Is saying a Hail Mary sinful?

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I’ve heard that some people say Catholics worship Mary by praying Hail Marys and praying other prayers to her. Is that true? Is it sinful to pray Hail Marys? Or does it cross the line to worship if someone where to say something like “praise Mary” or something like that? I’m generally confused about this.

-Natalie
 
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If it were sinful, no one would pray it.

Relax. Just think it through logically.
 
Nat11 said:
Is it sinful to pray Hail Marys?
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The first part of the Hail Mary is in Luke 1.
Nat11 said:
Or does it cross the line to worship if someone where to say something like “praise Mary” or something like that? I’m generally confused about this.
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My understanding of worship is that it involves sacrifice (i.e. the Eucharist).
 
The Hail Mary is in the Bible. So how can it be sinful? Think about it.
 
Rather, those who say these sorts of things, and refuse to say the Hail Mary, and refuse to honor this August Princess are the ones who are being sinful.
 
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The "Hail Mary is simply quoting Scripture, Luke 1:28 and Luke 1:42, then asking Mary to pray for us.

Except for fringe groups, Christians believe that when a Christian’s earthly body dies, their soul goes to Heaven to be with God. Christians believe Mary was a Christian.

Christians, when they find themselves there in heaven before the throne of God, perfected in every way including in love, would they somehow no longer care about their fellow Christians here on earth? Doesn’t it make more sense that you or I, or especially Mary, would be there asking God to watch over those on earth?
 
And Elizabeth, Mary’s cousin.

And every one of us who asks another Christian to pray for us.
 
think this;
Mom, I’m going on a trip tomorrow. Pray for me.
Mom. I have a really hard test tomorrow. Pray for me.
Mary is the Queen of Heaven and we ask that she interceed for us. At the same time we give her honor as she is THE MOTHER OF CHRIST. Where do you find the sin?
 
@Nat11
God shows no partiality to anyone .our God is a God of order, each person differ from another person, his likes dislikes, Faith Hope and Charity likewise, virtues, innumerable other things, But God certainly choose certain persons to do His will, and filled them with much Graces, like Mother Mary, saints etc. for his special calling and election, she also had to suffer much for that, till the end. Romans 9:11-18 11 though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad, in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of his call,

All Prayers go to God, there is no dispute of one God (Holy Trinity) or Mediator between God and men Jesus Christ. But saints and Angles are like friends to help us, and intercede for us. Mother Mary being the Mother of God, How much more powerful will be, her intercession before God .AS she was born without original sin and she was sinless throughout her life, who bore sufferings, being Holy, assumed into Heaven Body and Soul ,in John 2:2-5 Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” 4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” .Thus even thought it was not the appointed time and note many places in the Bible Jesus done everything on the appointed time as per the will of God, but Through her intercession she quickened the miracle and everyone’s surprise and everyone glorified Jesus and they believed John 2:11 Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

If Enoch and Elijah who were born sinners and led a life of penance, but yet was assumed into Heaven, Genesis 5: 24 Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him. 2 Kings 2:11 How much more the Mother of God born without the original sin and lived a holy life, will she not be in the heaven praying for all of us Luke 1:37 For nothing will be impossible with God.”. Luke 1:45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be[a] a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.” Psalms 118:23 This is the Lord’s doing, it is marvelous in our eyes. Hope you find the Truth.

Luke 1:28 And the angel being come in, said unto her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. Mother Mary is without a single stain of original sin, throughout, so being the Mother of God, who is full of Grace, is most powerful intercessor , before God to prayer for us, we sinners. The Holy Spirit Himself is speaking through St Elizabeth and testifying about Mother Mary.
 
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We are NOT praying to Mary (or any other saint).

We are asking them to pray for us.

Mary and all the other saints are right there with god so we ask them to pray TO GOD for us.

That is also included in hail Mary.

(“pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death”)

Same goes for any other saint. No catholic prays to a saint, god is the only one we worship.
 
