How can the Blessed Virgin be Our Lady of...so many things?

[may_they_be_one]

A difficult concept to understand and explain to non-Catholic Christians, or non-Christians, is: why do Catholics pray/talk to so many different versions of Mary? Our Lady of Guadelupe, Sorrows, Tepyac(sp?), Snows, Woods, Good Counsel, Perpetual Help, Gate of Heaven, etc, etc…knowing in each instance she appeared differently (dark skin, light skin, clothed differently, etc).

I would like to encourage non-Catholics to listen to things like Relevant Radio, but when the hosts list these multiple “versions” of Mary in their requests for intercession (all within the same prayer), it sounds really weird and almost occultish…

Even using the multiple appearances of Jesus: Infant of Prague (I think that’s one), Sacred Heart of Jesus, etc as additional “intercessors” seems really weird.

Are there multiple versions of Mary and Jesus moving about in heaven as we speak? Which one has the most authority in their position next to the Father? (Understandably, these would be typical questions a non-Catholic would ask.)

Thanks for your help!

 

[SonCatcher]

Each of these devotions has a particular history. The title helps us remember the particular event and encouragement that came from it.

For example, it would be really clumsy to say “I was thinking about how an Aztec convert had a vision of Mary that his bishop was initially skeptical of but was eventually convinced to build a mission church to reach out to the Mexican natives …” whenever giving thanks for Latino Catholics.

 

[Marybeloved]

A difficult concept to understand and explain to non-Catholic Christians, or non-Christians, is: why do Catholics pray/talk to so many different versions of Mary? Our Lady of Guadelupe, Sorrows, Tepyac(sp?), Snows, Woods, Good Counsel, Perpetual Help, Gate of Heaven, etc, etc…knowing in each instance she appeared differently (dark skin, light skin, clothed differently, etc).

I would like to encourage non-Catholics to listen to things like Relevant Radio, but when the hosts list these multiple “versions” of Mary in their requests for intercession (all within the same prayer), it sounds really weird and almost occultish…

Even using the multiple appearances of Jesus: Infant of Prague (I think that’s one), Sacred Heart of Jesus, etc as additional “intercessors” seems really weird.

Are there multiple versions of Mary and Jesus moving about in heaven as we speak? Which one has the most authority in their position next to the Father? (Understandably, these would be typical questions a non-Catholic would ask.)

Thanks for your help!

Are Jehovah Jirah, Elohim, Adonai, El-Shadai and others “multiple versions of God moving about in Heaven as we speak?” Which one among them has the most authority in their position in the God-head?

 

[Dorothy]

Our Blessed Mother has so many titles because the Lord made her so special. It is hard for a Protestant ear to hear some of these things because they have not been taught about her privileges, and that everything she is, is because the Lord made her that way for His special plan.

The titles other than those that are in the Litany of Our Blessed Mother, belong to private revelation. By private revelation I mean titles such as Our Lady of Guadalupe, Our Lady of Fatima, Our Lady of Lourdes, and others that have been given approval by our Church that we can believe in with human faith. One of my favorites is Our Lady of Guadalupe! what an awesome story about it, and what they are still discovering about the miraculous portrait of Our Lady!

In learning of the approved private revelations people can be encouraged to pray and sacrifice more, and to be better Catholics. We don’t learn anything new in private revelations, but can be spurred on to responding to Our Lady, for the greater glory of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and for our own benefit.

Hopefully, some of the thoughts I presented here can be explained to some people. They are Catholic answers to their questions. Some will be interested in hearing about them, and others may want to attack you for your belief.

Be at peace with your faith, and with the help of the Lord stay calm if they should offend your beliefs. They will learn more by the peace with which you explain these truths to them.

 

[Stumblesalot]

Hi,

I would think there is only ONE mother of God. Since; in terms of power, wisdom and merciful tenderness she is second only to the Holy Trinity, I would not consider it unfeasible that God may grant Our Blessed Lady the gift of Omnipresence. In addition, I am sure that Our Blessed Lady can take any form she wishes or deems appropriate for the purposes of an apparition (i.e. perhaps how the individual she is appearing to has always imagined her). In term of being Our Lady of so many things, I cannot see any problem with this. For example, consider Our Lady of Lourdes and Our Lady of Sorrows. Lourdes is simply the location where Our Lady appeared in order to convey a number of messages, whereas a devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows is a combination of prayer and meditation on the sorrows that Our Lady had to endure during her life (it actually gave me a much more profound appreciation of the Rosary mysteries). As far as I can see, these separate devotions, including all the others, do not conflict with each other. I hope this helps.

