Is There Biblical Evidence To Catholics Praying to Mary?

[GrowingInTheFaith]

I have a couple of questions that I really would like an answer to. Please understand that I am NOT attacking you, I’m honestly just really curious about the Catholic faith. Much love to you!

First question, I’ve heard that Catholics don’t pray to Mary like you would pray to God, but that Catholics pray that Mary intercedes for them. Yet, in the Hail Mary prayer it sounds like you are speaking directly to Mary. How can you talk to directly to Mary or pray to her without committing idolatry? It just doesn’t make sense to me in my Protestant Christian faith. Please don’t take offense.

Second, Catholics believe that dead saints hear prayers to them. That means they may receive millions of requests for prayer in one day. Are the saints to spend all their time praying that God helps us? Though the saints are blessed, they are not omnipotent or all-powerful.

Third, the Bible doesn’t say anything about praying to those who have died. (Which, again, confuses me because instead of asking God to ask those who have died who are now with him to pray for us, Catholics speak as if they are directly talking to them during prayer.) To get back to my point, God says we should approach His throne with confidence. (Hebrews 4:16) In fact, Scripture talks about not showing favoritism multiple times. Why are our personal prayers to Yahweh not enough?

While I do understand that Jesus would likely pay special attention to what his blessed earthly mother Mary has to say, Mary is not God and how are we to think that Mary receives millions of prayers each day and is able to present each one to God?

In conclusion, please pay special attention to each question. Again, I hope I don’t offend you, I’m just trying to find the truth.

Peace be with you!

 

[HopkinsReb]

First question, I’ve heard that Catholics don’t pray to Mary like you would pray to God, but that Catholics pray that Mary intercedes for them. Yet , in the Hail Mary prayer it sounds like you are speaking directly to Mary. How can you talk to directly to Mary or pray to her without committing idolatry? It just doesn’t make sense to me in my Protestant Christian faith. Please don’t take offense.

Prayer does not equal worship. They pray to Mary but do not worship her.

Second, Catholics believe that dead saints hear prayers to them. That means they may receive millions of requests for prayer in one day. Are the saints to spend all their time praying that God helps us? Though the saints are blessed, they are not omnipotent or all-powerful.

Saints have the beatific vision, like the angels. They are not limited as we are. It is true that they are not omnipotent like God, but they also have a much better attention span than you or I do.

Third, the Bible doesn’t say anything about praying to those who have died. (Which, again, confuses me because instead of asking God to ask those who have died who are now with him to pray for us, Catholics speak as if they are directly talking to them during prayer.) To get back to my point, God says we should approach His throne with confidence. (Hebrews 4:16) In fact, Scripture talks about not showing favoritism multiple times. Why are our personal prayers to Yahweh not enough?

Catholic Bible does. Protestant Bible is missing seven books, one of which includes prayers to angels. Also, Catholics do pray to God directly; they just don’t pray only to God.

To address the question in your thread title, no, the Bible does not include prayers to Mary. But it also doesn’t include, say, an explicit statement of the Trinity. Also, someone correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t it thought that Mary was alive on Earth at the time of writing? It’d be odd to pray to a woman you could just walk over to and talk to.

Aside:
I would not have said this:

Protestant Bible is missing seven books

just a few months ago. I haven’t actually read the Deuterocanon (yet; it’s coming up). But I can’t make an argument for the authority of the Bible without including the whole canon developed by the early church. Even apart from debates about the books’ contents, if they’re not authoritative, I’m free to add and remove books to and from the Bible as I see fit.

 

[SeekSalvation]

Dr David Anders answered this very question on EWTN today. Jump to 42:22 and you will hear the question and Dr. Anders well crafted response:

 

[TheLittleLady]

Well, Mary was likely alive when the Epistles and Gospels were composed. I am sure that the people who knew Mary on earth asked her to pray for them.

Now that she is in heaven, we still ask her to pray for us.

If I asked you to pray for me, I am sure you would. If you died tonight and woke up in heaven, I would imagine you would stand before the Throne and pray, ask, God for all of the people you knew and loved on earth.

