Blessed Mary...please grant this petition

[Fighter]

Hello! Everyone! And God Bless you all at catholic forums!


I was talking to my catholic friend who loves Mary very much and often prays to her. She is a new catholic and she said, “I understand that when we pray to Mary we ask her to pray for us to Jesus. I understand that she prays for us and Jesus is the one who grants the prayers. But sometimes I asked Mary to grant my petition. Is this invalid? Are we catholics allowed to ask Mary to grant us a favor…or are we ONLY allowed to ask her to pray for us?”

How do I respond? What is official catholic teaching?

Thank you so much! God Bless All at Catholic Answers!!!

 

[Mintaka]

You can say, “Please grant my petition”, as long as you understand it’s just shorthand.

I don’t advise her saying it in front of non-Catholics, though!

 

[Fighter]

You can say, “Please grant my petition”, as long as you understand it’s just shorthand.

I don’t advise her saying it in front of non-Catholics, though!

I don’t understand…can you please repeat your answer and explain it in a clearer way.

 

[TOP]

Hi Fighter,
This is just my opinion and I can’t comment of Church teaching about this, but I have a devotion to the Blessed Mother and believe that she dispenses graces as per the Fathers will as she always does the will of the Father and Son. So if you petition something from the Lord through her and it is the will of the Lord, He will give you the grace needed through her to help out. St. Louis de Montfort describes the devotion as having an apple to offer to the King , yet we don’t just walk up and hand it to the King. Instead, we give it to our Lady, she puts it on a golden platter and offers it in a pleasing way on our behalf. Its tricky ground and you have to stay focused on the Lord and His will. Hope this helps , God Bless, Tim

 

[YinYangMom]

I don’t understand…can you please repeat your answer and explain it in a clearer way.

Since it would be a ‘shorthand’, saying ‘grant my petition’ in front of Catholics is a non-issue because the overhearing Catholic would interject the “through your son, Jesus” part in their minds.

To say it in front of non-Catholics would definitely appear as though the person is looking to Mary to grant the petition herself - as if she has the power to do so - and which would feed that whole “Catholics worship Mary” illusion.

I would be concerned that your friend may be turning to Mary to grant her petitions otherwise she wouldn’t be asking if that’s ok. The answer is no, it’s not ok. But not so much because it would be wrong but to make sure she understands there is no need to ask Mary to grant her petition herself…Mary is our intercessory, she’s our mother…she can’t make things happen for us without her son. So long as we keep that in mind we won’t think of her as the grantor instead of the intercessor.