God bless

 

[may_they_be_one]

Thank you Dorothy and Stumbles for seeing that I am truly trying to understand these concepts better, and not thinking I’m trying to create division/conflict!

To clarify, when we invoke Mary to pray for us in her form as Our Lady of Guadalupe, and then invoke her to pray for us in her form as Our Lady of Sorrows in the immediate next sentence, is it for the benefit of those believers who are in the presence of the pray-er, so they can envision Mary’s different appearances and thus be stirred to greater faith as they visualize those appearances? Or is it a way to ask Mary’s two different “forms” to pray for us?

If the latter, do her different forms possess some different type of graces in our Lord’s eyes? Does he pay more special attention to OLG’s prayers as opposed to OLS’s prayers in matters of, say, purity, and then pay more special attention to OLS’s prayers in matters of, say, peace? Is it dependent upon the message that was related to the apparition?

Thanks again!

 

[SonCatcher]

Thank you Dorothy and Stumbles for seeing that I am truly trying to understand these concepts better, and not thinking I’m trying to create division/conflict!

To clarify, when we invoke Mary to pray for us in her form as Our Lady of Guadalupe, and then invoke her to pray for us in her form as Our Lady of Sorrows in the immediate next sentence, is it for the benefit of those believers who are in the presence of the pray-er, so they can envision Mary’s different appearances and thus be stirred to greater faith as they visualize those appearances? Or is it a way to ask Mary’s two different “forms” to pray for us?

If the latter, do her different forms possess some different type of graces in our Lord’s eyes? Does he pay more special attention to OLG’s prayers as opposed to OLS’s prayers in matters of, say, purity, and then pay more special attention to OLS’s prayers in matters of, say, peace? Is it dependent upon the message that was related to the apparition?

Thanks again!

We invoke her many times because her prayers are especially efficacious. The particular titles don’t change the nature of the invocation, as she has grace to know how she should pray for us.

During Holy Hour benediction, we invoke Mary by many names but we invoke Jesus by even more names.

 

[Dorothy]

Thank you Dorothy and Stumbles for seeing that I am truly trying to understand these concepts better, and not thinking I’m trying to create division/conflict!

To clarify, when we invoke Mary to pray for us in her form as Our Lady of Guadalupe, and then invoke her to pray for us in her form as Our Lady of Sorrows in the immediate next sentence, is it for the benefit of those believers who are in the presence of the pray-er, so they can envision Mary’s different appearances and thus be stirred to greater faith as they visualize those appearances? Or is it a way to ask Mary’s two different “forms” to pray for us?

If the latter, do her different forms possess some different type of graces in our Lord’s eyes? Does he pay more special attention to OLG’s prayers as opposed to OLS’s prayers in matters of, say, purity, and then pay more special attention to OLS’s prayers in matters of, say, peace? Is it dependent upon the message that was related to the apparition?

Thanks again!

These are just my thoughts…I don’t explain like a theologian. Since Our Blessed Mother is one with her Son, I am certain that she can be invoked under any of her titles, and understand your prayer.

However, if I were in a sorrow of some kind, I may want to pray to her as Our Lady of Sorrows, because then I can relate to her enormous sorrow while she was at the foot of the Cross. It would help me to be aware that my sorrow cannot compare with that, and also that she would intercede for me to be able to bear my sorrow with grace.

Pro-life people like to pray to Our Lady of Guadalupe for an end to abortion, because she is depicted as carrying the Infant Jesus. I just gave two examples, but it is easy to figure out the many that there are.

 

[Maria56]

Hopefully, some of the thoughts I presented here can be explained to some people. They are Catholic answers to their questions. Some will be interested in hearing about them, and others may want to attack you for your belief.
http://www.nling.info/g.gif

 

[Armyvet007]

A difficult concept to understand and explain to non-Catholic Christians, or non-Christians, is: why do Catholics pray/talk to so many different versions of Mary? Our Lady of Guadelupe, Sorrows, Tepyac(sp?), Snows, Woods, Good Counsel, Perpetual Help, Gate of Heaven, etc, etc…knowing in each instance she appeared differently (dark skin, light skin, clothed differently, etc).

