Salaam all;
The statements below were made by Catholic Saints and Popes. I took them from the thread
Does not Allah know what Catholics believe? which dealt with the same topic. They show that Mary is not taken as a normal person by the higher Catholic authorities.
“He who neglects the service of the Blessed Virgin will die in his sins. He who does not invoke thee, O Lady, will never get to Heaven. Not only will those from whom Mary turns her countenance not be saved, but there will be no hope of their salvation. No one can be saved without the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary.” St. Bonaventure, “Psalter of the Blessed Virgin Mary,” Ps.116; DDP, p. 413; IPM, p. 90; GM, p. 221, 170; SOR, p. 30, (quoted in Apostolic Digest, by Michael Malone, Book 1: “The Book of Mary,” Chapter 3: “Those Who Refuse to Honor Our Lady Will Be Lost”).
geocities.com/Athens/Tro…tolic1chp3.html
“All our hope do we repose in the most Blessed Virgin… in her who is the safest refuge and the most trustworthy helper of all who are in danger… in her who has destroyed all heresies and snatched the faithful people and nations from all kinds of direst calamities; in her do we hope who has delivered us from so many threatening dangers”…
Pope Pius IX, in Ineffabilis Deus (The Immaculate Conception) Apostolic Constitution issued on December 8, 1854, Section titled “Hoped-For Results”.
papalencyclicals.net/Pius09/p9ineff.htm
“Our salvation is based upon the holy Virgin… so that if there is any hope and spiritual healing for us we receive it solely and uniquely from her” In the Encyclical of February 2, 1849. Quoted in Donald G. Bloesch, “Essentials of Evangelical Theology”, Vol. 1, page 196.)
St. Ephrem of Edessa: “O Virgin most pure… It is you who have reconciled us with God, you are the only refuge of sinners and the safe harbor of those who are shipwrecked; you are the consolation of the world, the ransom of captives, the health of the weak, the joy of the afflicted and the salvation of all who have recourse to you, and we beg you to have pity on us.” St. Ephrem of Edessa, in Prayer to Mary, Mother of Compassion.
celtic-catholic-church.o…an_prayers.html
“Thus St. John Damascene, an outstanding herald of this traditional truth, spoke out with powerful eloquence when he compared the bodily Assumption of the loving Mother of God with her other prerogatives and privileges…‘It was fitting that she (Mary), who had carried the Creator as a child at her breast, should dwell in the divine tabernacles. It was fitting that the spouse, whom the Father had taken to himself, should live in the divine mansions.’” Pope Pius XII, in Munificentissimus Deus (Defining the Dogma of the Assumption), Encyclical promulgated on November 1, 1950, #21.
papalencyclicals.net/Pius12/P12MUNIF.HTM
“God the Holy Spirit entrusted his wondrous gifts to Mary, his faithful spouse, and chose her as the dispenser of all he possesses, so that she distributes all his gifts and graces to whom she wills, as much as she wills, how she wills and when she wills”
“Mary was the only one who merited to be called the Mother as Spouse of God.” St. Augustine of Hippo, in Sermons #208 (quoted by St. Alphonsus de Liguori in The Glories of Mary, p 304 (New York: Redemptorist, 1931).
“She (Mary) is a virgin who ‘keeps whole and pure the fidelity she has pledged to her Spouse’…The Holy Spirit had already come down upon her, and she became his faithful spouse at the Annunciation.” Pope John Paul II, in Redemptoris Mater (On the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Life of the Pilgrim Church), Encyclical promulgated on March 25, 1987, #5, 26).
vatican.va/holy_father/j…s-mater_en.html
“St. Anselm reminds: ‘We often obtain more promptly what we ask by invoking Mary than by invoking Jesus. Her Son is lord and judge of all, and discerns the merits of each one; therefore, if He does not immediately grant the prayers of all, He is just. When however, the Mother’s name is invoked, though the merits of the suppliant are not such as to deserve that his favor be granted, those of the Mother supply, that he may receive.’ Many things are asked from God and are not granted; they are asked from Mary and are obtained. Now why is this? Because God has thus decreed to honor His Mother.” St. Alphonsus Ligouri, in The Glories of Mary, Chapter IV "To Thee Do We Cry, p 48.
lightministries.com/id605.htm#prayers
Continued…