Do Catholics have to pray to Mary?

[thephilosopher6]

This is simply true. Asking the Saints to pray for us is apart of the faith.

 

[Don_Ruggero]

And if the penitent says: I would never pray to Mary. Please give me another penance because I believe that prayer to Mary is idolatrous?

That is not the attitude that the poster has evidenced.

Your attitude, however, is not in keeping with forum rules which stipulate:

• Messages posted to this board must be polite and free of personal attacks, threats, and incendiary, divisive, crude /…/ language

• Do not incite animosity towards anyone /…/

• Catholics must be charitable in their discussions about non-Catholic belief and practice.

 

[Dorothy]

Good point!

 

[Reuben_J]

Reuben_J:

Under pain of mortal sin, Catholics are obliged to attend Mass on Sundays. And if the priest chooses a particular option, (is it option A), then it is written that All pray as follows:

All: I confess to almighty God,

and to you, my brothers and sisters,

that I have sinned through my own fault,

in my thoughts and in my words,

in what I have done,

and in what I have failed to do;

and I ask blessed Mary, ever virgin,

all the angels and saints,

and you, my brothers and sisters,

to pray for me to the Lord, our God

One is not obliged under pain of mortal sin to pronounce every word of every sentence in those parts pertaining to the lay people. I remember being at Masses in the United States, as Presider at Eucharist, and the hymns were unsingable for me…so I did not sing them. I left them to the choir; they are themselves ministers in the liturgical assembly and they were fulfilling their liturgical office quite well without me…just as I, as Presider, fulfill my offices in the synaxis.

Thanks for the reply. However, the post in question was not from me but from @AINg.

God bless.

 

[Don_Ruggero]

Let;s be clear here. Why do Protestants reject prayer to Mary. It is all over the internet that they believe that prayer to Mary is blasphemy and idolatrous. This is the stand of many Protestants and is why they do not pray to Mary.

Do you say it is no sin if a Catholic believes that prayer to Mary is idolatry and refuses to pronounce the prayer to Mary because he believes that it would be idolatry and blasphemous to God to do so?

Yes, let us be clear. Let us be crystal clear.

This is what the poster asked:

I understand Marian devotion is acceptable, but do Catholics have to pray to Mary? Can a Catholic believe that he/she needs no intermediary in Mary but accepts that others can pray to her without it being idolatry?

That is the question I was answering…and the answer is no. No Catholic is forced to personally address themselves to the Mother of Jesus, if they choose not to. Their relationship with her is at their choosing and their discretion. Depending upon what country they are in, they may be obligated to attend Mass on a Holy Day of Obligation associated with some aspect of the Mystery of the Virgin – but even then, the prayers are addressed to God about Mary and not to Mary. It is exceedingly rare for Mary to be addressed directly in the liturgy and involves antiphons.

Your other statements I will not dignify with a response as they are in gross violation of forum rules and that should be handled by the moderators.

 

[Don_Ruggero]

And if the penitent says: I would never pray to Mary. Please give me another penance because I believe that prayer to Mary is idolatrous?

A penitent is free to say “I do not have a devotion to the Mother of Jesus” just as a penitent is free to say “I am sorry I do not pray the rosary” or “I do not know the Chaplet of Mercy” or “I have chosen not to follow this or that private revelation”.

Your posts give the decided appearance of being agenda driven.

 

[Don_Ruggero]

Thanks for the reply. However, the post in question was not from me but from @AINg.

This is not the first time where I have used the same method of quoting a text and the apparatus addresses the quote to someone I did not intend. I wonder if there is a malfunction.

I am sorry that the message ended up addressed to you. There are so many problems with this new format and the effort to use it – it really is like one had been in a charming department store and suddenly find oneself transported to the equivalent of where one would go for a fire sale. How very sad.

 

[patricius79]

Mary is, in Christ, the heart of the Church, and loving her is central to our faith.

As Pope Leo XIII says in an Encyclical (Octobri Mense, I think) , just as nobody goes to the Father except through the Son, so nobody goes to Jesus except through Mary.

As Pope Benedict XVI says, “devotion to Mary is the driving force of Catholicity”. Or as Pope Paul VI says, “Mary remains always the path that leads to Jesus Christ”.

Those who don’t know about Mary may have invincible ignorance. Or there can be other psychological impediments. God looks at the heart and is merciful.

Mary is every single human person’s spiritiual Mother (Redemptoris Mater, JPII), given especially to each human person, in particular, from the Cross (ibid).

