Why do Catholics pray through Mary & Saints?

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christina_kim

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I’m Catholic… and i had a big debate (but never a fight) with my protestant friend yesterday…

and I got through the question of “worshiping” Mary last time, (she is our Mother, so we RESPECT her and the prayer says “pray for us sinners…” not “oh grant us salvation right now because You’re our God.”)

but I got stuck when she asked me why we pray to Mary & saints when we could directly pray to God?

I told her that they’re like the connector from us to God, but she didnt seem to get it… how should I explain this?

& same for confession, why do we have to talk to priests when God could just forgive us?

I guess protestants don’t really like the idea of …connecting? (that’s how i understand it as…)

I was pretty sure that a lot of other protestants would be wondering about this as well, and I thought i should ask here.

help meee pleasee??
 
Ask your friend if she doesn’t ask other people to pray for her, see what she replies, and then you’ll know how to respond.
 
christina_kim said:
I’m Catholic… and i had a big debate (but never a fight) with my protestant friend yesterday…

and I got through the question of “worshiping” Mary last time, (she is our Mother, so we RESPECT her and the prayer says “pray for us sinners…” not “oh grant us salvation right now because You’re our God.”)

but I got stuck when she asked me why we pray to Mary & saints when we could directly pray to God?

I told her that they’re like the connector from us to God, but she didnt seem to get it… how should I explain this?

& same for confession, why do we have to talk to priests when God could just forgive us?

I guess protestants don’t really like the idea of …connecting? (that’s how i understand it as…)

I was pretty sure that a lot of other protestants would be wondering about this as well, and I thought i should ask here.

help meee pleasee??
Click to expand...

They can’t be separated from Him, any more than head & body can be separated. He is the Head of His Body, which is the Church in Heaven & earth. Our union with Him, is union with them also, in the Spirit Who is Christ’s, and is poured onto His Church.​

 
christina_kim said:
I’m Catholic… and i had a big debate (but never a fight) with my protestant friend yesterday…

and I got through the question of “worshiping” Mary last time, (she is our Mother, so we RESPECT her and the prayer says “pray for us sinners…” not “oh grant us salvation right now because You’re our God.”)

but I got stuck when she asked me why we pray to Mary & saints when we could directly pray to God?

I told her that they’re like the connector from us to God, but she didnt seem to get it… how should I explain this?

& same for confession, why do we have to talk to priests when God could just forgive us?

I guess protestants don’t really like the idea of …connecting? (that’s how i understand it as…)

I was pretty sure that a lot of other protestants would be wondering about this as well, and I thought i should ask here.

help meee pleasee??
Click to expand...
It is a position of humility! Reformers do not get it because of the ‘obstinancy’ of the position they adopt!

Christ said to ask Him and He will grant! Ask The Father who loves abundantly and He will grant. etc… etc. All this is true!

But even He prayed for Peter and the Apostles. Clearly, He also taught the Apostles to pray for each other. Paul, also, teaches for the faithful to pray for him (who is an Apostle!) and for each other!

We know that God ‘hears the prayers of the righteous,’ We also know that the ‘request’ of His Mother ‘moves’ Him.

The reason Catholics can pray through Mary and The Saints is **because we always count ourselves wretched and unworthy ** to approach One Who Is SPOTLESS WITHOUT SIN. We know we are not!

His Love is such that in spite of that, He said we can ask Him directly! But in fear and trembling of our sinful state, we appreciate the audacity of such a position to just 'march into His Presence covered in ‘mud’ of our sinful state.

:cool:
 
We pray to Mary and the other saints because there is power in intercessory prayer.

The saints CAN hear us in Heaven, because death does not separate us from the body fo Christ (scriptures abound to testify to this), and in Heaven, we SHARE in God’s glory (ROMANS 8:17…there is more scripture to support this, but it’s early and I’m too lazy to look it up. hopefully someone smarter than me will provide more scripture for this point).

The saints are in Heaven, so, by nature of the state of their soul, they MUST be “righteous” in the eyes of God, and “the prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (can’t remember ch and verse… a little help please).

In addition to Scripture and theology supporting the practice, historical archaeology gives evidence that this was a practice of the first century Church. Tombs of the first christians, such as St. Peter, are scribbled with “grafitti” asking for his prayers.

