Is There Biblical Evidence To Catholics Praying to Mary?

[Darryl_B]

And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come unto me?

 

[mrsdizzyd]

I’m not Catholic (yet?)

Everytime I see you say that I smile. Just keep swimming.

It is said that praying to the saints is like praying for other people which is a common practice throughout Christianity, yet we aren’t praying to someone on Earth in order for them to pray to God. Like I wouldn’t pray to my uncle, who is still living on Earth, for him to pray to me. Can you help explain that to me?

As has been mentioned, the first thing is to adjust your understanding of heaven. As the Bible says, those who have gone to be with God are more alive than we are.

Of course your wouldn’t say a quiet prayer to your living uncle the next town over. Unless God had given him a special grace to be able to hear you, it would be pointless, right?

Catholics believe based on tradition, but also on some scripture like Revelations, that the saints in heaven definitely hear us and are aware of what happens here. How is this possible? It is only possible if God has given them the special grace to be able to hear us.

Everything goes back to God. Nothing is possible without Him.

Also, if I ever did decide to take part in praying to Mary or the saints, how do I do so without committing idolatry in my mind? I’m afraid that if I do so, I will be worshipping them.

Having a conversation is not the same as worship. Idolatry is an intentional interior disposition. In order for your prayers to saints to be idolatrous, you have to believe that the saints are worthy of all the praise and honor that God is. Do you believe that? If not, asking Mary to intercede for you is no more idolatrous than asking your uncle to pray for you.

When we say “Holy Mary, Mother of God, prayer for us sinners”. We are not praying to her as we would God.

Compare that to another pray we say when we say the rosary: “O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to Heaven, especially those most in need of thy mercy.“

That is a very stark difference. We ask the saints to pray for us. We ask God to save us, protect us, guide us. We give him glory and honor and praise because he is worthy. He is our creator and our redeemer.

Last thing, I’m a convert from Protestantism to Catholicism. My best advice to you as you consider these questions is to also take them to God in prayer. Ask him to help you understand if it is his will. Then, give it time. You have spent your life practicing the faith one way. Conversion is a gradual process. If you don’t feel comfortable praying to the saints or saying the Hail Mary, pray on it and wait.

God bless you.

 

[HopkinsReb]

Everytime I see you say that I smile. Just keep swimming.

It gives me a mixture of romantic excitement (as it pertains to the Church itself) and romantic dread (as it pertains to my domestic situation).

 

[Tis_Bearself]

There is even a Catholic theology that Mary is a Co-Redemptrix.

I note that this theology has not been fully embraced and promoted by the Church. Some Catholics choose to follow it, but others in the Church have serious theological problems with it and it’s not a dogma or anything like that as of now.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

I hope soon-to-be-Saint JH Newman is prepared for the onslaught of Catholic prayers directed to him that is no doubt increasing as we speak and will get even bigger when he’s actually canonized.

 

[HopkinsReb]

I hope soon-to-be-Saint JH Newman is prepared for the onslaught of Catholic prayers directed to him that is no doubt increasing as we speak and will get even bigger when he’s actually canonized.

Yeah, he might need a heavenly secretary.

 

[rightness]

You know, there are so much great posts here answering the question already, that I’ll go outside the box.

Let’s not be Bible Alone here. Look at all of the miracles that occurred through prayer. I’m reminded of Padre Pio’s healing of Gemma Di Giorgi’s sight through prayer. Every canonized Saint has a miracle attributed to them through prayer. It would be worth taking a look at these for evidence that prayer to Saints work in current times.

Then Marian Apparitions bring it to the next level… hehe.

 

[phujosh]

I note that this theology has not been fully embraced and promoted by the Church. Some Catholics choose to follow it, but others in the Church have serious theological problems with it and it’s not a dogma or anything like that as of now.

Yes, you are correct!

 

[GrowingInTheFaith]

I believe b) “A doctrine can be held by Christians as long as it doesn’t contradict Scripture.”

 

[rstrats]

Limoncello4021.
re: “…Jesus Himself honored her [Mary] greatly.”

As far as scripture is concerned, the Messiah only spoke to her 3 times and about her 2 times. And in 4 of those times it certainly couldn’t be said that He was honoring her. And the 5th time He simply told her to observe her son.

 

[SeekSalvation]

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

 

[HopkinsReb]

Are you suggesting that God the Son violated His Ten Commandments by not honoring His mother?

 

[Francis]

As far as scripture is concerned, the Messiah only spoke to her 3 times and about her 2 times.

It not correct right from Gen 3:15 till Revelation 22 ,is written about her , for that matter even 2 or 3 times is more that enough to save souls James 1:21 Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls.

The humble will be exalted Luke 14:11For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

John 19:26 When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, “Woman,(addressing as the Women of Genesis 3:15 the New Eve our Mother Mary) behold, your son!” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!”( its a commandment Exodus 20:12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long(Eternity ) in the land (Heaven)which the Lord your God gives you).And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home(His heart, the Church, for all human race for Eternity).Hebrews 11:16 (Mother Mary emphasized here Revelation 21:2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem (Mother Mary)

Heavenly Father has done great things for Her, He has brought down rulers from their thrones and lifted up the lowly(Mother Mary ) He did the will of the Father and fulfilled His promise ,His mission,role,did He not? Jesus said it is Finished only then, He fulfilled and finished His most important mission of His life, the will the Father, by entrusting Mother Mary to the Church did He not ? Women behold your Son . “Behold, your mother!” Its a commandment ,lets Obey and finish our mission by doing the will of God.God Bless

 

[rstrats]

re: “Are you suggesting that God the Son violated His Ten Commandments by not honoring His mother?”

Well, He certainly didn’t seem to in the times He spoke to her or about her.

