I am starting to see the whole picture on the catholic church but what does Mary have to do with all of this?

Question

I have a friend who converted to Catholicism who studied theology and began to explain why catholics do what they do. I have to say Catholicism is realy beautiful now I want to kiss the popes ring!!! But how does Mary fit into the picture is it because she was the first to encounter God face to face or was touched by Jesus and the Holy Spirit and so they honor her? Catholics only please I am already a Protestant and I want to know what the rest of the body believes. I love Catholics now I get the picture. The other thing is I have done more than three miracles and am a virgin so how do I get declared a saint? I want to be touched by the catholic church so I can share the power of Christs touch with the protestants so they can be empowered too!

Answer 1

I was prepared to take you seriously until you said you were ready to be declared a saint. I hate to be the one to breake it to you, but a saint is one who is in heaven with God. So, the first requirement for sainthood is you have to be DEAD. The miracle must come AFTER death.

Where does Mary fit in?
She said YES to God, to His will in her life. She was the first dwelling place of the Savior. Her life is the perfect example to us. Mary, mere mortal, lived her life as we hope to.

Answer 2

We honor Mary as the mother of Jesus and an ideal example of motherhood.

To be declared a Saint, you have to have been dead for at least 5 years and any miracles that have happed through your intercession (asking the deceased to intercede with God for special favors) have to be proven by a panel of theologians, and doctors. At least three miracles have to be attributed to your intercession and the Pope has to declare you beatified first before the final determination of Sainthood. Mother Theresa of Calcutta has been declared Blessed (or beatified).

To find out more about the Catholic faith, you can call a local Catholic church and ask about RCIA classes. (Right of Christian Initiation). You don't have to convert if you don't want to but you will get a lot of accurate answers to any other questions you may have.

Answer 3

At the time of the Protestant Reformation, all Protestants believed in the perpetual virginity of the mother of Our Lord. I don't understand what you mean in your question about where she fits in. Not all Catholics pray the Rosary or join in Marian celebrations. It is clearly taught that this is not "necessary" for anyone's salvation, however, they do not stop the practice, for many people return to the sacraments because of her intervention.

As for your miracles, they have to be scrutinized by the church, and you have to tell a priest about them. Or someone brings it to their attention. There is a very stringent process in deciding what is a miracle and what is not.

Answer 4

YOU tell me what Mary has to do with all this, since you seem to be studying our Church!

And NO, you do not have to be a virgin to be a saint, and please be informed: Sta. Monica was the mother of St. Augustine, Sta. Helena was the mother of the emperor Constantine, Sta. Barbara was killed by her own husband, because she converted to Christianity, Sta. Rita de Cascia was married, and the great lawyer, Thomas Moore, had a wife and grown daughter when he was martyred. The first Filipino saint, Lorenzo Ruiz, had a wife and four kids in Manila when he was martyred in Japan.

As for being able to perform miracles NOW that you are still alive ... PHOEY for you!

And sorry, you have to be DEAD to be declared a saint. Can't help you here.

www.catholic.com.

Study the panel on the LEFT, and see what we are really about.

Answer 5

When she humbly said yes to or Lord ("Let it be done unto me according to thy word.") Mary became the first disciple of the Lord, and the first Christian.

She never gave praises to herself, but to God.

If Mary had said "No" to God, Jesus would not have been born, and our salvation would be in question.

There is no question that Jesus, as the Second Person of the Trinity, perfectly obeyed the commandment to honor one's father and mother. Jesus honored Mary. Catholics imitate the Lord Jesus by honoring Mary. Also, Catholics imitate Mary by being open to the word of God, and by humbly submitting ourselves to God's will, not for one's own glory, but for the glory of God.

Answer 6

the Virgin Mary is the perfect example of what a Christian should be. She's the Mother of Jesus, therefore we respect her as much as Jesus would respect her as His Mother.

to be declared a Saint one must do good deeds for the creations of God, to follow God's commandment and to forget about oneself. it's not easy to be a Catholic Saint, but the Catholic Saints never aimed to be a Saint, but rather they aimed to please and worship God as best as they can.

