You all say you don't pray to Mary, that you ask her to pray for you. We all know Mary is dead, so how is it possible for you to ask her to pray for you without praying to her? Perhaps Father K could be roused for this one?
2007-10-27 13:04:14 · 14 answers · asked by frenzy-CIB- Jim's with Jesus 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Paul, allow me to elaborate...
I do believe Mary is alive in spirit. However, she is not physically alive on this plane in order to ask her to pray for you. Therefore, you have to used some supernatural means to communicate with her.
BTW, great way to side-step the question.
2007-10-27 13:32:30 · update #1
Marysia, please don't take this personally. You are a loving person, and I'm really not wanting to offend you.
Peace to all the answerers.
2007-10-27 13:35:35 · update #2
OK, I'd lik to ask another question. Do you have statues of Jesus that you pray before? I'm really totally ignorant of this, and am thinking of going to a Catholic priest to get answers. I may email Father K.
2007-10-27 14:21:11 · update #3
Exactly, spike. That is another question...what do you base this on BIBLICALLY?
2007-10-27 16:04:52 · update #4
+ 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."
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.
For more information, see the Catechism of the Catholic Church, section 2673 and following: http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt4sect1chpt2art2.htm
A question for Christians who take the Bible literally: Do you call Mary "blessed"? If not, why?
+ With love in Christ.
2007-10-27 18:30:55 · answer #1 · answered by imacatholic2 7 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Jesus promised us the gift of eternal life multiple times in the Bible. Don't you believe that anyone who believes in Jesus and does the will of God receives eternal life?
Catholics do. So that means a saint who died on earth is given the gift of eternal life and they are alive in heaven. No longer dead, of course. We know this is true because the Bible says so -- remember how Moses appeared to Jesus at the Transfiguration and conversed with Him. Well, Moses had been dead at one time, but he was not dead when he was talking to Jesus, was he?
Anyway, Mary or any of the other saints could not possibly hear us ask for their intercession without the Lord making it so. He makes it possible. And nothing is impossible for Him, so there's no reason to doubt that, is there?
2007-10-27 20:37:21 · answer #2 · answered by sparki777 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
in revelations - who are the saints under the altar? if all are dead - how are they alive? Catholics do not believe that all are dead (aka soul sleep) until the second coming. Christ Himself even told the thief on the cross next to His that he would be with HIm in paradise. why wouldn't He have said - you will be with Me in paradise, after I come back a second time?!
I'm sorry you have not liked the asnwers that other Catholics have given you about Mary. Unfortuantely, the answers will not change unless they are posted by a non-Catholic. we all know and love Mary as the Mother of our Lord & Saviour Jesus Christ and the handmaiden of God and the spouse of the Holy Spirit.
2007-10-27 20:17:21 · answer #3 · answered by Marysia 7 · 3⤊ 1⤋
Do u ever ask people for help like a close friend or something?? Well its the same thing with Mary . Prayer is like talking to someone so when we pray to Mary we are really asking her to pray for us. This definitely does not mean we worship her that is something we only give God. Prayer originally meant to ask when it first emerged in the english language. So does anyone in your church ask them to pray for u when they are sick? Samething!! The bible says its a good thing to pray for one another. Since when are the deceased excluded from that circle???
2007-10-27 20:31:49 · answer #4 · answered by balletwildflower 2 · 2⤊ 1⤋
i am ever amazed at the mental gymnastics involved in dodging a straight answer to a simple question! folks say they DON'T pray to mary, yet they cannot explain the process by which they ask for her 'intercession', or for the 'intercession of the saints'...and for the zillionth time, NO, it is NOT even remotely the same as my asking folks on r&s or in my congregation to pray for me-i can communicate the request via the internet to r&s, and i can ask my congregation directly...i cannot, nor have i ever found a method to, ask someone who is no longer 'in the flesh' to do ANYTHING! that would require:
a) necromancy
b) telepathy
c) prayer
i would assume that no Christian would find a or b to be viable, which leaves only prayer.
Christ instructed us how to pray and to whom we should address our prayers-God the Father-to pray to any other 'entity' would be blasphemous and/or polytheistic-period.
as for this 'mother of God' stuff...in my opinion it's pure hokum. no one can be the mother or the father of their own Creator. mary did not exist 2500 BC-God most assuredly did; therefore, she cannot be the 'mother of God'...furthermore, Christ said "who is My mother and who are My brothers?" and stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, "behold, My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father who is in Heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother"..note that he said 'the will of My Father who is in heaven', not 'My mother'...to her, He asked, at the wedding in cana, 'woman, what do I have to do with you? My hour has not yet arrived'...does this sound like how Christ would address the 'mother of God' and the 'queen of heaven?'
this 'queen of heaven' stuff is absolute malarkey-there is nothing in the bible that supports the notion-it's a pretty image, i suppose, but there's nothing biblical about it
sorry if this offends some people...not my intention, but sometimes an honest answer can be painful
2007-10-27 22:52:48 · answer #5 · answered by spike missing debra m 7 · 2⤊ 2⤋
Arent those that are in heaven alive? I think they are. Remember when Jesus ascended to heaven He took all those who had died before His birth to heaven, He preached to them in Paradise/hell/purgatory. Mary is alive in heaven. We ask Mary to pray for us. Read the Hail Mary
Hail Mary, full of grace.
