Im sorry, I have yet another question about Mary, but it is from a catholic friend

[MrS]

There is no such concept in the Church disciplinary structure as “frown upon”.

Nobody needs to engage in Marian devotions, or do anything on any of her feast days unless the day is a Holy Day of Obligation (don’t know off the top of my head which ones are).

not even the abuses in the liturgy ???

 

[ALLFORHIM]

How do you feel about Presidents’ Day, or Veterans’ Day? How do you feel about attending other people’s funerals?

Is it wrong to honour everyone who has gone before, or only Mary?

If only Mary, then why?

This is a quote from her:

Government holidays are government-related and don’t affect me either way. I don’t celebrate them. I just enjoy the day off from work, since I work for the government.
The Assumption, Coronation, etc. are church holidays dedicated to Mary and according to the CC, it’s mandatory that we attend Mass that day. I just don’t feel comfortable doing that because I don’t agree with putting Mary up on a pedestal the way the CC instructs us too. I’m sorry but I just have a hard time with things related to Mary from the view point of the CC.

 

[guanophore]

OK guys she has another question:thumbsup: She says:

Tell them that the reason I don’t want to pray to Mary is because it seems wrong to give her that much honor when we should be focusing on God and God alone. I recognize Mary’s significance in history, since she did, in fact, give birth to Jesus, but I don’t think we should pray to her like Catholics do.

This is a common misconception about the communion of saints.
jesus prepares a place in heaven for the faithful, and He came to get His beloved mother:

John 14:1-4
14:1 “Let not your hearts be troubled; believe in God, believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And when I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”

So that she could be with Him. He honored her, just as His ancestor Solomon honored his mother:

1 Kings 2:19-20

19 So Bathshe’ba went to King Solomon, to speak to him on behalf of Adoni’jah. And the king rose to meet her, and bowed down to her; then he sat on his throne, and had a seat brought for the king’s mother; and she sat on his right. "

She is now part of the “great cloud of witnesses” (Heb. 12:1-2) and is in worship with the heavenly beings:

Rev 8:3-4
3 And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer; and he was given much incense to mingle with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar before the throne; 4 and the smoke of the incense rose with the prayers of the saints from the hand of the angel before God."

They are not “separate” from God, but in communion with HIm, and when we join them in prayer and worship, we are together before the presence of the Lord.

 

[ALLFORHIM]

From her:

Ask them if I’m required to pray the rosary as a Catholic? Tell them I don’t feel comfortable doing that. (
If they want to know why, say that I’ve been reading my Bible alot lately and have grown closer to Christ in that process. By growing closer to Christ, I see no need to pray to anyone but Him.

 

[ALLFORHIM]

Another question for you guys:
I admire Mary and know that she has favor with God (afterall, she’s mentioned in the Bible several times, not just in the gospels). I just don’t feel comfortable with the rosary. Can someone explain why the rosary is used? The rosary, to me, just seems like a LOT of emphasis is put on Mary when it should be on Christ. I know it’s mostly about Christ in the mysteries but there are alot of Hail Mary’s in the rosary and that’s a prayer I’m not comfortable praying.

 

[ALLFORHIM]

Hi,
I asked her why she feels the way she does and this is her answer:

After I started reading the Bible alot is when I didn’t feel comfortable praying to Mary. I tried saying the rosary one night and couldn’t do it. I felt guilty for some reason. I still don’t feel comfortable with the Hail Mary prayer. (

 

[Stephen_C]

Sounds like she does not understand fully what Catholic’s believe. And why we believe. Add to that what non-C’s say we do believe and what we should not be doing. Even though that is NOT what we are doing/believe…well you get the picture …one confused Catholic. Tell her she really needs to talk to her Priest.

 

[ALLFORHIM]

Sounds like she does not understand fully what Catholic’s believe. And why we believe. Add to that what non-C’s say we do believe and what we should not be doing. Even though that is NOT what we are doing/believe…well you get the picture …one confused Catholic. Tell her she really needs to talk to her Priest.

