Practicing Catholics Only, Please: Mary Worship

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Montie_Claunch

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I know that some lapsed Catholics will say that Catholics worship Mary and then say, “I know this to be true. I was there.”
I thought that it would be useful for us to have a poll of Catholics still in the church.

Please answer the poll if your a practicing Catholic. Tell us how long you have been Catholic and if you like put a few thoughts on the issue.

Thanks and God bless.
 
I have known Catholics who verge on Mary worship at the very least. But Mary is, of all souls, the most worthy of veneration. Certainly above Abraham, Moses, Elijah, John the Baptist, Peter and Paul.

We pray to her for intercession, confident that as queen of heaven she can do more for us than all the other saints put together.

Why Protestants don’t see this is beyond me. As a Catholic friend of mine once put it, he had a Protestant friend who offered to pray for him. He graciously accepted the offer, then turned and asked the Protestant why he should seek his prayers rather than Mary’s.
 
Worship? No. Worship is reserved for God alone. Mary is very special. She’s the Mother of Jesus and she deserves our honor - but Catholics are NOT to worship her. And I don’t know anyone who does.

I have been Catholic for 1 1/2 years.
 
This poll could’ve been made public so it can’t be sabotaged, and if a Catholic does say they worship Mary we can ask why do they do that since it anathemizes them.
 
No worship, Just love for Her. She has interceded for me in ways that can hardly be explained. she took me by the hand and lead me to Her Son. Catholic for 44 1/2 years.
 
Gosh, I suppose some of the more flowery or over-the-top displays of affection for Mary are similar to those of loving hollywood stars…

Or of a man who is deeply in love with a woman

Or a parent whose child is the apple of their eye

Or a person who dotes on a little doggie and dresses it up

Some people want to be hypocritical. As if Catholics don’t feel love and happiness and affection. Sheesh.
 
The point as I see it is that written material from 300, 500, 1000, 2000 years before can and does say that we ‘worship’ Mary–BUT–the word ‘worship’ as we use it right now in 21st century U.S.A. is NOT used the way it was then. The way it is used by 21st century Protestants is so much a variant and narrowing that it completely changes the original meaning.

In Great Britain I believe it is common still to address secular judges as ‘Your Worship.’ Surely even the most virulent anti-Catholic (or anti-Briton) does not feel the British public worships judges??

As is so often the case, Catholics tend to use much more fixed, changeless, even ‘eternal’ language, while non-Catholics use fluid, mutable, trendy and ‘relevent’ language. When Catholics DO try to adapt (with the praiseworthy intention of leveling the field or trying to make non-Catholics feel validated or something) to the current or modern speech, they unwittingly feed into the non-Catholics’ judgment that words CAN be changed without making any real difference. And then it is understandable (even if it’s still wrong) that non-Catholics would think, “here is Joe Catholic SAYING that Catholics don’t worship Mary; but here is St. Somebody writing that he worships Mary. So Joe Catholic is either a liar or a fool, and MY definition of the word “worship” is the TRUTH, and always HAS been the ONLY definition.”

And the endless cycle goes on of charge, counter, countercharge. . .offense, defense, and offense again. . .because until Catholics and non-Catholics can actually agree not just on a given word’s definition, but that words cannot be changed to mean something else again, they really aren’t even discussing anything at all–one group is stating ITS definition and the other ITS definition, and never the twain shall meet. . .
 
I have a small statue of the Blessed Virgin and a picture of Our Lady of Guadeloupe in my room, but that does not mean I worship her
 
No. Even if I were to try to worship Mary, I don’t think she would allow it. I believe she would point me to her Son and tell me to worship Him.

I am a recent convert to Catholicism from evangelical Protestantism. I had no trouble accepting veneration of Mary and other saints. I think that if Christians everywhere would truly venerate Mary, relationships between men and women, parents and children, and all other relationships would be safer and more loving. JMO.

I have to admit, though, that I don’t think I will ever love Mary as fervently as many cradle Catholics. But I trust her and talk to her and I ask her to plead with Jesus for my daughters, who were both hurt by our evangelical church. I believe that the Lord will have mercy on my daughters because His mother is interceding for them.
 
Catholics pray WITH Mary for her to intercede on their behalf to Christ.

Catholics pray to Mary and the saints ASKING them to pray FOR them and do not pray to them asking them to actually do anything besides that.

Its just like asking anyone here on earth to pray in our behalf, for us, in times of need. Only instead we’re asking those who are a little closer to God in proximity and holiness(closer to holiness than ourselves atm) to help us also.

So in my opinion asking Mary, or any other saint, to pray for us is the same as asking anyone here on Earth.

I know I sure don’t worship any people I ask to pray for me, Marys no different, other than being holier then anyone else I could possibly ask.

EDIT: oh yeah forgot…currently in RCIA but already consider myself Catholic…just haven’t been confirmed yet. Been going to Mass regularly and everything for 6 months now.
 
Basically,

If there were anyone more worthy than Mary, God would have been born through them.

No worship, just honor

Catholic for 22 years

A lone Raven
 
Cradle Catholic.
12 years of Catholic school.
Bailed from the faith at about 17 and was Jesus Freak, Southern Baptist, and deacon in an AoG then pretty much non-denom.
Total outside the church: about 34 years
“Reverted” as a result of this very a-C allegation which I knew was dead wrong, but it was the research that got me looking into the teachings of the Catholic Church and comparing them to both the Bible and the teachings of the various n-C churches I had belonged to.

