Catholics- Who shed His blood and died for our sins? Why then are there feasts for Mary who was just a vessel?

Question

It appears that the wrong person is being lifted up more so and higher than the only One who is worthy to receive glory, the only One who took your place, the only One found worthy to open the seals and the only One who is the mediator between God and man.

Answer 1

AMEN to that!! Over the last few weeks in having a conversation with someone from the Catholic faith, I have learned a great deal about how misled they are in regard to Mary and that they DO worship her, regardless of what they say....

Take a look at this website from a FORMER NUN:

http://www.catholicconcerns.com/MaryWorship.html

Answer 2

Devotion to Mary does not displace the worship of God. In the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, Lutheran, and some other traditions, there are feast days in honour of many saints. Some feast days are "feasts of Our Lady". But even on those days, we are really honouring the redemptive work of Christ shown through the *example* of Mary (or St. Paul, or St. Bartholomew or whomever). Every Mass is a participation in *Christ's* sacrifice. We honour (but don't worship) Mary as the chosen vessel and the protoype of redemmed humanity, but that's just a part of the larger picture of our worship of God.

Answer 3

Why do you assume so many things? Of course Catholics know that the Lord who shed His Blood for us is irreplaceable and He is given the highest place by us.

Just because we have feasts and special days of honor for the Mother of God , does not make us forget that the greatest honor and love belongs to God. Worship belongs to God alone. But, we are not ungrateful to the Woman who bore the Son of God in Her Womb and thus we love, honor, and cherish Her. Just as Our Lord loved and cherished His Mother while He was on earth and does so even today.

Once God had given Lucifer a very important place in heaven and he lost it by his pride and rebellion. Mary's opposite qualities of humility and submission to God's Will have now given her a very powerful place in heaven and Satan hates Her for that. Satan hates Her because She draws souls by sweet graces and wins them for Her Son. She points the way not to Herself but to Jesus. She is a loving Mother and Queen of Heaven who desires nothing but that souls be saved and turn to Her Son. Would a mother want anything contrary to her son's interests? How could there be any competition between God and His Mother? What you have alleged above is inexplicable to me.

Christ is the principal mediator in His own right, Mary is a secondary mediatrix, through, with, and in Christ. Without Him she would have no power, and therefore He is the source of all mediation with God on behalf of men.

Here is a good article with common misconceptions about Mary and answers to them:
http://www.olrl.org/apologetics/statueworship.shtml#ans44

Do read .

Answer 4

Thank you for giving us a chance to answer this question instead of assuming that we are idol worshipers.

I appreciate the humble tenor of your question also, You said "it appears" and appearances can be deceptive.

How about if we compare this to flag day, Independence day or Thanksgiving. If we celebrate these days as Christians, we are not worshiping flags, fireworks or turkeys, but we are showing gratitude to the God who made all these amazing things, and we are grateful to Him for them.

This is how Catholics see Mary and other saints, good examples of the faith, people that we can imitate because they are of good character, like Washington or Lincoln, and is it such a horrible sin to believe that these people, the saints, and martyrs are still alive and can join all of us in prayer and intercession for those of us who still struggle on this mortal coil?

Lastly, if you have a flag in your home to remind you that you are an American, or a picture of Lincoln or Washington whom we honor for their honesty and good character. is that so different than having a picture of St. Jerome, who helped ot bring us the Word of God, or a picture of St. Catherine who was martyred for the Faith?

I think that you will find that in 99% of Catholic homes that Jesus and the cross are the most honored and most highly exalted images and the only object of worship.

Thank you for this opportunity to share.

Answer 5

Look carefully at a Catholic calendar, and you will see that there are far more feast days honoring Jesus than there are feast days honoring Mary.

Besides, doesn't the fact that she was His mother count for anything? Don't you think He celebrated her birthday?

coffee_pot12, you're wrong about Martin Luther. Devotion to Mary wasn't even mentioned in the 95 Theses, and he remained devoted to her even after he broke with Rome. (See link below.)

Besides, the Catholic Church doesn't teach that Mary is divine.

Answer 6

Your ignorance is showing.

Catholics celebrate Christ's life, death, and resurrection at Mass, all around the world, 365 days per year, seven days per week, and every hour of every day.

