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MamaZ

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Sorry but I didn't go back and read what was written because the thread was closed due to the fact that no one listened to the Mod and kept speaking of Mary.. That is the reason I did not read what was written.
 
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MoNiCa4316

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well let see.. Yes I put flowers on graves when I can. But I don't dress the head stone and parade it around town.. Do you see the difference there?

the services you're talking about, that's just a way that we can honour Mary TOGETHER, in community it brings believers together. So if there was a procession of people that went to the graveyard and all together put flowers of the grave of a famous person, that's essentially the same thing.
 
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MoNiCa4316

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DD, why would you ask your friend to pray for you but not the Mother of God? Aren't her prayers better than those of your friends, since she's in Heaven and "the prayers of a righteous man avail much"?

1. Because they aren't supported in scripture and
2. Because they take the focus off of Christ and glorify her instead of God.

I just wanted to say.. that the more I focus on Mary, the easier I find to focus on Christ. She leads us to Christ. That's her "job", you might say. when we say "Mary", she says "Jesus".

Do you believe that we as creatures can bring God glory? That we can glorify Him? So if we call Mary sinless, who does this glorify - her, or God? Doesn't it glorify God, who made her sinless, so that His Son would not be dishonoured by being in her womb? You forget brother, everything God did for Mary was for the sake of Christ's glory. She's sinless for His glory. She was taken up into Heaven for His glory. ETC. As we pray.. "Blessed be God in His angels and in His Saints."

also, after looking at Scripture carefully, I found none of the doctrines contradict Scripture.


you misunderstand.. Mary only does His will. So if she prays for something, its already in God's will. Of course He would answer any of her prayers then!


I on the other hand, I think St Louis de Montfort's teaching is from Heaven and it's an awesome way to achieve holiness. Actually, at first I doubted them too and feared it's all idolatry. I asked God to show me. By the evening of this day, He did. He changed my mind. That's when I realized that the only reason I understood even a bit of his writings at all is because God gave me the necessary grace to understand them.

I noticed many times when people dismiss the Total Consecration or de Montfort, - that's often because they don't see that Mary leads us perfectly to Christ. She perfects our efforts to love Him. She teaches us how.

Also, what de Montfort said has been supported by several Popes and Saints, and is accepted by the Church. His writings were examined in detail before he was canonized as a Saint.

Also, the consecration is more accurately to Jesus through Mary, not to Mary herself for her sake. It's not that he thinks we can't pray to God. But that Mary perfects our prayers and applies her merits to them. I think the whole teaching encourages humility.

I pray to Jesus, I also pray to Mary


do you ONLY say this prayer? do you ever pray in your own words? If so, why? Didn't Christ say to use this prayer?

hope you see where I'm going with this.....

Christ gave us this prayer as a model of how to pray to the Father. In the Catholic Church, we use this prayer A LOT, as you probably know. Every time we pray the Rosary, we say it 5 times.


and faith without works is dead.

there's such a thing as works under grace too. Just because we're saved by Christ doesn't mean we do nothing.

See the Church teaches that we're saved by grace alone but not by faith alone. There IS a difference. Because as I said, there are works under grace too, which are not works of the law.

I don't really see how any of this relates to the thread though. how does it relate to Mary or even St Louis de Montfort..?
 
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DD2008

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MoNiCa4316

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I had unsubscribed to this thread, but I'll answer your post since you took the time to write it to me.

thanks brother! I appreciate that.

Any friend I ask to pray for me will be here with me on the plain of history. I reject any imputation of faith through prayer to anyone other than God. I firmly believe we should only pray to God.

in the Bible, it says that we are surrounded by the cloud of witnesses. Do you believe that God is with you even though He is in Heaven? Do you believe that angels are around us even though we can't see them? Heaven is not far away once people die, they don't leave the Church. THey're still "in Christ", so they are still in the Church. We ask the Saints or Mary to pray for us in the same way that we ask our friends to pray for us. They are not any less "here with us" or "alive" than our friends on earth..in fact, they are more alive, not less. Didn't Christ say, we would live even though we die?

I have no problem with looking at any scriptural example of her or any other biblical character and meditating on the lessons thereof as something that teaches one about God. However all prayer and all devotions in faith go to God alone.