 

[JanetF]

Pretty sure one of the biblical passages about praying to the saints is in revelation, unfortunately I can’t think of the chapter/verse off the top of my head, however, you might look here:

Why Do Catholics Pray to Saints? | Catholic Answers Tract

 

[HopkinsReb]

Pretty sure one of the biblical passages about praying to the saints is in revelation, unfortunately I can’t think of the chapter/verse off the top of my head, however, you might look here:

Why Do Catholics Pray to Saints? | Catholic Answers

As I recall, there’s nothing that explicitly mentions prayers to the saints, but there is a verse that says that the saints present prayers to God as incense or something similar.

 

[SeekSalvation]

Go watch the Dr. Anders video I posted and he answers your question about praying to saints in revelations.

 

[Limoncello4021]

Why would it be idolatry to talk to Mary and ask her to intercede with her Son for us? One thing you should know is that Catholic belief is that there is a much “thinner veil” between the living and the dead than Protestants. What that means is that the dead are very much alive to us. Those who were generous with God in life and are now in heaven are with God. God cannot be outdone in generosity and, as He promised, He allows them to do great things. There is no Biblical record saying that those in heaven are somehow not concerned with the living–that our saintly friends and relatives ignore us! That’s not charity. So we pray to Mary and the saints in heaven to help us, exactly how one would ask someone on Earth for help, or ask for their prayers. As you note, we certainly do not worship Mary–she is not some type of goddess. But we do believe we owe her great honor because she was “full of grace” and Jesus Himself honored her greatly. We also pray to and for those in Purgatory and we benefit from their prayers for us. We are all bound together in Love.

 

[yankeesouth]

Second, Catholics believe that dead saints hear prayers to them

And as concerning the dead that they rise again, have you not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spoke to him, saying: I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?

He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.

 

[edwest]

And Moses appeared to Jesus.

Revelation 5:8 English Standard Version (ESV)​

8 And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

What the Early Church Believed: The Intercession of the Saints | Catholic Answers Tract

THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY - Scripture Catholic

Contents1 Scripture1.1 I. The Uniqueness of Mary as the Mother of God1.2 II. Mary – the Immaculate Ark of the New Covenant1.3 III. Mary is our Mother and Queen of the New Davidic Kingdom1.4 IV. Mary is Ever Virgin1.5 V. Jesus’ “Brothers” (adelphoi)) = Cousins or Kinsmen1.6 VI. Mary’s Assumption...

www.scripturecatholic.com

 

[JanetF]

I listened to him today, but thanks. And the link I posted also answers the question the OP asked.

 

[Dan_Defender]

Your post assumes that in order for something to be true, it has to be explicitly stated in the Bible. Not so. There is Sacred Scripture and there is Sacred Tradition.
‘So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter.’ 2 Thes 2:15
Even though your post tries to make it about Mary, it is really about the Bible being the only source of the faith. For most of human history, most people have been illiterate and did not have access to a Bible. But they had oral tradition. ‘Only the Bible’ did not work in the beginning, does not work now, and it will never work.

 

[VanitasVanitatum]

Yet , in the Hail Mary prayer it sounds like you are speaking directly to Mary. How can you talk to directly to Mary or pray to her without committing idolatry?

St. Gabriel the Archangel and St. Elizabeth both said parts of the prayer and it was inspired by God in both instances. Not only that but God is mentioned every sentence too.

 

[thistle]

I have a couple of questions that I really would like an answer to. Please understand that I am NOT attacking you, I’m honestly just really curious about the Catholic faith. Much love to you!

First question, I’ve heard that Catholics don’t pray to Mary like you would pray to God, but that Catholics pray that Mary intercedes for them. Yet , in the Hail Mary prayer it sounds like you are speaking directly to Mary. How can you talk to directly to Mary or pray to her without committing idolatry? It just doesn’t make sense to me in my Protestant Christian faith. Please don’t take offense.

Second, Catholics believe that dead saints hear prayers to them. That means they may receive millions of requests for prayer in one day. Are the saints to spend all their time praying that God helps us? Though the saints are blessed, they are not omnipotent or all-powerful.

