Questions about Mary

  • Thread starter Thread starter tlyntn
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
T

tlyntn

Guest
I am a protestant searching for answers…I am very new to looking into the Catholic church for answers…Ok, here it is… Please guide me to scripture that shows that praying to Mary and the Saints for intercession is ok… Maybe because of my protestant upbringing through more than one denomination, I am a little unsure and feel like I am doing something wrong by praying thru or to someone other than God directly… Thank you so much
 
Hi I am a protestant seeking answers… I am very new to seeking out Catholic answers to my spiritual questions… I would very much like scriptures that point me to the fact that it is ok to pray to or thru? Mary and the Saints… Maybe it is my various protestant experiences that make me feel like I am doing something wrong if asking for intercession from Mary or a Saint… Thank you for scripture to help me study this…
 
Do you, or does your denomination, encourage asking each other for interecessory prayer? I know of no Protestant community who does not regularly pray for each other’s needs, and ask for prayer for needs of others who may be distant. No one, I am sure, in so doing feels they are in someway bypassing Christ by asking for prayer.

Once we realize who Mary and the saints are, that they are the Church Triumphant, just as we are the Church militant still here on earth fighting the good fight, we understand that in asking them to pray for us we are acknowledgeing the full reality of the communion of saints. It is simply not possible for Mary and the Saints, who are in heaven and continually in God’s presence, to do anything other than pray to, with an in Christ, so there is no question of somehow slighting Him when we pray with them.

It think difficulties with the concept of praying with and to the saints has more to do with understanding the nature of What is the Church, who are the Saints, and what is our place in this community. link above is great.
 
tlyntn said:
I am a protestant searching for answers…I am very new to looking into the Catholic church for answers…Ok, here it is… Please guide me to scripture that shows that praying to Mary and the Saints for intercession is ok… Maybe because of my protestant upbringing through more than one denomination, I am a little unsure and feel like I am doing something wrong by praying thru or to someone other than God directly… Thank you so much
Click to expand...
Welcome to CAF, tlyntn 👋

Here are some articles that will get you off to a good start in understanding the Catholic teaching regarding the intercession of Mary and the other Saints:

catholic.com/library/praying_to_the_saints.asp

catholic.com/thisrock/2003/0312frs.asp

catholic.com/library/mary_saints.asp

bringyou.to/apologetics/a96.htm

bringyou.to/apologetics/a118.htm
 
Thank you Copeland for showing me the link to the library,the scripture there will give me something to look at… My great grandmother before passing away told me that when she got there she would intercede for me… I liked that Idea, but didnt quite make the leap of actually asking her to pray for me… Now recently my grandmother passed and my mother converted to the catholic faith about 7 years ago… Anyway just thank you
 
Bless you and welcome to CAF (and the Catholic Church!)
I had the same questions as you. A book that really helped me is a classic by St. Louis-Marie Grignon de Montfort called “The True Devotion to Mary”. Read it. The Holy Spirit spoke to me through this saint´s writing! 👍
 
Thank you FCEGM… My great grandmother before passing told me that when she got there she would intercede for me… I found this conforting, but did not take the leap of actually asking her to intercede for me, now my grandmother has passed and my mother who converted to the catholic faith is showing me a way that until now I may not have been ready for… I am going to my first mass tomorrow without my mother… I have only been twice… I trust God will guide me…
 
tlyntn said:
Thank you Copeland for showing me the link to the library,the scripture there will give me something to look at… My great grandmother before passing away told me that when she got there she would intercede for me… I liked that Idea, but didnt quite make the leap of actually asking her to pray for me… Now recently my grandmother passed and my mother converted to the catholic faith about 7 years ago… Anyway just thank you
Click to expand...
Consider the following scriptures:

**Matthew 22:32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’ ? He is not the God of the dead but of the living."

Mark 12:27 He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!"

Luke 20:38 “He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.”**

Also consider the transfiguration:

**Matthew 17:1-3 After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.

Mark 9:2-4 After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. 3His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. 4And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus.**

Clearly, God does not see our “dead” as being dead, even if we do. Moses and Elijah were clearly departed from this world, yet were seen by Peter, James and John speaking live with Jesus. Thus, they are alive, not dead.

Also. John wrote of the prayers of the Saints in Revelation 5:8, and 8:3-4, where he saw the prayers of the Saints rising to the throne of God. I hope that this, and the preceding posts have been helpful. The Holy Spirit is speaking to your heart and is calling you to the fulness of truth and faith.

Christ’s peace.
 
tlyntn,

The Saints, of which Mary is the chief example, are asked for intercessory prayer on our, or others’, behalf. They are not offered prayer of worship. Since we know that the Saints live on in heaven, by virtue of Christ’s sacrifice, how much better can they offer intercessory prayer on our behalf than the living, who are also routinely asked for such prayer. This concept is completely supported by Scripture, even in 1 Timothy, Chapter 2. While verse 5 is often quoted from this chapter as clarifying Christ’s unique role, the preceding four verses are often ignored:
I Tim 2
1 I desire therefore, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men: 2 For kings, and for all that are in high station: that we may lead a quiet and a peaceable life in all piety and chastity. 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, 4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and one mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus:
Click to expand...
And from Revelation:
5:8 And when he had opened the book, the four living creatures, and the four and twenty ancients fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints:
Click to expand...
8:3 And another angel came, and stood before the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given to him much incense, that he should offer of the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar, which is before the throne of God.
Click to expand...
For further information on Catholic beliefs, you might want to read “Catholic and Christian” by Alan Schreck: amazon.com/Catholic-Chris…5825321&sr=8-1

Its a concise, straightforward non-argumentative explanation of Catholic beliefs, many of which are misunderstood, especially by Protestants.

