opposite) to the serpent. It reveals it will be a woman that will crush the head of the serpent. Mary is also involved in our salvation as the Mother of God (Jesus).

Answer 9

We do not hold Mary in the same regard as God. Mary is our Mother because we are of the Body of Christ. Doesn't the Commandments say honor thy Father AND thy Mother? We love and honor her is all. To do less would be breaking a Commandment. This is not what you would want us to do is it?

We pray to the Saints who are alive in Christ to intercede for us just like you would ask someone here on Earth (or several on this site as a matter of fact) to pray for you or someone you know. The Saints are right there in Heaven and because we are members of the Body of Christ with them , we are constantly in Communion with them. Doesn't Scripture say that there will be much rejoicing in Heaven when one sinner repents and is turned to the Kingdom of God? Then it is true that they are aware of us are they not?

Answer 10

Hoo-boy!

First, why not look up Catholic writings and Catholic websites to find out what the Church teaches rather than learn about it on TV? Would you perform brain surgery after watching it on an episode of ER on TV?

Catholics highly revere Mary....we do not worship her and we never did. Have SOME people taken their devotion to her to excess? Sure! I know of one woman who told others for years that Mary is the fourth person of the Trinity! Obviously her misguided views are not in line with Catholic teaching and so the entire church cannot be condemned for that -- can it?

Now then.....Mary was a "Very human girl" as you say, BUT it was the angel Gabriel who told her that she had "found favor with God". Mary took an enormous risk in accepting to be God's mother (mother of God in time, that is....not Mother of God from all eternity). As an unmarried pregnant girl, she risked being a social outcast and even being stoned to death by her townsfolk if she was found out. She had no idea beforehand that an angel would later appear to Joseph to get him to accept that Mary was with child and that it was through the power of the Holy spirit that she was pregnant. Would YOU have said yes back then? Do a short meditation and put yourself in her shoes.....

Now......presumably you accept jesus as your brother. Are you aware that in doing so you MUST accept Mary as your mother? Do you call her blessed as she had prophesied when she was "filled with the Holy Spirit"? If not, why not?

Well, sure, we pray to saints....why not? They are more alive than we are! If you really wanted your aunt Susie to undergo a successful surgery to remove the entire tumor in her head, would you have any problem asking fellow church-goers to keep her in prayer? Why not ask those whose prayer is more pure than ours since they behold the Presence of God and they no longer have stress or worry or sin to distract them in their prayer? If Jesus is your brother, wouldn't you ask his mother to pray for you if she were here on earth? Why not ask her to intercede while she, too, beholds the Presence of God? Can Jesus refuse his own mother? He answered her request (prayer) about more wine at the wedding of Cana -- even though he openly declared that it was "not his hour". Is not your (hypothetical) aunt more important than wine? Yet nothing is insignificant to God.

Answer 11

Mary was the first Christian and is the perfect model of what it is to be Christian. She is the embodiment of Christian selflessness and Mother of all Christians. Mary leads us to Jesus and tells us "Do as He tells you..." (Jn 2:5). She is honored and revered, but not worshipped. Worship is due to God alone.


Catholics believe in the power of intercessory prayer of the Saints and particularly Mary, who was close to Jesus on earth and still is in Heaven. We ask them to pray for us and with us through Jesus to our God our Father.