Third, the Bible doesn’t say anything about praying to those who have died. (Which, again, confuses me because instead of asking God to ask those who have died who are now with him to pray for us, Catholics speak as if they are directly talking to them during prayer.) To get back to my point, God says we should approach His throne with confidence. (Hebrews 4:16) In fact, Scripture talks about not showing favoritism multiple times. Why are our personal prayers to Yahweh not enough?

While I do understand that Jesus would likely pay special attention to what his blessed earthly mother Mary has to say, Mary is not God and how are we to think that Mary receives millions of prayers each day and is able to present each one to God?

In conclusion, please pay special attention to each question. Again, I hope I don’t offend you, I’m just trying to find the truth.

Peace be with you!

The Rosary is completely Scriptural.

The Joyful Mysteries: A Scriptural Version

 

[MT1926]

How can you talk to directly to Mary or pray to her without committing idolatry?

Talking to Mary or asking Her to intercede is not the same as worshiping God. Sure Catholics believe we can worship God when we pray and sing but we also believe all pray and all song isn’t worship.

Second, Catholics believe that dead saints hear prayers to them. That means they may receive millions of requests for prayer in one day. Are the saints to spend all their time praying that God helps us? Though the saints are blessed, they are not omnipotent or all-powerful.

Couldn’t it be possible that the saints pray for us by saying Dear heavenly Father I humbly pray to You that Your will be done for all of those who ask for my intercession today? They don’t need to know the details of what we ask because they are fully aware that God knows.

Third, the Bible doesn’t say anything about praying to those who have died.

Try this article.

While I do understand that Jesus would likely pay special attention to what his blessed earthly mother Mary has to say, Mary is not God and how are we to think that Mary receives millions of prayers each day and is able to present each one to God?

One of the best analogies that helped me out. Although not Biblical, but makes perfect sense to me.

Jesus says we are all members of His body, with Jesus as the head. Looking at anatomy we can see how the body works and apply this to what you ask.

If your hand touches a hot stove what do you do? You respond by quickly pulling your hand away.

Let’s break down what happened.

The stove is the people praying to Mary. Mary is the hand and the heat is the prayer. The heat (prayer) is transferred through (not to) the hand (Mary) and travels up the nerves to the head (Jesus) At which point the head (Jesus) sends a response down to the hand (Mary) and tells the hand (Mary) what to do.

Basically, what I am getting at is Mary can only receive those millions of daily prayers because Jesus gives her the ability to do so. The hand (Mary) is NOT God, she can do nothing without the head (Jesus).

Welcome to the forum. Your question was awesome, no offense taken.

If you have more keep em coming, that’s what we are here for.

Hope this helps,

God Bless

 

[Todd_Easton]

First question, I’ve heard that Catholics don’t pray to Mary like you would pray to God, but that Catholics pray that Mary intercedes for them. Yet , in the Hail Mary prayer it sounds like you are speaking directly to Mary. How can you talk to directly to Mary or pray to her without committing idolatry?

Even in the Protestant Bible, angels and others are spoken to directly:

Bless the Lord, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, hearkening to the voice of his word!
Bless the Lord, all his hosts, his ministers that do his will!
Bless the Lord, all his works, in all places of his dominion. (Psalm 103:20-22)

Praise him, all his angels, praise him, all his host! (Psalm 148:2)

In the Catholic Bible, the righteous dead are also spoken to directly:

Spirits and souls of the just, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all forever. (Daniel 3:86)

Long-dead Solomon is spoken to directly in Sirach 47:14-21.
Long after he was taken up into heaven, Elijah is spoken to directly in Sirach 48:4-11.

Second, Catholics believe that dead saints hear prayers to them. That means they may receive millions of requests for prayer in one day. Are the saints to spend all their time praying that God helps us? Though the saints are blessed, they are not omnipotent or all-powerful.

