Why do you pray to Mary??

[Eli'ah]

Hello I am a Christan, and I just had a ? for you Cathloics. I just wanted to know why you Pray to Mary when it says in the Bible that "I am the way,the truth, and the life no man come unto the Father but by me"- John 14:6 I believe. So why do you go through his Mother ?? Also why do you believe in a Purgatory? is that like a middle earth?? I love to learn about others views on Relgion and thank you for being so kind.

God Bless

 

[Cat59]

Hi Eli'ah and welcome to OBOB!
I suggest you check out the FAQ about what Catholics believe about Mary and purgatory as all the answers are in there, but just to say that Catholics also believe that Jesus is the way,the truth, and the life and the no one comes unto the Father but by Him. When we pray "to" Mary what we actually do is ask her to pray for us, just as we would ask any of our fellow Christian brothers or sisters here on earth.
Have a look at the FAQ!

Cat

 

[Aaron-Aggie]

Welcome, and thank you for comeing to us for the answers:
These are from our FAQ Thread
http://www.christianforums.com/t53299

Mary


The Blessed Virgin Mary

All Catholic Christian beleifs about Mary are basically rooted in God' revelation in the Bible. The Bible presents Mary as a person whom God set apart to play a vital role in His plan of salvation. God honored Mary by eternally predestining her to be the mother of our Savior -- the one through whom God Himself would enter into human history. What greater gift or dignity could God give ot a human being? This honor given to Mary reveals the dignity of all women; a woman is more important in God's saving plan than any angel of other spiritual being.

Mary's role in God's plan was prophetically foreshadowed in the Old Testament. In the book of Genesis, God tells the serpent (Satan): "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel" (Genesis 3:15). The offpsring of the woman (Mary) is Jesus, who came to crush the head of the serpent, to defeat Satan and his work. The prophet Isaiah spoke of a sign that the Lord would give to Israel: "the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel" ("God is with us") (Isaiah 7:14). The gospel of Matthew presents Jesus' birth of Mary as a fulfillment of this prophecy (Matthew 1: 22-23). Some Christians have also interpreted the "Daughter of Zion" theme in the Old Testament as prefiguring Mary's role. The angel Gabriel greeted Mary, "Rejoice, O highly favored daughter! The Lord is with you." (Luke 1:28)

Mary freely chose to accept God's plan for her life. The angel Gabriel appeared to this young girl and announced that she was to bear a son (Luke 1: 26-33). Mary, being a virgin, was naturally perplexed and responded, "How can this be since I do not know man?" (Luke 1:34). After Gabriel explained that "the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you" (luke 1:35), Mary's response was simple and full of faith: "I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be done to me as you say" (Luke 1:38).

Catholics honor Mary because of this great faith and obedience. Many early Christian writers noted that God allowed this whole plan of salvation to hinge on Mary's free response to Gabriel's message. Because of her "yes" to God, Mary is the New Eve, reversing the first Eve's "no." By the disobedience of Eve, all mankind became immersed in the bondage of sin. Mary's obedience to God opened the way for the saving work of Jesus. As St Irenaeus explained late in the second century, "The knot of Eve's disobedience was loosed by the obedience of Mary. What the virgin Eve had bound in unbelief, the virgin Mary loosed through faith."

The Holy Spirit was no stranger to Mary. In fact, the New Testament records that she first received the Holy Spirit when she conceived Jesus, thus making her the first recipient of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament. Gabriel announced that "the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; hence the holy offspring to be born will be called the Son of God" (Luke 1:35). The language of this announcement is very similar to the image of "power of the Most High" overshadowing the Ark of the Covenanat in Exodus 40:34-35, or the Temple in 1 Kings 8:10. Through the power of the Spirit, Mary became the new Ark of the Covenant and the new Temple because God dwelt fully within her in Jesus.

The result of the Spirit's dwelling in Mary was praise of God and prophecy. Mary's prophetic prayer of praise, the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55), both glorifies God and prophesies the mission of Jesus to bring the good news to the poor and the lowly. She also prophesied that, "all generations will call me blessed" (Luke1:48), a prophecy which is fulfilled through all Christians who call Mary the "Blessed Virgin." Mary, then is portrayed by the Bible as a woman filled with the Holy Spirit.