Protestants reject the communion of saints because some of them have a very narcissistic, self-centered, “Jesus n me” view of Christianity, and I can’t help but wonder if they feel that legitimizing this practice undermines their “personal relationship” theology in some regard. As another interesting sidenote, Jesus healed several people in the Gospels based on the faith and intercessions of a third party. The Cannanite woman’s daughter in Matthew 15 is a good example of this. Jesus freed the Cannanite woman’s daughter from demons based on the faith of the mother, not the daughter (who was posessed). Jesus told the Cannanite woman that HER faith had healed her daughter, not that the daughter must come directly to Him herself to be healed. There is at least one other healing in the Gospel (the Roman soldier…again, can’t remember the verse) that clearly indicates Jesus healing an individual based on the intercession of another.

In short, we do it because it’s True, and IT WORKS!!!
 
i asked my catholic friends the questions too. and that’s the arguments that i used too that ‘why dont pray to God directly.’

and they replied me the same as here too that ‘why do you invite your friends to pray for you then?’

i still got stuck. i didnt understand why people would ask dead people to pray for them. until a catholic friend told me the concept of time in God is different from us, a human being on earth.

then i understood.

but for myself, i rarely pray to saints or Mary even though i understand. i still prefer to pray to God directly. personal choice. 😃
 
christina_kim said:
I’m Catholic… and i had a big debate (but never a fight) with my protestant friend yesterday…

and I got through the question of “worshiping” Mary last time, (she is our Mother, so we RESPECT her and the prayer says “pray for us sinners…” not “oh grant us salvation right now because You’re our God.”)

but I got stuck when she asked me why we pray to Mary & saints when we could directly pray to God?

I told her that they’re like the connector from us to God, but she didnt seem to get it… how should I explain this?

& same for confession, why do we have to talk to priests when God could just forgive us?

I guess protestants don’t really like the idea of …connecting? (that’s how i understand it as…)

I was pretty sure that a lot of other protestants would be wondering about this as well, and I thought i should ask here.

help meee pleasee??
Click to expand...
This is something that should be much simpler than we seem to make it. Asking those already in Heaven to pray for us is the same as asking someone in church to pray for you. I suppose the only way one would or could totally object to this is if they do not believe anyone goes to Heaven until Jesus’ comes back.

I am Anglican and I most certainly ask Mary and the other saints in Heaven to pray with me to God.
 
christina_kim said:
I’m Catholic… and i had a big debate (but never a fight) with my protestant friend yesterday…

and I got through the question of “worshiping” Mary last time, (she is our Mother, so we RESPECT her and the prayer says “pray for us sinners…” not “oh grant us salvation right now because You’re our God.”)

but I got stuck when she asked me why we pray to Mary & saints when we could directly pray to God?

I told her that they’re like the connector from us to God, but she didnt seem to get it… how should I explain this?

& same for confession, why do we have to talk to priests when God could just forgive us?

I guess protestants don’t really like the idea of …connecting? (that’s how i understand it as…)

I was pretty sure that a lot of other protestants would be wondering about this as well, and I thought i should ask here.

help meee pleasee??
Click to expand...
When Catholics pray to Mary and the other saints in Heaven they are not bypassing Christ, whom they acknowledge as the sole Mediator between God and man. They are going to Christ through Mary and the other saints. They are asking Mary and other saints to intercede for them before the throne of Christ in Heaven. For the continual prayer of a just man availeth much.'' (James 5:16). How much more availing is the unceasing prayer of the sinless Mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ! St. Paul asked his fellow Christians to intercede for him: Brethren, pray for us.’’ (2 Thess. 3:1). And again: I beseech you therefore, brethren, through our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the charity of the Holy Ghost, that you help me in your prayers for me to God...'' (Rom. 15:30). Christ must particularly approve of our going to Him through Mary, His Blessed Mother, because He chose to come to us through her. And at Cana, He performed His first miracle after a word from His Mother. (John 2:2-11). It is clear in Sacred Scripture that the saints in Heaven will intercede for us before the throne of Christ if they are petitioned in prayer (Apoc. or Rev. 8:3-4), and it is clear in the records of primitive Christianity that the first Christians eagerly sought their intercession. Wrote St. John Chrysostom in the fourth century: When thou perceivest that God is chastening thee, fly not to His enemies, but to His friends, the martyrs, the saints, and those who were pleasing to Him, and who have great power.’’ If the saints have such power with God, how much more His own Mother.
 
With the Protestant view that there can be no intercessory supplicants to the grace and mercy of God, we are often left with the idea that once the beloved faithdul have passed on, they are out of the picture or have been reduced to specators.

The Catholic view is that they are still involved in the life of the church.

The passage in the Bible about Christ being the only intercessor refers to His unique role as savior and not to the idea that no one else can help us carry our needs to the father.

Catholics will often say that there is no difference between asking Mary to pray for us and asking our terrestrial neighbor to do the same. This is abit facile and must be parsed, but at it’s root is true when we keep in mind the idea that the church is not just people walking the earth today.
 
