I know that we have Jesus in common and few other things but I honestly do not understand where or why in the RC church there is a devotion to Mary.Is she considered a deity? Why is it that people pray to her and have a devotion to her. Why is the RC church not wholly and only devoted to Jesus Christ. Why do you have focus on Saints. It is hard for me to understand because we are all Christians but these devotions outside of devoting your life to Christ seem irrelevant and unnecessary from a protestant light. I am not at all saying you are wrong to do it I am just trying to understand why we are divided? I am truly sorry if the way I have worded this is offensive I honestly do not mean to be.
2007-09-22 01:37:07 · 21 answers · asked by tryingtolearnsomething 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
As a Protestant, I found the Catholic answers informative and helpful. Yet there are still questions. For example, to pray to someone who has died is to express faith that they are alive and able to hear you and respond to your prayer, BUT prayer is the most integral form of worship that exists! The pagans pray to their gods in the belief that they are alive and listening; they use idols and images to assist their devotions. So, do Catholics insist the pagans are not commiting idolatry - not breaking the first two of the Ten Commandments?
Secondly, to call Mary the Mother of God is to give the clear impression that she must be divine. Their choice of title is unfortunate if, as they say, she is not ascribed deity. But when they pray to her, they are performing an act of worship. Same with the saints. Prayer is worship. I don't know why they cannot face up to this.
Thirdly, the Bible is clear that we need no other 'contact' in heaven other than the person of Christ himself. We have the green light to go straight to the Father via Christ, our Great High Priest and Mediator. The book of Hebrews says, 'Therefore he [Christ] is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them' (ch 7 vs 25). Is that not good enough for Catholics? Don't they believe this promise? They'd rather go to a secondary source for a more convoluted approach to God? Is Jesus too busy to take on everybody's prayers? This is not said to cause offence but to help Catholics think on what the Bible actually says.
2007-09-22 02:50:58 · answer #1 · answered by Annsan_In_Him 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
I'm Catholic (hopefully someday Protestants will understand the Catholic view on these things)
Mary is not a deity. Only the Holy Trinity is worthy of praise and worship.
The RC church is dedicated to all three essences of the Trinity, not solely Christ.
As far as intercession is concerned (asking saints to pray for your concers - notice I said asking saints, not praying to them) The way I explain this to Protestants is: Do Protestants ask their congregations to make public prayers for members of the church? If so, what value is in that? Shouldn't they go straight to God? No, we ask those around us and those that have a special circumstance or experience to intercede for us.
Another concept to understand about Catholicism is the idea of Holy Tradition and the Living Word. I don't believe God has been silent since the Bible was compiled. Indeed, only relatively recently was the Bible really available to everyone - prior to that copies were so expensive and rare, they were cycled through various churches.
2007-09-23 01:58:43 · answer #2 · answered by wigginsray 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Why would you have the idea that they think Mary is a deity.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Do you honour your mother? Roman Catholics believe that Jesus' mother deserves a special place of honour. They show her respect.
Yes, they do believe they can pray to her (if they want), and she will intercede on their behalf. They do also pray to saints.
However, Jesus and God, have the utmost importance in their lives, and their prayers. They worship as god, only god as the Trinity *(Father, Son and Holy Ghost).
The extra "things" that they do, should not make one bit of difference. They do not worship any statuary as deity's. They will however use the statues, as focal points to assist them in their prayers. Trying to emulate the good and best qualities of the person/persons represented in the statues or paintings.
Roman Catholics are truly devouted to christ.
2007-09-22 08:46:27 · answer #3 · answered by Sapere Aude 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Catholics honor Mary because she was was chosen above all other women to bear Jesus in her womb. She was also the only human being to be conceived without original sin. She is not considered a deity. We do not have her on level with God, but we do honor her for her important role in the salvation story. Her "Yes" to God made it possible for all mankind to be saved.
I personally have a great devotion to Mary. The thought of having a "mother" up in heaven who can bring my requests and problems to Jesus is very comforting. It is often said that Jesus cannot refuse her anything.
2007-09-23 14:15:19 · answer #4 · answered by Catholicgal 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
She's not a deity, dear. We worship only God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Simply put, Mary and the saints are examples to us, and Mary most of all because she said "let it be done to me according to your word" and bore the Son. She points us to Christ, just as she did at the wedding at Cana when she told the servants "do whatever He tells you". We believe that the saints, who are in heaven, can intercede for us in prayer, but there's a difference between intercession and being an intermediary which is a common misunderstanding.
2007-09-22 08:44:05 · answer #5 · answered by Clare † 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
It's like if you were at work and trying really hard to be a good employee. You make mistakes sure, but you do your best. You are really hoping for a promotion but you're not exactly sure how to approach the boss, so you ask someone else to put in a good word for you.
It's not all that different with Catholics. We pray to Mary and other saints to ask them to act as intecessors between us and God. We do not pray in worship of saints we just ask them sometimes to put in a good word.
2007-09-22 08:53:01 · answer #6 · answered by osborne_pkg 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There is devotion to Mary in the RCC because she was the first to believe in Jesus, the first to receive the Holy Spirit, the only one who ever conceived the Christ (which required laying down her life in a very real way, as childbirth was very dangerous up until 100 years ago or so and the #1 killer of women, not to mention the fact that she could have been stoned by people who thought she had illicit sex). She was perfect in her obedience to God's will and she is the best ever example for all Christians to follow.
