For my Protestant Bros - a question on Mary and Rosary

[Fair_Lady]

Sorry I haven’t been around to answer your posts but I do have a few minutes now to expand on what I said earlier.

I am troubled most by the insinuation by several here that praying to God is less effective than praying to Mary. That just isn’t right. Don’t be deceived by good things happening after praying to Mary. What satan wants to do is to fool people into believing that praying to God is insufficient and that praying to someone else is superior. That is wrong and a lie from darkness. If it were true, scripture would say so.

Heed the words of Jesus in John 14:
“12 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. 13 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask[a] anything in My name, I will do it.”

 

[benidict]

Sorry I haven’t been around to answer your posts but I do have a few minutes now to expand on what I said earlier.

I am troubled most by the insinuation by several here that praying to God is less effective than praying to Mary. That just isn’t right. Don’t be deceived by good things happening after praying to Mary. What satan wants to do is to fool people into believing that praying to God is insufficient and that praying to someone else is superior. That is wrong and a lie from darkness. If it were true, scripture would say so.

Heed the words of Jesus in John 14:
“12 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. 13 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask[a] anything in My name, I will do it.”

hi Fair Lady. with all due respect, i do not think any Catholic here, would insinuate that praying directly to God is any lest effective than asking for the prayers of a Saint. that is what we are doing after all. it is no different than if i would ask you to pray for me. is my asking you to pray for me, any more effective than going to God alone? or for that matter any less? i think much of the problem with protestants is, that they believe our loved ones are dead, and cannot share an interest what happens to us on earth. the bible tells us something else. such as our God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. thats from Jesus. also from the book of hebrews. we have a great crowd of witnesses so that we may be encouraged to gain heaven. i think you may have a misunderstanding on what we are doing when we ask a Saint to pray for us. oh yes. you may like to read the chaplet of divine mercy. in it you are praying directly to the trinity, not only asking Christ to intercede for you. but for the whole world. no Saint is mentioned in the chaplet. you may want to look into this. also we have may prayers that address God directly. may be a good research project for you. see if there is anything in the chaplet of divine mercy that you disagree with, and get back to me. id be interested in your findings. Peace to you and yours. and if your from the states, i hope you had a blessed thanks giving!

 

[Eric_Hilbert]

Stay on topic and show adult respect for others’ beliefs.

 

[Big_Dummy]

Well, I’ve been attending a Catholic Church lately and have been saying Hail mary’s (Hail Mary full of Grace . . .etc.), St. Michael the Arch. (Saint MtheA, defend us in battle. . .etc.) during times where i am struggling with impurity and have found (to my astonishment) some vast improvments. I’ve been a Protestant for years and never had this kind of success. I suppose this may sound like a fake post, but it’s not. you’ll have to take me at my word.

The question is this: what do you make of this victory and it’s realtionship to this type of prayer? I personally don’t know what to make of it.

Catholics, sorry but this question is directed to non-catholics. i think i pretty well know what your opinions will be.

I have gotten the same type of questions from Christian Scientists and others in Mind over Matter cults. I think that demons who were inflicting pain on those in false religions simply scaled back their attack for the purpose of giving the false religion creditablitiy.

Basically, I am saying that going on experience vs Truth of Scripture can lead you into many false religons like Christian Science, New Thought, Mormonism, Islam, Oneness Pentecostalism, and a host of others.

 

[benidict]

Hi freerf…I’m an Anglican who was raised in the protestant tradition and I struggled with that for a few years. But I love praying the rosary and while praying it brings me closer to Mary, even more important - it brings me much closer to Christ.

A few years ago, I had a problem with mice in my attached garage and I prayed and prayed and prayed. I even had an exterminator come up…did everything I could do…and I still had mice. Finally, in absolute desperation I cried out to our Blessed Mother asking her to please pray to her Son…she would not have wanted mice in her little house in Nazarath. I have not seen a mouse since. I believe that the Lord was teaching me to ask Mary to pray for me.

i love it! my moment of clarity came when i was in a snow storm in north dakota. my dog had picked up parvo, and was dying. i didnt have the money for a vet, and i didnt have the heart to end his misery myself. most dogs dont survive this disease and none do without treatment. i was pretty much making moves towards the Church at that time. so i asked for the Holy Mothers intercession to ask her Son to heal my dog. within less than an hour, he was eating drinking, and perfectly healthy! i know its kind of humorous, but i like to point out, that my dog probably has more smarts in this area than most humans…lol! but on a serious note. as a wise Jewish Rabbi pointed out. we dont pray so things can change. we pray so we can adapt to the change, and Gods will. Peace

 

[gracelife]

Well, I’ve been attending a Catholic Church lately and have been saying Hail mary’s (Hail Mary full of Grace . . .etc.), St. Michael the Arch. (Saint MtheA, defend us in battle. . .etc.) during times where i am struggling with impurity and have found (to my astonishment) some vast improvments. I’ve been a Protestant for years and never had this kind of success. I suppose this may sound like a fake post, but it’s not. you’ll have to take me at my word.