Catholics honor Mary and look to her as our mother in faith but they do not worship Mary or "pray to Mary" as they pray to God. Worship belongs only to God. Catholics do ask Mary to pray for us, and believe that her intercession has a great effect in calling forth God's grace and mercy. But this is because of her special relationship with Jesus, not because of her own merits.

Catholics believe that Mary also has a special role of intercession because of her special role in God's plan of salvation. Jesus and Mary are not in competition. Jesus is the source of all God's grace and salvation, and Mary directs her prayers and our attention to Jesus. The passage that calls Jesus the "one mediator" (1 Timothy 2:1-6), also urges all Christians to bring "requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving" to God (1 Timothy 2:1). Most of us have experienced how we can be channels of God's grace to others and how others can bring grace to us. Catholics believe that God has chosen to use Mary as a unique channel of teh grace of her son because of her special relationship with him.

(from Catholic and Christian: An Explanation of Commonly Misunderstood Catholic Beliefs, by Alan Schreck.)


Peace be with you,
~VOW

What is purgatory all about?

We believe that before any of us can enter into heaven, we must first be cleansed (or purged, root word) of our sins, and that is all purgatory is; a cleansing process before entering heaven. Thus, anyone who is in purgatory is already going to heaven. Now, purgatory in no way diminishes what Christ did for us 2000 years ago on the cross. His death gave us salvation, but we still walk in sin. So what happens between the time of us living on earth in sin and entering heaven with our sinfull ways cleansed from us? The bible describes this process as a “purifying fire”, but Catholics just call it purgatory:

"If anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood hay, or straw, the work of each will come to light, for the day will disclose it. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each one's work. If the work stands that someone built upon the foundation, that person will receive a wage. But if someone's work is burned up, that one will suffer loss; the person will be saved, but only as through fire."--1 cor 2:12

 

[KennySe]

Hi, Eli'ah.
Thank you for asking us Catholics about our Catholic faith on the One, Bread, One Body (OBOB) Catholic Discussions board.

I'm going to "cheat" and get my answers from the good folks of Saint Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in Picayune, Mississippi.
http://www.scborromeo.org/index2.htm

Q. My friends want to know and don't understand why we worship Mary and place her as high as God.
Q. Do Catholics worship Mary above Jesus?
Q. Do Catholics worship Mary?

To non-Catholics, the honor shown to Mary appears to be nothing other than the worship of Mary. This would place Mary on a level with God and be a violation of the First Commandment. Some non-Catholics have even gone so far as to coin the word "Mariolotry" for the Catholic devotion given to Mary. In fact, Catholic worship is reserved only for God. The Catholic Church even has special words for all this: latria is the worship offered and due to God alone, and dulia is the veneration given to the saints, including Mary [although hyperdulia (more than dulia, but far less than latria) is the term applied to the honor given to Mary]. The words "latria," "dulia" and "hyperdulia" can be confusing to the layperson however, even though they come from the New Testament Greek, because we don't commonly use them (and they can appear to be nothing but smoke-and-mirrors to the non-Catholic who has never heard of them before).

The first question puts this whole area of discussion in perspective. Protestants, in their worship services, offer songs and praise and prayer to God; this is their highest form of worship. Since they don't have a priesthood, they have nothing else they can offer. Catholics on the other hand, offer the Sacrifice of the Mass to God. Our offering of sacrifice is made only to God and is our form of worship. This allows us to give lesser things such as songs and praise and prayer to those who can pray in our behalf before God: the saints and especially the Blessed Virgin Mary. When the Protestants see us offering what is their highest form of worship to someone other than God, it appears to them that we are worshiping someone other than God.

Why all this special attention given to Mary? Because she is Jesus' mother, the person who gave Him all His genetically human characteristics. Normally, a person gets their genetic characteristics from both the father and the mother but in the case of Jesus there was no human father to provide the genes which would be combined with Mary's. Mary is honored because God honored her by choosing her to be the mother of Jesus. All Catholic doctrines concerning Mary are related to and emerge from our understanding of her Son. Mary has no significance apart from Jesus. Mary says in Holy Scripture "from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed" (Luke 1:48 KJV).