The Lord is with thee.
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.
When we say Hail Mary, we are basically saying Hello Mary. Let me ask you something. Do you ask your friends and family to pray for you? It is the same. We are asking Mother Mary to pray for us.
2007-10-27 20:20:58 · answer #6 · answered by tebone0315 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Mary is dead?? Maybe you should read your Bible more often. Jesus said that those who follow Him "WILL NEVER DIE". Are you saying He was a liar? Obviously if followers of Christ do not die, Mary is alive and well, and there is no reason why we should not speak to her.
2007-10-27 20:15:47 · answer #7 · answered by PaulCyp 7 · 3⤊ 1⤋
We pray to her, to pray for us....So I guess if you don't get it, let me explain....Have you ever asked for someone to pray for you? That you might get a job, or something? Or ask someone to pray for someone you know....That's all we ask Mary is to pray for us, and that she will basically tell Jesus to have mercy on us....
In the Hail Mary....Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death....We're asking her to pray for us....
2007-10-27 20:14:50 · answer #8 · answered by Pain Is All I Know 5 · 5⤊ 0⤋
Yes, Jesus's blood was not good enough for them!
DO THE WILL OF GOD
You need to find a home church, be obedient, follow his word, be baptized with the holy spirit, show your self approved and do the will of God (Mark 16: 15 - 18)
Get ready People, Jesus is coming
http://www.mylordmysavior.com
2007-10-27 20:12:27 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 4⤋
Orthodox Catholics simply do not worship Mary as God -- and it gets a little tiring being accused of worshipping Mary as God when you don't.
It amounts to being called a liar and is quite rude.
We Catholics would be the ones to know Whom we consider God and whom we don't.
I love my biological Mother, too, but don't mistake her for the Lord!
I honor her, keep in touch with her, look after her, celebrate her special days, would get mad if someone were to insult her -- and I do the same for Jesus's Mother.
My love for my Mother doesn't mean I don't love my Father, too.
It just strikes me as evil, this not uncommon attempt to diminish Mary's status and the unceasing accusations against Catholics of trying to raise her status to that of God's. There's something very sinister and ugly in it, and I find it offensive.
We Catholics take great care in pointing out that "worship" in the sense of latria is GOD'S alone -- even to the point of having separate terms for the honor and adoration due to God as opposed to the honor and veneration of the Saints -- including His greatest Saint, Mary.
They are:
latria: the honor due to God alone
dulia: the honor due to human creatures worthy of respect
hyperdulia: the honor due to Mary as God's greatest creation and our Queen Mother
When we love Christ, does that prevent us from loving each other? No! Love is infinite because God, Who is Love, is infinite! We can love and adore Jesus, love and venerate Mary, love the other Saints, and love each other without depriving anyone (or Anyone) of anything.
How many children can you have without running out of love? How many friends?
What we "spend" in love is replaced many times over; love for Christ can only bring the fruits of more love to give.
To love Mary takes nothing at all from Christ, but honors our Blessed Lord by Whose grace she is who she is: His greatest creation, the greatest of Saints, the Queen of Heaven, the Immaculate Conception, the spotless Virgin, the Ark of the Covenant, the New Eve, the mother of God, and the mother of Israel -- our mother who wants nothing more for us than to pray for us and show us her Son.
...And ask yourself why the heck we'd lie about not worshipping Mary as some sort of divine being if we actually did. Do you think we are ashamed? Afraid of what you might think? Do you think that we actually do worship Mary but don't tell converts until some secret ceremony held after they've been in the Church a few years and can be trusted?
I mean, really! Satanists have no qualms telling people they worship Satan, pagans have no problem informing the world that they worship the earth, Hindus are not uneager to reveal that they chant to Krishna -- but Catholics are "afraid" to "admit" whom they consider God?
Please! We are not afraid to tell you we believe in Purgatory, indulgences, the Communion of Saints, the efficacy of piously using sacramentals, the true grace of the Sacraments, the infallibility of the Pope when he uses his Extraordinary or Universal Magisterium, etc.
Trust me; if we thought Mary is a godess, we'd let you know.
As the obedient, infinitely holy Son of God, the Lord Jesus was a very firm believer in the commandment to honor one's father and mother. Now, what most people don't know about that commandment is that in Hebrew it literally reads, "Glorify your father and mother."We are to bring glory to our parents, and that includes not only our earthly, physical mother but our heavenly, spiritual mother as well. We are to imitate Christ, and just as he brought glory to his mother, we are to bring glory to her as well.
St. Luke's gospel (1:48) - "Behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed."
Her soul magnifies the Lord (Luke 1:46-55)!
2007-10-27 21:03:02 · answer #10 · answered by Isabella 6 · 4⤊ 1⤋