Will do:thumbsup:

 

[JMJ_coder]

Hello,

Another question for you guys:
I admire Mary and know that she has favor with God (afterall, she’s mentioned in the Bible several times, not just in the gospels). I just don’t feel comfortable with the rosary. Can someone explain why the rosary is used? The rosary, to me, just seems like a LOT of emphasis is put on Mary when it should be on Christ. I know it’s mostly about Christ in the mysteries but there are alot of Hail Mary’s in the rosary and that’s a prayer I’m not comfortable praying.

After I started reading the Bible alot is when I didn’t feel comfortable praying to Mary. I tried saying the rosary one night and couldn’t do it. I felt guilty for some reason. I still don’t feel comfortable with the Hail Mary prayer. (

As Father Corapi says “What do you have against the Gospel?”

The Hail Mary is a prayer of the Gospel:

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you: blessed are you among women - (Luke 1:28)

and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. (Luke 1:42)

Holy Mary, - we are saying that she is a Saint, also look at the typology in the Bible (i.e. Ark of the Covenant/Ark of the New Covenant, Temple of Jerusalem housing the Holy of Holies/Mary the Temple of the Holy Spirit housing the Holy of Holies, etc.)

Mother of God, - this is the dogma of Mother of God definitively declared at the Council of Ephesus.

pray for us sinners - (1 Kings 13:6; Judith 8:33; Acts 8:24; Rev. 8:3-4; and the typology of the Queen Mother and her intercession to the King on behalf of others; and everywhere Paul says to pray for one another; and many, many, many other places where someone is asked to pray to the Lord God on their behalf)

now and at the hour of our death. - we want these benefits of her intercession both right now and when we need it the most, at the hour of our death.

Amen. - I assume not a single Christian has a problem with this one.

 

[JMJ_coder]

Hello,

The rosary, to me, just seems like a LOT of emphasis is put on Mary when it should be on Christ.

I remember someone once saying that “There are 10 Hail Mary’s to one Our Father - that proves you Catholics adore Mary ten times as much as God” and someone replied back “Jesus spent 30 years with Mary and only 3 years doing His Fathers work - so that proves that Jesus loved Mary 10 times as much as His Father, using your logic”.

 

[jmcrae]

This is a quote from her:

Government holidays are government-related and don’t affect me either way. I don’t celebrate them. I just enjoy the day off from work, since I work for the government.
The Assumption, Coronation, etc. are church holidays dedicated to Mary and according to the CC, it’s mandatory that we attend Mass that day. I just don’t feel comfortable doing that because I don’t agree with putting Mary up on a pedestal the way the CC instructs us too. I’m sorry but I just have a hard time with things related to Mary from the view point of the CC.

Side note: It’s interesting that your friend makes the same spelling mistakes that you do.

So, all dead people are just in the ground, and shouldn’t be mentioned from that time forward, regardless of their accomplishments? There is absolutely nothing that we could learn from them?

 

[jmcrae]

Hi,
I asked her why she feels the way she does and this is her answer:

After I started reading the Bible alot is when I didn’t feel comfortable praying to Mary. I tried saying the rosary one night and couldn’t do it. I felt guilty for some reason. I still don’t feel comfortable with the Hail Mary prayer. (

This makes no sense whatsoever.

My experience of Catholics reading the Bible is exactly the opposite - they read along and suddenly discover that everything in the Rosary is also found in the Bible. Typically, they are amazed, and delighted.

Get her to read the first two chapters of the Gospel of Luke, and compare it to the Five Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary. I think she will be totally amazed at how Biblical the Rosary is, or else at how Rosarian (if that’s a word) the Bible is - either way, we find the same messages in both.

 

[ALLFORHIM]

Side note: It’s interesting that your friend makes the same spelling mistakes that you do.

