Who We Pray To

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ClemtheCatholic

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(Hope this is the correct place to have this!)

I’ve been thinking about all this for some time now. When we pray, do we really think about who we are praying to? Take the Rosary. We have:

“Our Father…” = Praying directly to God.

“Hail Mary…” = Praying to Mary to intercede for us.

“Glory Be…” = Praying directly to God.

“O My Jesus…” = Praying directly to God.

“Hail, Hoy Queen,…” = Praying to Mary to intercede for us.

“Let us pray: pour forth we beseech thee, O Lord,…” = Praying directly to God.

I am a faithful Catholic. Yet, I can’t help but ask, “Isn’t this really odd?!”. I mean, either it’s a good idea to direct our prayers to Mary to intercede for us or it is not. Then again, this shows that the Holy Rosary isn’t exactly the Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Then, we see in the Bible that the disciples ask Jesus Himself just how we should pray. Jesus says to pray directly to God (“Our Father…”).

So, (1) Shouldn’t we pay a bit more attention as to who we’re praying to, and (2) why all this switching between Mary, Saints, Michael the Archangel, God, etc. - why not do what Jesus said and pray directly to God?

Look forward to an explanation to help me in my prayers! 🙂

God Bless,
ClemtheCatholic
 
ClemtheCatholic said:
(Hope this is the correct place to have this!)

I’ve been thinking about all this for some time now. When we pray, do we really think about who we are praying to? Take the Rosary. We have:

“Our Father…” = Praying directly to God.

“Hail Mary…” = Praying to Mary to intercede for us.

“Glory Be…” = Praying directly to God.

“O My Jesus…” = Praying directly to God.

“Hail, Hoy Queen,…” = Praying to Mary to intercede for us.

“Let us pray: pour forth we beseech thee, O Lord,…” = Praying directly to God.

I am a faithful Catholic. Yet, I can’t help but ask, “Isn’t this really odd?!”. I mean, either it’s a good idea to direct our prayers to Mary to intercede for us or it is not. Then again, this shows that the Holy Rosary isn’t exactly the Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Then, we see in the Bible that the disciples ask Jesus Himself just how we should pray. Jesus says to pray directly to God (“Our Father…”).

So, (1) Shouldn’t we pay a bit more attention as to who we’re praying to, and (2) why all this switching between Mary, Saints, Michael the Archangel, God, etc. - why not do what Jesus said and pray directly to God?

Look forward to an explanation to help me in my prayers! 🙂

God Bless,
ClemtheCatholic
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Jesus never said “play directly to God and only pray directly to God”–otherwise the only prayer we would EVER say is the Our Father and we’d be arguing over ‘which’ version was the ‘original’ one and no I don’t mean simply the ‘for thine is the kingdom’ part either.

All through Scripture we are told (a good example is the letter of James) that the prayer of a righteous person is worth much and also’ where two or three are gathered in My name, there am I in their midst.’

Since we know those who have died in a state of grace are no longer separated from Christ physically (as we are on earth) and that they are in fact living more fully than we, who BETTER to join with (as Scripture states) than Mary as we pray to God?

Hmmm???

So we join WITH Mary at times. And we pray ‘directly’ at times. And we sometimes pray the rosary alone, and we sometimes pray with others.

Aren’t we as the Catholic Church ‘big enough’ to have a BROAD outlook and not try to artificially NARROW our prayer life as some (not all) Protestants do?
 
On praying to Mary, I had this thought once. I thought how it pleases Jesus that we pray to His mother because when she makes the request for us, he not only gets to answer our prayers but hers too. A double whammy! Plus, Jesus loves to give gifts to His mother but she already has everything so He gets to give her gifts via her requests for our sake.
 
Lady_Love said:
On praying to Mary, I had this thought once. I thought how it pleases Jesus that we pray to His mother because when she makes the request for us, he not only gets to answer our prayers but hers too. A double whammy! Plus, Jesus loves to give gifts to His mother but she already has everything so He gets to give her gifts via her requests for our sake.
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👍 Word to the Mother.
 
Hmm… yes, I want to clarify that I do understand why it is a good idea to pray to Mary and all that (I pray the Rosary daily). I think I’m just finding certain aspects a little peculiar… so I’ll try and sort them out 👍:

(1) Jesus, when asked, “advised” us to say a certain prayer directly to God. So isn’t it a bit weird that Jesus gave us a form of prayer which is actually not as effective as others because it’s a better idea to get Mary and others to intercede for us? As I said, surely it either is a good idea to pray directly to God, or it is not a good idea (myself and other Catholics tend to do a bit of both, but surely one or the other is more effective?). If it is a good idea - why not always pray directly to God? If it is a bad idea - why did Jesus tell us to do it? Please be assured that I am not trying to be aggressive (and the terminology I am using may be theologically incorrect), I think I’m just a little confused! :confused:

(2) When one really thinks about it - isn’t the Holy Rosary rather “odd” (that said, I still pray the Rosary daily)? I mean, one minute I’m praying to someone and the next minute I am praying to somebody else. There’s nothing wrong with this. But, I personally find it a little “complicated” at times. It makes me wonder just how many people there are who pray the Rosary without taking notice of who they are praying to. The fact that it is known as “The Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary” is rather unhelpful. I think people often go through the whole Rosary either praying entirely to God or entirely to Mary (does this matter?).

This are my 2 main points for now. Once again, I’m looking for a friendly explanation not a aggressive challenge! 👍 And thank you to those who have replied thus far, I hope you can continue to help me understand this better 🙂
 
Well, the Blessed Virgin Mary is someone very special. If I told you all my ponderings about how she is connected to Jesus it would revolt many. Many popes and saints claim that the two pillars are the Eucharist and devotion to Mary.

Just ponder on the idea that Jesus had no fleshly father, so who did He get His flesh and blood from? If you ponder all the possible implications of this, it would embarrass many Catholics and draw criticism from Protestants. You cannot separate Jesus from Mary or Mary being our Mother, or I would be bold as to say even from the Eucharist.

This is not doctrine, but my own meditation.
 
I love the Rosary-sublime, simple yet so profound. It has been in existence for about 800 years, has led countless people to holiness, and has been recommended by many popes. It’s a compendium of the Gospel. That’s good enough for me.
 
Lady_Love said:
On praying to Mary, I had this thought once. I thought how it pleases Jesus that we pray to His mother because when she makes the request for us, he not only gets to answer our prayers but hers too. A double whammy! Plus, Jesus loves to give gifts to His mother but she already has everything so He gets to give her gifts via her requests for our sake.
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And remember, Jesus listens to His mother. His first miracle (Cana) was because she asked :rolleyes:
 
First, we need to differentiate between praying and worshiping. Prayer is conversation, the “lifting up of hearts and minds to God” while our worship is reserved solely for God. We place ourselves solely in His service. We pray to Mary, carry on a conversation with her, because she gave Christ to the world through her fiat, her yes. Christ Himself gave her to us when He gave her to John at the foot of the cross to be his mother, and by extension our mother. What loving child does not converse with his/her mother? About whom do we converse except her Son when we ask to be made worthy of the promises of Christ? Is there any other way that we can be made worthy of the promises of Christ except through the Holy Spirit, the Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary?
Phrased another way, what loving Son would want His mother to be ignored?
 
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