No, Mary is not considered a deity!
People pray to her because they want to ask her to pray for them. We don't think that Mary makes miracles happen -- we think that Mary asks the Lord to make miracles happen on our behalf, based on the Wedding at Cana (John 2).
The RCC most certaintly *IS* wholly devoted to Jesus Christ and if you went to just one Mass, you would see that. Mary is only mentioned in passing as Jesus' mother and everything else is all about Him. (When I was protestant, services seemed to be more about US than Jesus!)
We have focus on the saints because all of those people followed Jesus in their own ways -- in their jobs and in their families, and whatever -- and we can learn from them. It's not unlike how U.S. protestants read books written by James Dobson or Chuck Swindoll or whomever is the hot commodity in Christian publishing today.
Our devotions to Mary and any other saint (which are all OPTIONAL, btw, not mandatory at all) are not irrelevant and unnecessary because they point us to Christ.
And you haven't been offensive at all. Thanks for being courteous.
EXTRA NOTE TO ANNSAN:
Yes, praying to a saint means we have faith that person is alive. We believe this because Jesus promised all who followed Him the gift of eternal life.
Prayer CAN be a form of worship but it doesn't have to be. The word "pray" literally means "ask" and you can ask anybody anything you want. In Shakespeare, there are sentences like, "Nurse, pray, where is my daughter? Bring her forth to me." In this phrase, Shakespeare is not suggesting the Lady Capulet worships the nurse! Nope, she's just ASKING her something.
Pagan gods are NOT alive and listening, and neither are idols. Saints, however, are different. Jesus promised them eternal life and we believe Jesus. So not only are these saints alive, they are still part of the Church and still active in the Church, because we know from Scripture that "the good and faithful servant" will be "put in charge of many things." (Matthew 25).
Calling Mary the Mother of God is about Jesus, not about her. It means we believe that Jesus is God. Don't you? I mean, I know some people don't believe that Jesus is God, but most protestants do. And if you believe that Jesus is God, and we all know that Mary is Jesus' mother, then it means Mary is the mother of God. Doesn't make her divine -- but it does make her part of a miracle called the Incarnation.
You are incorrect that the Bible says we need no other contact in heaven but Christ. There is no such verse. I note that you didn't post one supporting this claim. The Bible says we aren't to contact the dead, but saints aren't dead, they have eternal life. The Bible also says not to use spiritists or mediums, but the saints aren't that, either. They are living members of the Church, same as you or I, except they've been fully purified by the Blood of the Lamb and don't have the hinderance of the flesh holding them back like we do.
We Catholics do go straight to the Father via Christ, same as you. But we all need each other to stay on the "narrow path" which is a theme throughout Paul's epistles, as well as Peter's and John's. Surely you remember the commendation to bear one another's burdens in Galations 6? And Paul's warning not to cause the weaker brethren to stumble in I Corinthians?
We do not think that Christ can't save without the saints, and we do not look to saints for salvation. We trust our salvation to Christ alone. The Saints are just part of the family of God.
Saints, btw, do not provide a "convoluted approach to God." They are purified and made whole or they wouldn't be in heaven with Jesus. They can't do anything outside of God's will now.
As for your rather silly question about Jesus being too busy -- that's not it at all. But we are all part of one Body and we all should have an interest in our Christians brothers and sisters. Don't you agree?
2007-09-24 12:00:31 · answer #7 · answered by sparki777 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I am not a Catholic but I know Catholics do NOT consider Mary a deity, but the Mother of Jesus. They think He listens to His mother, so they ask her, as they might ask any other saint or living Christian, to pray for them. Do you ask other Christians to pray for you?
From the Catholic perspective - Protestantism was mostly created by an ill tempered beligerent and arrognant German monk (with some righteous complaints about some unorthodox abuses of power), and an adulterous English prince. And they pray for you.
Now, I am not Christian at all; and sometimes I pray for all of you :)
I trust God will sort all out - but that haters will NOT be rewarded.
2007-09-22 08:43:27 · answer #8 · answered by SC 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
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) living on Earth relate to the Body of Christ (saints) living 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, Mother Teresa and Pope John Paul II.
As part of this family, you may ask your family and friends living here on earth to pray for you. Or, you may also ask the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Andrew, or your deceased grandmother living in heaven to pray for you.
Prayer to saints in heaven is simple communication, not worship.
Asking others to pray for you whether your loved ones on Earth or your loved ones in heaven is always optional.
For more information, see the Catechism of the Catholic Church, section 946 and following: http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt1sect2chpt3art9p5.htm#946
With love in Christ.
2007-09-23 01:49:00 · answer #9 · answered by imacatholic2 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's called the communion of saints- and you profess it if you are a Christian.
Devotion to the saints is no different than you gaining new friend who become friends with your current friends.
We're all in this together. The saints lived as we do and were able to get to heaven. They help use with their prayers on our behalf. We do not worship them- our prayers to them are requests for their prayers.
Mary is the greatest of the saints, the greatest of all created beings. Her YES to God brought Christ into the world. Do you think JESUS ignores her? He created His own mother! He loves her and wants us to love her.
And like Bathsheba, when she took requests to her son, King Solomon....Christ listens to His mothers requests- why wouldn't he???
2007-09-22 18:09:23 · answer #10 · answered by Mommy_to_seven 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