I'm getting tired of hearing from Protestants that we worship Mary and the saints!

[LilyM]

Good post LilyM, well done
How are you anyway? Missing WYD?

Hey there Miz dolphinlove.

Doing well, just graduated the other week (and there was much rejoicing).

I’ve been busy with assorted relations visiting, so I haven’t had time to miss Papa Benny and the gang, although it does seem anecdotally that attendances at Mass (even daily Mass) are well up on pre-WYD, which is a great thing

How have you been keeping? Been to Europe yet? Had a good trip if you did?

 

[dolphinlove]

Hey there Miz dolphinlove.

Doing well, just graduated the other week (and there was much rejoicing).

I’ve been busy with assorted relations visiting, so I haven’t had time to miss Papa Benny and the gang, although it does seem anecdotally that attendances at Mass (even daily Mass) are well up on pre-WYD, which is a great thing

How have you been keeping? Been to Europe yet? Had a good trip if you did?

Well thats fantastic! Im sure i dont have to ask that you passed with flying colours…
The church i was with, we looked after many different nationalities and that was great, i miss them.
I been to europe approx 6 months ago, and im now planning on going again next april
Im spending time in the eastern block this time going through Germany, Poland, Austria, Italy etc etc. When the travel bug bites me, it bites hard!
Anyway, congratulations with your graduation, thats so great! I knew you could do it!
I dont graduate for quite a few years yet… doh
But will be worth it in the end.
God bless and all the best with your chosen profession (yes i know what it is, but just incase you dont want everyone to know, im not posting it)

 

[LilyM]

Well thats fantastic! Im sure i dont have to ask that you passed with flying colours…
The church i was with, we looked after many different nationalities and that was great, i miss them.
I been to europe approx 6 months ago, and im now planning on going again next april
Im spending time in the eastern block this time going through Germany, Poland, Austria, Italy etc etc. When the travel bug bites me, it bites hard!
Anyway, congratulations with your graduation, thats so great! I knew you could do it!
I dont graduate for quite a few years yet… doh
But will be worth it in the end.
God bless and all the best with your chosen profession (yes i know what it is, but just incase you dont want everyone to know, im not posting it)

Thanks. I’m sure you’ll speed through the rest of your studies too.

My profession is kinda sorta on my profile anyway, besides which I’ve got a ways to go still before I’m a fully-fledged lawyer. I’ve no problems with telling people :nope:

Oh of course, that was earlier this year wasn’t it (where on earth does the time go?) I’m so jealous - I absolutely loved Italy, especially Venice, and only wish I’d stayed a bit longer.

 

[Nickkname]

I am fed up with the false misconceptions by Protestant Christians who insist that we worship Mary and the saints. I will put this in plain English.

Catholics DO NOT worship Mary and the saints. It is veneration and honor due to them because they lived out the life that Jesus Christ taught them! They are also in Heaven with God. They are much closer to God than you and me.

Who are you to judge us that we worship saints and Mary? Do you think you an expert in Catholicism. Do you have proof from a Catholic document permitting the worship of saints and Mary?

You won’t find it. We believe these saints are more alive than you and me. It benefits us to ask the entire of the people of God to help us while we are still in this world which is full of temptation and sin. We ask the saints to “pray for us.”

Many times here on Catholic Answers Forums. Some Newbie self-proclaimed Christian declares, I say many Catholics worship Mary. Not all do, and maybe it’s not in the instruction manual, but many do. Every Catholic will come to these idoloters’ defense and say, “Oh, it’s not worship, it’s veneration.” Sorry, not buying it, and nobody should.

Oh, please. You will probably start searching for the truth and use Catholic prayer books on saints and Mary as proof text. Prayer Books however, are not Church documents.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church forbids worshipping idols. Worship is due to God alone.

Must we Catholic force you to type, “Catholics do not worship Mary.”

If you continue on this persistence, I might as well say that “Protestants worship the Bible, or the roof during their Sunday worship at Church.”

After all they raise hands up towards the ceiling. So they worship ceilings of the Church. Of course, I don’t think they worship ceiling just because they had their hands raised up high in adoration.