One can’t freely reject Christ’s gift of Mary as Our Mother–who constantly cares for us-- and do so until death, and be saved.

We are happily obligated by the fourth commandment to honor our Mother, who is the chosen channel of Christ’s Infinite Goodness and Mercy.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

And if the penitent says: I would never pray to Mary. Please give me another penance because I believe that prayer to Mary is idolatrous?

He has then committed a sin of rejecting catechetical teaching on our Blessed Mother. It is not sinful that he doesn’t say the words of the prayer, it’s sinful that he believes honoring Mary is idolatry.

 

[StarMapp]

It may be required to say a prayer or some decades of the Rosary for penance purposes. Even here, integral in the Sacrament of Reconciliation we find her son recommending Our celestial Queen for her help.

 

[Reuben_J]

Reuben_J:

Thanks for the reply. However, the post in question was not from me but from @AINg.

This is not the first time where I have used the same method of quoting a text and the apparatus addresses the quote to someone I did not intend. I wonder if there is a malfunction.

I am sorry that the message ended up addressed to you. There are so many problems with this new format and the effort to use it – it really is like one had been in a charming department store and suddenly find oneself transported to the equivalent of where one would go for a fire sale. How very sad.

No problem, Father. I knew you were answering the other poster. The fire sale analogy is hilarious. I am terrible at the keyboard myself so I can figure out where it can go wrong.

It was just for the information of readers only.

 

[godisgood77]

One can’t freely reject Christ’s gift of Mary as Our Mother–who constantly cares for us-- and do so until death, and be saved.

This is not a Catholic belief. I’m afraid you are mistaken. One could be a great Catholic and never pray a Hail Mary or practice any devotion to Mary and not suffer any negative consequences as a result.

 

[jmj777]

One could be a great Catholic and never pray a Hail Mary or practice any devotion to Mary and not suffer any negative consequences as a result.

If that were true, please update me on which saint openly rejected having any devotion to Mary and still became a canonized saint.

Peace.

+JMJ+

 

[godisgood77]

I’m afraid I don’t have to. The Church recommends devotion, it does not require it. That is clear.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

which saint openly rejected having any devotion to Mary

There is a difference between “never praying a Hail Mary” or “never practicing any devotion to Mary” and “openly rejecting any devotion to Mary”.

Given that the Hail Mary was not written until many centuries after the Church was founded, it is likely there were many saints who never prayed it. One could argue that perhaps they prayed one of the very old prayers to Mary such as the Memorare or the Sub Tuum Praesidium. However, it seems likely that there were people in the early Church who were not devoted to Mary simply because the devotion was not as widespread or established. Some of these folks might well have become saints.

 

[jmj777]

jmj777:

which saint openly rejected having any devotion to Mary

However, it seems likely that there were people in the early Church who were not devoted to Mary simply because the devotion was not as widespread or established. Some of these folks might well have become saints.

Fair enough, that was the “early Church.” Today, we have been blessed with the beautiful, and powerful, Marian prayers in which to sing Her praises.

We are no longer in the infancy stage of the Church where we do not have the knowledge specific to a devotion to Our Blessed Mother. The early saints could not possess what they didn’t have at the time. The difference is night and day.

Peace.

+JMJ+

 

[Brendan_64]

Whether Catholics have to pray to Mary or not, why would a Catholic make a decision not to?

We believe that Mary is the mother of God, that she is our Mother, that she intercedes for us, and that God gave her to us as a gift to lead us to Heaven. Why would we then decide that we don’t really need this?

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Whether Catholics have to pray to Mary or not, why would a Catholic make a decision not to?

I can’t figure that out either.

I can however understand if a Catholic wished to pursue some other devotion than Marian devotion and spend his or her time on that. Some people do LOTH, others are really devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus or the Precious Blood of Jesus or the Passion of Jesus (which does involve Mary at least in terms of her standing at the foot of the Cross) or the Divine Mercy (which does include a Hail Mary as one of the opening prayers). But I can’t imagine any of those Catholics never saying a Hail Mary or a Marian prayer like the Magnificat, even if 90 percent of their prayer time is spent on the Jesus stuff.

 

[Curious11]

What’s LOTH? Lord Of The Heavens? Because I sure don’t mind having a devotion to that

 

[Elf01]

Liturgy of the Hours (divine office).

That actually always includes a Marian hymn at the end of compline and the magnificat during vespers, and likely other Marian references, especially on her feast days.