Praying to Mary?

[Jack007]

in the following links, there is some text along with the prayers that might help you. you can also see other pages in that site.

ourcatholicprayers.com/marian-prayers.html

ourcatholicprayers.com/hail-mary.html

ourcatholicprayers.com/hail-holy-queen.html

ourcatholicprayers.com/memorare.html

ourcatholicprayers.com/blessed-virgin-after-communion.html

ourcatholicprayers.com/blessed-virgin-before-communion.html

 

[MarianCatholic]

I think the OP will have a difficult job finding a truer, more sensitively written and better explained post than the one above regarding devotion/prayer to Our Lady.

Thanks for kind and warm words I do appreciate them a lot

Now this is what I love to see! Someone who sees our Good Mother for who she really is. Personally? I include her in everything! That Woman means the world to me. By the way, Happy Birthday Sweet Virgin Mary! I love you Mom Mom! Thank you Lord, for the precious gift of your most holy Mother. We cherish her!

Peace, Mark

I am happy to see that others share my deep love for Mama Mary.
and youre absolutely 100 per cent right she should be involved in everything.
May Mama Mary allways lead you ever closer to Our Lord Jesus and continue to hold her hands over all of her childrens.

Yours in Jesus and Mary

• MarianCatholic

 

[pablope]

I was just wondering why pray to Mary? And who is Mary to the Catholic community?

This gives the jewish roots of the communion of Saints…calledtocommunion.com/2012/08/relics-saints-and-the-assumption-of-mary/

On your second question… And who is Mary to the Catholic community

This is a short answer…ewtn.com/library/papaldoc/jp2bvm49.htm

TO THE DISCIPLE HE SAID, BEHOLD YOUR MOTHER
Pope John Paul II

With these words Jesus gave the Blessed Virgin Mary a new mission and established a special relationship of love between her and all the discip

 

[friardchips]

This is a short answer…ewtn.com/library/papaldoc/jp2bvm49.htm

TO THE DISCIPLE HE SAID, BEHOLD YOUR MOTHER
Pope John Paul II

With these words Jesus gave the Blessed Virgin Mary a new mission and established a special relationship of love between her and all the discip

In context with the OP’s thread, this link is very useful and underlines the significance of Jesus speaking to Mary on the cross. But one thing I find strange, which St. P J II said, was that he thought Jesus left Mary to do His public work. Although this may have been the case some of the time, I would expect that P B or P F has updated this, because it is clear from several passages in the Bible that Our Lady went looking for Jesus (True Family of Jesus). I always took this to mean that along with Jesus’ hundreds of followers (including many disciples) Our Lady would have been there amongst the masses and helping to share His workload by tending to them.

 

[Della]

In context with the OP’s thread, this link is very useful and underlines the significance of Jesus speaking to Mary on the cross. But one thing I find strange, which St. P J II said, was that he thought Jesus left Mary to do His public work. Although this may have been the case some of the time, I would expect that P B or P F has updated this, because it is clear from several passages in the Bible that Our Lady went looking for Jesus (True Family of Jesus). I always took this to mean that along with Jesus’ hundreds of followers (including many disciples) Our Lady would have been there amongst the masses and helping to share His workload by tending to them.

I believe St. JPII was referring to Mary’s presence in the early Church after Jesus ascended into heaven. She was there to be a guiding light and a resource for them. She was in the Upper Room at Pentecost, praying along with the disciples and the Apostles awaiting the infilling of the Holy Spirit. St. Luke and St. Matthew would have gotten their material about Jesus annunciation, birth and early life from her. She lived with St. John, whose Gospel is the most spiritual of the four accounts. Jesus left Mary on earth to help his followers after he could no longer be physically with them/us, except in the presence of the Holy Spirit, among fellow Christians, and in the Eucharist. Having Mary to advise the early Church and be a mainstay for them under persecution was a great benefit to them, and through their faithfulness, to us.

 

[friardchips]

I believe St. JPII was referring to Mary’s presence in the early Church after Jesus ascended into heaven. She was there to be a guiding light and a resource for them. She was in the Upper Room at Pentecost, praying along with the disciples and the Apostles awaiting the infilling of the Holy Spirit. St. Luke and St. Matthew would have gotten their material about Jesus annunciation, birth and early life from her. She lived with St. John, whose Gospel is the most spiritual of the four accounts. Jesus left Mary on earth to help his followers after he could no longer be physically with them/us, except in the presence of the Holy Spirit, among fellow Christians, and in the Eucharist. Having Mary to advise the early Church and be a mainstay for them under persecution was a great benefit to them, and through their faithfulness, to us.

I understand and agree with all you said. I think St. Luke and St. John definitely received info., and possibly St. Matthew too, from Our Lady. However, I did think the bit where St. PJ II, in the link provided, said about Jesus leaving Mary to do his ministry, was referring to after the Marriage at Cana when His ministry on earth officially began? Maybe I need to read the link again. Thank you!