Don’t worry about misconceptions or injustice done against the Church or in the Church. The Truth is greater than any lie and Justice is greater than every wrong. God will triumph over evil - trust in Him. And if you wish to hasten the coming of the Reign of God, than live with the Mind of Christ.

 

[hays1122]

Let me ask a question here.
How does the Pope or your priest interpret this verse:
Matthew 6:7
“And in praying use not vain repetitions, as the Gentiles do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.”
This is how a protestant commentary interprets this verse.
“Use not vain repetitions”:
The original word here is supposed to be derived from the name of a Greek poet, who made long and weary verses, declaring, by many forms and endless repetitions, the same sentiment. Hence it means to repeat a thing often, to say the same thing in different words, or to repeat the same words, as though God did not hear at first. An example of this we have in 1 Kings 18:26: “They Called on Baal from morning until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us”.

“As The heathen do”: The original word is one commonly translated Gentile. The world was divided into two parts, the Jews and the Gentiles; that is, in the original, the “nations,” the nations destitute of the true religion. Christ does not fix the length of our prayers. He says that they should not repeat the same thing, as though God did not hear. And it is not improbable that he intended to condemn the practice of long prayers. His own supplications were remarkably short.

This makes perfect sense to me. I would like to know what a priest would say about how this does not refer to the Rosary.
God blesses those who seek Him.

 

[Thing]

Let me ask a question here.
How does the Pope or your priest interpret this verse:
Matthew 6:7
“And in praying use not vain repetitions, as the Gentiles do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.”
This is how a protestant commentary interprets this verse.
“Use not vain repetitions”:
The original word here is supposed to be derived from the name of a Greek poet, who made long and weary verses, declaring, by many forms and endless repetitions, the same sentiment. Hence it means to repeat a thing often, to say the same thing in different words, or to repeat the same words, as though God did not hear at first. An example of this we have in 1 Kings 18:26: “They Called on Baal from morning until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us”.

“As The heathen do”: The original word is one commonly translated Gentile. The world was divided into two parts, the Jews and the Gentiles; that is, in the original, the “nations,” the nations destitute of the true religion. Christ does not fix the length of our prayers. He says that they should not repeat the same thing, as though God did not hear. And it is not improbable that he intended to condemn the practice of long prayers. His own supplications were remarkably short.

This makes perfect sense to me. I would like to know what a priest would say about how this does not refer to the Rosary.
God blesses those who seek Him.

Somebody once said to me they would not say the Our Father because that would be repeating the same prayer. So he had to use different words every time he prayed for the same thing. Like you were saying, asking the same thing in different words over and over, is repetition.
But I don’t understand the almost superstitious fear of repeating the same words.
Perhaps our Lord said ‘vain repetition’ and not just ‘repetition’ on its own. A catholic knows her prayers are not in vain, the rosary for example, because she is using the prayer Christ taught her and the words every protestant reads in their Bibles everyday.

 

[sambos671]

I just don’t see why the Immaculate Conception and Marian devotion is such a tough concept for protestants? Mother of God. Think of that for a minute! Mother of God. It’s in the Creed! Theotokos! Mary shares the blood of Christ, literally. The same blood flows in their veins. She CHOSE to bear him as her Only Son. She could have said no, but chose this sublime responsibility. She wasn’t a run of the mill woman. The tired argument that David, Moses, Jeremiah and all the other guys were just typical sinners used by God so why isn’t Mary? is just cheesy and comparing apples and oranges.

This is the SAVIOUR OF THE WORLD, guys! None of us can understand Mary’s role in Jesus’ earliest days as a little toddler, child, and teenager. What role did she play in His upbringing? It must’ve been powerful indeed. And to bring a perfect child through an imperfect womb makes no sense.

Mary was with Christ at many of His most critical moments from protecting Him as a baby to Cana to some of His early preaching to the Passion and beyond to the pieta moment of holding her sweet Son’s dead body in her arms.

She is closer to Christ than anyone ever born. Why is it a tough concept to ask her to pray WITH US to her Son whom she is closer to than anyone?

