Mary and her role? (Multi-Merged)

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jpink1019 said:
ok… so it is clear that Mary’s Role in the Catholic Church can be complicated to explain.
Is it possible to simplify?

After reading this response… Do we Need Mary’s intercession for our Salvation, or not?

Suppose I decide to join the Catholic Church, the one True Church.
Will I require to bring Mary into my faith walk, or not?
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No, don’t wait to fully understand Mary. As long as you see she is your Spiritual Mother…that is sufficient to begin RCIA. It took Scott Hahn’s wife years to learn to accept Church’s full teaching on Mary.

If you wait til you fully understand Mary, you might never convert. I came into the Church 3 years ago, and am just now coming to terms with Marian Dogmas. It takes being a Catholic for some time before you will become comfortable even attempting the Rosary
 
brb3 said:
No, don’t wait to fully understand Mary. As long as you see she is your Spiritual Mother…that is sufficient to begin RCIA. It took Scott Hahn’s wife years to learn to accept Church’s full teaching on Mary.

If you wait til you fully understand Mary, you might never convert. I came into the Church 3 years ago, and am just now coming to terms with Marian Dogmas. It takes being a Catholic for some time before you will become comfortable even attempting the Rosary
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So if I don’t have to accept Mary or say hail Mary prayers to be a Catholic then is it also true that I don’t need to accept the saints?
 
AmosTown said:
So if I don’t have to accept Mary or say hail Mary prayers to be a Catholic then is it also true that I don’t need to accept the saints?
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As a Catholic one is required to accept the dogmas of the Church regarding her. Praying the Rosary is a private devotion that you are not required to do. The Church advises that we ask Mary and the Saint’s for their intercession. We are not required to. Anything that is a private revelation is something that each person can decide for themselves whether the revelation can bring them closer to God or not.
 
AmosTown said:
So if I don’t have to accept Mary or say hail Mary prayers to be a Catholic then is it also true that I don’t need to accept the saints?
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Hail Mary is straight out of scripture …Protestants have no issues with that Prayer!

And, Paul in scripture teaches the communion of saints & their great cloud, looking down, cheering us on !!
 
maltmom said:
As a Catholic one is required to accept the dogmas of the Church regarding her. Praying the Rosary is a private devotion that you are not required to do. The Church advises that we ask Mary and the Saint’s for their intercession. We are not required to. Anything that is a private revelation is something that each person can decide for themselves whether the revelation can bring them closer to God or not.
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Oh. I didn’t know that. Are there any Catholic churches that don’t have saint and Mary statues?
 
brb3 said:
Hail Mary is straight out of scripture …Protestants have no issues with that Prayer!
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I don’t ever remember seeing the Hail Mary prayer in the bible. Are you saying , I must pray to Mary to be a Catholic since its in the bible.
 
brb3 said:
Hail Mary is straight out of scripture …Protestants have no issues with that Prayer!
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Most won’t with the first half, but they do with the second…
Holy Mary, Mother of God…pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.

As a Baptist I didn’t have a problem with it until I got to the…pray for us sinners part. I didn’t agree that anyone in heaven could pray for us.
 
brb3 said:
Hail Mary is straight out of scripture …Protestants have no issues with that Prayer!

And, Paul in scripture teaches the communion of saints & their great cloud, looking down, cheering us on !!
Click to expand...
I’m confused. It seems you suggest Catholics should pray to Mary . and the saints? but po18guy says:
Originally Posted by po18guy View Post
We need not have a single devotion to her - ever - to be a Catholic in good standing.
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This is confusing. So do I just stay silent if I go to a Catholic class when someone prays a saints prayer?
 
I was born Catholic but raised somewhat in bible based churches.

I was wondering if there are any Catholic churches without all the saints and Mary statues?
 
AmosTown said:
I was born Catholic but raised somewhat in bible based churches.

I was wondering if there are any Catholic churches without all the saints and Mary statues?
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Well, my church doesn’t have any, though there is a portrait of Mother Theresa out in the hallway. It’s kind of like finding a wallet without pictures of the guy’s family in it. But why would you want no pictures of God’s family? I mean, that’s what we are – God’s sons and daughters. It’s very biblical to have pictures and statues in church. That’s how the Israelite temple was, and that was supposed to prefigure the beauty and adornment of our churches.
 
dmar198 said:
Well, my church doesn’t have any, though there is a portrait of Mother Theresa out in the hallway. It’s kind of like finding a wallet without pictures of the guy’s family in it. But why would you want no pictures of God’s family? I mean, that’s what we are – God’s sons and daughters. It’s very biblical to have pictures and statues in church. That’s how the Israelite temple was, and that was supposed to prefigure the beauty and adornment of our churches.
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Somebody wrote that its not necessary to pray to Mary so I was wondering if that was expressed by any Catholic church decor.
po18guy said:
We need not have a single devotion to her - ever - to be a Catholic in good standing.
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JM3 said:
The Blessed Virgin is key to God’s redemptive plan. Without her, the Word does not become flesh and you have no salvation. God has placed the Blessed Virgin Mary above all but Himself. This fact, alone, demands your respect.

Your words show that you have an extreme misunderstanding of the Body of Christ and catholic teaching.
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I’m confused. This post says to be a Catholic you don’t have to pray to Mary:
po18guy said:
We need not have a single devotion to her - ever - to be a Catholic in good standing.
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If that is true, then I also don’t have to pray to saints. Right?
 
Why do Catholics pray to Mary? This sounds like it is totally unnecessary. I can pray to God without praying to Mary because I know He’ll hear me.
 
I would say certainly no absolute requirement.the sacraments alone are necessary in that sense…but yes definitely highly encouraged to have these devotions!!!
I think at first they can be difficult to understand and practice…but over time one can learn to love them.

If it is hard to have devotion to Mary and the Saints…at least love and respect Mary and the Saints (and those who practice specific devotions) and pray to them here and there but also practice other rich Catholic devotions.

Maybe devotion to the Divine Mercy?
(I encourage that regardless of devotion to Mary or not…but its a great place to start)
 
AmosTown said:
Somebody wrote that its not necessary to pray to Mary so I was wondering if that was expressed by any Catholic church decor.
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I believe that was regarding personal devotions. Every parish is required to celebrate some devotions to Mary, including the feast days of the Annunciation, Immaculate Conception and Assumption.

That doesn’t mean that there isn’t a parish somewhere without a statue of Mary but it would be very unusual.
 
You are not required to ask for intercessions from the Saints or from Mary…nor are you required to say the Rosary. Keep in mind, however, that Mary is the Mother of God…hand picked by God to be His literal mother…and His Sacred Word (Scriptures) reveal to us that ALL generations shall call her “blessed”. But no, you are not required to have any particular personal devotion to her.
 
Are they necessary? No. However, one must believe that intercession of saints and Mary are dogmatic and true - the Communion of Saints is a binding belief.

Are they highly encouraged? Yes. I would say that praying to the Saints and Mary offers one a relatively easier path to salvation than not praying. To give an analogy: if one were in an Alcohol Anonymous member, it would be much harder (but not impossible) to stop drinking if his family was not behind him for support.
 
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