 

[HopkinsReb]

Which seems more probable: your interpretation of those lines is incorrect, or God Himself, the Word of God (including the Ten Commandments) made flesh, was a sinner?

 

[Justin_Mary]

Limoncello4021.
re: “…Jesus Himself honored her [Mary] greatly.”

As far as scripture is concerned, the Messiah only spoke to her 3 times and about her 2 times. And in 4 of those times it certainly couldn’t be said that He was honoring her. And the 5th time He simply told her to observe her son.

It’s all in how you understand what you’ve read & that’s based on who taught you. No shade being thrown, just stating facts.

I often wonder why Jesus waited so long to start His public ministry. Even by today’s standards 30 is an old man. Back then I’d have thought He’d have started His ministry much earlier. Looking at Samuel, David, Salomon

I like to think the wedding at Cana… Mary asking Jesus to start His ministry, was because she wasn’t ready until then.

I may have it all wrong, like I said our beliefs are based on who taught us. But.i see the 30 years Jesus spent with Mary was the ultimate honor God could show a mere human.

Well, next to humbling Himself to a thought in her womb, to be completely dependent on her for 9 months in the womb & at least a year afterward. Other than that, letting Mary choose the time to let Him go is up there with Honoring His mother like a good Jewish boy.

 

[rstrats]

HopkinsReb
re: “Which seems more probable: your interpretation of those lines is incorrect, or God Himself, the Word of God (including the Ten Commandments [minus the 4th one or 3rd one for RCs]) made flesh, was a sinner?”

It does seem to be somewhat of a poser. Just one of the seeming contradictions through out scripture.

 

[Mintaka]

1. “Woman” is an honorable title. It was the name of Eve before the Fall.
2. John has constructed his Gospel to parallel the account of the Creation Week in the Book of Genesis. Cana is the seventh day: the Sabbath day of rest, the day of oaths and hence of covenant. Christ is being the new Adam in Eden, and Mary is being the new Eve, and everything is hunky-dory because God is remaking the world.
3. “What is that between me and thee” is an extremely polite way to talk. It’s how Abraham’s friend tried to refuse taking payment for the Cave of Machpelah, because he wanted to make it a gift.
4. There are a lot of sources that explain the parallelism between Cana, when Jesus’ hour had not yet come, and Calvary, when it had come. But the basic point is that Jews awaiting the Messiah expected him to bring a messianic banquet with everflowing wine as well as endless supplies of bread and other food, and also to usher in ever-gushing springs of water from God.

Mary is asking Jesus to start saving Israel. Since God is married to Israel, and a false king (Herod and the Emperor) are currently making Israel cheat on Him, a wedding is a perfect place to start the Messiah off. And there’s no more wine! Do that messianic banquet thang!

Jesus, who fully intends to save the world at the wedding “consummation” on Calvary, and who will be holding the messianic banquet at the Last Supper and at every Mass, tells His mom that His hour has not yet come. But He does do a miracle of providing wine, because her request is not wrong.

1. Mary is the queen-mother, the lady of the palace – a royal official; and she is a member of the House of David. She was apparently still alive when some of the Gospels were written, especially since tradition (and any read of his Gospel!) is pretty firm about Luke using Mary as one of his eyewitness sources.

This meant that she was also something of a target for arrest and execution by the Romans or by Herod, if things started looking shady to them. This did happen to quite a few members of Jesus’ extended family, if you want to read about it in Eusebius. So probably a lot of stuff that could have been said, and was obvious in Jewish tradition, was not talked about in the Gospels openly.

The false Messiahs of the time had a lot to say about their moms. One of them was associated with a goofy false prophecy that his mom was going to show up with an army of camels or elephants, or something like that, and be throwing around fire and lightning to defeat all the pagans and the Romans. (And I think her name was Miriam.)

So yeah, the Christians probably didn’t want the Romans thinking Jesus’ mom was somebody who needed to be executed as a traitor.

 

[GrowingInTheFaith]

Hello everyone! I’ve been researching Catholicism and I came across this article and I wanted to hear your thoughts on it: Redirect Notice
Ahead of time, I just wanted to say I don’t 100% agree with this article for sure, but it did bring up an interesting topic. I saw a comment on this thread that reminded me of this too. Catholics have patron saints and such and sometimes they seem to have similar roles to gods/goddesses. One of the comments on this thread said something along the lines of “I like to pray to Saint _______. They are good for helping with _____.” It really bothered me. I was wondering if y’all could explain that to me. Again, I mean no disrespect and I don’t you to think that I have the same attitude as that article. Much love!

Thank you for all the comments and time, I appreciate it! I’ll probably have more questions and replies to comments soon.

Thank you all for helping me figure this out my brothers and sisters in Christ!

God bless!

 

[Tis_Bearself]

GotQuestions is a well-known anti-Catholic site, so I don’t read or support it, and am not interested in any drivel that might be posted there. Not even going to bother clicking on that link.

Catholics do NOT regard saints, patron saints or not, as “gods and goddesses”. We’re not some polytheistic voodoo cult.

We “pray to saints” for their intercession ONLY. “Intercession” means we are asking them to pray to God for us, much as the Prayer Intentions threads on this forum contains threads asking people to pray for various intentions. A person whose mother is in the hospital might ask their friends, or people on Prayer Intentions, to please pray for their mom, and might also ask a saint to please pray for their mom. That is what is meant by “praying to saints” - asking them to pray to God for you, and that’s it. Saints do not possess any powers of their own. God is responsible for everything.

I hope this solves whatever you’re bothered about, and if you are truly interested in learning about Catholicism, I would suggest you read information on reliable Catholic sites, not the falsehoods on Got Questions.