Someone tell me is "Praying to Mary" necessary?

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Could someone tell me is praying to Mary a necessary part of being a Catholic? I realize the importance of her, but am a bit confused as far as what part she really plays in a Catholic’s everyday life.

Alot of my Protestant friends say Catholics “pray to Mary instead of God”. I know this is not true, but why do we have to pray to her at all?

Appreciate your help~~~
 
Is it necessary to call your mother once in awhile in order to live your life? Not really, but its nice to show you care and sometimes she gives you good advice. 😉
 
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sparkle:
Could someone tell me is praying to Mary a necessary part of being a Catholic? I realize the importance of her, but am a bit confused as far as what part she really plays in a Catholic’s everyday life.

Alot of my Protestant friends say Catholics “pray to Mary instead of God”. I know this is not true, but why do we have to pray to her at all?

Appreciate your help~~~
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Personally, I would say it’s not “necessary” but is an essential part of our faith - the reverence we show to Jesus’s mother and His friends, the saints in heaven. They are as “alive in Christ” as we are, if not more so, and the “prayers of a righteous man availeth much”, and who can be more “righteous” than those who are in heaven with God?

My :twocents: hope that helps. There are threads in the forum that discuss this as well.

God Bless
 
No, I don’t think it’s “necessary” for salvation to invoke or ask for any intercessory prayer, but I don’t know why you wouldn’t.
We ask for her intercession - for her prayers - we don’t worship her or any other saint. This is the same song Protestants have been singing for centuries. Many of my own siblings, who have left the Church, accuse the rest of us who have remained of this heresy.
If I were to ask you, as a friend, to pray for me - I believe that you would. How much more powerful would that prayer be if you were made perfect - as ALL in heaven are. The Protestant would say, “Well you can’t ask a dead person to pray for you.” I beg to differ - they are more alive than WE are!
Doesn’t Revelation 5:8-9 assure us about “. . . . the gold bowls filled with incense which are the prayers of the holy ones”?
I feel sorry for anybody who doesn’t realize that they have advocates in heaven - if they would only ask for help!
Consider this: At the wedding at Cana, Mary asked Jesus to help with the problems of the wine having run out. He explicitly tells her that it is not yet His time. Yet, He does what she asks of Him because He is the perfect son.
How many of US have let down our parents - Jesus NEVER would!
God Bless.

“Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ” - St. Jerome
 
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sparkle:
Could someone tell me is praying to Mary a necessary part of being a Catholic? I realize the importance of her, but am a bit confused as far as what part she really plays in a Catholic’s everyday life.

Alot of my Protestant friends say Catholics “pray to Mary instead of God”. I know this is not true, but why do we have to pray to her at all?

Appreciate your help~~~
Click to expand...
I’m not much of an apologist, but I’ll give you my opinion…

As I’m sure you know, Catholics honor Mary with the highest honor due a creature created by God, but they do not worship her - worship being reserved only for God. There are Marian dogmas that are essential teachings of Catholicism and must be believed by all Catholics and those are set out clearly in the Catechism.

That being said, I don’t think that praying to Mary is a necessary part (in the sense of being a requirement) of being a Catholic. It may be a beneficial part, a beautiful part, a comforting part and a spiritually-strengthening part, but not a required part. Prayer is part of our devotional life - and devotions (Marian or otherwise) are different than dogmas.

The Church teaches what we must believe about Mary, but does not dictate that we must pray to her. It certainly recommends that we do, as do I, but the decision to ask Mary’s help through intercessory prayer is up to each individual.

An important thing to stress to non-Catholics is that when Catholics pray to Mary, they are intercessory prayers - we are in effect asking Mary to pray for us in the same manner in which we ask other saints to pray for us. We are not asking Mary to perform miracles, give us anything, or do anything for, or to us. She is a creature - albeit the first among creatures - she is not God. However, as the mother of Jesus, Catholics believe that her intercessions carry particular weight with God.

Most Catholics (myself included) value the role of Mary as the model disciple who said “yes” to God. And most probably make various Marian devotions part of their prayer life. But those devotions are not required by the Church and the degree to which any Catholic includes them - or not - is a choice that they make for themselves

I hope that helps.