Jesus is at the very center of all Catholic worship, as our God, King, High Priest, Mediator, and Divine Brother.

When God created Mary to be Jesus' mother, he made her much more than "just a vessel" ... even though she remains a non-divine creature, much like the rest of us.

To put it very simply, if Mary was good enough for Jesus, who is God, and who certainly honors his own mother, than she's good enough for us to honor, as well ... especially since Jesus gave her to us, as he hung on the cross.

Answer 7

Jesus, of course. But Mary represents mercy. and Cathlolics celebrate the virgin birth because it was a miracle. is it a sin in your eyes to celebrate the Virgin Mary every once in a while? We worship God and Jesus everyday

here is a brief description of the Feast, that means just one.

Second Sunday in October. The object of this feast is to commemorate the dignity of the Mary as Mother of God. Mary is truly the Mother of Christ, who in one person unites the human and divine nature. This title was solemnly ratified by the Council of Ephesus, 22 June, 431. The hymns used in the office of the feast also allude to Mary's dignity as the spiritual mother of men. The love of Mary for all mankind was that of a mother, for she shared all the feelings of her son whose love for men led Him to die for our redemption (Hunter, Dogm.Theo. 2, 578). The feast was first granted, on the petition of King Joseph Manuel, to the dioceses of Portugal and to Brasil and Algeria, 22 January, 1751, together with the feast of the Purity of Mary, and was assigned to the first Sunday in May, dupl. maj. In the following year both feasts were extended to the province of Venice, 1778 to the kingdom of Naples, and 1807 to Tuscany. At present the feast is not found in the universal calendar of the church, but nearly all diocesan calendars have adopted it. In the Roman Breviary the feast of the Maternity is commemorated on the second, and the feast of the Purity on the third, Sunday in October. In Rome, in the Church of S. Augustine, it is celebrated as a dupl. 2. classis with an octave, in honour of the miraculous statue of the Madonna del Parto by Sansovino. This feast is also the titular feast of the Trinitarians under the invocation of N. S. de los Remedios. At Mesagna in Apulia it is kept 20 February in commemoration of the earthquake, 20 February 1743.

Answer 8

There are a lot of feast days, not just for Mary.
But let me clue you in...

Mary is Jesus's mother and as his mother he respects her, God chose her for this task.

Don't you respect and listen to your mom? do you like people taking badly about your mother? Well my friend, neither does he.

He takes her prayers for us under advisement. We do not worship her, but we do ask for her intersession at times, we ask for her prayers. We do not think she is higher then Jesus or God, she is a human woman chosen by God to carry his son, that alone puts her above all other woman out there, no one else is as pure and no one else could have raised the Son of God.

You are bashing God's choice, and Jesus's mother. I can not believe that some people are so thick headed that they can not understand that you can't get away with bashing some one's mom and get away scott free..

Heck if it was your friends mom, he would have busted you in the mouth for it....What would Jesus do?

Answer 9

It appears that you are not very knowledgable about Catholic doctrine where Mary is concerned.

"What the Catholic faith believes about Mary is based on what it believes about Christ, and what it teaches about Mary illumines in turn its faith in Christ." - Catechism of the Catholic Church, #487.


Suggested reading, in addition to the Catechism (Chapter Two, Article 3, para. 2, from which the above was taken):

http://www.amazon.com/Real-Mary-Evangelical-Christians-Embrace/dp/1557255237/ref=pd_sim_b_pop_title/002-5954435-3598443
http://www.amazon.com/Hail-Holy-Queen-Scott-Hahn/dp/0385501684/ref=pd_sim_b_pop_title/002-5954435-3598443
http://www.amazon.com/Mary-Church-Joseph-Cardinal-Ratzinger/dp/158617018X/ref=pd_sim_b_pop_title/002-5954435-3598443
http://www.amazon.com/Mary-New-Testament-John-Reumann/dp/0809121689/ref=pd_sim_b_pop_title/002-5954435-3598443

Get back to us when you've studied a bit more, and do let us know if you still think the "vessel" is "lifted up more so and higher" than the Lord, Jesus Christ.

Answer 10

Did you ever here of mass celebrated daily all over the world with Jesus the center of the mass. On your day of Judgment tell Jesus his mother was only a vessel.

Answer 11

No more celebration on December 8 right gotcha.