When I was a kid and I went to Sean or Steve or Scott’s house, I rang the doorbell and who came to the door? Mom. “Can Scott come out and play?” Imagine knocking on Jesus’ door, who would answer most likely? Who ever knows a little boy better than his mother?

No one is worshipping Mary over Jesus. It’s poppycock and protestants know it. I heard one person on this thread say that asking Mary’s intercession opens the way to demons!? I think much the opposite…I think a denial of Mary’s intercession, purity, aid and devotion shows a diabiolical force at work in the intellect. Simple math equation: Jesus is the Church, Mary gave birth to Jesus, Mary is the Mother of the Church. It doesn’t take trigonometry for that one…

don’t be so hard on protestants. Nestorius had a problem with it as well. He went so far to say that Mary should not be referred to as Theotokos.

 

[hays1122]

Somebody once said to me they would not say the Our Father because that would be repeating the same prayer. So he had to use different words every time he prayed for the same thing. Like you were saying, asking the same thing in different words over and over, is repetition.
But I don’t understand the almost superstitious fear of repeating the same words.
Perhaps our Lord said ‘vain repetition’ and not just ‘repetition’ on its own. A catholic knows her prayers are not in vain, the rosary for example, because she is using the prayer Christ taught her and the words every protestant reads in their Bibles everyday.

We are taught that prayer should be a personal conversation with the Lord God all mighty. That is why we don’t say the Lords Prayer every time we pray or as often as Catholics might say the prayer.
I do say the Lord’s prayer every day. I say that prayer before I begin my personal prayer,just to get my mind cleared and ready for my prayer time. Jesus did say Matthew 6:9,“After this manner therefore pray ye. Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.”
and you know the rest of course.
But I believe that if that prayer is prayed over and over with no real communication with the Lord, He won’t really take it as a prayer to him. The person is just rambling.
I have taken the time to listen to the rosary being said on the radio. And the speakers sound robotic and almost like they are half asleep. You know what I mean I’m sure,they aren’t saying the words with real heart felt passion,with the idea that God is awesome and his ear is tuned to us. Who are we that he should listen,yet he does,if we pray to him with all due respect and adoration. Plus another important point to make is that 75% of the rosary is being directed to Mary,with only 25% focusing on Jesus our Lord.
I had hoped to hear from a priest or someone who teaches the bible in the catholic church on how they interpret the verse Matthew 6:7.

 

[ralphinal]

We are taught that prayer should be a personal conversation with the Lord God all mighty. That is why we don’t say the Lords Prayer every time we pray or as often as Catholics might say the prayer.
I do say the Lord’s prayer every day. I say that prayer before I begin my personal prayer,just to get my mind cleared and ready for my prayer time. Jesus did say Matthew 6:9,“After this manner therefore pray ye. Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.”
and you know the rest of course.
But I believe that if that prayer is prayed over and over with no real communication with the Lord, He won’t really take it as a prayer to him. The person is just rambling.
I have taken the time to listen to the rosary being said on the radio. And the speakers sound robotic and almost like they are half asleep. You know what I mean I’m sure,they aren’t saying the words with real heart felt passion,with the idea that God is awesome and his ear is tuned to us. Who are we that he should listen,yet he does,if we pray to him with all due respect and adoration. Plus another important point to make is that 75% of the rosary is being directed to Mary,with only 25% focusing on Jesus our Lord.
I had hoped to hear from a priest or someone who teaches the bible in the catholic church on how they interpret the verse Matthew 6:7.

Matt 6:7 is about using meaningless words. Some Pagan prayers, common in that area. were just long strings of words meant to trap a god into granting the prayer. It was almost like a filabuster in Congress. Just keep speaking and you will get what you want.

You are right, God want communication not a dictionary read to him.

MAtt 6:7 Cannot be a ban on repetative prayer as we see in Revelation, heaven is the DEFINITION of repetative prayer. It is about content and intent, not lenght.

The rosary is not as much a prayer as a meditation tool. The prayers are to help us focus on the mysteries involved. These mysteries grant us deeper understanding of Christ and his story.