Blessings.
 
sparkle,
Could someone tell me is praying to Mary a necessary part of being a Catholic? I realize the importance of her, but am a bit confused as far as what part she really plays in a Catholic’s everyday life.
Click to expand...
Alot of my Protestant friends say Catholics “pray to Mary instead of God”. I know this is not true, but why do we have to pray to her at all?
Click to expand...
Appreciate your help~~~
Click to expand...
I am not an offical Catholic yet, so I am answering this as one who is labeled “protestant” but who desires to be a Catholic.

My question is “Why would someone not want to pray to Mary?” If it is a previledge that God has given us to pray not only to her but to all the angels and saints, then why not receive those blessings? That is like asking someone this, “Do I have to receive all the great blessings to be a Catholic?” Well, I guess you can miss out on many of the great blessings in our religious life if we really want to, but who in their right mind would want to do something like that.

As you know, most Protestants just don’t understand a faithful Catholics relationship with the Blessed Mother. The fact is I have found that many hardcore Protestants have become anti-Mary in many ways because they hate Catholicism. They have gotten to where it is just them and Jesus. But I know they are missing out on the blessings that come with the true Christian life, and that is Catholicism.
 
I don’t know if it is necessary to pray to Mary to be Catholic.

I do know that it is not very Catholic to be concerned with “is such-and-such ‘really’ necessary?” It is more of a Protestant attitude to be asking, “What is the bare minimum than I need to do to get into Heaven?” Hence all their “solas.”

It is not “necessary” to eat food. You can live off of intravenous injections. But who would want to?
 
The Bible says, “Honor your father and your mother.”

By the will of God, the body of Jesus, from his conception, was protected and nurished within the womb of his mother, Mary. From his birth, the body of Jesus was cradled in Mary’s arms and nurished at her breasts.

Since her bodily assumption into heaven and her glorification by God, Mary has received an expanded role in salvation history, the role of second Eve (compare 1 Cor 15:45-47) and spiritual mother to all believers (John 19:26-27; Acts 1:14; Rev 12:17). Now, by the will of God, each believer, from his spiritual conception even before his rebirth in baptism, each member of the mystical body of Christ, receives loving, maternal protection and all his spiritual milk (or graces from the Triune God) through Mary, the believer’s spiritual mother. Mary, the faithful handmaid of the Lord (Luke 1:38) has become, by the will of God, the graced one (Luke 1:28) and Mediatrix of all graces.
 
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OhioBob:
…- we are in effect asking Mary to pray for us in the same manner in which we ask other saints to pray for us. We are not asking Mary to perform miracles, give us anything, or do anything for, or to us. She is a creature - albeit the first among creatures - she is not God. However, as the mother of Jesus, Catholics believe that her intercessions carry particular weight with God.
…
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… don’t quite agree.
Mary is regarded much much higher than the saints and the angels. She is God’s masterpiece, His dwelling place, after all.

We honour the saints in dulia, but we venerate Mary in hyper-dulia.

It is necessary to embrace our Mother, since it through her that Christ (and salvation and graces) entered earth, and unless man be arrogant again (like our original parents), he must approach the Almighty through the same channel God leaves us – MAry… 👍
 
If you really wanted to get something done wouldn’t you go to the top? Remember the Wedding Feast at Canna?
Mary’s intercession for the wedding couple…they needed wine so she asked her SON… 🙂
 
No offense :tiphat: , but I must say I am very much concerned about how many Catholics answer this kind of question – the answers seem to belittle Our Lady and the unique role she plays, perhaps as not to intimidate our Protestant brethren. :confused:

I would very much like to suggest Catholics to read St Louis de Montfort’s True Devotion of the Blessed Virgin Mary or Secret of Mary – really powerful books that explain Catholic Mariology at its richest, profoundest and passionate best.
 
Mary and all of the saints are a gift God gives you. Do you “need” to accept this gift? Certainly not, you may refuse any gift God gives you. Intercession is the most referred to topic in Scripture. Read the Bible, God uses angels, men, and saints for intercession. Do you need to use intercession? Certainly not! Is it wrong to use intercession, certainly not!
 
:twocents:, Tom has the best answer.

It is not “Necessary.” But it is WONDERFUL. I too strugled a bit with Mary when I became a Catholic. Then I became a mother. 😃

She is a gift, the best gift after Christ himself. She is the mother of God, and to me, the most compasionate creature ever created. Someone to model myself after as Woman, Daughter, Mother and Wife.