Sincerely,
rocketrob
 
tlyntn said:
Thank you FCEGM… My great grandmother before passing told me that when she got there she would intercede for me… I found this conforting, but did not take the leap of actually asking her to intercede for me, now my grandmother has passed and my mother who converted to the catholic faith is showing me a way that until now I may not have been ready for… I am going to my first mass tomorrow without my mother… I have only been twice… I trust God will guide me…
Click to expand...
He will, tlyntn - May you be richly blessed as you discern His call.
 
tlyntn said:
I am a protestant searching for answers…I am very new to looking into the Catholic church for answers…Ok, here it is… Please guide me to scripture that shows that praying to Mary and the Saints for intercession is ok… Maybe because of my protestant upbringing through more than one denomination, I am a little unsure and feel like I am doing something wrong by praying thru or to someone other than God directly… Thank you so much
Click to expand...
An important point of perspective helps when looking into the Catholic Church… namely that Christ established the Church, and members of the early Church wrote the Scriptures, and later the Church chose which Scriptures were supposed to be in the Bible. The Church existed for many years before the Scriptures were even written. You can have a Church without the Bible, but the Bible would not have existed without the authoritative Church. The perspective is that there is an authoritative Church which teaches infallibly, including interpretations of Scripture.
 
do not look beyond John 2, the weddding of cana. when the wine ran out the servants went to Mary with this problem. she, knowing full well the ambarrassment it would cause, not to mention stern reprisals against them by the master of the house, interceded on their behalf unto her son. Mary said to the servants: " Do as he says."

and yes, the servants are us.
 
tlyntn said:
I am a protestant searching for answers…I am very new to looking into the Catholic church for answers…Ok, here it is… Please guide me to scripture that shows that praying to Mary and the Saints for intercession is ok… Maybe because of my protestant upbringing through more than one denomination, I am a little unsure and feel like I am doing something wrong by praying thru or to someone other than God directly… Thank you so much
Click to expand...
Hi!

…though you’ve gotten great replies…

…I think that the problem arises from how the Holy Scriptures are interpreted–as a Catholic I cannot dissect individual passages of the Scriptures, divorce them from the rest of the Bible and create a doctrine/theology on just an indiviual/s passage; I must asimilate the dissected Scripture in light of the Bible…

…you can see some of this when you marry the various replies that you’ve received:

i.e.: it is a practice of the Apostles; Christ testament is that we are alive in Yahweh God, even when we die; The Church is comprised by both the Written and Oral Traditions (Holy Scriptures and Oral Teachings); Mary intercedes on behalf of others because she knows her Son; we are fully aware that we are to Worship only God…

…though we are accused of not reading the Bible, Catholics are taught by the Church that we cannot chose and pick and ignore… we must accept the Word of God even when we have very little understanding of His Revelation…

…here’s a wopper… who do you think instituted the practice of intercessory prayer? …Jesus! Here’s the passage:

Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." (St. Matthew 9:37-38)

…so here’s Jesus, God, delegating to His disciples a task that He Himself could do with far better efficiency–the Church understands that God desires intercessory prayer so she Teaches us about the Communion of the Saints; quite Biblical, if we truly listen to the Holy Scriptures!

Maran atha!

Angel
 
tlyntn said:
I am a protestant searching for answers…I am very new to looking into the Catholic church for answers…Ok, here it is… Please guide me to scripture that shows that praying to Mary and the Saints for intercession is ok… Maybe because of my protestant upbringing through more than one denomination, I am a little unsure and feel like I am doing something wrong by praying thru or to someone other than God directly… Thank you so much
Click to expand...
In Ephesians 3:14-15 we are called one family in Christ, in heaven and on earth. We are united together, as children of the Father, through Jesus Christ. That is what a covenant is, a union, not a contractual agreement. Our brothers and sisters in heaven are still part of that family. This family is in Jesus Christ, the head of the body, which is the Church.

In Romans 8:35-39, St. Paul writes that death does not separate the family of God and the love of Christ. We are still united with each other, even beyond death. Did Jesus not converse with the “diseased” when he spoke with Moses and Elijah?

St. Paul urges supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people in his letter to St. Timothy, 1 Timothy 2:1-4. So, since this is pleasing to God, and those that are in heaven are still part of the one family of Christ, Revelation 5:8 makes perfect sense. The prayers of the saints, on heaven and earth, are presented to God by the angels and saints in heaven. This shows that the saints intercede on our behalf before God, and it also demonstrates that our prayers on earth are united with their prayers in heaven.

We also see in Revelation 6:9-11 that the martyred saints in heaven cry out in a loud voice to God to avenge their blood “on those who dwell upon the earth.” These are “imprecatory prayers,” which are pleas for God’s judgment. This means that the saints in heaven are praying for those on earth, and God answers their prayers (Rev. 8:1-5). We, therefore, ask for their intercession and protection.

Hope this helps and God bless.
ZP
 
Dear tlyntn - well, if you think you’re grandmom is a saint, by all means pray to her. But don’t limit yourself to just her. Try a few of the catholic saints too! You might be pleasantly surprised by the results.

Peace,

Gail
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top