Why do we need to pray to Mary?

  • Thread starter Thread starter psalm90
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
Wesrock said:
What does this link have to do with Melkite Catholics in communion with Rome?

East and west have different theological expressions, formulations, and traditions, which are all a part of the Catholic faith. If they hold communion with Rome, and if Rome acknowledges that the communion of churches all profess one faith, it seems rather odd to attack a Catholic priest on the subject, especially one with such an education, should the details be truthful (no offense, Father, this is the anonymous internet, and you are a new user on this forum).
Click to expand...
Furthermore, if you really wish to get into this, Pope Benedict XVI Emeritus said that we are to hold dear to the ‘traditions’ of our own Churches.

If the poster had sent the link and put forward citings from the link, in charity, and explained why, instead of saying, in effect: “This is all you need to read”, then the “tone” would have suggested the desire for polite debate, not proselytism. And he did say this, when in actual fact, even though each member of the Catholic faithful is supposed to love his or her own traditions; because of this, highlighting that not everyone cares about the sensitivities of the Catholic faithful despite possibly knowing better.

And going by the “tone” of some posters in regards to the Blessed Virgin, Mother of God, it is not too far-fetched a theory to suggest that many have fallen into a lack of reverence for all things holy.

I believe in all the Dogmas of the Faith, including the Marian ones.
I hold the Pope as leader of the Church.
AND I truly love all the ‘traditions’ that we, as Roman Rite Catholics are meant to love.

There are posters on this forum who do. But it makes me sad when I read comments that are not only opposed, but using vile language for those sacred truths that all people would be better off not going near at all rather than using the language they do use, when speaking of such Heavenly gifts. It is appalling.
 
USMC_Convert said:
Father, don’t take friardchips to be offensive, I don’t think he means it that way, it’s simply the way his personality is, I’ve seen many of his posts and I have come to accept that’s just the way he talks. He is good meaning at heart, I believe.

Friardchips, I never saw you question Don Ruggero’s credentials and he said multiple things which would lead to suspicion while Father Sebastian truly has not. Anyone can claim to be anyone on here, we must place our trust that these individuals are honest and who they say they are unless proven otherwise. Not to mention I checked out the website, everything seems totally legit.

Thanks to both of you for your strong dedication to the faith, and let’s keep this debate rolling!
Click to expand...
Thank you; feeling’s mutual. 🙂
Will keep your message for the need of goodwill in mind.
 
Herculees said:
We do NOT pray to Mary, We pray THROUGH Mary to Jesus!

If MY mother could provide you something that you needed you certainly could ask her yourself and she very well my meet your need, however, if you came to ME and asked me to speak to her she’d more likely do it since I, HER daughter asked her. So it is with Jesus and Mary.
Click to expand...
True, but we also don’t have to pray through Mary if we choose not to.
 
FatherSebastian said:
Excuse me, but your tone, and yes your tone, is not only not Christian, it is highly uncatholic. You are completely out of line. I am a Melkite Catholic priest of the Church of Antioch. The Melkite Catholic Church. You are obviously ignorant of the meaning of the word Catholic, the history of the Catholic Church, and specifically the Church of Antioch, “where they were first called Christians” (Acts 11). I have an MA in Roman Catholic Theology from the Notre Dame Graduate School of Christendom College and a PhD in Roman Catholic Biblical Studies from the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. I am a regular lecturer for the Institute of Catholic Culture, Christendom College, an a plethora of other “Roman” Catholic institutions. I could go on but I think my point is clear. My suggestion that your interlocutors take a look at my lecture on Mary was actually, if you had humbled yourself for a moment to realize, in your favor. Are you a Catholic? If so, in which parish are you presently registered?
Click to expand...
Father, tragically one will encounter this sort of abhorrent behaviour on this forum. It is very sad that there are such as do this. On the other hand, you will find both Catholics and non-Catholics who interact with us in the most pleasant and even delightful of exchanges.

The moderators, fortunately, are very appreciative and respectful of those few of us who are clergy that participate in this forum.

When you encounter this sort of behaviour, as you just have, you should click on the triangle in the upper right corner and report the post to the moderator with the notation “Poster has attacked a priest in violation of forum rules.”
 
Padres1969 said:
True, but we also don’t have to pray through Mary if we choose not to.
Click to expand...
Actually, we can pray to Mary. Praying to Mary is also through and with Mary.

As St. Louis De Montford said: "When you say Mary, she says God."
For reasons of clarity, advising people to report others is against forum rules.

