Is it possible to be Catholic

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curtishouse29

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If you don’t want to pray to the Saints and Mary? I feel weird when I focus attention on Mary and the Saints when I could be devoting all of my prayers to the Lord. I know for the most part, the prayers to Mary and the Saints are for them to pray to the Lord for us but do you think it would be possible to be a devout Catholic without the prayers to the Saints and Mary? Any help would be greatly appreciated. God bless.

Curtis
 
I know that Catholics are not obligated to Pray the Rosary even though it is recommended. You don’t have to. I don’t think the Church has the right to tell you how to pray. They can recommend ways to pray though. You do have to accept the Communion of Saints however to be Catholic. It is in the Creed. When you proclaim the Creed you proclaim to believe everything the Church teaches as well as the Communion of Saints.
 
curtishouse29 said:
If you don’t want to pray to the Saints and Mary? I feel weird when I focus attention on Mary and the Saints when I could be devoting all of my prayers to the Lord. I know for the most part, the prayers to Mary and the Saints are for them to pray to the Lord for us but do you think it would be possible to be a devout Catholic without the prayers to the Saints and Mary? Any help would be greatly appreciated. God bless.

Curtis
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No, because prayers to Mary and saints are built into the Mass.
 
curtishouse29 said:
If you don’t want to pray to the Saints and Mary? I feel weird when I focus attention on Mary and the Saints when I could be devoting all of my prayers to the Lord. I know for the most part, the prayers to Mary and the Saints are for them to pray to the Lord for us but do you think it would be possible to be a devout Catholic without the prayers to the Saints and Mary? Any help would be greatly appreciated. God bless.

Curtis
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Catholics only pray to the three Persons of the Holy Trinity – God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

As Catholic Christians we ask for the intercession of Mother Mary and the Saints to God. In essence, we ask for their prayers to God, much like we would ask our family members or friends.
 
curtishouse29 said:
If you don’t want to pray to the Saints and Mary? I feel weird when I focus attention on Mary and the Saints when I could be devoting all of my prayers to the Lord. I know for the most part, the prayers to Mary and the Saints are for them to pray to the Lord for us but do you think it would be possible to be a devout Catholic without the prayers to the Saints and Mary? Any help would be greatly appreciated. God bless.

Curtis
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Hey, Curtis …

Can I impart my view on Mary and the Saints; well, actually, to more than just them …

In this world, we will seek counsel, ask for prayers on our behalf, and, in general, give honor to other people. This is part of our nature. For instance, you may seek the advice of a friend, or you may ask your mother to pray for you in a time of trouble, or you may really admire a celebrity or political figure. Are these things bad? Of course not - as long as they are based in Truth, and are healthy. God gave us the faculties to speak to others, and the heart and hope to ask for prayer, and the mind to respect and admire others. These are ALL good things, and God wants you to do them.

As far as humans go, who is the best person, to do all these things with first? The first Christian, the mother of our Lord, Mary!👍

She magnifies the Lord! What a great person to admire. What good counsel she must give. What about asking her to pray for you? After all, she asked Christ to perform His first public miracle. And He DID IT! What else could she do if asked?

The Church understands that we will automatically be drawn to people that love God. That is why she is so important. We need her (and others of faith) to focus this longing to identify with our fellow Christians.

It is a wonderful thing to love and confide in a person with a strong devotion to God. Mary directly participated in the Incarnation … what does that say about HER devotion?

Don’t you EVER allow yourself to feel like you are not focusing on Christ when you admire someone’s faith and love for God … What you are doing, is, in fact, loving God. We can’t do anything without Him. All that we do that is good comes from Him. This includes Mary. When we love Mary, we love the Christ in her. Just like when someone helps you in your life, you are actually grateful to the grace that comes from God through his servant.

I say drop your worry, and run to her! Read about her, read about the Saints. Nothing but good can come from this.

Ask yourself this: If you were born in Christ’s time, and you had a visit from Mary, how would you react to her? I would hope that we would all be grateful and loving to her, given what she did and who she was … why should it be different today? Isn’t she still His mother? If she’s good enough for Jesus, she is good enough for me!

God bless you, Curtis!👍
 
Give yourself some time. Pray about this every single day. When I was first learning about Catholicism I thought I would never feel comfortable asking Our Lady for intercession. But I thought maybe I just still wasn’t understanding things well enough and I read every book that was recommended to me and after I prayed my first rosary, that was it for me. It was so reverent and all said for God. It was beautiful. Now, I find whenever I am struggling with talking to God I will often ask for Mary’s prayers to help get me back to where I need to be. She is our Mother and God has put her there to help us, what right do we have to ignore her?

However, even after you do study more and pray about this and you still don’t feel comfortable, don’t feel pressured to HAVE to ask for other’s prayers on your behalf. Like others have said though, you must believe in the Communion of Saints to be Catholic. And some prayers at Mass acknowledge this teaching.

God Bless and take care
 
curtishouse29 said:
If you don’t want to pray to the Saints and Mary? I feel weird when I focus attention on Mary and the Saints when I could be devoting all of my prayers to the Lord. I know for the most part, the prayers to Mary and the Saints are for them to pray to the Lord for us but do you think it would be possible to be a devout Catholic without the prayers to the Saints and Mary? Any help would be greatly appreciated. God bless.