I teach the Confirmation class at my Church. I am not a priest, though

 

[bly]

I fully embraced Catholicism this past April, and am just now this fall beginning R.C.I.A. I do not now believe that Catholics worship Mary and statues, or are cannibals…but I once did. Well not that they were cannibals, I just found it offensive that they “put God in a box” in Church and kept sacrificing Him over and over and over.

I am soon to be 50 years old, and having been a life long protestant I can say that I held many many erroneous beliefs about Catholicism and Catholic teaching. Over the past 23 years I have come to understand what Catholicism actually teaches, and can testify that most of what I used to believe about Catholicism was totally WRONG.

It takes much study, and much much prayer to break through those ideas about Catholics that are engrained in the core of your being without anything more than uninformed conversation among other protestants.

Looking back, I think the most difficult part of coming to understand Catholic teaching was the humiliation and embarassment I felt when I had to admit that I was wrong. And when you have spent the greater part of your life preaching that Catholics are wrong and you are right and on God’s side…well…it wasn’t the most pleasant experience of my spritual journey…but it was the most grace filled liberating experience of my spiritual journey. No one likes to be proven wrong when they know for sure they are “right”.

And now the thing about Catholicism that I despised the most, The Eucharist, is the one thing in which I find it most difficult to wait for. I praise God and thank Him for this full communion to occur in my lifetime. And I cannot describe nor convince anyone of the joy and peace this brings a Christian…because it is more intimate than a kiss shared with the one you love. How can you prove that to anyone unless they have experienced it.

Praise God!!

Thanks for this wonderful post!

 

[Thing]

We are taught that prayer should be a personal conversation with the Lord God all mighty. That is why we don’t say the Lords Prayer every time we pray or as often as Catholics might say the prayer.
I do say the Lord’s prayer every day. I say that prayer before I begin my personal prayer,just to get my mind cleared and ready for my prayer time. Jesus did say Matthew 6:9,“After this manner therefore pray ye. Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.”
and you know the rest of course.
But I believe that if that prayer is prayed over and over with no real communication with the Lord, He won’t really take it as a prayer to him. The person is just rambling.
I have taken the time to listen to the rosary being said on the radio. And the speakers sound robotic and almost like they are half asleep. You know what I mean I’m sure,they aren’t saying the words with real heart felt passion,with the idea that God is awesome and his ear is tuned to us. Who are we that he should listen,yet he does,if we pray to him with all due respect and adoration. Plus another important point to make is that 75% of the rosary is being directed to Mary,with only 25% focusing on Jesus our Lord.
I had hoped to hear from a priest or someone who teaches the bible in the catholic church on how they interpret the verse Matthew 6:7.

Pray like this He said, Our Father…, … Are there any better words you could think of than those he used Himself. Are there any more error free words we could use than those that came from the heart and mind of God.
The rosary is a particular prayer in itself, if you can imagine yourself reading your bible some evening at home. Perhaps you are reading about the crucifixion and you get halfway along the account and you start to think to yourself about what it must have been like, splinters in fingers are painful but nails through hands are extremely painful, then you think about the loneliness of the situation, all His disciples bar one gone, surrounded by hostility on the top of a hill in a cool spring wind sky darkening thunder shouting distant flashes of light pain thirst, life slipping away. Why would He go through all that? How did He do it?
You imagine what it means to see God dead on a rough timber cross, His love for you, to do that.
Then you continue reading about His last moments of life and His last words from the psalm.
The following morning you find yourself driving and thinking about what you read the day before and you remember your thoughts about it, the horror, the violence, His great love for you, and your great sense of gratitude to Him for that sacrifice.
You now have meditated on the Fifth Sorrowful Mystery of The Rosary - The Crucifixion.
You were unable to read your bible while you were driving but you are able to think. In fact you are also able to pray and think while driving. Perhaps you say slowly the words He spoke to the Apostles when they asked Him to teach them to pray - Our Father, you begin, slowly, thinking about that dark hill…

 

[JonNC]

I have taken the time to listen to the rosary being said on the radio. And **the speakers sound robotic and almost like they are half asleep. You know what I mean I’m sure,they aren’t saying the words with real heart felt passion,**with the idea that God is awesome and his ear is tuned to us. Who are we that he should listen,yet he does,if we pray to him with all due respect and adoration.