God decides how to answer every prayer.. do you think that when we talk to Mary He doesn't hear? He does.. and decides what the answer will be.. but the reason we "pray to" Mary is because we ask her to pray for us to God, just like we ask our friends on earth. In this way, we glorify God, because He is glorified when His children love one another. It is an expression of love to pray for one another. Those in Heaven are filled with His love.

I don't believe Mary is sinless.

I used to think she's not too.. but think about this.. Jesus got His Body from her. He was also in her womb. If she has sin, - then the Son of God..the Word..was born of a sinner. IMO, this dishonours Him. We are not even allowed to receive Communion without first repenting of sin.. and what Mary did, that goes even further.. because not only was Christ in her, but He got His Body from her.
Her sinlessness was by grace.. as the angel called her, "FULL of grace". The Greek word for "full" here, means completely full - there was literally no room for sin in her, she was so filled with God's grace! she was saved by God at the moment of her conception..

I believe that sin is imputed through the male line from Adam as the federal head.

why do you believe this?


the EO also believe that Mary was without sin, and the reason they don't believe in the IC is because they don't see original sin like we do. But they'd agree that Mary was sinless. So you have the two oldest forms of Christianity saying that Mary was sinless.. how can it be that it took 1500 years for someone to understand the Scriptures correctly? Actually, do you know that Luther venerated Mary too? It was only later in the reformation that the idea of the Immaculate Conception was disagreed with.. the idea of Mary being sinless comes from the early Church, and she was venerated in the early Church. It seems that it's the Protestant understanding that's the invention here, not the traditional understanding..

even if it's true that sin comes from fathers, not mothers, it would still have dishonoured Christ to be inside the womb of a sinful woman. Every sin hurts God, dishonours Him, and separates us from Him. The respect we give to Jesus' Mother, goes to Him, because it was for His sake that she was made pure..


in the language, they used the same word for "many" and "all". The Bible was written for humanity in general, it's a message from God... everyone who reads the Bible is a sinner. It does not mean that God chose one person out of the rest to be sinless, for His glory.

She doesn't need to pray if she is in heaven.

let's say you went to Heaven, would you forget all your loved ones on earth? wouldn't you pray to God for them?

However the scriptures tell us not to guess who is in heaven. However we do know that all who has faith in Christ will not be put to shame.

are you saying that Mary might have went to hell?

I think that Montforts consecration is idolatrous. I reject it completely.

oki, do you think that those who believe in it are damned and will go to hell for idolatry?

yet..it is not idolatry to want to come closer to Christ.... if I told you - the Bible leads us closer to God, so let's all read the Bible.. would you call this idolatry? why not? Isn't it just like saying, Mary leads us closer to God, so let's be devoted to Mary? what is wrong with having something that would lead us closer to God? And how can the Mother of God not lead us to God.. when she is so surrendered to His will... she's the opposite of the devil, cause they're both creatures, yet she is humble, and he is proud.. he is afraid of her. We are safe with Mary's protection.


de Montfort never preached a different gospel or message of salvation. He believed that we're saved by the Cross.


Mary leads us to Christ who saves us.

that is not going to Mary for salvation.. that is going to Mary so that she would lead us more surely to Jesus, who is salvation.

Yes we have access to Christ's merits, and they're always applied to us in any case, but the thing is that while He is perfect, we are not.. our prayers are not.. what Mary does, according to de Montfort, is she perfects our prayers and works so that we come to Him in a more perfect way AND THEREFORE are more open to His grace. Have you ever wondered why some people receive so much grace and others receive so little? This is a mystery.. but if we go to Jesus through Mary, she would help us be more open to His graces, so that we would be able to have greater access to them. We ALWAYS have all of His grace available to us. But many times we are closed to it. The limitation is in US, not in God. By being truly devoted to Mary, we no longer have this limitation.

The point is that Christ taught us to pray to God. He said "pray like this." The person being addressed is God. There is not one place in the bible where prayer to any other person than God is called anything but idolatrous.

so please don't ask your friends to pray for you anymore cause that's what "praying to Saints" is too.

Yep. Exactly the same place I used to go with it....before I realized I was wrong and repented.

I can say the same thing.


