Knowledgable serious Catholics only?

Question

I have been taking RCIA and considering becoming Catholic. There are many, many things that I have discovered that The Church is right on the money with, but I have tried praying the rosary and felt extremely guilty for praying to Mary. I apologized to God and sensed that I had done the right thing. If I don't join that will probably be why. Whay do you think? I love so much of what I have found.

P.S. I know that I could be Catholic and not pray to Mary, but that doesn't make me feel any better.

Robert K, I was asking Catholics. Can you read my friend? You are obviously not a Catholic so this question does not apply to you.

Same goes for you Bru. No offense to either of you but again my question was directed at Catholics only.

Answer 1

You do not have to pray to Mary and the Saints if you are uncomfortable with it. However here is some background.

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 is communication, not worship.

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.

P.S. I will pray for you and I will ask the Blessed Virgin Mary to pray for you too.

Answer 2

There are many good answers here. I, too, have a little to add, however.

Reasons to pray to Mary and the rest of the saints:
1. Mk 10:40 seems to indicate that the saints will be in communion with Jesus in heaven.
2. Jesus seems to listen to them: Lk 9:29-30 "While he was praying his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were conversing with him, Moses and Elijah."
3. Likewise, Jesus always listened to his mother while on Earth (Jn 2:1-11), would he then discontinue the practice in Heaven? She certainly cannot control God, but she will always be a powerful intercessor.
4. Intercession seems to be accepted in the Bible. Ephesians 6:18 encourages us to pray for others, which makes us their intercessors. Also, Rev 8:3 has an angel offering the prayers of the holy ones up to God. Isn't that an intercessor too?
4. Acts 3:6-7; 14:9-10; 19:11-12, etc. show that the Apostles were miracle-workers. Not through their own power, of course, but through the power of God. God granted them this power while they were living, why would he remove it once they were with him in heaven? Also, the people the Apostles cured could just have easily asked God to cure them. Yet they were indeed cured when they asked the Apostles. What does it matter if God does the miracle directly or through an instrument? It is all for his greater glory.

Catholics feel that as holy people, the saints' prayers will be especially pleasing to God. Whose could be more pleasing than Mary's? Also, we frequently feel we have a special bond with the saints, and that they can understand our plight better than most; thus perhaps their prayers will be more fervent and understanding than most, pleading our case along with us before God. For instance, if a woman fears a miscarriage, she might ask St. Elizabeth to pray for her, since Elizabeth, too, knew what it was like to be childless. In addition, the Rosary is not just a set of prayers to Mary, but also a means of remembering and reliving the life and Passion of Christ.

Some people contend that the Rosary is 'vain and repetitious,' but like any prayer, it is only that way if you want it to be. It is heartfelt and meaningful if you put your thought and devotion into it.

Answer 3

Please, don't let the rosary be what stops you from entering the Church. You may not understand right now the special role that Mary enjoys in the hearts of the Catholic faithful, but one day you will. The Virgin Mary does not turn us away from God or "distract" our attention away from Christ. On the contrary, she always brings us closer to Christ. This is why we love her so much. She is like a magnet that draws us closer to Our Lord. Remember that and you will never again feel guilty for praying the rosary. You will thank Christ for the great gift that He gives us in and through His Mother. If you go to Him through her, then you will discover that the only thing that the Virgin Mary desires for you is to bring you closer to her Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ.

May God bless you on your path, and know that you are in my prayers.

Answer 4

You have to understand, we don't pray to Mary. Rosary prayers are biblical.

Hail Mary full of Grace. Those are the words of Gabriel. The entire Hail Mary can be found in the Gospels.

We're asking her to "pray for us." It's funny that Protestants will all admit to asking their dead family and friends to pray for them. Those they assume are in Heaven. But put the breaks on when the idea of asking the Mother of God to do the same is proposed to them.

Mary intercedes for us.

It helps to understand Mary's position if you read both 1 and 2 Kings. It explains therein that the true Queen is not the King's wife, but his mother. So if Jesus is the King of Kings, then Mary would be the Queen.

She is not a god. She is human. Just like us. Yet, she is the most powerful intercessor we have. St. Therese the Little Flower put it in the most kind words. She said, we are God's poor children. Messy and disheveled. We ask Mary to come to us and help us make our sad little offerings to the King of Kings. She combs our hair and puts our apple (offering) on a silver platter.

All that being said, the rosary is not a requirement. Just a favorite devotion. The Eastern churches favor the Jesus prayer. "Lord Jesus, have Mercy." over and over

See the link below.

Answer 5

Continue on your path. I will assume you have not been baptized
therefore full of sin. Your guilt is just how you should feel when praying the most Holy Rosary. Almost like you are not worthy.
The devil will have you believe that, ignore it and continue to pray from your sinful heart and it will get better. Never has it been known for Mary to refuse anyone who would pray the Rosary. She especially loves sinners I know I am one. Welcome, The angels in heaven are truly rejoicing of your return.
Go through the process the Holy Spirit will work wonders when you will receive the Sacraments.