As a Lutheran, far be it from me to read the heart of someone praying, regardless of the sound of their voice.

**Plus another important point to make is that 75% of the rosary is being directed to Mary,with only 25% focusing on Jesus our Lord.**I had hoped to hear from a priest or someone who teaches the bible in the catholic church on how they interpret the verse Matthew 6:7

Catholics may correct me, but your percentages seem a bit off.
The Invocation, Apostles Creed, Lord’s Prayer, and “Glory be…” are all directed to Christ, only the Hail Mary (the first part of which is quite scriptural), and the Hail Holy Queen are the only portions directed to the BVM.

Jon

 

[Cat]

As a Lutheran, far be it from me to read the heart of someone praying, regardless of the sound of their voice.

Catholics may correct me, but your percentages seem a bit off.
The Invocation, Apostles Creed, Lord’s Prayer, and “Glory be…” are all directed to Christ, only the Hail Mary (the first part of which is quite scriptural), and the Hail Holy Queen are the only portions directed to the BVM.

Jon

When we pray the Rosary, we meditate upon Christ in the company of His mother.

The entire Rosary is about Jesus.

When I was Protestant, I would just talk and talk to Jesus, and then when I was finished, I couldn’t remember a thing that I said, and I certainly had no perception of Him saying anything to me!

But as a Catholic praying the Rosary, my mouth and mind is praying the prayers, but my spirit and soul is communing with Jesus and trusting the Holy Spirit to pray for me. I don’t just give Him a shopping list of my “needs,” but instead, I ask Mary to pray for me, a sinner," and ask Jesus to do for me and THROUGH me anything that He wants to do. I trust the heavenly ones to know more than I do about what I “need.”

And a lot of times, I don’t even ask for anything, I just worship Jesus through medidating upon the Mysteries of His Life.

As someone else said, the verse in Matthew is talking about “vain” repetititions, not just repetitions. If a Protestant is going to criticize the Rosary for being repetitious, then they had better not be singing Praise and Worship choruses during their worship time! Many times these choruses will be repeated over and over. I remember singing a very simple P and W hymn two dozen times once in a Protestant worship service, while the worship leader kept whispering (repeating!) “Worship the Lord! Worship Jesus!”

 

[JonNC]

When we pray the Rosary, we meditate upon Christ in the company of His mother.

The entire Rosary is about Jesus.

When I was Protestant, I would just talk and talk to Jesus, and then when I was finished, I couldn’t remember a thing that I said, and I certainly had no perception of Him saying anything to me!

But as a Catholic praying the Rosary, my mouth and mind is praying the prayers, but my spirit and soul is communing with Jesus and trusting the Holy Spirit to pray for me. I don’t just give Him a shopping list of my “needs,” but instead, I ask Mary to pray for me, a sinner," and ask Jesus to do for me and THROUGH me anything that He wants to do. I trust the heavenly ones to know more than I do about what I “need.”

And a lot of times, I don’t even ask for anything, I just worship Jesus through medidating upon the Mysteries of His Life.

As someone else said, the verse in Matthew is talking about “vain” repetititions, not just repetitions. If a Protestant is going to criticize the Rosary for being repetitious, then they had better not be singing Praise and Worship choruses during their worship time! Many times these choruses will be repeated over and over. I remember singing a very simple P and W hymn two dozen times once in a Protestant worship service, while the worship leader kept whispering (repeating!) “Worship the Lord! Worship Jesus!”

I accept your correction, and understand what you are saying. Mine was not a criticism of the Rosary or meditative prayer, I was simply trying to speak to the poster I responded to.

Jon

 

[RNRobert]

Regarding the Rosary and Matthew 6:7:

Psalm 136 repeats the line “for his steadfast love endures forever” 26 times. Is this “vain repetition?”

