Why is mary so important?

[ChristianKnight]

I know Mary is Jesus’s mother, but why in the rosary are their

53 hail mary’s, and only 11 prayers to God? (If that is not counted correctly, sorry, tryin my best here.

I mean, isn’t Jesus more important than Mary, since he is the one that died for our sins, not Mary?

Just wondering, this is not a catholic bashing thread, this is a question cause I do not see why pray to Mary more then to Jesus.

 

[LilyM]

So if I talk to my boss two hundred times in a day then he or she is even more important than Mary to whom I only prayed 53 times, let alone Jesus if I talk to Him less?

Wow, really gotta stop talking to people then

I think you can see where I’m going here - the number of times you talk to someone doesn’t reveal squat, at the end of the day, about how much worship you give them, or even how deep-down important they are to you. And I’m sure God knows this too and doesn’t keep a scoresheet.

 

[Mannyfit75]

I know Mary is Jesus’s mother, but why in the rosary are their

53 hail mary’s, and only 11 prayers to God? (If that is not counted correctly, sorry, tryin my best here.

Jesus is mentioned in the Hail Mary. So that would there would 53 Jesus name mentioned. There is a part in the prayer that said. “Holy Mary, Mother of God, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you amongst woman, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.”

I mean, isn’t Jesus more important than Mary, since he is the one that died for our sins, not Mary?

The prayer of the rosary is the prayer of the Gospel. It is the reflection on the Mysterious, the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The Rosary has 4 Mysterious, Joyful, Sorrowful, Luminous, and Glorious. Do me a favor and find me what those 4 Mysterious consist of?

Just wondering, this is not a catholic bashing thread, this is a question cause I do not see why pray to Mary more then to Jesus.

The prayer of the rosary is centered on Jesus Christ. Even though the prayer has 53 Hail Marys, Mary’s ultimately leads us to Jesus Christ.

 

[Nickkname]

I know Mary is Jesus’s mother, but why in the rosary are their

53 hail mary’s, and only 11 prayers to God? (If that is not counted correctly, sorry, tryin my best here.

I mean, isn’t Jesus more important than Mary, since he is the one that died for our sins, not Mary?

Just wondering, this is not a catholic bashing thread, this is a question cause I do not see why pray to Mary more then to Jesus.

Mary helps us to remember Jesus’ life. The Rosary is a prayer of contemplation on the life of Jesus: His Incarnation, His Birth, His Ministry, His Death, etc. It is a Christocentric devotion, that is, it is all about Jesus - Jesus through Mary. She more than any other creature would know Jesus, and so be able to help us contemplate Him, as she was His Mother, and hence, was inserparably united to her Son throughout His Life from the moment He was concieved by the Holy Spirit in her womb.

 

[Peter_J]

I know Mary is Jesus’s mother, but why in the rosary are their

53 hail mary’s, and only 11 prayers to God? (If that is not counted correctly, sorry, tryin my best here.

I mean, isn’t Jesus more important than Mary, since he is the one that died for our sins, not Mary?

Just wondering, this is not a catholic bashing thread, this is a question cause I do not see why pray to Mary more then to Jesus.

Hi, ChristianKnight. I’ve prayed the rosary my whole life; but, to be completely honest, I’ve never fully understood the reasons for the distribution of prayers. (I say “fully” because I have many times heard explanations – e.g. when we say the Hail Mary we are really praying to Jesus through Mary, and anyways we should be meditating on the mysteries while saying the Hail Mary – which are all very good as far as they go but not what I would call an exhaustive explanation.)

 

[Peter_J]

P.S. My understanding is that in the early days of the rosary, there was more diversity – some people said an Our Father on each bead, others said a Hail Mary on each bead. But, as is often the case, diversity eventually gave way to uniformity, so that nowadays “rosary” pretty much always means 1 Our Father followed by 10 Hail Marys, etc.

There are, however, other chaplets besides the rosary – such as the Chotki (see Prayer Rope Question) and the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.

 

[Volodymyr]

MOTHER OF GOD

Mary or Maria is rarely called just by such name in Orthodoxy - because like in Catolicism, her role in our Salvation is so important - that we realize that she is Mother of God - so we mostly call her that and pray very often that she will help us to be closer to her Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. Not to understand Mother of God is not to know who is Jesus Christ. We have not rosary but Akafists to Mary with many greetings too:

Hail, O you, through whom Joy will shine forth!
Hail, O you, through whom the curse will disappear!
Hail, O Restoration of the Fallen Adam!
Hail, O Redemption of the Tears of Eve!
Hail, O Peak above the reach of human thought!
Hail, O Depth even beyond the sight of angels!
Hail, O you who have become a Kingly Throne!
Hail, O you who carry Him Who Carries All!
Hail, O Star who manifest the Sun!
Hail, O Womb of the Divine Incarnation!
Hail, O you through whom creation is renewed!
Hail, O you through whom the Creator becomes a Babe!
Hail, O Bride and Maiden ever-pure!