In the Catholic Bible, the righteous dead, such as Onias and Jeremiah, are described as praying for the living, even praying much:

11 [Judas Maccabeus] armed each of [his men] not so much with confidence in shields and spears as with the inspiration of brave words, and he cheered them all by relating a dream, a sort of vision, which was worthy of belief. 12 What he saw was this: Onias, who had been high priest, a noble and good man, of modest bearing and gentle manner, one who spoke fittingly and had been trained from childhood in all that belongs to excellence, was praying with outstretched hands for the whole body of the Jews. 13 Then likewise a man appeared, distinguished by his gray hair and dignity, and of marvelous majesty and authority. 14 And Onias spoke, saying, “This is a man who loves the brethren and prays much for the people and the holy city, Jeremiah, the prophet of God.” (2 Maccabees 15:11-14)

 

[Todd_Easton]

Third, the Bible doesn’t say anything about praying to those who have died. (Which, again, confuses me because instead of asking God to ask those who have died who are now with him to pray for us, Catholics speak as if they are directly talking to them during prayer.) To get back to my point, God says we should approach His throne with confidence. (Hebrews 4:16) In fact, Scripture talks about not showing favoritism multiple times. Why are our personal prayers to Yahweh not enough?

The authors of several New Testament letters asked the Christians to whom they were writing to pray for them, such as in Colossians 4:3; 2 Thessalonians 3:1; Hebrews 13:18. Also:

Brethren, pray for us. (1 Thessalonians 5:25).

While I do understand that Jesus would likely pay special attention to what his blessed earthly mother Mary has to say, Mary is not God and how are we to think that Mary receives millions of prayers each day and is able to present each one to God?

One theory that has some support in the Catholic Bible about how the saints in heaven might indirectly come to hear of the prayers we have addressed to them is that angels, acting as prayer messengers, hear our prayers on earth, then go to heaven and recite them there in an orderly manner:

12 And so, when you [Tobit] and your daughter-in-law Sarah prayed, I brought a reminder of your prayer before the Holy One; and when you buried the dead, I was likewise present with you. 13 When you did not hesitate to rise and leave your dinner in order to go and lay out the dead, your good deed was not hidden from me, but I was with you. 14 So now God sent me to heal you and your daughter-in-law Sarah. 15 I am Raphael, one of the seven holy angels who present the prayers of the saints and enter into the presence of the glory of the Holy One.” (Tobit 12:12-15)

 

[Vico]

I have a couple of questions that I really would like an answer to. Please understand that I am NOT attacking you, I’m honestly just really curious about the Catholic faith. Much love to you!

First question, I’ve heard that Catholics don’t pray to Mary like you would pray to God, but that Catholics pray that Mary intercedes for them. Yet, in the Hail Mary prayer it sounds like you are speaking directly to Mary. How can you talk to directly to Mary or pray to her without committing idolatry? It just doesn’t make sense to me in my Protestant Christian faith. Please don’t take offense.

Second, Catholics believe that dead saints hear prayers to them. That means they may receive millions of requests for prayer in one day. Are the saints to spend all their time praying that God helps us? Though the saints are blessed, they are not omnipotent or all-powerful.

Third, the Bible doesn’t say anything about praying to those who have died. (Which, again, confuses me because instead of asking God to ask those who have died who are now with him to pray for us, Catholics speak as if they are directly talking to them during prayer.) To get back to my point, God says we should approach His throne with confidence. (Hebrews 4:16) In fact, Scripture talks about not showing favoritism multiple times. Why are our personal prayers to Yahweh not enough?

While I do understand that Jesus would likely pay special attention to what his blessed earthly mother Mary has to say, Mary is not God and how are we to think that Mary receives millions of prayers each day and is able to present each one to God?

In conclusion, please pay special attention to each question. Again, I hope I don’t offend you, I’m just trying to find the truth.

Peace be with you!

We communicate with the heavenly and they offer our prayers. Jesus asked us to pray for others and that would also apply to those that have died. (Matt. 5:44)

“Bless the Lord, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, hearkening to the voice of his word! Bless the Lord, all his hosts, his ministers that do his will!” (Ps. 103:20-21).

“[An] angel came and stood at the altar [in heaven] 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; and the smoke of the incense rose with the prayers of the saints from the hand of the angel before God” (Rev. 8:3-4)

There are early prayers to the Theotokos that predate Council of Ephesus (431) by 200 years. (Papyrus 470) Theotokos was already in use in Alexandria before 250.