The question is this: what do you make of this victory and it’s realtionship to this type of prayer? I personally don’t know what to make of it.

Catholics, sorry but this question is directed to non-catholics. i think i pretty well know what your opinions will be.

Lutheran view:
The Invocation of the Saints is not necessary when we can pray to the LORD.

From the Defense of the Augburg Confession:
Our Confession approves honors to the saints. For here a threefold honor is to be approved. The first is thanksgiving. For we ought to give thanks to God because He has shown examples of mercy; because He has shown that He wishes to save men; because He has given teachers or other gifts to the Church. And these gifts, as they are the greatest, should be amplified, and the saints themselves should be praised, who have faithfully used these gifts, just as Christ praises faithful business-men, [5]](http://bookofconcord.org/defense_20_saints.php#para5) Matt. 25:21, 23. The second service is the strengthening of our faith; when we see the denial forgiven Peter, we also are encouraged to believe the more that grace [6]](http://bookofconcord.org/defense_20_saints.php#para6) truly superabounds over sin, Rom. 5:20. The third honor is the imitation, first, of faith, then of the other virtues, which every one should imitate according to his calling.

We know that the merits of Christ alone are a propitiation for us. On account of the merits of Christ we are accounted righteous when we believe in Him, as the text says, Rom. 9:33 (cf. 1 Pet. 2:6 and Is. 28:16): Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be confounded. Neither are we to trust that we are accounted righteous by the merits of the blessed Virgin or of the other saints.

Peace be with you.

 

[freerf]

I have gotten the same type of questions from Christian Scientists and others in Mind over Matter cults. I think that demons who were inflicting pain on those in false religions simply scaled back their attack for the purpose of giving the false religion creditablitiy.

Basically, I am saying that going on experience vs Truth of Scripture can lead you into many false religons like Christian Science, New Thought, Mormonism, Islam, Oneness Pentecostalism, and a host of others.

the problem you run into is that even the truth of scripture must be verified by it’s fruit. I’m not going on experience, but fruit.

“you shall know a tree by it’s fruit” yes?

but i understand entirely your point, which is why i’ve posted the question here. At some point everyone is lead to the truth of scripture by experience as well.

 

[Sufjon]

Unfortunately for you and all other non-Catholics who use this verse to preach against the Rosary, it doesn’t apply to the Rosary, Divine Mercy Chaplet, or any other repetitive prayers. Here is the translation I prefer:

"And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. "And in praying do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this: Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; And forgive us our debts, As we also have forgiven our debtors; And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil. For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
(Mat 6:5-15 RSV)

As you can see here, Jesus is saying not to heap up empty phrases like the Gentiles (Pagans) did because they think that by saying so many words, it will make them more likely to be heard. Well, Catholics do not pray the Hail Mary and other prayers repeatedly in such devotions because we think that our many words will make God listen more. No, we repeat those prayers because it is conducive to meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary. The mysteries of the Rosary are the scenes that we contemplate during each decade (series of 1 Our Father, 10 Hail Mary’s, 1 Glory Be, etc) are most often scenes from the Gospels. Here is a link on how to pray the Rosary and it includes the various mysteries:

ewtn.com/faith/teachings/maryd5.htm

My take on the Rosary is that it is intended to help us remember Jesus’ life while on earth and at the same time we are asking Mary, whom we believe to be alive in Heaven, to intercede for us so that we may be more like Jesus whom we are contemplating in these mysteries.

I don’t know if I have adequately addressed your concerns or not so here are some good links that may help you:

catholic.com/thisrock/1994/9409fea3.asp

catholic.com/library/Rosary.asp

catholic.com/thisrock/quickquestions/keyword/rosary

ewtn.com/Devotionals/prayers/rosary/

holyspiritinteractive.net/features/theholyrosary/origins.asp

holyspiritinteractive.net/features/theholyrosary/growth.asp

holyspiritinteractive.net/features/theholyrosary/tradition.asp

holyspiritinteractive.net/features/theholyrosary/contemplation.asp

holyspiritinteractive.net/features/theholyrosary/compendium.asp

davidmacd.com/catholic/mary_rosary.htm

I especially recommend that last one as it specifically addresses concerns over whether or not the Rosary is Biblical.

This is a great explanation Holly3278. It makes good sense (to me at least) and thanks for posting it.

Your friend
Sufjon