 

[Rolltide]

I know Mary is Jesus’s mother, but why in the rosary are their

53 hail mary’s, and only 11 prayers to God? (If that is not counted correctly, sorry, tryin my best here.

Correction. There are 64 prayers to God, although in 53 of them, we are asking Mary to pray along with us.

I mean, isn’t Jesus more important than Mary, since he is the one that died for our sins, not Mary?

Just wondering, this is not a catholic bashing thread, this is a question cause I do not see why pray to Mary more then to Jesus.

Maybe it takes 10 entire Hail Marys to equal the importance of just one Our Father?

Actually, the Rosary uses so many Hail Marys because it’s primarily about reflecting on the life and events of Jesus’s life. Mary was the best witness to those events, so it makes sense to involve her in the prayer extensively. Remember, we’re not praying to Mary. The line says, “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, Amen” There are other prayers and chaplets that involve other saints and angels as well.

 

[churchcamefirst]

I love the Rosary. They are prayers from the Gospel. Everything in the Rosary is in the Gospels. “The Rosary is a weapon against Satan”—St.Padre Pio

 

[alexdhanvate]

I know Mary is Jesus’s mother, but why in the rosary are their

53 hail mary’s, and only 11 prayers to God? (If that is not counted correctly, sorry, tryin my best here.

I mean, isn’t Jesus more important than Mary, since he is the one that died for our sins, not Mary?

Just wondering, this is not a catholic bashing thread, this is a question cause I do not see why pray to Mary more then to Jesus.

 

[churchcamefirst]

Remember what the Blessed Mother said
**“All generations will call me Bless-ed”. **

 

[Peter_J]

ChristianKnight,

Something I wasn’t even aware of till today is that there’s also an Anglican Rosary.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglican_Rosary

 

[grandfather]

I know Mary is Jesus’s mother, but why in the rosary are their

53 hail mary’s, and only 11 prayers to God? (If that is not counted correctly, sorry, tryin my best here.

I mean, isn’t Jesus more important than Mary, since he is the one that died for our sins, not Mary?

Just wondering, this is not a catholic bashing thread, this is a question cause I do not see why pray to Mary more then to Jesus.

The ultimate objective of living the Christian life is salvation, heaven, eternal life. We don’t simply go from baptism or finding faith in one moment to the moment of death and heaven in the next. We live out our faith on a day to day basis and we change and grow spiritually over time, or we should. We make progress in the spiritual life. Some make great progress and some little or none. We get help along the way from others, ministers, pastors, etc. Catholics say they get help from Mary.

Jesus is our salvation. He is our Savior. He comes to us through Mary. He comes to us uniquely through this other person. He comes to us through Mary alone. He was born of a virgin. No man was involved. Clearly she is unique in her role in our salvation.

Without Mary we have no Jesus. So the first joyful mystery of the Rosary is the Annunciation. The angel comes to her and announces what will happen and she gives her consent. “Let it be done to me…” She could have said no to this proposal, prefigured in the Old Testament by Abraham’s most trusted servant going to find a wife for Abraham’s son Isaac. Read it in Genesis. Rebecca gives her consent.

We come to know Jesus through Mary, but we also know Mary. It is almost impossible for the human mind to grasp the concept of God-man. Jesus was not God become man and then left being man to go back to being God. He is God-man eternally. He is God who took on flesh like yours and ascended into heaven in His body. This body He received from Mary alone is eternally His. There is a marriage between heaven and earth, a union. God becomes man and this takes place in a place. It does not take place in a church building like when a man and woman marry. This marriage or eternal joining of humanity to divinity takes place in the womb of a woman, in a living tabernacle. When a man and woman marry they take vows until death. The marraige of heaven and earth, in the person of the God-man is forever and Mary alone made it happen from our side of things.

The Father sent the Son. Mary is the mother of the Son and the daughter of the Father. How did she become pregnant? The angel says the Holy Spirit did it. Mary was impregnated by the Holy Spirit. That makes her the mother of the Son, daughter of the father and spouse of the Holy Ghost. She is the Lady of the Trinity.

If you would like to know her, not just know about her, but know her, you can. The means by which you can come to know her is the Rosary. She brings many benefits and consolations to those who know her that those who do not know her can not comprehend. They say things like, “Why should I pray to Mary. That makes no sense to me. Why should I pray to Mary when I can pray directly to God.”

Mary obtains different graces for you as you progress along in the spiritual life. These make your life richer. Here is an analogy. Lets say you are an intelligent young man and you need to make a living. So you get a job driving a truck. This will support you and your family, but you are pretty smart. A neighbor recognizes that you are bright guy and offers to pay for you to go to college and become an engineer. You do it and instead of being a truck driver you design medical diagnostic instruments. You get more fulfilment from that job and can afford to send your own children to get an education so they don’t become taxi drivers or waiters. Everyone is better off, because your neighbor helped you obtain an education. Maybe you did not need to be an engineer. You could have done ok as a truck driver, fed the family, and enjoyed life ok. But given the choice life was made better, or fuller, or richer by an education.