 

[Della]

I understand and agree with all you said. I think St. Luke and St. John definitely received info., and possibly St. Matthew too, from Our Lady. However, I did think the bit where St. PJ II, in the link provided, said about Jesus leaving Mary to do his ministry, was referring to after the Marriage at Cana when His ministry on earth officially began? Maybe I need to read the link again. Thank you!

Did you provide the link? I didn’t see it.

 

[Jack007]

1. Although Jesus’ death causes Mary deep sorrow, it does not in itself change her normal way of life: in fact, in departing from Nazareth to start his public life, Jesus had already left his Mother alone. Moreover, the presence at the Cross of her relative, Mary of Clopas, allows us to suppose that the Blessed Virgin was on good terms with her family and relatives, by whom she could have been welcomed after her Son’s death.2. Although Jesus’ death causes Mary deep sorrow, it does not in itself change her normal way of life: in fact, in departing from Nazareth to start his public life, Jesus had already left his Mother alone. Moreover, the presence at the Cross of her relative, Mary of Clopas, allows us to suppose that the Blessed Virgin was on good terms with her family and relatives, by whom she could have been welcomed after her Son’s death

.

Context might help.
Mary had met jesus (atleast during,
My mother and brothers are those who…
And
A prophet is not honoured…)
But not as much as during his secret life.

 

[friardchips]

Did you provide the link? I didn’t see it.

Hi. No problemo: the link is on a few posts earlier by Pablope.

God bless.

 

[Della]

Hi. No problemo: the link is on a few posts earlier by Pablope.

God bless.

Thanks. Must have been a senior moment for me.

The reference is Jesus’ last words from the cross not the wedding at Cana. After Jesus died and rose from the dead the Gospel writers say nothing about Mary until she is mentioned awaiting Penecost in the Upper Room with the disciples and Apostles. We can assume from her involvement in her Son’s ministry up until that point that she helped carry on his mission afterwards in the ways St. JPII (and I) described. Certainly her prayers were invaluable. We can be grateful that Jesus didn’t take her to heaven earlier or at his ascension because her presence in the early Church was needed for her prayers, her support, her advise, and her tactile presence when Jesus’ followers had been deprived of having him with them as he had been while walking and talking with them. Just being able to see her and talk to her must have been a boon and a comfort for them until the Holy Spirit came upon them to give them the grace and strength to speak in Jesus’ name.

 

[friardchips]

Thanks. Must have been a senior moment for me.

The reference is Jesus’ last words from the cross not the wedding at Cana. After Jesus died and rose from the dead the Gospel writers say nothing about Mary until she is mentioned awaiting Penecost in the Upper Room with the disciples and Apostles. We can assume from her involvement in her Son’s ministry up until that point that she helped carry on his mission afterwards in the ways St. JPII (and I) described. Certainly her prayers were invaluable. We can be grateful that Jesus didn’t take her to heaven earlier or at his ascension because her presence in the early Church was needed for her prayers, her support, her advise, and her tactile presence when Jesus’ followers had been deprived of having him with them as he had been while walking and talking with them. Just being able to see her and talk to her must have been a boon and a comfort for them until the Holy Spirit came upon them to give them the grace and strength to speak in Jesus’ name.

Hi. Sorry, we misunderstand one another. I should’ve been clearer. I am not talking about after Jesus has died, I am referring to St. J P II’s remarks half way down this article by him:

'Jesus completes his sacrifice by entrusting Mary to John

The words of the dying Jesus actually show that his first intention was not to entrust his Mother to John, but to entrust the disciple to Mary and to give her a new maternal role. Moreover, the epithet “woman”, also used by Jesus at the wedding in Cana to lead Mary to a new dimension of her existence as Mother, shows how the Saviour’s words are not the fruit of a simple sentiment of filial affection but are meant to be put at a higher level.

1. Although Jesus’ death causes Mary deep sorrow, it does not in itself change her normal way of life: in fact, in departing from Nazareth to start his public life, Jesus had already left his Mother alone. Moreover, the presence at the Cross of her relative, Mary of Clopas, allows us to suppose that the Blessed Virgin was on good terms with her family and relatives, by whom she could have been welcomed after her Son’s death.’

I believe Jesus may have left Mary alone for a while, but not always, which is why I mentioned it as a response in another post. I was merely suggesting that this has probably been taken up in exegesis since by theologians, possibly by one of the more recent Popes, and therefore might bring light to how much of a role Our Lady played in His life during His actual ministry on earth. I would expect a lot more than what was suggested in St. JP II’s document. And I think it is open to further exegesis. God bless.