Result: Return to the Catholic faith fully convicted that it is the fullness of Christian truth.
Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum,
 
As a former student of an extremely devout Catholic university, and now a parish member in another part of the country, I myself have seen more of an accusation of this notion of worship rather than the actual practice. I have witnessed more of a deep love and honor through intercessory prayers. Non-Catholics (and even arrogant Catholics) tend to be quick in citing this rarity of Marian worship.

Don’t get me wrong- there are many out there that are not knowledgeable in their faith, and thus, have a difficult time explaining, and acting out, their faith accordingly. Still, by and large, I find that Catholics have a much more reverent, and accurate, focus on Christ than non-Catholics— a focus that is backed by a great Tradition implemented by Christ Himself and carried on by His Apostles and successors to the Apostles.

To get back to the subject of this thread… Mary does deserve veneration/honor. She naturally deserves a respect higher than others- she was chosen by God to carry Christ in her womb. Say that again- she was chosen by God to carry Christ in her womb. How dare anyone say they are on an equal level as that of Our Lord’s Mother. How prideful are they? Have they no humility? Have they no respect for fathers and mothers? If they claim they do have respect for parents (which is, yes, biblical), why on God’s green earth would they not understand that Mary deserves our honor?

It seems quite contradictory to claim you are Christian, or even a rational human being, yet believe Mary is no better than anyone else.
 
I pray to her frequently and ask her to pray for me. I do not worship her. We are to worship only God.
 
I’ll make this quick, CATHOLICS WORSHIP BLESSED MARY! Get over it already.

I wrote this years ago, I just used cut and paste below:

"First lets define what pray, worship, venerate and adore mean to Roman Catholics as it is often used differently by Protestants or even foreigners in our country. I used ‘Merriam Webster’s Dictionary’ for definitions as needed.

Pray means ‘to ask’ or make a humble request. By this definition prayer does not have to be directed to God alone. So Roman Catholics do pray to Blessed Mary since it is only a humble request and nothing more.

Worship means reverence offered a divine being or supernatural power; an act of expressing such reverence, a form of religious practice with its creed and ritual, extravagant respect or admiration or devotion. By definition we can worship someone deserving of our admiration or devotion even though they are not God by any means. We can also worship God. So Roman Catholics do worship God and worship Blessed Mary also. There is nothing at all wrong with this Tradition using this definition. Catholics DO NOT worship Mary the way …[Protestants] …worship God.

Venerate means to regard with reverential respect or with admiring deference or to honor with a ritual act of devotion. Based on this Roman Catholics do in fact venerate Blessed Mary as well as our parents, great people in history like the apostles, and Christian martyrs. These people have a special place in our hearts.

Adore means to worship or honor as a deity or as divine with loving admiration and devotion. Based on this definition Roman Catholics adore God and God alone!

Honor a showing of usually merited respect or one whose worth brings respect or fame. Catholics honor Mary. Why do …[Protestants]…not?"

So you see, the Catholic Church is 2,000 years old and has used words since before the language (and Protestants) changed the meanings to those words. If we use an historical use of the word worship it can be applied to humans. Catholics often use the word with an older definition while Protestants only use it in their modified and limited form to apply to God. Protestants use the same words Catholics do but with a different meaning. If we use the same words the same way then we must first define those words.

If we use the Protestant definition of worship then Catholics do not worship Blessed Mary. If we use the Catholic definition then Protestants do worship Blessed Mary.

The word “worship” is not the problem here, it is Catholics and Protestants using it with two drastically different meanings.

I heard this from a Protestant friend last year, “You Catholics call it Good Friday. They killed Jesus on that day, what could possibly be good about it?”

Answer for Protestant friend, “Good” used to mean “holy” thus “Good Friday”.

People need to read the dictionary and learn the history of words before they try to use the word.

Add some words that below that Catholics use diferently then Protestanst. I’ll start:

“Good”
“Worship”
“Pray”
“Cult” (as in cult of Saints)👍
 
Always been Catholic…somewhat of a sleeping Catholic for a few years, but always there.

I do not worship Mary, and never even contemplated as much until reading and hearing Protestant accusations.
 
Caesar said:
I have a small statue of the Blessed Virgin and a picture of Our Lady of Guadeloupe in my room, but that does not mean I worship her
Click to expand...
I have icons of the Virgin of Vladimir, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Our Lady of Guadelupe and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. And three Rosaries.

Then again I also have two pictures of St Joseph with the Christ Child. Also two crucifixes and two magnificent icons of a Giotto crucifixion scene. Then there’s a picture of the Sacred Heart of Jesus as well as two other icons of him. I also have a chaplet of the Infant of Prague (although I did mistakenly buy it thinking it was a Rosary) :whistle: …

I think you get the idea, which seems really to be that I need some serious help … also that I don’t worship Mary (at least I don’t give her any deference that is due to God) :whacky:
 
As Protestants define “prayer to Jesus” as a part of their “worship,” so to do they see “prayer to Mary or the Saints” as “worship” in *their *definition of the term.

Prayer to Catholics is more of a petition, to Protestants it is the definition of worship.

We worship Jesus in the Eucharist, which they define as symbolic bread and wine; which means by their definition we are idol worshippers.
 
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