 

[MariaG]

From her:

Ask them if I’m required to pray the rosary as a Catholic? Tell them I don’t feel comfortable doing that. (

No. If she doesn’t feel comfortable meditating in such an intimate and personal way on the life, death and resurrection of Christ, she never has to pray the rosary.

If they want to know why, say that I’ve been reading my Bible alot lately and have grown closer to Christ in that process.

It is a good thing to read the Bible, and I am glad for her that she has grown closer to Christ in the process. It sounds as if she did not understand the purpose of the Rosary, to draw one closer to Christ.

Reading scripture is a good way to draw closer to Christ. In my personal opinion though, praying is ultimately the way to draw closest to Him and meditating and praying scripture is ultimately better than just reading it. But obviously, again, she either did not understand that the rosary is about meditating on the life of Christ in a very personal way, or just was uncomfortable with the loss of self when one meditates so completely upon Christ.

By growing closer to Christ, I see no need to pray to anyone but Him

I see here that she did not really understand that the purpose of the Rosary is not to meditate upon Mary but Christ.

God Bless,
Maria

 

[MariaG]

Another question for you guys:
I admire Mary and know that she has favor with God (afterall, she’s mentioned in the Bible several times, not just in the gospels). I just don’t feel comfortable with the rosary. Can someone explain why the rosary is used? The rosary, to me, just seems like a LOT of emphasis is put on Mary when it should be on Christ. I know it’s mostly about Christ in the mysteries but there are alot of Hail Mary’s in the rosary and that’s a prayer I’m not comfortable praying.

All scripture is profitable. So first, one should never have a problem with the Hail Mary Prayer itself for it is made up almost entirely of Scripture.

Second, the ONLY way one could ever think the emphasis is on Mary is if one has never actually prayed the Rosary the way it was intended.

It is not intended to be a bunch of mindless rote words. Christ warns us against that kind of thing. It is about praying to God, asking Mary to pray for us, Giving all glory and Honor to Him while meditating on the life of Christ.

All about Mary?

Joyful Mysteries

1. The Annunciation - The angel Gabriel tells Mary the Holy Spirit will overshadow her and she will bear a son. I guess if one loses focus this one can be all about Mary and not about Christ, but this is about Christ and saying Yes to God.
2. The Visitation - Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth, John the baptist while in the womb of Elizabeth, jumps for joy at recognizing His Lord. Again, Mary is in the picture but the focus is on the fact that even an infant recognizes His savior. The focus is on Christ.
3. The Nativity - The birth of Jesus. Again, Mary is there, but clearly the focus here is Christ.
4. The Presentation - Jesus is presented at the Temple and 2 people understand that He is the Messiah. This one is again, about the Christ.
5. The Finding at the Temple - Jesus when age of Twelve, gets “lost” by his parents and is found at the temple. Again, this is about Jesus. We can see that even as a Child, He knew who He was.
   Luminous Mysteries
6. The Baptism in the Jordan - Jesus is baptized.
   2.The Wedding Feast of Cana - Jesus begins His public ministry.
7. The Proclamation of the Kingdom - Jesus preaches
8. The Transfirguration - Jesus is transfigured on the Mt.
9. The Institution of the Eucharist - The Last Supper
   Again we can see the focus here is about Jesus not Mary.

Sorrowful Mysteries

1. The agony at the Garden
2. The scourging at the pillar
3. The crowning of thorns
4. The carrying of the Cross
5. The crucifixion
   While things like the movie The Passion of the Christ can help us to visualize the agony and connectedness of Mary with Her divine Son, these are still about Christ. The focus is Christ.

The Glorious Mysteries

1. The Resurrection
2. The Ascension
3. The Descent of the Holy Spirit
4. The Assumption
5. The Coronation
   Out of all of these mysteries these last two are the only ones that anyone could truly misconstrue and think the focus is on Mary.

