Why do catholics.....?

Question

iam not sure of this so please excuse me if i offend anyone, but why do catholics pray to the virgin mother mary? is jesus not the only way to the father? someone please tell me where in the bible it says that you must go through the mother. for i have never read that!

where in the bible does it say that i must talk to god through mary? why cant i just talk to him myself?

Answer 1

Mary is seen as an intercessor. We frequently ask people on Earth to pray for us. So why not ask the saints in heaven, and especially someone as close to Jesus as His own mother, to pray for us, as well? All prayer is directed to the correct source (the Holy Trinity), but we are merely requesting the intercessory prayers of Mary and/or the saints.

Answer 2

Pastor Billy says: a couple of questions for you first before i answer your question.

1. where does the Catholic Church instruct one MUST pray [ask] Mary to pray for them? Nowhere there is absolutely no Catholic dogma that demands prayer to Mary, it is not mentioned in the Catholic catechism as a must.

2. why does prayer to Mary have to be explained literally from bible text? As we know the Christian bible OT and NT together wasn't fully written and compiled until after many of the apostles had already been martyrd. The early church relied on oral tradition to pass on all of God's revelation completely. Secondly Jesus is the central character of the bible it would not be out of the ordinary to understand not everything that Christians practiced or were instructed was good to do is in the bible. Several of the gospels explain that not everything Christ did and instructed is in the bible as it would take too many books to write down.

3. Why does Tammysue the non-catholic down at the Evangelical bible chapel continually ask me to pray for her to God if she can just go directly to God?

The reason Catholics asks Mary to pray for them to Jesus is because she is most righteous as the Mother of our savior. Which holy son does not listen to the requests of their mother? Catholics believe in one spiritual body of Christ and physical death does not divide it into two churches or two bodies. Scripture does explain that those righteous souls in heaven can and do pray for us in the book of the apocalypse (revelation) it also explains from the Psalms of the OT that a rigtheous man's prayers avails much.

Answer 3

Of course the Church doesn't teach that God is only accesable through Mary.

But Mary did play a part in the revelation of God to man.

Specifically, God's love and compassion was revealed to the world thorugh Mary's "yes", in a time when people thought He was punishing and harsh.

This is miracle is repeated "generation after generation", and it is completely biblical.

Answer 4

The above are true. The reason that we began praying to Mary and the Saints (asking for them to speak to God/Jesus on our behalf) was actually culturally based.

Back in the Medieval Ages, when many of the modern-day Catholic church traditions were established, the priests and bishops were in the midst of abusing their power as leader figures. Federalism was the form of government at the time -- it involved a social order that created a huge rift between the poor and the rich. The poor were basically slaves who worked on farms owned by royalty or even clergy (priests, bishops). During this time the poor, known as serfs, were the most religious -- however, the social rifts directly affected the churches, and for a long time the congregation at a mass (all serfs) were taught that they were highly unworthy to look at the Holy Eucharist or, heaven forbid, pray directly to God.

It was this mindset that caused the people of the church to pray to less intimidating images of "God-approved" people, such as Mary, or the Saints, who were all mortals like themselves. They asked these higher mortals, who "had connections" with God, to speak on their behalf.

Answer 5

Catholicism has always been a polytheistic religion since it was first formed as a hardline sect of Paulists from around 300 CE.

Since Catholicism created its own history to pretend it was first christian church, it has modified any and all necessary scriptures, doctrines and beliefs to maintain the largest possible congregation.

The worship of Mary as a Goddess (Queen of Heaven) is responsible for maintaining Catholic believers across a wide range of nations, given the ancient history of female goddesses such as Astarthe and Inaana.

However, probably the most successful new deity is the worshipping of the Pope as a Living God.

In 1871 That Pope Pius IX through the Papal Bull “Pastor aeternus” published the heretical false statement claiming the Pope is infallible and therefore is both above all laws of humanity above all human beings and cannot be questioned by faithful Catholics.

Now, the purpose of this Papal bull which is still defended by the Vatican today was to prevent the Pope from being charged with being a criminal because of his complete involvement in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln and the Vatican’s ongoing open support for international slavery. See The Almanac of Evil for more information.
http://one-faith-of-god.org/final_testament/end_of_darkness/evil/evil_0190.htm

However, an unintended consequence of this heretical document placing the Pope above all human laws and all human beings was that the Vatican effectively made the Pope a God- a direct contradiction of its own doctrines for 1600 years and automatically grounds for excommunication of all people who follow such heresy.

So today, when a person is a Catholic and say they support the Pope not only are they heretics in worshipping a man claiming to be a God, they are certainly not worshipping Jesus as head of the church.

Jesus was a human being. While alive, he never claimed to be infallible like the Popes have claimed for 100+ years.

The Papal Bull of “Pastor aeternus”is one of the greatest heresies and openly contemptuous documents against the entire alleged spiritual scriptures of Christianity as well as the human race.

Answer 6

You can talk to God yourself, as we also do. No one is required to pray through Mary or the saints.

Answer 7

+ Saints +

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 Blessed Virgin Mary +

"Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you" (Luke 1:28)

"Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb" (Luke 1:42).

In Luke 1:48, Mary prophesied: "From henceforth all generations shall call me blessed."

A question for Christians who take the Bible literally: Do you call Mary "blessed"? If no, why?

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 8

Prayer to Mary is not a requirement. You do not have to pray to her. The reason that we do is because she is our mother in heaven and we love her. She is family.

Go here to learn more: http://catholic.com/library/mary_saints.asp

God bless.

Answer 9

Well, judging by your name (and I may be wrong) you probably already know that the Latin word meaning "to speak" also is used in the context "to pray." The English word "pray" also means "to speak." We speak to the Holy Mother because she is is living. It's much akin to asking your flesh and blood mommy to pray (to speak) for you. I ask Mary to speak to her Son for me. Prayer from all corners can't hurt. It is to her Son that she speaks. So, she speaks to the Son who is God. The word prayer is misused by the uneducated. All adoration is for God and God alone. Better put.

Answer 10

The word "pray" comes from the word for "request" and can mean "entreat; implore; to make a request in a humble manner." It is in this sense that we pray to Mary and others. If I ask you for a glass of water, I am praying to you.

http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/pray