Answer 7

Here is a simple answer. We are called to imitate Jesus, correct? Jesus loved and honored his Mother. When Jesus was dying on the cross, he gave his mother to the care of the Apostle John, who is seen as representing all of us, so, she is our mother too. What does Mary do in return? Remember the wedding at Cana? She told them, "do whatever he tells you." That's it in a nutshell! God bless.

Answer 8

We honor Mary because she was the first Christian, and because she is the mother of us all. We go to her for intercession and prayer on our behalf.

I want to say welcome home to you. If you're interested in learning more about the Faith or even becoming Catholic, you should speak with your local priest about RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults).

God bless and welcome home.

Answer 9

The Blessed Mother is our Mother in Heaven, caring for our needs. She is also the Queen Mother, and as such she is our advocate before her Son. He can not refuse her pleas on our behalf (Remember the wedding feast at Cana?). See my post at the following link.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/?qid=20070914142414AAslqu1&grp_name=era-of-peace&grp_spid=1600074486&grp_cat=/Religion___Beliefs/Christianity/Denominations_and_Sects/Catholic&grp_user=2

As our Advocate in Heaven, we pray to her asking her to intercede on our behalf (note: she is as human as you or I....but a spirit of course.........we do NOT pray to her as a goddess....that is forbidden, and she does not want that either.). Consider the prayer, the Hail Mary:

"Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the Fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, PRAY FOR US SINNERS, NOW AND AT THE HOUR OF OUR DEATH. Amen."

(You will be quick to note that most of the prayer is directly from Holy Scripture, including the 1st chapter of John, which proclaims Jesus as God. Indeed, Mary was His mother.)



Prayers of Consecration and the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
http://www.call2holiness.org/consecration/prayers.html


To the Refuges on Wings of Eagles
http://www.call2holiness.org/RefugesonWings/RefugesonWings.htm


The following is from the writing directly above:

"Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple; and there were flashes of lightning, voices, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.

And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; she was with child and she cried out in her pangs of birth, in anguish for delivery. And another portent appeared in heaven; behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems upon his heads. His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bear a child, that he might devour her child when she brought it forth; she brought forth a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which to be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days." (Cf. Rev. 11:19-12:6)

"And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman who brought forth the man child. And there were given to the woman two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the desert, unto her place, where she is nourished for a time and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. And the serpent cast out of his mouth, after the woman, water, as it were a river: that he might cause her to be carried away by the river. And the earth helped the woman: and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed up the river which the dragon cast out of his mouth." ….…(Cf. Rev. 12:13-16)

(n.b. the Greek word eremos (which means 'wilderness' or 'desert') was used in both instances above, but the translator chose to use 'wilderness' in one place and 'desert' in another.

Comment:

It is a fact that the authors of the books of the Bible did not break their writings into chapters. This is a convention added by the Church centuries ago to aid in reference. Hence, we can gain greater insight as to the meaning of the word 'woman' by taking this into consideration in reading the last verse of Revelation 11 together with Revelation 12.

The Blessed Virgin Mary is the 'New Ark of the Covenant' as we shall discuss in greater detail below. While the Old Testament ark of the covenant carried the written word of God; for nine months, the Blessed Virgin carried the Incarnate Word (Joh 1:1-14).

The Old Testament ark of the covenant remains on earth hidden (2 Ma 2:5). It can not possibly be in Heaven. Whereas, the New Ark of the Covenant was assumed body and soul into Heaven. Therefore, the Ark of the Covenant that St. John saw in Heaven had to be the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God.

Furthermore, the Mother of God has appeared with a crown of stars, and clothed with the sun and with the moon at her feet (e.g. Our Lady of Guadalupe - image below).

We have additional assurance that the above passage refers to the Blessed Virgin in that it states "she brought forth a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne". Psalm 2:9 confirms that the phrase, "rules with a rod of iron", refers to Jesus. Additional confirmation is provided in the verbiage, "but her child was caught up to God and to his throne". This can be no other than Jesus, the Son of God.

Lastly, note that the woman wears a crown. Which type of women wear crowns? Queens and Queen Mothers. In the Davidic kingdoms of the Old Testament, the Queen Mother was the mother of the King. The principal role of the Queen Mother was to serve as advocate or intercessor on behalf of the people of Israel to her son the King. (Refer to I Kings 2:19-20)