Praying to Mary

[Nella]

This is something that I did not know until last year. During the Eucharistic Prayer, the priest takes three steps back from the altar in order to make room for the communion of saints. The Mass is outside of time and all members of the Church are included in the celebration, not just those we see.

What you say here has a real value of intrigue in which I do agree with you. Our priests do the same thing in the Episcopal church.

 

[Subrosa]

Someone commented to me that one “problem” with the Catholic church is that they pray to Mary as well as others, and that you are only supposed to pray to God.

I stated that in my very limited knowledge (from lurking here) it wasn’t “praying” so much as it was “asking”.

She said, “and the difference would be??”

Ok, I’m stumped. What makes talking to God “praying” and talking to any other deceased saint or person “asking”?

Thanks for letting me ask.

Cellophane

Yup, pretty much we pray to Mary and all the other saints. Lots of non-catholics have an issue with this. But, if you look at the history of it you will see that it is a part of Christianity from the beginning.

The Shepherd of Hermas was considered for the bible, but was rejected because it wasn’t written by an Apostle. (mb-soft.com/believe/txv/hermas01.htm) The whole thing is a conversation with an angel. This document was written during the time of the Apostles.

Subrosa