TaizeDisciple said:
We are NOT praying to Mary (or any other saint).
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We Catholics ARE praying to Mary (or any other saint) but we are not praying to Mary (or any other saint) in the same way we pray to God. The United States Catholic Catechism For Adults, page 472 (Other Prayers to the Blessed Virgin), says, in part:
We do not pray to Mary in the same way we pray to God. In praying to Mary, we invoke her intercession on behalf of our needs, whereas when we pray to God we ask him directly for gifts and favors. (source)
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The Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 2673-2679 (In Communion with the holy Mother of God), says, in part:
2679 Mary is the perfect Orans (prayer), a figure of the Church. When we pray to her, we are adhering with her to the plan of the Father, who sends his Son to save all men. Like the beloved disciple we welcome Jesus’ mother into our homes,[39] for she has become the mother of all the living. We can pray with and to her. The prayer of the Church is sustained by the prayer of Mary and united with it in hope.[40] (source)
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Of course we can, we can also ask for their intercessions, praying to them is great.
I was not commenting on that, I was only disagreeing with the statement that worship implies a sacrifice is being made. If I say a Glory Be, that is a prayer of worship, and no sacrifice. If I visit the Blessed Sacrament, I may worship God, but there is no sacrifice (that was at mass). I should have been clear, no need to make a wrong statement to refute another wrong statement. That was my point
 
tafan2 said:
Of course we can, we can also ask for their intercessions, praying to them is great.
I was not commenting on that, I was only disagreeing with the statement that worship implies a sacrifice is being made. If I say a Glory Be, that is a prayer of worship, and no sacrifice. If I visit the Blessed Sacrament, I may worship God, but there is no sacrifice (that was at mass). I should have been clear, no need to make a wrong statement to refute another wrong statement. That was my point
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Point taken. I was thinking of litanies where Mary is mentioned in ways that are not simply asking her to pray for us.

The Glory Be would indeed not be appropriate to use for Mary or the Saints though I saw it more as praise than worship.

The same for Eucharistic adoration - or even just praying in the presence of the Lord.
 
TaizeDisciple said:
We are NOT praying to Mary (or any other saint).
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Actually, we are praying to Mary or the Saints.

The thing is, most non-Catholics confuse prayer with worship.

To pray simply means to ask or to plead. The term “pray tell” is common

“Did you hear about the new Broadway show?”

“No, I did not, pray tell!”

It is often used in legal documents “We pray the court to allow this testimony”.

Your kids pray to you when they plead for another hour of screen time or an extra dessert.

We are simply asking our brothers and sisters, Mary, the Saints, as well as our neighbors and friends, to ask God for something on our behalf.
 
Nat11 said:
I’ve heard that some people say Catholics worship Mary by praying Hail Marys and praying other prayers to her. Is that true? Is it sinful to pray Hail Marys? Or does it cross the line to worship if someone where to say something like “praise Mary” or something like that? I’m generally confused about this.

-Natalie
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Worship is not a sin but adoration is. Modern Catholic Dictionary, Worship:
Acknowledgment of another’s worth, dignity, or superior position. In religion, worship is given either to God, and then it is adoration, or to the angels and saints, and it is called veneration.
  • Divine worship actually includes three principal acts, namely adoration (or the recognition of God’s infinite perfection), prayer or the asking for divine help, and sacrifice or the offering of something precious to God.
  • Worship as veneration also has three principal forms, whereby the angels and saints are honored for their sanctity, asked to intercede before the divine Majesty, and imitated in their love and service of God.
(Etym. Old English weorthscipe, honor, dignity, reverence: weorth, worth +ship.)
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Catholics, obviously, don’t believe that this is sinful. We pray it all the time, after all, and we wouldn’t do something that would endanger our souls.

It’s far from sinful- it’s a prayer deeply rooted in Scripture, approved and endorsed by God’s Church, for seeking the intercession of the Mother of God.
 
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Uliana988 said:
If it’s a sin, the the Archangel Gabriel sinned.
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Correction: The Archangel Gabriel and the Holy Spirit sinned, since the Hail Mary also includes what Elizabeth spoke when filled with the Holy Spirit.
 
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