I'm sorry but how does this relate?
we believe that works come from faith too... it still remains that we need BOTH works AND faith to be saved. Cause if we ONLY have faith, then that faith is dead and can't save us. So that's where works come in.


do you believe that we don't cooperate with God's grace, but that He forces it on us? But then why and how do some people go to hell? Does God hate them?


to be honest I'm not sure if you understand them. I believe in all the Marian doctrines. I also believe that we're saved by Christ. The two are not in conflict and never were.. I was never tempted to worship Mary as a Catholic. Even when I read de Montfort! (neither did he worship her)

So, those verses are inspired by God and say what they say. Our salvation is in Christ our Lord. No one else.

here's what I don't understand brother.. WHO here is saying that Mary saves us? De Montfort didn't say this either. This is your interpretation of Catholicism. It is incorrect.. I'm sorry. We ALL believe that only Christ saves us. And the point of Mary devotion, is that she leads us closer to her Son, who saves us.


why do we spend time with other Christians then, if we could be spending it with God?

Christianity was never individualistic.. it's never "just me and God"..

Peace
 
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MoNiCa4316

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LOL this guy has the nerve to say that because Christ is the Last Adam, Mary is the new Eve

does he not even realize how ridiculous that is?

I mean seriously!

it's not ridiculous. Mary is the new Eve, because just as the old Eve helped bring sin into the world, Mary helped bring salvation (Jesus) into the world.
 
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Musa80

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LOL this guy has the nerve to say that because Christ is the Last Adam, Mary is the new Eve

does he not even realize how ridiculous that is?

I mean seriously!

Yeah, it's almost like he's a Christian or something. That's totally insane. /sarcasm
 
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MoNiCa4316

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I don't think you are really listening to me... I'm talking about asking them for prayer. Since we're surrounded by them, they're not too far away, by the power of the Holy Spirit they hear us and pray for us to the Father. We're not praying to them in the same way we do to God, cause they don't decide how the prayers will be answered, rather they simply pray for us! like intercessors.

but..WHERE does it say that we should only pray to God? It says we should only worship God. But prayer isn't worship. The old use of the word "prayer", in the way we use it, means "To request". That is all.

Actually the meaning of that word is highly debated. Most believe it means favored one. Some believe it means full of grace. Some believe it means full of gracefullness.

any one of them put her above us, spiritually.


I think in the context though it's talking about grace.


from CARM? do you know that's actually an ANTI-Catholic site? Therefore I take its theology to be highly suspect.. sorry..


the Apostles have successors.. these successors give us the correct interpretation of the Bible so that we're not lead astray and so that we're not of "one mind". The Bible does not say that the official teaching of the Church contains error, rather than Christians are prone to error. And there are Catholics who have the wrong understanding of doctrines. But the official teachings are true...cause Christ told Peter, the gates of hades will never overcome the Church.. if the whole Church believes a lie, that means the devil won, cause the devil is the father of lies.


so..it says "all have sinned" but Christ is an exception, even though it says "all"...? Mary is another such exception


actually as I said before, we believe that Mary WAS SAVED by God, it just happened earlier than for the rest of us.. while we get saved at baptism, she got saved at her conception. She is Christ's Mother because she is blessed, because God saved her in this way and gave her the grace to not sin. No one thinks that she didn't need to be redeemed. She was redeemed by Christ's sacrifice too. It just got applied to her at her conception.

Christ had to be sinless in order to be a perfect sacrifice to satisfy the law of God.

and Mary was sinless so that Christ would not be dishonoured..it's for His sake.

No one knows what they will do in heaven. The scriptures even tell us that no one eye has seen nor ear heard what God has ready for those who love him. I do know that God needs nothing from anyone. He is pleased to use those on earth.

in Heaven, we continue serving and loving God and doing HIs will. If His people are suffering here on earth, it's very logical that those in Heaven would pray for us.

How do you explain all the miracles that happen by Saints' intercession?


I think there can't even be any doubt that she went to Heaven. She is His Mother!!

It depends on if they know what they are doing or not and if they knowingly teach others error or not. BUt in the end it depends on the judgment of Christ.

oki......

The bible is God's inspired word that's entire purpose is to preserve and deliver the infallible word of God. There is no idea that will undermine God and the words he speaks.

but how do we interpret the Bible? as you can see there are many thousands of denominations out there.. how do we know who is right. Clearly this shows the Bible doesn't interpret itself. And btw, they all claim to be lead by the Holy Spirit!

why do you think in the BIble it says that the CHURCH is the "pillar and foundation of all truth"? why doesn't it say that Scripture is.. because the Church interprets Scripture! There was only one Church back then, there is only one Church now.

