EDITED TITLE: Do Catholics Really Worship Mary?

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Hello
can someone out there please give an explanation as to why Mary is seen worthy of worshipping/praying to? just an honest question from a non-catholic…
 
Tcelt7 said:
Hello
can someone out there please give an explanation as to why Mary is seen worthy of worshipping/praying to? just an honest question from a non-catholic…
Click to expand...
I’ll answer your question, but please clarify a couple things first:

You entitled this thread “The Immaculate Conception” yet you ask about Marian Devotion. To which are you looking for answers?

Also, do you acknowledge the differance between worship and reverance?
 
Tcelt7 said:
Hello
can someone out there please give an explanation as to why Mary is seen worthy of worshipping/praying to? just an honest question from a non-catholic…
Click to expand...
Tcelt7,
Speaking as a catholic of the Roman variety, I can tell you that I dont “worship” Mary and I dont “pray to her” I ask her intercession.
I pray to God (Trinity) I worship God (in Trinity) I Adore God (in Trinity) and aask Mary (queen of Saints and Angels) to intercede on my behalf now as needed but especially at the time of death.
The Hail Mary as I am sure you know, is wholly biblical.
Grace Angel.
 
Tcelt7 said:
Hello
can someone out there please give an explanation as to why Mary is seen worthy of worshipping/praying to? just an honest question from a non-catholic…
Click to expand...
Simple answers:

We do not worship Mary, any more then you are supposed to worship Washington on the 1 dollar bill. OK, some people do worship money, but they really shouldn’t:(

We pray to Mary as the mother Jesus gave to us, from the cross. “Behold your Mother”. She WANTS to help us. What Mother does not want the best for her children?🙂
 
Tcelt7 said:
Hello
can someone out there please give an explanation as to why Mary is seen worthy of worshipping/praying to? just an honest question from a non-catholic…
Click to expand...
Who told you catholics “worship” Mary?
 
Grace_Angel said:
Tcelt7,
Speaking as a catholic of the Roman variety, I can tell you that I dont “worship” Mary and I dont “pray to her” I ask her intercession.
I pray to God (Trinity) I worship God (in Trinity) I Adore God (in Trinity) and aask Mary (queen of Saints and Angels) to intercede on my behalf now as needed but especially at the time of death.
The Hail Mary as I am sure you know, is wholly biblical.
Grace Angel.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply.why do you believe in asking Mary to intercede for you?does the Bible say that Mary is the “queen of saints and angels”? the adoration of Mary…i can understand that,but not the intercession…
 
Tcelt7 said:
Thanks for the reply.why do you believe in asking Mary to intercede for you?does the Bible say that Mary is the “queen of saints and angels”? the adoration of Mary…i can understand that,but not the intercession…
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You believe the bible is all you need, Catholics do not.
 
Tcelt7 said:
Thanks for the reply.why do you believe in asking Mary to intercede for you?does the Bible say that Mary is the “queen of saints and angels”? the adoration of Mary…i can understand that,but not the intercession…
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Tcelt7 I guess I see it like a child going to mum and saying “Mum will you speak to Dad about…pleeeeaaasseee”
And Mum being the soft touch sits with Dad and says “darling Mary Jane really would like…do you think we might help her out a little bit” (Does this make sense to you?) If it doesnt you havent teenage children.
Have a good Day,
Grace Angel.
 
HailMary said:
You believe the bible is all you need, Catholics do not.
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I’m not sure what you mean by that.as far as Mary being given to the world,wasn’t Jesus speaking to just one of His disciples when He said"Behold your Mother"? I am asking for a good explanation only out of curiosity,I come not to bash…
 
Tcelt7 said:
I’m not sure what you mean by that.as far as Mary being given to the world,wasn’t Jesus speaking to just one of His disciples when He said"Behold your Mother"? I am asking for a good explanation only out of curiosity,I come not to bash…
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Jesus was not speaking to “one” of his disciples. The “beloved” in St. John’s Gospel was ALL of us.

In the Gospel according to St. John this disciple is unnamed is because…

**THAT DISCIPLE IS YOU
**

The Blessed Virgin Mary is more your Mother than even your maternal one!

*When Jesus therefore had seen his mother and the disciple standing whom he loved, he said to his mother: Woman, behold thy son. -John 19:26

The mere fact that it is recorded in the Holy Bible that Jesus gave us His mother, at the most powerful moment in Jesus’ triumph over the Devil, can only be something perpetual, not just some temporal thing. If it truly was just temporal, why did the Holy Spirit instruct St. John to insert it there? Do you really think that would make sense on God’s part?

God said to honor our parents [the Hebrew actually says to glorify them]: How much more shall we honor and glorify the one who bore us Jesus? If we, as Christians, strive to be more Christ-like, we must be obedient to the Blessed Virgin Mary just as Jesus was obedient.

Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. And his mother treasured all these things in her heart.
-Luke 2:51

Furthermore, the timing of Jesus’ decision to give us His mother is no coincidence; it was only at the utter peak of His Glory during the Passion that He gave us this wonderful gift of His mother.

Why would you throw away a gift from Jesus?

Because He hath regarded the humility of his handmaid: for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
-Luke 1:48

How have you fulfilled this? If you really believed in the Word of God you would be blessing the name of Mary unceasingly for she is the one who said “YES” to the Holy Spirit and bore the One who would bring us eternal salvation!

But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
-Luke 1:43

Mary IS the mother of God! For who is the Lord but God?

Have you ever stopped and thought how important Mary’s “YES” was for us? God choose ONE woman to crush the head of Satan Genesis 3:15] and likewise He choose ONE Queen Revelations 12:1] and more importantly, He choose ONLY one woman to be His Mother. This is all the same woman. Just as there is no Salvation without believing that Jesus is the Son of God, there would have been no Salvation if Mary had said “NO”.

Shocking? No, not really. Check out the book of Job 42: 7-11.

Just as the Eliphaz and his two friends had to ask for the INTERCESSION of Job to obtain pardon for their sins, it was ONLY through Jobs cooperation in his FREE WILL that moved God to save those men. Likewise, it was ONLY through the cooperation of the Blessed Virgin Mary with God that we were offered the gift of Salvation by Jesus.

I know its a lot, but hopefully it answers your questions. God bless.
 
Please, fellow Catholics. I’ve tried to explain this before: simply switching the word “veneration” for “worship” isn’t going to convince the Protestants. That’s a deceptive tactic that just switches one word for another.

The important thing is to discuss the difference between what we give God and what we give Mary, (ie, the differences between latria and [hyper]dulia).

And if we can discuss the differences in that way…we might as well keep the word “worship” traditionally used for the Saints. We just need to make sure they understand that we do not give to Mary that worship due to God alone (latria). Rather, we give her the worship due to her as the Mother of God (hyperdulia), and the Saints and Angels the worship due to them (dulia).

“Worship” is just a word, and replacing it with “venerate” is just a word game. The important thing is what we MEAN by it. And when Catholics traditionally said “worship” we did not necessarily mean latria. It is important to discuss with these protestants, on a deeper level, what the nature of worship is and what things are due to God alone and which aren’t, and why.

Just switching “venerate” for “worship” is a mere slight-of-hand, a deceptive and intellectually shallow (and dishonest) prestidigitation.

Yes, I worship Mary. Inasmuch as worship is supernatural reverence, love, and devotion (often for a glorified being) and the praise, prayers, and ceremonies which express that. So yes, I give her worship, the worship of hyperdulia. But I do not give her that worship due to God alone, the worship of latria. I certainly do not recognize her as the Supreme Being.

And yes, I do pray to her. To say otherwise is semantical gymnastics. Sometimes it is just to talk to her. Other times it is a prayer praising her or, more precisely, what God has wrought in her. And sometimes it is a prayer requesting something, but the petition that I pray to her is a prayer asking her to interceed to God for me. I do not pray to her as an end in herself or as if she of her own power is able to grant requests.
 
Catholics worship Mary?
No. We don’t worship Mary, to worship Mary is unbiblical, but we respect her as the mother of Jesus Christ.

Peace
 
I thought Catholics prayed with Mary to God. She is/was just a human being right?
 
TCelt, you asked << can someone out there please give an explanation as to why Mary is seen worthy of worshipping/praying to? >>

Understand this: Roman Catholics (and Orthodox, for that matter) do NOT worship Mary with the LATREIA owed to God alone.

If any do so, this happens DESPITE the teaching of the Church, and not because of it.
 
HailMary said:
Jesus was not speaking to “one” of his disciples. The “beloved” in St. John’s Gospel was ALL of us.

In the Gospel according to St. John this disciple is unnamed is because…

THAT DISCIPLE IS YOU

The Blessed Virgin Mary is more your Mother than even your maternal one!

*When Jesus therefore had seen his mother and the disciple standing whom he loved, he said to his mother: Woman, behold thy son. -John 19:26

The mere fact that it is recorded in the Holy Bible that Jesus gave us His mother, at the most powerful moment in Jesus’ triumph over the Devil, can only be something perpetual, not just some temporal thing. If it truly was just temporal, why did the Holy Spirit instruct St. John to insert it there? Do you really think that would make sense on God’s part?

God said to honor our parents [the Hebrew actually says to glorify them]: How much more shall we honor and glorify the one who bore us Jesus? If we, as Christians, strive to be more Christ-like, we must be obedient to the Blessed Virgin Mary just as Jesus was obedient.

Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. And his mother treasured all these things in her heart.
-Luke 2:51

Furthermore, the timing of Jesus’ decision to give us His mother is no coincidence; it was only at the utter peak of His Glory during the Passion that He gave us this wonderful gift of His mother.