Curtis
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Do we not tell our closest people/friends to pray for us when we are in need? I have also seen in some churches, the leaders pray for others using a heap of words while praying. If we can ask ordinary people to pray for us, why should we not request a Blessed person (henceforth all generations shall call me Blessed Luke chapter 1 verse 48)

No Christian can reject Mary. Remember when people rejected Mary when she was about to give birth to the Word of God, they rejected Him who was in her.

Besides as at Cana of Galilee, she intercedes for us even without our knowledge. Recall at the wedding feast, the problem was noticed and solved with the help of Jesus by Mary. The steward and the bridegroom were not even aware of the problem.

Thank her for saying “Yes” to the plan of God’s salvation.

Warm regards,
Fredrick Correa, Nairobi

When wicked men blaspheme thee, I’ll love and bless thy name!
 
curtishouse29 said:
If you don’t want to pray to the Saints and Mary? I feel weird when I focus attention on Mary and the Saints when I could be devoting all of my prayers to the Lord. I know for the most part, the prayers to Mary and the Saints are for them to pray to the Lord for us but do you think it would be possible to be a devout Catholic without the prayers to the Saints and Mary? Any help would be greatly appreciated. God bless.

Curtis
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if you feel that way, first I would observe then, that you should never, ever ask your fellow Christians to pray for you and with you, since you can do it all alone, unassisted, just you and Jesus, one on one, and do not need the rest of the Church He established, including those who have died and gone on to their glory with Him.

in the second place, since you do ask for help, I invite you to reflect on the lives of Mary and the saints, as models of Christian discipleship, humility, obedience and all the virtues. Most importantly, reflect upon their relationship with Jesus Christ, and the reasons they became saints. After doing so, beginning with Mary his Mother, ask yourself: do you really think it is possible that someone so closely united with Christ in holiness, in heaven, in union with God, could possibly utter a prayer, intercession, praise, that was somehow separate from God, directed away from Christ? Your dilemma is not one about prayer, your dilemma is understanding the nature of sainthood, the nature of the promise of the resurrection, and the nature of our intended life in heaven.
 
Daprato said:
Catholics only pray to the three Persons of the Holy Trinity – God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

As Catholic Christians we ask for the intercession of Mother Mary and the Saints to God. In essence, we ask for their prayers to God, much like we would ask our family members or friends.
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I agree, as that is exactly what we were taught in RCIA. I’ve always wanted to post this statement, but could never find the “right words” to put it together like that. Thanks! 👍
 
We DO pray to Mary and the saints.

Prayer is a spiritual communication. Asking intercession is another way of saying we pray to them.

That’s why the rosary is a set of prayers.

It’s all under prayers.

Prayers to Mary, Prayers to St. Michael etc.

We pray to them, so they can intercede on our behalf.
 
Harmony1988 said:
We DO pray to Mary and the saints.

Prayer is a spiritual communication. Asking intercession is another way of saying we pray to them.

That’s why the rosary is a set of prayers.

It’s all under prayers.

Prayers to Mary, Prayers to St. Michael etc.

We pray to them, so they can intercede on our behalf.
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Exactly. If I ask someone here to say a prayer on my behalf, I am praying to them. Prayer is a request. It seems that many n-C’s see prayer differently than we do. It gets burned into people’s heads that prayer is worship. It can be, mind you; only when we are praying to God, for it is truly God that good things come from. When can pray to others, and ask for their help also.

That is what is so wonderful about prayer. It is an act of humility. We should first humble ourselves to God, but secondly to His saints.
 
curtishouse29 said:
If you don’t want to pray to the Saints and Mary? I feel weird when I focus attention on Mary and the Saints when I could be devoting all of my prayers to the Lord. I know for the most part, the prayers to Mary and the Saints are for them to pray to the Lord for us but do you think it would be possible to be a devout Catholic without the prayers to the Saints and Mary? Any help would be greatly appreciated. God bless.

Curtis
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You don’t have to pray to Mary or the Saints, but I have yet to meet a person who properly understands Catholic teaching on Marian devotion and the Communion of Saints who has a problem with it. I suggest you find a book at your local Catholic bookstore on Mary and the Saints. Devotions to Mary and the Saints are designed to bring you closer to God- not to take your focus off of Him.
 
The concept of Mary and the Saints can take some time to wrap your mind around when you are coming from another faith tradition. Don’t even worry about it. They have a way of making their friendship known on their own . . . 👍
 
Yeah I think its just part of my old Protestant ways lol I’m coming around slowly but surely…Even had a dream last night about a statue of Mary…Could be trying to reach me that way as well 🙂
 
wynd said:
No, because prayers to Mary and saints are built into the Mass.
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But I think the poster is here asking about personal prayers.

I would say that it is possible, but that one would eventually grow into the practice of prayer to the saints. That is part of the doctrine of the “communion of saints.”

It would be rather like getting married and devoting all one’s attention and conversation to the spouse while ignoring the family. It’s good to be on speaking terms with everybody.
 
curtishouse29 said:
Yeah I think its just part of my old Protestant ways lol I’m coming around slowly but surely…Even had a dream last night about a statue of Mary…Could be trying to reach me that way as well 🙂
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It could be or it is just simply that you were thinking too much about it.

Pray and take your time to learn about the teaching of the Church.

God bless!
 
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