 

[Della]

Hi. Sorry, we misunderstand one another. I should’ve been clearer. I am not talking about after Jesus has died, I am referring to St. J P II’s remarks half way down this article by him:

'Jesus completes his sacrifice by entrusting Mary to John

The words of the dying Jesus actually show that his first intention was not to entrust his Mother to John, but to entrust the disciple to Mary and to give her a new maternal role. Moreover, the epithet “woman”, also used by Jesus at the wedding in Cana to lead Mary to a new dimension of her existence as Mother, shows how the Saviour’s words are not the fruit of a simple sentiment of filial affection but are meant to be put at a higher level.

1. Although Jesus’ death causes Mary deep sorrow, it does not in itself change her normal way of life: in fact, in departing from Nazareth to start his public life, Jesus had already left his Mother alone. Moreover, the presence at the Cross of her relative, Mary of Clopas, allows us to suppose that the Blessed Virgin was on good terms with her family and relatives, by whom she could have been welcomed after her Son’s death.’

I believe Jesus may have left Mary alone for a while, but not always, which is why I mentioned it as a response in another post. I was merely suggesting that this has probably been taken up in exegesis since by theologians, possibly by one of the more recent Popes, and therefore might bring light to how much of a role Our Lady played in His life during His actual ministry on earth. I would expect a lot more than what was suggested in St. JP II’s document. And I think it is open to further exegesis. God bless.

I see. Yes, definitely. Mary most certainly had a role in Jesus’ earthly ministry. The Gospels don’t tell us a lot about Mary’s activities, but then the focus was, quite rightly, on Jesus not on her. From what little we can gather we know that she was by his side or coming to be with him as the occasion allowed. We would love to know more about this part of Mary’s life, but sadly we don’t have enough original material to determine just how much influence (for lack of a better word) she had on Jesus and his disciples. We know women were welcome in Jesus’ ministry, so it’s not a major leap to assume that Mary was among them and probably the titular head of the women disciples. I’ve often imagined that the woman who broke into the dinner meeting between Jesus and the Pharisees to anoint Jesus feet and wipe them with her hair did so after Mary had given her a pass. The menfolk were outraged, but I have surmised that if Mary was there she let the woman go in, and so we have the benefit of this beautiful passage in Scripture. Just my own idea but I believe plausible. You may wish to start a new thread about Mary’s role in Jesus’ ministry. It could be quite interesting.

 

[friardchips]

I see. Yes, definitely. Mary most certainly had a role in Jesus’ earthly ministry. The Gospels don’t tell us a lot about Mary’s activities, but then the focus was, quite rightly, on Jesus not on her. From what little we can gather we know that she was by his side or coming to be with him as the occasion allowed. We would love to know more about this part of Mary’s life, but sadly we don’t have enough original material to determine just how much influence (for lack of a better word) she had on Jesus and his disciples. We know women were welcome in Jesus’ ministry, so it’s not a major leap to assume that Mary was among them and probably the titular head of the women disciples. I’ve often imagined that the woman who broke into the dinner meeting between Jesus and the Pharisees to anoint Jesus feet and wipe them with her hair did so after Mary had given her a pass. The menfolk were outraged, but I have surmised that if Mary was there she let the woman go in, and so we have the benefit of this beautiful passage in Scripture. Just my own idea but I believe plausible. You may wish to start a new thread about Mary’s role in Jesus’ ministry. It could be quite interesting.

Hi. Maybe you could take this further in exegesis about your passage as it seems likely. Your lovely insight into this would seem to make sense. I certainly think too that Mary Magdeline would have been fostered by Our Lady after her conversion as would these women who worshipped Jesus and showed Him affection. He would have wished this, surely? - as you suggested (underlined). I wonder if St. JPII meant simply about at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry (that he left her alone).

In terms of praying to Mary, there are so many reasons why we can. And St. JPII’s article really says it all, as well as the Catechism and many posts here. I really think there is so much info. to do with Jesus and Mary specifically that posters who wish to question or argue have a huge range of literature to approach in order to advance their understanding; except that it does seem to be a *‘huge leap’ *for some to get over!

 

[friardchips]

…or come to terms with!

 

[Della]

…or come to terms with!

As a convert from a Pentecostal, anti-Catholic sect I know this is true. It came down to this for me, if the Church was right about Mary then it was right about everything else–that’s how big a hurdle it was for me. What I really had to accept wasn’t Mary, but the authority of the Church to decide matters of faith and morals, among which questions were those about Mary and her place. This question ranks fairly high with many people. There are many who can accept the Eucharist, based on Scripture, but they have a hard time grasping Mary (and the saints) because they have too individualistic an understanding of their relationship with God. For them it’s the proverbial “Jesus and Me” thing. That idea isn’t scriptural nor Christian. St. Paul talks a great deal more about the body of Christ than about individual salvation. We are members of one body, not two. We are not divided between the living and the dead, but we are all one in Christ. Many of our Protestant brethren, especially those farthest away from the teachings of the Church, have to come back to this understanding of our communal place in Christ before they can accept Mary’s role in their lives and the life of the Church.

