Praying to the Blessed Mother

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BalQ

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I once came across an argument from a non-catholic that goes like this:

Only God can hear (and grant) the prayers of all peoples.
Mary is not God.
Therefore, Mary cannot hear the prayers of all peoples.
So, why still pray to Mary when you can be more sure of your prayers being heard when you pray directly to God.

Can you please tell me how I can reply to this argument. Thank you very much.
 
I can hear you if you ask me to pray for you, provided that we are in situated in such a manner such as facilitates communication.

But I can only hear you because God gives me the ability to hear you. Were God not to grant me the ability to hear you, I would not be able to hear you regardless of how we were situated with respect to each other.

God gives Mary the ability to hear us when we ask her to pray for us. If the person with whom you are discussing this denies that God has granted Mary the ability to hear our requests for prayer, require that he prove this.

Yours in Christ,

Joseph Bilodeau.
 
This argument does not convince me in the least. If they really thought that no one else’s prayers could help them, then why would they even pray for each other? Why do they have to know the precise way The Blessed Virgin or the other saints could hear or be aware of prayers before they would believe? “I won’t use my cell phone unless I completely understand repeater systems and satellite technology.” “I won’t turn on my AM/FM radio unless I completely understand the difference between Amplitude Modulation and Frequency Modulation.” That’s great if you do, but you don’t need to completely understand the technology involved to use those things. Besides, it seems to me that the huge advances in communication the last 100 years would make it easier to understand and believe that saints could be aware of our prayers. I mean if you can pick up the phone off your belt and call someone instantly in Bangalore, why is it so hard to believe we can communicate with the saints?
 
Catholics often try to respond to Protestants on their turf, and unless you’re a practised apologist, you end up too frustrated to formulate a direct response to their challenges.

I often visit the Grotto of Lourdes in Emmitsburg, MD (a national shrine) and pray to Saint Elizabeth Seton to intercede for my sick or troubled friends, and in some cases my petitions have been ANSWERED. For example, my step-daughter’s grandmother and a friend of a friend are in remission of advanced cancers which the doctors describe as nothing short of miraculous. Are these verifiable miracles? No, because medical technology is involved. But that is what I specifically pray to Elizabeth for - that medicine work in conjunction with grace to bring about a cure.

Apologetics aside, we pray to Mary and the Saints because it WORKS. It’s one of the mysteries of FAITH.

Has the Blessed Mother or a Saint interceded for anyone else out there? Please post.
 
I view praying to Mary and the saints in this way:

(1) It’s ok to have people pray for you.

(2) Since saints are already in heaven, it’s preferable to ask them to pray for you because they are already in heaven.

If they believe in praying for others, then ask them why it would be better for someone that is not in heaven to pray for them as opposed to someone who is already there?
 
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