I would like to encourage non-Catholics to listen to things like Relevant Radio, but when the hosts list these multiple “versions” of Mary in their requests for intercession (all within the same prayer), it sounds really weird and almost occultish…

Even using the multiple appearances of Jesus: Infant of Prague (I think that’s one), Sacred Heart of Jesus, etc as additional “intercessors” seems really weird.

Are there multiple versions of Mary and Jesus moving about in heaven as we speak? Which one has the most authority in their position next to the Father? (Understandably, these would be typical questions a non-Catholic would ask.)

Thanks for your help!

Same person, different names. In the Army I was my rank, my MOS [job- skill based], my job- title based, my job- secondary positions, advisor, leader, etc. This only gets more complicated if one takes into account that the concept of time [as we know it] does not apply to Heaven.

 

[may_they_be_one]

[No message]

 

[Stumblesalot]

Thank you Dorothy and Stumbles for seeing that I am truly trying to understand these concepts better, and not thinking I’m trying to create division/conflict!

To clarify, when we invoke Mary to pray for us in her form as Our Lady of Guadalupe, and then invoke her to pray for us in her form as Our Lady of Sorrows in the immediate next sentence, is it for the benefit of those believers who are in the presence of the pray-er, so they can envision Mary’s different appearances and thus be stirred to greater faith as they visualize those appearances? Or is it a way to ask Mary’s two different “forms” to pray for us?

If the latter, do her different forms possess some different type of graces in our Lord’s eyes? Does he pay more special attention to OLG’s prayers as opposed to OLS’s prayers in matters of, say, purity, and then pay more special attention to OLS’s prayers in matters of, say, peace? Is it dependent upon the message that was related to the apparition?

Thanks again!

Hi may they be one,

The different prayers may have different intentions. For example, I can pray the Rosary with: the intentions of world peace, intentions for the consecration of Europe and the whole world, the reparation of the Immaculate Heart of Our Blessed Lady etc. which is the same prayer for one or all of these intentions. I always view the intentions of the Devotion to the Sorrowful Mother to be an attempt to comfort and ‘be with’ Our Lady during the times in Her life where Her Heart was suffering (i.e. a child comforting his mother). I would suggest that different prayers may have significantly different intentions, but for the purposes of prayer the related portrayals of Our Lady’s image would be of lesser importance (although we all have our favourite image of Our Mother and Queen). I hope that is helpful.

God bless

 

[CopticChristian]

A difficult concept to understand and explain to non-Catholic Christians, or non-Christians, is: why do Catholics pray/talk to so many different versions of Mary? Our Lady of Guadelupe, Sorrows, Tepyac(sp?), Snows, Woods, Good Counsel, Perpetual Help, Gate of Heaven, etc, etc…knowing in each instance she appeared differently (dark skin, light skin, clothed differently, etc).

I would like to encourage non-Catholics to listen to things like Relevant Radio, but when the hosts list these multiple “versions” of Mary in their requests for intercession (all within the same prayer), it sounds really weird and almost occultish…

Even using the multiple appearances of Jesus: Infant of Prague (I think that’s one), Sacred Heart of Jesus, etc as additional “intercessors” seems really weird.

Are there multiple versions of Mary and Jesus moving about in heaven as we speak? Which one has the most authority in their position next to the Father? (Understandably, these would be typical questions a non-Catholic would ask.)

Thanks for your help!

Mary is the Mother of the first born of Creation who is our brother. Mary is the spiritual mother of the many and the many see their mother in many different ways. Mary is who Mary is, it it the perspective of the children that is different. That does not mean Mary is not the Mary the mother of the first born of Creation.

Even in our Mortal Families with many children, the children see their mother differently. The mother does not change it is the perspective of the children.

 

[GaryTaylor]

Even in our Mortal Families with many children, the children see their mother differently. The mother does not change it is the perspective of the children.

Well said in one sentence, One Blessed Mother which “All generations will call Blessed” I suppose that is “if” one believes the greatest book ever written.