The Assumption is when GOD, assumes the earthly Body of His earthly Mother up into heaven, honoring her much like He honored Enoch whom He was Well pleased with and also assumed into heaven.

The Coronation has less to do with Mary and more to do with Christ. Mary was crowned as Queen (mother) since Christ is the King and in Davidic Tradition, the mother of the King is the Queen. This is about the King, not the Queen.

So unless a person is not really meditating on the mysteries of Christ and just saying words by rote (something that Christ cautions us against doing, as well as the Catholic Church, through the teaching the teachings of Christ), it is not possible for the Rosary to be anything but focused on Christ.

God bless,
Maria

 

[MariaG]

Hi,
I asked her why she feels the way she does and this is her answer:

After I started reading the Bible alot is when I didn’t feel comfortable praying to Mary. I tried saying the rosary one night and couldn’t do it. I felt guilty for some reason. I still don’t feel comfortable with the Hail Mary prayer. (

Again, she must not have been actually meditating on the mysteries of Christ and saying it by rote. Either that or it is Satan trying to lure her away by tricking her, from the Catholic Church and the Real Presence of Christ, possibly damning her soul forever.

And if she doesn’t feel comfortable with the Hail Mary Prayer, I have a hard time seeing as how she is drawing closer to Christ through Scripture since the Hail Mary is almost entirely scripture, unless again, she has been saying the Rosary improperly and not meditating on the life of Christ as presented in each mystery.

Respectfully and with love,
Maria

 

[MariaG]

So, all dead people are just in the ground, and shouldn’t be mentioned from that time forward, regardless of their accomplishments? There is absolutely nothing that we could learn from them?

Good Thing the Apostles knew the answer to this one. These are just two of the countless verses in which we hear of the accomplishments, steadfastness and works of God through faithful men.

Although, I know you probably just responded in that way so as not to debate the issue

Matt 22:32 `I am the God of** Abraham**, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living."

Matt 12: 26 And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God said to him, `I am the God of** Abraham**, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?

God Bless,
Maria

 

[ALLFORHIM]

Good Thing the Apostles knew the answer to this one. These are just two of the countless verses in which we hear of the accomplishments, steadfastness and works of God through faithful men.

Although, I know you probably just responded in that way so as not to debate the issue

Matt 22:32 `I am the God of** Abraham**, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living."

Matt 12: 26 And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God said to him, `I am the God of** Abraham**, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?

God Bless,
Maria

Hi Maria,
I am working very hard to kepp my mouth shut here because I do not want to debate. You hit the nail on the head with your above statement. I am exercising self control.

 

[ALLFORHIM]

This makes no sense whatsoever.

My experience of Catholics reading the Bible is exactly the opposite - they read along and suddenly discover that everything in the Rosary is also found in the Bible. Typically, they are amazed, and delighted.

Get her to read the first two chapters of the Gospel of Luke, and compare it to the Five Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary. I think she will be totally amazed at how Biblical the Rosary is, or else at how Rosarian (if that’s a word) the Bible is - either way, we find the same messages in both.

From her:

I have no response to that except this:

Catholics read the Bible in light of the Magisterium and I read the Bible in light of the HS. Obviously those interpretations would differ slightly. Plus, if you want to see things one way, there’s no way to even begin to see things from another perspective, whether it’s right or wrong.

 

[jmcrae]

From her:

I have no response to that except this:

Catholics read the Bible in light of the Magisterium and I read the Bible in light of the HS. Obviously those interpretations would differ slightly. Plus, if you want to see things one way, there’s no way to even begin to see things from another perspective, whether it’s right or wrong.

I’m sorry but this person does not sound like a Catholic. Where did I say anything about the Magesterium? The Rosary doesn’t come from the Magesterium. If this person were Catholic, she would know that.

If she really is Catholic, and she really didn’t know that, she needs to take an adult Catechism class, perhaps with her parish’s RCIA program, and, as recommended above, she really needs to talk to her priest.