Why do Catholics pray to 'Virgin Mary' when she's not a deity and she's not a virgin any more?

Question

Mary went on to have other children after having Jesus, she's not alive now and she can't answer prayers so why do Catholics pray to her?

If you are using her as an intercessor or as a way of communicating to Jesus, then why can't you just go directly to Jesus himself?

Mary can't forgive sins, only Jesus can do that.

But why ask someone in heaven to pray for you when you can go directly to Jesus himself?

It's like me wanting to have a conversation with my dad so I ask my brother to talk to him instead. It doesn't seem to make sense.

And I'm not trying to be offensive... just curious!

bebeneener - I am not being hateful to Catholics just trying to understand your beliefs

But Mary was fully human which meant that she wasn't sinless or without blemish and she would have made love to her husband after Jesus was born, the same way any other young married couple would have done.

Answer 1

Point one:
Catholics don't believe that the Virgin Mary is a god.

Point two:
It says in the Bible that those who are saved by Jesus will never see death. So they are alive in Heaven.

Point three:
It says in the Bible that we should pray for each other. This is mediating between us and God. We can do this because the saints make up the body of Christ. It says in Revelation that the prayers of the saints are lifted up to God by the hand of an angel. This is intersession or mediation between man and Jesus.

Point four:
It says in the Bible that the prayers of the righteous avail much. There was none more righteous than the Virgin Mary. Filled with the Holy Spirit, Mary said "My soul doth magnify God". No other saint ever made such a bold statement in the Bible. In the Bible, Mary also said that ALL GENERATIONS SHALL CALL HER BLESSED. We Catholics call Mary "the BLESSED Virgin".

Point five:
No where in the Bible does it say that the Mother of Jesus did not remain a virgin. You assume this because you are trying to projecting yourself onto her. Whenever it talks about Jesus and Mary, it says that Jesus is THE son of Mary. If she had other sons, it would say that Jesus is A son of Mary. It mentions about the "brothers of Jesus", but Jesus says that His brothers are whoever does the will of God. Back then they also used the word for brother to mean cousin or other close relative. I myself have a brother, but we don't have the same mother.

I suggest these 2 links to learn more, because there just isn't the space for me to include all the reasons for the Catholic Church's teachings on Mary.
http://www.ewtn.com/faith/teachings/marymenu.htm
http://www.catholic.com/library/mary_saints.asp

Answer 2

You're right about deity, wrong about everything else.

I happen to know, from personal experience, that Mary is alive in heaven, and is still the best and most constant disciple of her divine son, Jesus, and still quite actively involved in his ongoing ministry of saving souls.

As for your comments about her virginity, or the lack of it, how could you possibly know?

The Bible isn't clear on the matter, while the Catholic Church has always known and taught the truth.

Mary is the ark of the new covenant, a sacred vessel, consecrated solely to God, and the source of Jesus' sinless flesh.

She had no need of relations with any man, never had any children other than Jesus, and remained a virgin before, during, and after Jesus was born.

Answer 3

Mary is not a deity. Putting her on the same level as God would be a huge sin. I am Catholic and I do not worship Mary. I ask for her intersession to her son the same way I would ask someone here to pray for me. I don't understand all the hatred that people have for Catholics and their beliefs. Christianity is about loving God and putting Him first, not bashing someone because they don't do exactly as you do. If you want to know about why we do certain things, there are a lot of great sites out there about the Catholic faith. We even invite other faiths to catechism classes to learn about the Church. You can come and not feel like you are being pushed to join our church, but simply to learn why we do what we do and yes Catholics do read the Bible. If you attend mass every day for three years, you will have heard the entire Bible. We also have weekly Bible study classes. I hope this helps a little.
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10-19-06
I had to answer back to your statement. I'm sorry, I didn't mean you in particular had hatred towards Catholics, but there are some pretty hateful answers to your question.
If all things are possible through God; why is it so hard to believe that He could save Mary from original sin. The Son of God needed a unblemished vessle to come into the world, someone with out the stain of sin. The fact is that people are going to believe what they want. We all love the same God and I don't see why some people have to be hateful about it.