Actually all anyone knows of Mary that is true is recorded in the pages of scripture. So it is indeed God speaking through the scriptures that showed you the example of Mary. The devotions to her are just a perversion of that example.

everything that I as a Catholic believe about Mary can be found in Scripture.

Actually the elect are safe in Christ's protection. No one can take an elect from His hand. There is no other name on earth by which you can be saved.

you talk as if there is a competition between Christ and Mary! that is puzzling to me..

He preached a false unfounded faith in a departed soul. Christ is the one mediator between God and man. He should have preached Christ instead of Mary.

He preached Christ the whole time. When we honour Mary, we honour and glorify God. De Montfort understood this.

The Spirit and the witness of the Apostles as recorded in scripture leads you to Christ who saves you.

Mary is the Spouse of the Holy Spirit. They are not in competition.

De Montfort was a heretic.

You keep on saying that he is a heretic...yet "heretic" means he went against Church teaching. That's the official definition. He didn't go against Church teaching. The Church supports his view.


we also intercede for one another, and that's one of the ways the Holy Spirit *acts in this world*.. He uses people, He doesn't work in isolation! Mary intercedes for us by the HOly Spirit.. we intercede for each other by the Holy Spirit.

God predestines an elect that will be saved by his grace alone. Everyone deserves hell and it is amazing grace that he saves anyone at all.

so how does He choose people? why doesn't He choose all? does He hate them?


there is no difference.. those in Heaven are alive just like we are alive. They are even more alive. Christ conquered death!


NO ONE is saying that we're saved because we work! Please don't twist my words.. maybe you think that Catholics think we can earn our salvation, but no we don't think so.. please understand our teachings first..sorry.

Like any, "blessed is he who does" ...etc that you find in scripture.

Mary was told she is blessed among women.. she is more blessed than any woman. She is not blessed like we are, but in a special unique way. No one else will ever give birth to the Son of God.

It means he is blessed to do this, because God has made him do this when you see him doing this it is because God blessed him with this work through grace. NOt because he has earned blessing by the work....you see?

who says anyone earned anything with their work?

I believe we cannot cooperate with God's saving grace because we are sinners and cannot choose God. He chooses us. People go to hell because of sin. Read Romans chapters 8 and 9.

but once we're baptized we're born again, so we CAN cooperate! Do you believe there is no free will?


I don't believe in Calvinism..
the Bible says God is love.. God who is love will not choose to save some people and choose to damn the rest. He wants ALL to be saved
I believe in the Atonement that was for all, not limited...


I think you are twisting his words around.. his language is often mystical and you gotta read the whole book to understand it. I'm still reading it and with every chapter, there's something new. You gotta look at everything he said in context with other things he said.

It tells us to call upon the Lord. Mary is not the Lord.

there is no competition between Jesus and Mary.. we DO call upon the Lord..
Because God wills us to do His will on earth and God made life to live in our world with people in our world.

We are told on scripture not to commune with spirits of the dead. Those on earth are not departed yet.

actually, what it says is not to ask the dead for information or about the future. No one does this. We don't practice necromancy. We don't try to contact anyone. We don't expect them to talk to us. We just ask them to pray, and the reason they hear is because we're all one Body in Christ, the Holy Spirit unites us all, they hear us by the Holy Spirit =)


where did you get the idea that prayer=worship?

do you think that all the Christians for 1500+ were wrong then?


I used to be Protestant brother I'll take a look though. I know that nothing can convince me to be a Protestant again, sorry..

nice talking with you.

God bless.
 
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DD2008

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MamaZ

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Believers in who? Mary? How is it the same thing? We see the procession line at a funeral. All Go to say their final good byes.. What we don't see is someone taking up the person or their stone and parade around town to get a gathering together in honor of them again and again and again.. Nor do we see anyone going and dressing up the headstone in many different costumes.. So I don't really see where this is the same.
 
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MamaZ

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The test of truth is not by what man says but in what God through His scripture has revealed to those whom believe
 
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Musa80

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Well number one Mary is not the Mother of God.

I'm not going to get into a blow by blow debate here. Frankly it's not worth my time. Just want to point out though, that you don't help your case by dredging up 1600 year old heresies. The Blessed Virgin IS the Mother of God.
 
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