Finally, let's look at Mary from Jesus' perspective. Jesus was a Hebrew; a perfect Hebrew who kept all the feasts, worshiped in the Temple, and most importantly, kept the commandments. This would have included the commandment to "honor thy father and thy mother" (Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16). In Hebrew, the word "honor" means "glorify." Jesus would have glorified not only His Father, but as the perfect Hebrew, He would have honored His mother as well. When a Catholic gives honor to Mary, they are imitating Jesus. After all, Holy Scripture tells us:

"Be imitators of God" (Ephesians 5:1, NIV)
"You became imitators of us and of the Lord" (1 Thessalonians 1:6, NIV).

[snip]

Q. Why pray to saints?

All through the Old Testament there are examples of people (Abraham, Moses, the prophets) praying for the benefit of others; and of honor given to angels (Joshua 5:14; Daniel 8:17). In the New Testament we read "The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective" (James 5:16, NIV). Who is more righteous than one who has achieved their place in heaven? Just because someone has ceased his or her earthly life doesn't mean that they are beyond our reach, or that they have ceased caring for us. The saints are alive in heaven as 1 Corinthians 15:22 tells us and Revelation 5:8 tells us that the prayers of the saints are offered to God. The saints are God's masterpieces and what artist would say "Don't look at my works, pay attention only to me?" We give honor to God by praising His accomplishments.

[snip]

Q. What is purgatory?
Q. Why do you believe in Purgatory?
Q. What proof do you have of the existence of Purgatory?

By "proof" it is assumed that the questioner is asking "where in the Bible does it say." No one can "prove" the existence of anything, including even the existence of God or of heaven, if the person requesting the "proof" has already hardened their heart to the answer. In order to believe, the gift of faith must be present in the individual.

The word "purgatory" doesn't appear anywhere in Holy Scripture, neither do the words "trinity," "catholic," "protestant," nor "incarnation" but this fact doesn't preclude their existence. Catholic doctrine, based on our Jewish origins, is that at the moment of our death our soul, if perfect, goes straight to heaven; if not quite perfect, it goes to purgatory; if totally imperfect, it goes straight to hell. The concept of purgatory is certainly shown in Holy Scripture, so let's take a look at a few of the words of Jesus:


"And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come." (Matthew 12:32, KJV)
"Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou has paid the uttermost farthing." (Matthew 5:26, KJV)

Both of these passages imply that some sins, not forgiven in this world, will be forgiven in the world to come. Is this "world to come" only heaven (the place of eternal joy) or is it possible that there is a place of purification (purgation) as well; a place where the uttermost farthing is paid? Again, let's look at a place in Holy Scripture where heaven is described:


"Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life." (Revelation 21:27, NIV)
Even if we have the smallest unrepented sin upon our soul, we are impure, defiled and cannot go straight to heaven. That is because this unrepented sin is a refection of our pride, a lack of total dedication to God. It may be the smallest of all sins, but it still constitutes a stain upon our soul. So how do we get rid of it once we have passed into the "world to come?"


"No one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames." (1 Corinthians 3:11-15, NIV)
"For our God is a consuming fire." (Hebrews 12:29; Deuteronomy 4:24, KJV)

These verses tell us that upon our judgement, a purification takes place and that God does the purification. That which is unsuitable for heaven is consumed so that only that which is pure remains. Since at the moment of our death we pass from "this world" into the "world to come," this purification must take place in a place other than heaven. We call this place "purgatory," the place of purification. How long does this purification take? No one knows since when we leave "this world" we enter into the world where time has no domain, the Eternal Now.

Peace be with you,
Kenny

 

[Breetai]

From a non-Catholic view....

Jesus purified us when He died for our sins. We are forgiven already and have no need for purgatory.


...sorry if I had no place posting that in this thread...

 

[KennySe]

From a non-Catholic view....

Jesus purified us when He died for our sins. We are forgiven already and have no need for purgatory.


...sorry if I had no place posting that in this thread...