 

[RNRobert]

If I enlist in the army, how many masters will I serve? God? The President? The Chair of the Joint Cheifs? How many generals? On down the line.

It is not serving more than one master if the ones between you and the top are all serving the same one. Mary, and all saints, point us to Christ. Just like followingthe command of a sargent does not mean I am disobeying the general.

And don’t forget Mary essentially points to Christ, saying “Do what ever he tells you” (John 2:5).

 

[Leeann]

So it’s wrong to give yourself utterly to your spouse in marriage - it ‘takes away’ from God - as if our love or our devotion is a pie which has only a limited number of pieces to be shared?

Few if any marriages succeed without such whole-hearted devotion of husband and wife to each other, and even Jesus commends the fact that they become one flesh (and ideally one mind and heart as well). Clearly HE didn’t see any conflict between unity with spouse and devotion to God.

And then when you proceed to have children and devote your whole self to them as well, as a good parent must do, that too is wrong? Not just because it’s supposedly taking away from your devotion to your spouse but your devotion to God too?

You have a very poor and misguided notion of what love is and what human beings are capable of if you think it’s not possible to devote oneself completely at one and the same time to God the Father, AND the Holy Spirit, AND Jesus - AND Mary, spouse and children in addition. These forms of love and devotion don’t conflict with each other one iota.

I never referred to spousal love or that love afforded to our children…that is **your **comparison…and a totally off the mark one. I am referring to the “spiritual” devotion/veneration/adoration that is supposedly to be “different” with regards to Mary as to what is offered to God the Father AND the Holy Spirit AND Jesus.

I posted the prayers in response to the “topic” of this thread above and offered them to show why some Protestants believe that Catholics indeed worship Mary.

The first prayer is to Jesus:

Act of Consecration to Jesus
Lord Jesus Christ, **I consecrate myself today anew and without reserve to your divine Heart. I consecrate to you my body with all its senses, my soul with all its faculties, my entire being. I consecrate to you all my thoughts, words and deeds, all my ****sufferings and labors, all my hopes, consolations and joys. **In particular I consecrate to you this poor heart of mine so that it may love only you and may be consumed as a victim in the fire of your love.
**I place my trust in you without reserve **and I hope for the remission of my sins through your infinite mercy. **I place within ****your hands all my cares and anxieties. **I promise to love you and to honor you till the last moment of my life, and to spread, as much as I can, devotion to your most Sacred Heart.

**Do with me what you will, my Jesus. I deserve no other reward except your greater glory and your holy love. Take this offering of myself and give me a place within your divine Heart forever. Amen. **

The next are to Mary:

Act of Consecration to the Blessed Virgin Mary

I.

I venerate thee with all my heart,
O Virgin most holy,
above all Angels and Saints in paradise,
as the daughter of the Eternal Father,
and to thee I consecrate my soul with all its powers.

Hail Mary…

II.

I venerate thee with all my heart,
O Virgin most holy,
above all Angels and Saints in paradise,
as the Mother of the only begotten Son,
and** to thee I consecrate my body with all its senses. **
Hail Mary…

III.

I venerate thee with all my heart,
O Virgin most holy,
above all Angels and Saints in paradise,
as the beloved Spouse of the Spirit of God,
and **to thee I consecrate my heart and all its affections, imploring thee to obtain for me from the Most Holy Trinity
all the means of salvation. **
Hail Mary…

AND:

Act of Oblation to the Blessed Virgin Mary

My Queen! my Mother!
**I give thee all myself, and,
to show my devotion to thee,
I consecrate to thee my eyes,
my ears, my mouth, my heart, my entire self. **
Wherefore, O loving Mother,
as I am thine own,
keep me, defend me,
as thy property and possession.

Amen.
… … …
As you can see by these prayers, if one (and indeed we are supposed to do this) has already consecrated themselves to the Lord, completely and totally…it has be done.

Why would one bother consecrating themselves to Mary, is the Lord not able or sufficiently capable of hearing and addressing our prayers?