About further exegesis regarding Mary’s role in Jesus’ earthly mininstry, I believe we would take the thread off topic to go more into that here. I again urge you to start a fresh thread to discuss it.

 

[friardchips]

As a convert from a Pentecostal, anti-Catholic sect I know this is true. It came down to this for me, if the Church was right about Mary then it was right about everything else–that’s how big a hurdle it was for me. What I really had to accept wasn’t Mary, but the authority of the Church to decide matters of faith and morals, among which questions were those about Mary and her place. This question ranks fairly high with many people. There are many who can accept the Eucharist, based on Scripture, but they have a hard time grasping Mary (and the saints) because they have too individualistic an understanding of their relationship with God. For them it’s the proverbial “Jesus and Me” thing. That idea isn’t scriptural nor Christian. St. Paul talks a great deal more about the body of Christ than about individual salvation. We are members of one body, not two. We are not divided between the living and the dead, but we are all one in Christ. Many of our Protestant brethren, especially those farthest away from the teachings of the Church, have to come back to this understanding of our communal place in Christ before they can accept Mary’s role in their lives and the life of the Church.

About further exegesis regarding Mary’s role in Jesus’ earthly mininstry, I believe we would take the thread off topic to go more into that here. I again urge you to start a fresh thread to discuss it.

I think you are right about an aversion to praying to Our Lady comes with a problem of accepting authority attached to the R.C Church, but I think there is more to it. It is one of the causes.

: Done!

 

[Della]

I think you are right about an aversion to praying to Our Lady comes with a problem of accepting authority attached to the R.C Church, but I think there is more to it. It is one of the causes.

: Done!

Forgive me, but I don’t think we can say we are done until we drag into the light some of the reasons for rejecting Marian teachings.

The more cerbral reasons:

1. The reasons already given about Church authority.
2. Unfamiliarity with Church teaching resulting in mistrust of Church teaching.
3. Misinformation about Church teaching.

The emotional/spiritual reasons:

1. Fear sent from the infernal regions to dissuade the soul from accepting Mary.
2. Envy of Mary’s uniqueness in God’s plan of salvaiton. The whining objection, such as: “Why didn’t God keep us all free from original sin?”
3. Willful rejection based in hatred of all things Catholic more that learned bias.

Of course we cannot know who has simple misunderstandings and who willfully rejects Mary due to hatred of all things Catholic, so it’s not for us to judge. Not even when we think we know because only God can know the depths of the human heart.

 

[friardchips]

Forgive me, but I don’t think we can say we are done until we drag into the light some of the reasons for rejecting Marian teachings.

The more cerbral reasons:

1. The reasons already given about Church authority.
2. Unfamiliarity with Church teaching resulting in mistrust of Church teaching.
3. Misinformation about Church teaching.

The emotional/spiritual reasons:

1. Fear sent from the infernal regions to dissuade the soul from accepting Mary.
2. Envy of Mary’s uniqueness in God’s plan of salvaiton. The whining objection, such as: “Why didn’t God keep us all free from original sin?”
3. Willful rejection based in hatred of all things Catholic more that learned bias.

Of course we cannot know who has simple misunderstandings and who willfully rejects Mary due to hatred of all things Catholic, so it’s not for us to judge. Not even when we think we know because only God can know the depths of the human heart.

I agree with your post. All excellent points and relative to this thread. By ‘done’, I was referring to something you requested I do!

Yes, many different reasons. Maybe the Ordinariate will bridge some gaps!

 

[friardchips]

I was getting Protestants and Anglicans mixed up then. :doh2: Maybe there could be a bridge between Protestants and Catholics as there is between Anglicans and Catholics.?

 

[Jeanne_S]

I have to say, that’s a huge simplification…
Is this thread about making our veneration and our relationship with Mama Mary “fit” a Protestants ears or is this thread about sharing the tremendous gift we’ve been given by Christ as he gave us his sweet mother to also be our mother?
It’s not indifferent if we venerate her or not, I think the fact that Christ gave her to us at the cross testifies just how important it is for him that we love her and hold her dear in our hearts just as he did.
To love Mary is actually a way to glorify Christ.

I think it’s only natural for a child to flee to his mother in both joy and dispare, but maybe most of all when we are feeling lost and are in need her gentle care.

So it’s more to it than just asking for intercession (even though that’s a part of it) and tell her how we much love her.
As our heaventhly mother and queen of heaven and earth I think she deserves to be a huge part of our life and our daily walk with Christ.

Yours in Jesus and Mary

• MarianCatholic

I love this explaination!And I am happy to say I love my Mama Mary,I pray to her and with her throughout the day