Breetai, peace be with you.

Kindly note that this forum is not the proper venue for any to disagree with Catholic beliefs, especially when the OP is a person asking Catholics to explain Catholic beliefs.

I certainly invite you to raise these same questions on the Interdenominational Discussion forum, where we (Catholics and non-Catholics) can discuss our beliefs and can fully defend our positions.

In the meantime, the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

- Kenny

 

[Wolseley]

From a non-Catholic view....

Jesus purified us when He died for our sins. We are forgiven already and have no need for purgatory.

Our view is that Jesus redeemed us when He died for our sins; however, our sinful nature remains. You still sin, even though you are a believer, do you not?

Purgatory is the last stage in the salvational process, in which that sinful nature is "purged", or taken away for good.

No one with an inherent sinful nature may stand in God's Presence, even if they have been redeemed. Therefore, Purgatory is very necessary.

You are, of course, under no obligation to agree.

 

[Breetai]

Ya, silly me didn't look at the forum title until after I posted. That's why I said sorry in my earlier post. I'll step out of this discussion now.

God Bless.

 

[xenia]

I am Orthodox, not Catholic, but I can give some help, maybe, and I don't think it will disagree with the Catholic teaching, and if it does it's unintentional and I apologize!

When I have problems, I often ask fellow Christians to pray for me. This is a common Christian practice- everyone does it, Protestants, Catholics, Orthodox. Since we are happy to ask a Christian currently residing on earth to pray for us, how much better to ask a Christian in heaven to pray for us! Not only are they alive, they are more alive than we are! And they are perfected and really know how to pray for us. This Communion of the Saints is a lovely thing, connecting us with all the Saints for the past 2000 years. We are the family of God.

Now, Mary is the first Christian. We call her our Champion Leader. She's the leader of all the rest of us Christians. Who wouldn't ask such a wonderful person to pray for them? Not me! I need all the help I can get.

So, dear Eli'ah, the next time you ask a good friend or relative to intercede in prayer for you, consider the possibility that the Christians in heaven would be happy to pray for you too.

God bless you,
-Xenia

 

[prodromos]

James 5:16
Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

The church is the body of Christ. It is one body. When someone dies in Christ they do not leave the church, they remain in that same one body of Christ. The only thing that seperates us from them is death, which Christ defeated 2000 years ago on the day of His resurrection so even that seperation is illusionary.

I can think of no more righteous people who I would want praying for me than Mary the mother of God* and the saints who have gone on before us.

John.


*many Protestants flinch at the title "Mother of God" because they think it is elevating Mary to some kind of superhuman or divine status. Please understand the the title is christological, it was given to Mary in order to protect against heresy claiming that Jesus was not God, it wa not for the purpose of elevating Mary. Mary is Jesus' mother and Jesus is God, thus Mary is the mother of God. To say otherwise is to weaken Jesus' divinity and provide openings for heretical beliefs to enter. We do not, however, for a moment believe that Mary is the mother of the Godhead, the Trinity.

 

[MorphRC]

Couldnt have explained it better myself. Although I will add something more for Eli'ah. This is something that I only picked up on a few months ago, with the Catholic Church, and also the Orthodox Church since they believe roughly the same stuff about Mary, the Saints etc.

The Catholic Church is ONE big family in a sense. Ill explain:

- God [The Father: Al Abba]
- God [The Son: Isa]
- God [The Holy Spirit: Redeemer, Life of all Christians]
- Mary [Mother of God [Isa], Mother of Us & Mother of the Church [Pope JPII] ]
- Angels [Our Protectors, like extra Dads..lol]
- Saints [Our Brothers & Sisters, their like our big Brothers and Sisters, ones
we look upto for inspiration and help]
- Catholic / Orthodox Brethren [True Christian Brothers & Sisters on earth]
- Non-Catholic/Orthodox Brethren [ Christian Brothers & Sisters, which are
imperfected in our family]

When you look at it this way, you begin to get a whole new view of Catholicism. It begins to make you think, of how you treat people, and see them. It also makes you feel safer in a sense, that you have so many people around! Either in Heaven of Earth.

Hope that helps Eli'ah.