And this rule has been abused many times.
 
Pray means to implore, to entreat, to make a humble request. In this definition, we certainly pray to saints to ask them to intercede with God on our behalf.
 
friardchips said:
Actually, we can pray to Mary. Praying to Mary is also through and with Mary.

As St. Louis De Montford said: "When you say Mary, she says God."
For reasons of clarity, advising people to report others is against forum rules.

And this rule has been abused many times.
Click to expand...
I thought Catholics like to make it very clear they’re praying for Mary’s intercession or through her, not to her. She’s not God after all.
 
Padres1969 said:
I thought Catholics like to make it very clear they’re praying for Mary’s intercession or through her, not to her. She’s not God after all.
Click to expand...
Same thing, different emphasis. Not calibrated for discussion with protestants that deny the intercession of the saints.
 
Padres1969 said:
I thought Catholics like to make it very clear they’re praying for Mary’s intercession or through her, not to her. She’s not God after all.
Click to expand...
You can pray to Mary and with Mary because to pray to Mary is to pray also to God because Mary is inseparable to her Son. All prayers go to God and He is the source of all grace.

You can say, to Jesus through Mary, if it makes you uneasy.

Also though, people can be very rigid. They think that God is a set of rules and that faith is an instruction manual.

It is not. A tutor once told us that Scripture, and I think faith too, is about “relationship”.

Even schismatics, such as Luther, knew they could “run to Mary”.

She is our faithful Mother in Heaven. Of course, you can pray to her. She has been given to us as Mother of the Church and God’s Children. But all I am saying, is that God knows all. So if we pray to Mary, you are praying to God. Mary is not a person of Heaven to whom God is disconnected from in some way.

Every prayer will find its way to God even if He doesn’t seem to answer. Just as every prayer, whether to Our Lady or to a Saint, is still to God, in its final destination.

Think of the Church as a family. Except that God knows every intention, thought, requirement, desire, word and action that His family makes, and every word spoken from Heaven, essentially comes from Him.
 
People mistake Mary being given to Catholics as their Mother and Queen as somehow giving the appearance of diminishing the power of God.

This is nonsense. And not Catholic understanding.

We can see from various eminent theologians that God’s power is shared/revealed through His meekness.

So the fact that God gave Mary the gift of “Divine Motherhood”, “magnifies” the Lordship of Jesus Christ, whose Kingdom “is not of this world”.
 
pablope said:
Wow…thank you Father, you are indeed a gift to the Catholic Church and to us here.

An unrelated question, do Latin Catholics attend services at your parish?

I would like to be able to attend the Divine Liturgy at your parish, one of these days.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the compliment but I only put that there because of the silly questions about “credentials.” Anyway, yes, any Roman Catholic may attend our services and fulfill their Roman Catholic Sunday obligation. Our parish is in Los Gatos, CA steliasmelkite.org
Are you in the area?
 
FatherSebastian said:
Thank you for the compliment but I only put that there because of the silly questions about “credentials.” Anyway, yes, any Roman Catholic may attend our services and fulfill their Roman Catholic Sunday obligation. Our parish is in Los Gatos, CA steliasmelkite.org
Are you in the area?
Click to expand...
Thank you Father Sebastian. I am not from the area, but may be visiting the area of your parish in the summer, and I would certainly ask my family to attend the Melkite service.

I will take note of your parish.
 
friardchips said:
Incorrect.

The Catholic Church prays unceasingly, and therefore, all prayers are intercessory, through the hierarchy of grace.

As explained in the Catechism already. Though other sources can be found too.

It is also a matter of Dogma.
Click to expand...
I was answering her question about whether she personally is required by the Church to pray to Mary. The answer is no. I agree that Mary intercedes for the Church continuously…and even intercedes for us even when we don’t ask…but that wasn’t the question.
 
Herculees said:
We do NOT pray to Mary, We pray THROUGH Mary to Jesus!.
Click to expand...
Actually, we DO pray to Mary. The verb ‘to pray’ simply means ‘to ask’.

“Pray for us now, and at the hour of our death” is clearly a request, ergo it is a prayer, one that is addressed to Mary
 
Herculees said:
We do NOT pray to Mary, We pray THROUGH Mary to Jesus!.
Click to expand...
Actually, we DO pray to Mary.

The verb ‘to pray’ simply means ‘to ask’.

So when we ask Mary to “pray for us now, and at the hour of our death”, that request is, by definition, a prayer. One that is directed to Mary to ask\pray for her to pray for us.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top