Why would you throw away a gift from Jesus?

Because He hath regarded the humility of his handmaid: for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
-Luke 1:48

How have you fulfilled this? If you really believed in the Word of God you would be blessing the name of Mary unceasingly for she is the one who said “YES” to the Holy Spirit and bore the One who would bring us eternal salvation!

But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
-Luke 1:43

Mary IS the mother of God! For who is the Lord but God?

Have you ever stopped and thought how important Mary’s “YES” was for us? God choose ONE woman to crush the head of Satan Genesis 3:15] and likewise He choose ONE Queen Revelations 12:1] and more importantly, He choose ONLY one woman to be His Mother. This is all the same woman. Just as there is no Salvation without believing that Jesus is the Son of God, there would have been no Salvation if Mary had said “NO”.

Shocking? No, not really. Check out the book of Job 42: 7-11.

Just as the Eliphaz and his two friends had to ask for the INTERCESSION of Job to obtain pardon for their sins, it was ONLY through Jobs cooperation in his FREE WILL that moved God to save those men. Likewise, it was ONLY through the cooperation of the Blessed Virgin Mary with God that we were offered the gift of Salvation by Jesus.

I know its a lot, but hopefully it answers your questions. God bless.
Click to expand...
I agree that Marys decision was extremely important and fortunate for us,but can we be sure god would not have found another(no blasphemy intended)I believe scripture does state that ‘no purpose of His will be withheld from Him’…
And I cannot agree with your interpretation of ‘the disciple Jesus loved’.thats obviously John.I believe Jesus was simply saying,now you treat each other as family and watch over each other…in a manner of speaking.
‘The Woman’ in revelation ? the footnote there identifies her firstly as ‘the church’ with an admitted allusion to Mary.I still see her as worthy of admiration or perhaps you’d say veneration,but I do not see a scriptural basis for praying to her.if God does not esteem one man higher than another,I believe He will regard my prayer to Him as being important enough without attempting(with no scriptural basis)to bring Mary into the situation.there is only 'one mediator’between God and man,The Lord Jesus Christ.doesn’t the Bible declare that? I am not being swayed as yet,but I do appreciate your response. Bless You.
 
bear06 said:
In an effort not to re-invent the wheel… Here are some great explanations on this issue:

catholic.com/library/mary_saints.asp

Of course, the idea that “Behold you mother…” only meant John is a whole other topic. Who is the authentic interpreter of Scripture? There are some tracts for that too.

catholic.com/library/scripture_tradition.asp

It’s rather hard to cover all of the topics you’ve brought up without discussing that one too.
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The first link you posted says that Mary was entrusted to John at the cruxifiction.an earlier poster claimed that Mary was becoming the mother of us all at that point.so,which is it?
 
Tcelt7 said:
Hello
can someone out there please give an explanation as to why Mary is seen worthy of worshipping/praying to? just an honest question from a non-catholic…
Click to expand...
In his book “Where is that in the Bible,” author Patrick Madrid states: The Catholic model of the communion of saints is the biblical model. Because we love God, we love his friends. And we know that because God loves us, his friends love us, too.

The following verses show that God bestows honor and glory on his friends, far more than you or I are able to do. So if God does this, why can’t we?

Romans 2:9
1 Corinthians 11:1
1 Corinthians 12:24-27
Galatians 1:24
Phillipians 3:17-20
1 Thessalonians 1:6-7
2 Thessalonians 3:7

Tomster
Do not be afraid, speak out, and refuse to be silenced; I am with thee, and none shall come near to do thee harm; I have a great following in this city. - Acts 18: 9-10
 
Tomster said:
In his book “Where is that in the Bible,” author Patrick Madrid states: The Catholic model of the communion of saints is the biblical model. Because we love God, we love his friends. And we know that because God loves us, his friends love us, too.

The following verses show that God bestows honor and glory on his friends, far more than you or I are able to do. So if God does this, why can’t we?

Romans 2:9
1 Corinthians 11:1
1 Corinthians 12:24-27
Galatians 1:24
Phillipians 3:17-20
1 Thessalonians 1:6-7
2 Thessalonians 3:7

Tomster
Do not be afraid, speak out, and refuse to be silenced; I am with thee, and none shall come near to do thee harm; I have a great following in this city. - Acts 18: 9-10
Click to expand...
I suppose we can bestow honor and glory on whomever we decide,but my burning question is why is Mary seen as being worthy of worship/prayer?I do praise her for her part in Gods plan.I do not see a scriptural basis for attempting to call on her for intercession.inThe Bible ,Jesus is identified as our High Priest and Mediator,and our Passover as well.and when God sought human intercession,He ‘looked for a man who would stand in the gap’.I believe He expects intercession to come from us for each other.but we have to go to Jesus as mediator.
 
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