Does Mary dole out her grace to us?

[StuMondo]

A coworker of mine belongs to LCMS and was trying to tell me that the Catholic Church believes that Mary doles out her graces to people when they pray to her. Sort of like she has so much grace that she can distribute it. This didn’t sound familiar to me so i thought i would try to get it cleared up using the media of infallibility, the internet.

thanks in advance.

 

[MaryT777]

 

[Gorgias]

A coworker of mine belongs to LCMS and was trying to tell me that the Catholic Church believes that Mary doles out her graces to people when they pray to her.

No. Mary does not ‘dole out’ her own grace. Rather, she is a vehicle through which Christ pours out His grace to the world…

 

[R_C]

Indeed, in Mary dwelt the fullness of grace, for such she was called even before conceiving the Lord - and in fact, how could she conceive and bring forth the living God unless the plenitude of the life-giving Spirit of Life and Love dwelt in her, as the first and greatest of all living temples of the Holy Spirit?

As Revelation 12 shows, Mary, Our Blessed Lady, has a very, very special role towards “the rest of her offspring”, and the grace of God has given her a very special role.

 

[StuMondo]

No. Mary does not ‘dole out’ her own grace. Rather, she is a vehicle through which Christ pours out His grace to the world…

this is what i thought too. but then you wink at me like I’m pitching to ‘moonlight’ graham or something. Is that the official teaching or are you trolling me.

 

[Mintaka]

No, that poster was correct. He was just giving you a happy winky face. Winks don’t mean you’re lying. It just means you’re winking.

Man, if people have started using the “wink” as a “troll sign,” there’s a ton of old posts here and on Usenet that are going to be totally misinterpreted by future generations…

 

[MaryT777]

A coworker of mine belongs to LCMS and was trying to tell me that the Catholic Church believes that Mary doles out her graces to people when they pray to her. Sort of like she has so much grace that she can distribute it. This didn’t sound familiar to me so i thought i would try to get it cleared up using the media of infallibility, the internet.

thanks in advance.

In my opinion, the LCMS is notorious for telling Catholic what the Catholic Church believes.

 

[Beryllos]

I searched Catholic Answers and found this Q&A

 

[DavidFilmer]

Mary is “full of Grace,” but it is God’s Grace, given to her, and she has no means to redistribute it.

The only thing Mary can do on our behalf is to pray for us. But, again, she has no means to know what our needs are (she is not omniscient and omnipresent, as is God). She is not even aware of our existence unless we make ourselves known to her (she could possibly do this through an act of God (ie, a miracle), but not of her own power, and it seems to not happen often).

If we do not ask her to pray for us, we have little expectation that she will do so. But, if we ask, she will surely do as we request.

In these respects, Mary is exactly the same as every other Saint in heaven, who have the same abilities and limitations.

 

[Gorgias]

Is that the official teaching or are you trolling me.

Trolling? Nah… not unless you think I’m winking to make you think that I know something you don’t. Just don’t throw a brushback pitch at me, ok?

 

[fisherman_carl]

Mary is waiting to find out if Mary ‘doles’ out grace.

 

[MaryT777]

Mary is waiting to find out if Mary ‘doles’ out grace.

I know my limits on posting My friend is a LCMS Pastor and some of the things he has said about Mary makes my hair stand up on end. I have to clamp my mouth shut for that
Synod Lutheran (and the ELCA is much different) is very anti Catholic in nature in my opinion.

Mary.

 

[De_Montfort]

Mary is “full of Grace,” but it is God’s Grace, given to her, and she has no means to redistribute it.

The only thing Mary can do on our behalf is to pray for us. But, again, she has no means to know what our needs are (she is not omniscient and omnipresent, as is God). She is not even aware of our existence unless we make ourselves known to her (she could possibly do this through an act of God (ie, a miracle), but not of her own power, and it seems to not happen often).

If we do not ask her to pray for us, we have little expectation that she will do so. But, if we ask, she will surely do as we request.

In these respects, Mary is exactly the same as every other Saint in heaven, who have the same abilities and limitations.

“At the command of Mary all obey, even God. She is omnipotent, for the queen, according to all laws, enjoys the same privileges as the king; and since the Son’s power also belongs to the Mother, this Mother is made omnipotent by an omnipotent Son.”

“Since, then, the Mother must have the same power as the Son, Mary became omnipotent because Jesus is omnipotent. Of course, the Son is omnipotent by nature, where Mary is omnipotent only by grace. This is proved by the fact that the Son never refuses the Mother anything she seeks.”

(St.Alphonsus Liguori Doctor of the Church)

I wouldn’t say Mary is on the same level as the Saints since authority has been given to Her as Queen

 

[TimothyH]

Mary is “full of Grace,” but it is God’s Grace, given to her, and she has no means to redistribute it.

The only thing Mary can do on our behalf is to pray for us. But, again, she has no means to know what our needs are (she is not omniscient and omnipresent, as is God). She is not even aware of our existence unless we make ourselves known to her (she could possibly do this through an act of God (ie, a miracle), but not of her own power, and it seems to not happen often).

If we do not ask her to pray for us, we have little expectation that she will do so. But, if we ask, she will surely do as we request.

In these respects, Mary is exactly the same as every other Saint in heaven, who have the same abilities and limitations.

Not so. Praying for us is not the only thing Mary can do on our behalf nor does she have no means to redistribute grace. That is not what the Church teaches, nor has it ever been what the Church taught.

Mary has been given the treasury of grace won by her son on the cross and she dispenses it in perfect accord with her Son’s will. This is so because God willed it. It was so in the person of the Old Testament “Queen Mother” who obtained favors for and dispensed gifts to her royal subjects and it is true in the person of Mary, the Mother of the King who does no less now.

That is the role of the Mother of the King, and it is so because it is the will of God that it be so. This idea that Mary is just like everyone else and has been granted no special authority by her son is a very modern invention. Fifty years ago you could have walked into any Catholic Church and asked “Is Mary the Mediatrix of Grace” and everyone would have said, “Of course” and not raised an eyebrow.

-Tim-