Answer 4

Catholics pray to Mary because we have no more powerful an intercessor. She is the human races' only claim to glory. Jesus can't say no to his mother. At the wedding at Cana, Jesus' earthly ministry had yet to begin and yet because of Mary's compassion and BECAUSE SHE ASKED, he changed their water to wine to spare them the embarrassment of being unprepared for the weeklong nuptial festival that was common in the Jewish culture at the time.
At His cross, He not only gave Mary to John but also to humanity. When He said, Son behold your mother. Mother, behold your son. Mary, at that point became the mother of all His disciples on earth until He returns in glory at the end of time. This also dispels the mistaken Protestant notion that Jesus had biological sisters and brothers. If He had, Mary would have been taken care of by them. The Hebrew word for relatives or kin could be translated into English as either brothers or cousins. Protestants claim Mary had other children because of a mere mistranslation.
It is God's will that Mary be the mediatress of all grace. Why? Because she was fully and completely human and yet without sin or blemish. Jesus was chosen to be the spotless, sinless Lamb of God that would take the place of the sacrificial lambs the Jewish nation would sacrifice on a yearly basis in atonement for their sins. Mary was chosen to be the new sinless mother of mankind replacing the former sinful mother of mankind, Eve.
Obedience to and reverence and devotion toward Jesus AND Mary are indispensible for salvation for mankind. Her message is always the same: Be more like my Son and Do whatever He tells you to do.

Answer 5

Point 1: Catholics do not pray to Mary; they ask Mary to pray for them. James says, "The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects" (James 5:16). Jesus says that God "is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living" (Mark 12:27). So just as we ask people to pray for us now, we can ask the departed righteous ones to pray for us, since they are alive to God.

Point 2: You don't know that Mary had other children. "Brothers" in Jesus' time could have referred to close relatives such as cousins, and also, Joseph is thought by many to have been an old widower with children from a wife who died. Those would have been Jesus' brothers.

But you miss the point about Mary's holiness. It wasn't her virginity that made her holy. It was her obedience, as Jesus said:
"And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked. But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it." (Luke 11:27-28) This passage does not criticize his mother; on the contrary, it explains *why* she is holy and blessed.

And worthy for us to ask her prayers.

Answer 6

She is a virgin before, during, and after birth.

It is a miracle - so!

If God created all things from nothing, then it is only logical that He can do something with something.


The brothers and sisters of Jesus mentioned in the Bible are close kin, as cousins were often called brothers and sisters in those days.

To interpret the Bible properly, we cannot read it like we are reading today's news, but must understand the language forms used in the times of Biblical composition.


We pray to Mary, not as God, but as someone who can intercede for us in heaven.

She is the closest being to God, so her prayers on our behalf have the most power.




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Answer 7

I ask for the prayers of the Most Holy and Blessed Virgin Mary, the Ever-Virgin Theotokos, the God-bearer, the Chosen Vessel of God, the Ark of the Covenant...that they be joined with mine and offered as a sweet-smelling savour before Her Son, Our Lord and Saviour and only-begotten - and God the Father....and I beg her intercession, just as I might ask any Christian brother or sister to pray for me or with me.

I never, repeat, never, pray TO the Blessed and Ever Virgin Mary, Mother of God.

Answer 8

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.

Answer 9

The people in Heaven may be able to hear us, so why not ask them to pray for us? We ask people on earth to do that.
The Gospels do not clearly state that Mary had other children; the word translated "brothers" or "siblings" (Jesus' "siblings") was also applied to cousins.

Answer 10

Catholics are asking Mary to pray for them. Same as they do to saints. They don't pray to her directly, just to God, via Mary. The best known prayer, the "Hail Mary" clearly says, "pray for us sinners, now, and at the hour of our death".
It's also known as petitioning.

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