Steadfast said:
With the Protestant view that there can be no intercessory supplicants to the grace and mercy of God, we are often left with the idea that once the beloved faithdul have passed on, they are out of the picture or have been reduced to specators.
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This is wrong. We do not omit intercessory supplicants to the grace and mercy of God. This works throught the saints past, present and future.
 
SIA said:
This is wrong. We do not omit intercessory supplicants to the grace and mercy of God. This works throught the saints past, present and future.
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I understand that Protestants believe in the church across time but the impression that they are spectators remains when the possibility of interaction with them to secure this intercession is removed.
 
Steadfast said:
I understand that Protestants believe in the church across time but the impression that they are spectators remains when the possibility of interaction with them to secure this intercession is removed.
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Are you talking about ALL Protestants as if they are all of the same mind?
 
SIA said:
Are you talking about ALL Protestants as if they are all of the same mind?
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Well, I said “the Protestant view” and in doing so I did what I have so often accused Catholics of doing; of attributing to all the faults of a few.

I beg your pardon.

No, some Protestants continue to ask the saints for their intercession but I note that many who do do not really consider themselves “Protestant”.

🙂
 
Steadfast said:
Well, I said “the Protestant view” and in doing so I did what I have so often accused Catholics of doing; of attributing to all the faults of a few.

I beg your pardon.

No, some Protestants continue to ask the saints for their intercession but I note that many who do do not really consider themselves “Protestant”.

🙂
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I just wanted to make sure that you understood that. Thank you.👍
 
In the wedding at Cana in Galilee Jesus changes water to wine:
Mary: They have no more wine
Jesus: Why do you involve me?
Mary (to the servants): Do whatever he tells you.
… and Jesus changes water to wine.
Only a mother can involve his son in a matter even if he doesn’t want to be involved in.
Jesus never refuse to listen at His Mother request.
We pray to St Mary for her capability this
 
Tarek_Chidiac said:
In the wedding at Cana in Galilee Jesus changes water to wine:
Mary: They have no more wine
Jesus: Why do you involve me?
Mary (to the servants): Do whatever he tells you.
… and Jesus changes water to wine.
Only a mother can involve his son in a matter even if he doesn’t want to be involved in.
Jesus never refuse to listen at His Mother request.
We pray to St Mary for her capability this
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at Cana in Galilee Jesus changes water to wine:
Mary: They have no more wine —was it wine i was thinking it was grape juice,smile
 
The whole question has confused me for so long. I was raised Catholic until pre-teen age, and drifted for many years, until I was introduced to Christianity several years ago.

Since then, the idea of praying to Mary has always made me feel uncomfortable, especially when I speak with someone who says they pray to Mary. I understand asking others to pray for you and with you, as has been clearly communicated in this thread, but what is the response when someone says they pray to Mary as an intercessor to God through Jesus Christ? It’s confusing.

Also, what about Idolatry? I understand home alters for prayer, prayers corners, and places in one’s home to present pictures, statues, and other beloved items, but it makes me unsure of a person’s intentions when they say they pray to Mary and also have a quite significant statue of Mary in what can only be described as a place of worship (it seems) in their home for Mary.

I just do not understand. I have no issue with asking Mary to pray for you or with you, as you might ask saints, people regarded highly in the Church, or even your neighbor and other Church members, but I seem to have an issue with it when it appears to be what I describe as idolatry. How does one reconcile this issue of idolatry and praying with Mary?

Please help. Sincere Regards.
 
christina_kim said:
I’m Catholic… and i had a big debate (but never a fight) with my protestant friend yesterday…

and I got through the question of “worshiping” Mary last time, (she is our Mother, so we RESPECT her and the prayer says “pray for us sinners…” not “oh grant us salvation right now because You’re our God.”)

but I got stuck when she asked me why we pray to Mary & saints when we could directly pray to God?

I told her that they’re like the connector from us to God, but she didnt seem to get it… how should I explain this?

& same for confession, why do we have to talk to priests when God could just forgive us?

I guess protestants don’t really like the idea of …connecting? (that’s how i understand it
as…)

Thanks for asking this question because I get the same question alot. And I have other question people ask me. The other question I get why do we kneel down in front of a cross to pray? they say we are wishoping that cross. Then my husband is going to different religion then me which he wasn’t like that when we got married. He is in the bible constantly which is helping to live a cleaner life. He not making me change my religion but some of the things he doing i just don’t understand either. I cause i get worry that it a cult and not a real religion. it is the church of god of philiphia

I was pretty sure that a lot of other protestants would be wondering about this as well, and I thought i should ask here.

help meee pleasee??
Click to expand...
 
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