WWJD Did Jesus Pray to Mary?

Jipsah said:

St. Paul frequently asked his followers to pray for him. Why is that different from asking the Blessed Virgin to pray for us? "Oh, but she's dead". So? Absent from the body, present with the Lord, right? Unless you're into the "soul sleep" thing, which I am not. Plus, nowhere in Scripture does it say the BVM died. She may well have been assumed into Heaven like others before her..

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The difference is that there are plenty of examples in the bible of Christians on earth praying for others Christians. There are no examples in the bible of Christians asking Christians who have gone to heaven to pray for them. As for Mary being assumed, there are plenty of people in the bible whose deaths are not mentioned - Joseph (the New Testament one), Titus, Nathaniel, Nicodemus, and many more. Are you suggesting that they were all assumed into heaven?

David Lamb said:

The difference is that there are plenty of examples in the bible of Christians on earth praying for others Christians. There are no examples in the bible of Christians asking Christians who have gone to heaven to pray for them. As for Mary being assumed, there are plenty of people in the bible whose deaths are not mentioned - Joseph (the New Testament one), Titus, Nathaniel, Nicodemus, and many more. Are you suggesting that they were all assumed into heaven?

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The difference is, asking someone and praying to someone are two different things.
Ultimately, the main purpose of prayer is worship.

Prayer is often described as an act of worship, emphasizing the deep spiritual connection between the individual and God. According to various sources, prayer is not merely a means to request something but is fundamentally an expression of reverence, adoration, and submission to God.

If you ask the person a simple question. Are you praying to Mary? I don't think they will say no.

David Lamb said:

The difference is that there are plenty of examples in the bible of Christians on earth praying for others Christians. There are no examples in the bible of Christians asking Christians who have gone to heaven to pray for them.

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In other words, "It don't say you can." Fair play. But there's a long, long tradition of it in the Christian Faith. I'll take the chances that my requests (I want to distinguish my asking saints for their prayers in my behalf from praying to them, to prevent the ridiculous and insulting accusation beloved by uber-Protestants that I worship those saints and consider them some kind of subordinate gods). may not be heard. God will still hear my prayers to HIm in our Lord's Name, so no harm done.

David Lamb said:

As for Mary being assumed, there are plenty of people in the bible whose deaths are not mentioned

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I didn't say you needed to believe it. Once again, the tradition that she was assumed into Heaven. Mainline Protestants are a bit too ready to dismiss traffion out of hand, and I can't consider their opinions to be in ny way authoritative. Maybe they're right, maybe they're not. If the BVM isn't hearing my requests, then I've wasted my time, which isn't worth all that much anyway.

David Lamb said:

- Joseph (the New Testament one), Titus, Nathaniel, Nicodemus, and many more. Are you suggesting that they were all assumed into heaven?

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Is there some reason why I should? Is that a tradition of the Church, or any portion of it? If so I'm unaware of it.

Jipsah said:

In other words, "It don't say you can." Fair play. But there's a long, long tradition of it in the Christian Faith. I'll take the chances that my requests (I want to distinguish my asking saints for their prayers in my behalf from praying to them, to prevent the ridiculous and insulting accusation beloved by uber-Protestants that I worship those saints and consider them some kind of subordinate gods). may not be heard. God will still hear my prayers to HIm in our Lord's Name, so no harm done.

I didn't say you needed to believe it. Once again, the tradition that she was assumed into Heaven. Mainline Protestants are a bit too ready to dismiss traffion out of hand, and I can't consider their opinions to be in ny way authoritative. Maybe they're right, maybe they're not. If the BVM isn't hearing my requests, then I've wasted my time, which isn't worth all that much anyway.

Is there some reason why I should? Is that a tradition of the Church, or any portion of it? If so I'm unaware of it.

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I assure you I didn't accuse you of worshipping Mary.

I don't understand your word "traffion," in the phrase "too ready to dismiss traffion out of hand." I did a Google search for "traffion meaning" with no results.

I wasn't suggesting that people other than Mary whose deaths aren't mentioned in the bible were subjects of tradition in the church. The point is, you had used the fact that Mary's death isn't mentioned in the bible as evidence for her assumption into heaven. My point was that the non-mention of someone's death was no indication that the person had been assumed.

David Lamb said:

I don't understand your word "traffion," in the phrase "too ready to dismiss traffion out of hand." I did a Google search for "traffion meaning" with no results.

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That's probably a typo of "tradition."

jas3 said:

That's probably a typo of "tradition."

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Condistering the fcat that I'n the worl's best ty;pst, that hardly seams likey, does it?