But I must add, someone who does not accept the gift of Mary’s interession is not a “bad” catholic.

🙂 Lilder
 
You can be a good Catholic and never once pray the rosery. You can be a bad Catholic who prays the rosary daily. But, overall, the odds are against you either way. Those who pray the rosary tend to be sronger in their faiths than those that do not. Prayer is important to maintaining your spiritual life. Having others pray for you helps greatly. This is where the Saints come in. If at the Wedding Feast of Cana, Mary became involved to spare the couple embarassment, how much more would she do to help in your sanctification?
 
Nessasary for salvation?..
…
…
I vote yes… i don’t think i could get through life without her intercession… i’m sure the local theologian wanna-be’s will tell
you it’s not required or needed… I respectfully disagree…
… don’t listen to them… talk to your mother… 👍
 
No it is not necessary to pray to Mary.

Yes, it is necessary to acknowledge that prayer through the saints to God is valid and beneficial.

To the next question: “Is to good to pray to Mary?”

It is very good to honor Mary your mother given to you by Jesus on the cross through prayer (communicating with her).

It is very beneficial to ask Mary to help you in your struggles as she is the most influencial non-divine intercessor with have, who loves you more than any other non-divine being.

so something to think about: “Why are you copping out? Fleeing from the opportunity to honor the mother of God who is also your spiritual mother and ask her intercession to her son on your behalf.” Ask Jesus to give you a deep love for His mother and He will.🙂
 
The simple answer is no. Nowhere does it say that we must pray to Mary to be saved, and certainly the non-Catholics who do not pray to Mary do have an opportunity for salvation.
The situation is a lot different for Catholics. (Remember, from those to whom much has been given, much will be expected.) I think the question becomes why a person didn’t pray to Mary. I am certain that many young Catholics today have been so inadequately catechized that they may not know enough about Mary to care. I believe that, sadly, it may be very difficult for these souls to be saved, because of the deficiencies in their Faith. I do not believe the Lord wound condemn them for failing to pray to Mary.
However, I believe that Catholics who are aware of the teachings of the Church regarding Mary’s very special place in Salvation History, who obstinately refuse to pray to Mary are in a very different position. They deserve our prayers because I think such an attitude would put one at serious risk.

I would recommend that anyone who has difficulty praying should ask the Lord for help. If it was me, I might say,

“Lord, I wish only to do your will. I pray that you help me to pray, and if it is your will, that your mother, the blessed Mary ever virgin, who I know was conceived without sin, who I know was Assumed into heaven aide me in my difficulty. Further Lord, if it is your will, may I become aware of her assistance and begin to pay to her the respect and devotion that you would have me do.”

Just my thoughts, I hope they are of some assistance

:blessyou:

Charliemac
 
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elvisman:
No, I don’t think it’s “necessary” for salvation to invoke or ask for any intercessory prayer, but I don’t know why you wouldn’t.
We ask for her intercession - for her prayers - we don’t worship her or any other saint. This is the same song Protestants have been singing for centuries. Many of my own siblings, who have left the Church, accuse the rest of us who have remained of this heresy.
If I were to ask you, as a friend, to pray for me - I believe that you would. How much more powerful would that prayer be if you were made perfect - as ALL in heaven are. The Protestant would say, “Well you can’t ask a dead person to pray for you.” I beg to differ - they are more alive than WE are!
Doesn’t Revelation 5:8-9 assure us about “. . . . the gold bowls filled with incense which are the prayers of the holy ones”?
I feel sorry for anybody who doesn’t realize that they have advocates in heaven - if they would only ask for help!
Consider this: At the wedding at Cana, Mary asked Jesus to help with the problems of the wine having run out. He explicitly tells her that it is not yet His time. Yet, He does what she asks of Him because He is the perfect son.
How many of US have let down our parents - Jesus NEVER would!
God Bless.

Very well said…Good post!! 👍
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The Blessed Mother is our Mother. Mary has been assisting, guiding, warning and helping us since after her Assumption. Fatima, Guadalupe, Knock ect…“Am I not here, I, whom am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am I not the source of your joy? Are you not in the hollow of my mantle, in the crossing of my arms? Do you need something more?” The Blessed Mother to Juan Diego 1531

Andyz
 
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