The Sub Tuum Praesidium

Sacred liturgy and liturgical arts. Liturgical history and theology. The movements for the Usus Antiquior and Reform of the Reform.

www.newliturgicalmovement.org

 

[Tis_Bearself]

St. Gabriel the Archangel and St. Elizabeth both said parts of the prayer and it was inspired by God in both instances. Not only that but God is mentioned every sentence too.

The first part of the prayer is completely from Scripture. Luke 1:28 (“Hail, full of grace” directed from the Angel Gabriel to Mary) and Luke 1:42 (“Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb” from Elizabeth to Mary).

OP, I hope you’re not saying it’s somehow wrong for us to recite Scripture? Obviously this part of the prayer is supported by Scripture because it IS Scripture.

The second half of the prayer, “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death” Is a basic prayer for the intercession of a saint (a “saint” being defined by the Church as a person now in Heaven; Mary is a saint).

Fr. Mitch Pacwa, among many others, has written an excellent apologetic on why Catholics pray for the intercession of saints and how this is supported by Scripture.

The Bible Supports Praying to the Saints | Catholic Answers Magazine

You also asked,

how are we to think that Mary receives millions of prayers each day and is able to present each one to God?

You could ask this question about any saint. Many Saints, such as St. Therese, St. Anthony, St. Patrick, St. Francis of Assisi, etc are quite popular and probably get millions of prayers per day.

God simply gives them the ability to hear and intercede on millions of prayers. God can do all things and can certainly provide a saint with these faculties.

 

[ZMystiCat]

in the Hail Mary prayer it sounds like you are speaking directly to Mary.

The difference between Mary and God doesn’t really come down to whether we pray directly to them or not. God can, of Himself, save us, grant us our desires, or without stuff from us. Mary can’t do that of herself but only by what God grants her. No matter how great Mary is, she cannot measure up to God and is only as great as she is because of God.

However, Mary, because of her unique relationship with Jesus, is our Mother and our Queen. She enjoys helping and interceding for us. While she won’t act on some special will aside from God’s, it is worth praying to her to ask for her care and intercession or to just tell her what’s on our mind. While that does make prayers often sound similarly, we pray to her as our Mother, not our Creator, Sustainer, and Savior, as we do to God.

Are the saints to spend all their time praying that God helps us? Though the saints are blessed, they are not omnipotent or all-powerful.

We don’t know entirely how it works, but Revelation does give some evidence that saints and angels can hear our prayers and bring them to God (e.g. 5:8, 8:4). This is the closest we get to comment on the matter.

We can probably guess that this is possible as part of sharing in God’s Divine Life, which Paul clearly hints at in Ephesians 5:31-32. Or to quote how some of the very early Christians saw it, “For the Son of God became man so that we might become God.” That is, we don’t replace God or become other gods, but we become so united to Him through Christ that we share in His life. At that point, it doesn’t seem too far-fetched to assume that we’d be able to hear the prayers of all who pray to us.

Third, the Bible doesn’t say anything about praying to those who have died.

To turn this around, where does Scripture say we shouldn’t pray to those who have passed away? Citing a passage about praying to God is not enough, since praying to saints does not preclude praying to God.

In the absence of such direct commands, we should however consider the following:

1. The Scripture was written in the time of the earliest Christians by the earliest Christians. By nature, praying to saints requires some time to pass, so it probably wasn’t the most common of first-century practices. At most, they would have prayed to those who passed away locally, with praying to more well-known individuals becoming more common as they began passing away.
2. We know that the saints are alive (Matthew 22:32) and have every reason to believe that they can hear us, as discussed above.
3. The easiest way for us to show our love for them is to speak to them on occasion. Sure, we can’t get to every saint, but a lot of us probably have at least a few saints we’ve learned about and come to adore. Therefore, it seems natural that we’d talk/pray to these living people who we love.
4. Likewise, we have every reason to believe they’d, in love, want to pray for us and help us. Why would we not ask them to do so?