Answer 6

Not all CAtholics pray the rosary, but if it bothers you so much that you won't be happy as a Catholic, maybe try talking to your priest. Don't go through with becoming a Catholic if you're only going to later on leave.

Answer 7

Pastor Billy says: As a Catholic I'll give you some quick tips

1. there is nothing in Catholic doctrine or dogma that demands you pray to Mary or any saint or even ask anyone still physically here in the Church on earth to pray for you. The reason it is done is simply because Jesus instructed it was good and profitable. there is a bible verse can remember the book but it states a righteous man's prayers avails much and who are more righteous than those already with Jesus having received their heavenly salvation.

2. the history of this practice is found in very early Christian and prior to that in Judaism. see the kaddish prayer, the Maccabee letters.

3. one of most difficult things for many adult converts to consider as truth are the Marian doctrines you are not alone I suggest you listen to the Journey Home program on EWTN radio and TV. this program is centered around Protestant clergy which is currently in the thousands who are coming over to the Catholic Church after finally coming to the conclusion they could no longer lead others and yet knowing the fullness of God's truth is found in Catholicism.

4. this question about the rosary is very common yet the rosary meditation is not very well understood by most Protestants and many Catholics who have not received a proper instruction.
In conversation with a non-catholic I once explained actual number of times we are drawn toward Jesus in the Rosary when she claimed the ratio of Mary to Jesus was something like 5:1.

Two ways to look at this, the actual words spoken and what they invoke and the meditations Catholics concentrate on while saying the prayers of the rosary.

Lets examine the words
As you may or may not know several prayers make up the rosary
The Hail Mary
The Our Father
The Glory be
The Fatima Prayer
Oh Holy Queen

As the Our Father, Glory be and Fatima Prayer are all only directed toward God, father, son and holy spirit we don't need to discuss these but what of the others? Well did you even realize that every Hail Mary directs us to the Lord Jesus at least four times and the entire prayer itself is biblical

A closer look

1- Hail [Mary] full of grace the Lord [Jesus] with you
2- blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit [Jesus] of thy womb Jesus
3 Holy Mary mother of God [Jesus] PRAY FOR US now and at the hour of our death amen.

this is a request made to Mary for her intercessory prayer but as you can see throughout the request the authority of Jesus is invoked and common place. so lets do the math during each Hail Mary we are reminded of Jesus 4x, his authority, his unique connection with his mother and his plan for Mary in his giving of grace to us in Mary being a holy intercessor.

Each Rosary we recite the Hail Mary 53 times (53x4) = 212 times Jesus is presented to us in prayer. once adding the other prayers of the rosary the total goes even higher.

Now what about the meditation or mysteries?
There are 4 different groups of mysteries and they all together tell the gospel story. They are either directly centered on the life of Jesus or on the holy family of Jesus Mary Joseph.

The 5 joyful mysteries ( the life of the holy family, ie. the nativity)

The 5 luminous mysteries (Jesus ministry, water to wine,
transfiguration etc)

The 5 sorrowful mysteries (our Lord's passion

The 5 glorious mysteries (our Lord's resurrection, descent of the holy spirit on Mary and the apostles, Mary's assumption)

I hope this helps

Once again in meditation also we are directed to the authority of Jesus.

After explaining the rosary to this non-catholic she began to understand that Catholics actually pray more to Jesus or with the authority of Jesus in mind during a 15- 30 minute period more than any Protestant could ever claim to do.

In closing you've asked the question and so I won't get side tracked but in the case of Bru sadly many people leave the faith without ever really trying to know it or understand the truth of it. Another reason for leaving many times is avoidance of admitting sin such as divorce. Some Christians think they can tailor make their Christianity and a term I've become familar with from my evangelical friends is "church hopping" happily I can say Catholics don't have to deal with this condition.

Answer 8

I congratulate you on your decision to serve our Lord. I say this in brotherly love, and not with an axe to grind. I grew up Catholic my whole life and there are many people within the church who love the Lord with all their heart. But consider this.
According to the Catholic Church;
-Oral tradition has the same status as scripture.
-The pope is a direct successor of Peter (Apostolic Succession), but a vast number of popes obtained office through bribery and bloodshed.
-The Immaculate Conception means that Mary was without sin. The scriptures say that Mary was blessed (having God's favor) but only Christ was without sin.
-When Jesus died, he became the sacrifice needed so that we could have full communion with the father through Christ, symbolized by the curtain being torn in the Holy of Holies after the Crucifixion. Nowhere does it say that Mary and the Saints intercede for us, that would strip the cross of it's power.

This is just a few or many things I could mention, but please do not take my word for it. This is where the holy spirit needs to guide you into all understanding.

Answer 9

Listen to that feeling...catholicism is a false doctrine