As for the familial love *you *were referring to earlier…I do understand what you mean, however my love for Jesus is over and beyond the type of love that I have for my family members and friends, as it should be, as it is a different “love”.
Jesus made a point of stating:

Matthew 10: V34 - 39
34 Do not think that I came to send peace upon earth: I came not to send peace, but the sword.
35 For I came to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
36 And as a man’s enemies shall be they of his own household. 37 He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me.
38 And he that taketh not up his cross, and followeth me, is not worthy of me.
39 He that findeth his life, shall lose it: and he that shall lose his life for me, shall find it.

Peace and God Bless

 

[notsmart]

I agree its wrong to tell people what they are doing or not doing. I think catholics have every right to be upset when their faith is being mischaracterized.
However, in this non catholic religion forum there is a thread with catholics jumping on muslims insinuating they worship a black box. It takes away from the credibility of someone like you, who is genuinely upset about misconceptions, for your fellow catholics to insist people are doing things they say they are not doing.
So, if you dont like hearing people say catholics worship Mary (which they don’t) then, people such as yourself should speak up when another faith is being attacked for worshiping something they say they do not.
Its only fair.

I am fed up with the false misconceptions by Protestant Christians who insist that we worship Mary and the saints. I will put this in plain English.

Catholics DO NOT worship Mary and the saints. It is veneration and honor due to them because they lived out the life that Jesus Christ taught them! They are also in Heaven with God. They are much closer to God than you and me.

Who are you to judge us that we worship saints and Mary? Do you think you an expert in Catholicism. Do you have proof from a Catholic document permitting the worship of saints and Mary?

You won’t find it. We believe these saints are more alive than you and me. It benefits us to ask the entire of the people of God to help us while we are still in this world which is full of temptation and sin. We ask the saints to “pray for us.”

Many times here on Catholic Answers Forums. Some Newbie self-proclaimed Christian declares, I say many Catholics worship Mary. Not all do, and maybe it’s not in the instruction manual, but many do. Every Catholic will come to these idoloters’ defense and say, “Oh, it’s not worship, it’s veneration.” Sorry, not buying it, and nobody should.

Oh, please. You will probably start searching for the truth and use Catholic prayer books on saints and Mary as proof text. Prayer Books however, are not Church documents.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church forbids worshipping idols. Worship is due to God alone.

Must we Catholic force you to type, “Catholics do not worship Mary.”

If you continue on this persistence, I might as well say that “Protestants worship the Bible, or the roof during their Sunday worship at Church.”

After all they raise hands up towards the ceiling. So they worship ceilings of the Church. Of course, I don’t think they worship ceiling just because they had their hands raised up high in adoration.

 

[Leeann]

Originally Posted by Leeann
You can’t serve two masters - if you “consecrate” yourself completely to JESUS - then it’s done…why bother going elsewhere and by what right does Mary have to “us” - our whole beings??? These prayers to Mary aren’t simply asking her to intercede and present petitions to Jesus…they’re elevating her to HIS position…giving her what is to be given to HIM alone.

If I enlist in the army, how many masters will I serve? God? The President? The Chair of the Joint Cheifs? How many generals? On down the line.

It is not serving more than one master if the ones between you and the top are all serving the same one. Mary, and all saints, point us to Christ. Just like followingthe command of a sargent does not mean I am disobeying the general.

Again…this is not an “earthly” thing we are dealing with, it is “spiritual” and by consecrating your whole being to Jesus…that’s it…it’s done…wholely,completely…acknowledging the fact that He is capable and able and willing to do all that we ask if we truly believe in Him and trust Him and obey Him.

I repeat,these prayers to Mary aren’t simply asking her to intercede and present petitions to Jesus…they’re elevating her to HIS position…giving her what is to be given to HIM alone.

Peace and God Bless

 

[notsmart]

Originally Posted by Leeann
You can’t serve two masters - if you “consecrate” yourself completely to JESUS - then it’s done…why bother going elsewhere and by what right does Mary have to “us” - our whole beings??? These prayers to Mary aren’t simply asking her to intercede and present petitions to Jesus…they’re elevating her to HIS position…giving her what is to be given to HIM alone.