The closer we are to Mary the richer our spiritual lives become. The Rosary keeps us close to her.

 

[GailMac]

Hey there Christian Knight! God bless you man for trying to understand the Rosary!

Actually a full Rosary is 15 decades long, but most folks only say five. (But John Paul II added the new Luminous Mysteries, another 5 to take it to 20!) If a person were to say the whole Rosary, he’d be saying at lest 150 prayers, either Hail Mary’s, Pater Nosters or Glorias, etc. The most common formula today is 1 Pater Noster, 10 Aves and 1 Gloria, but this wasn’t always so. The 150 prayers that make up the body of the Rosary represent the 150 Psalms of David which were used also for prayer, but you were either in a religious community to own a Psalter or very wealthy. The Rosary is the poor man’s Bible, Psalter and Spiritual Director! It is the Prayer of the Common Man!

There are wonderful books on the Rosary. I’d suggest you get your hands on a copy of St. Louis de Montfort’s Secret of the Rosary. It is a short but thorough guide. I don’t know if the Montfort Father’s have a website. You could google them. Most good Catholic stores have it and it is only like 5 bucks. Well worth the effort.

On a more personal note, I get into a deeper meditative state when I fall into the repeatition. It is very calming and helps me open up to “hear” God better. Sometimes I pray like a machine gun and really bang through it, usually when I’ve got prayer request backed up or if I’m traveling. But when I’m at Adoration or am at home and can take the time to go slowing and reverantly it really facilitates deeper communication with God.

I don’t really think He ever tires of hearing the praises of His Mother spoken of by us. After all, the angels in Heaven are singing her praises all the time as well as singing God’s! Good enough for Heaven, good enough for me!

I really don’t think God sits up there counting how many times a day you mention His name as opposed to the names of others. He wouldn’t be that petty. He is God! We believe in the Communion of the Saints and when we show this by trusting in their intercession by raising their names in prayer, God is well pleased, for it also says we trust Him.

Peace,

Gail

 

[GailMac]

P.S. Christian Knight - I found a website for the Montfort Fathers:

montfortmissionaries.com/ Go there and click on the publications and the Secret of the Rosary is listed. Enjoy! When you get down to praying a Rosary, please pray for me!

Peace,

Gail

 

[Peter_J]

And I think you could also say that Mary never gets tired of hearing us praise her Son.

 

[RisenAgain]

So if I talk to my boss two hundred times in a day then he or she is even more important than Mary to whom I only prayed 53 times, let alone Jesus if I talk to Him less?

Wow, really gotta stop talking to people then

I think you can see where I’m going here - the number of times you talk to someone doesn’t reveal squat, at the end of the day, about how much worship you give them, or even how deep-down important they are to you. And I’m sure God knows this too and doesn’t keep a scoresheet.

I personally -as a Catholic- do not hold such logic.

Those whom I love the most I desire to be with and spend time with and speak with, the most. But this is not always possible- as you have communicated. However- with prayer - this is always possible.

It is possible that when I set myself to pray - I can pray to Jesus every time - can I not? And if I desire Jesus more than all - then to pray to someone other than him would be to cheat myself of the most precious, blood-bought communion that exists; that between the bride and her husband - Christ and his Church. This only shows where my passions and desires truly are.

If the Church has given us permission to pray to Mary - then great. But does the Church force us to pray to her over our Savior - or is this a matter of personal practice? Where is it commanded from the Church that we MUST pray to Mary at all? Yet Christ has commanded us to pray to him - and to call on his name.

If you as a Catholic find yourself praying to Mary more than you pray to JESUS CHRIST - though God keeps no “score-sheets” it is plain enough whom you desire more. Yes I am Catholic - but it is time for Catholics to be real, and point our fellow brothers and sisters back to the feet of Jesus!

 

[Peter_J]

RisenAgain,

I agree with you in part: like you, I don’t hold with the logic of the post you quoted.

On the other hand, though, I don’t agree with your statement

If you as a Catholic find yourself praying to Mary more than you pray to JESUS CHRIST - though God keeps no “score-sheets” it is plain enough whom you desire more.

That, to me, seems like going to far in the other direction.

 

[LilyM]

RisenAgain,

I agree with you in part: like you, I don’t hold with the logic of the post you quoted.

On the other hand, though, I don’t agree with your statement

That, to me, seems like going to far in the other direction.

Well, put it this way, if a wife loves her husband she will naturally love their children as well, since they are flesh of his flesh and (usually) resemble him in their looks or personality, at least somewhat.

The love of husband and love of children don’t conflict at all, they complement each other and grow in tandem. The love for the children can in fact be seen as an extension, and part and parcel, of the love for the husband.

And an understanding husband will never be jealous of his wife’s love for their children, no matter how much time she may spend with them, but rather will properly appreciate it and see it as a sign of her love for himself, their father, as well.

Same with our devotion to Mary - Jesus, being obedient to the commandment to honour His mother, can never have been less than utterly devoted to her, and so are we for the same reasons, and also out of our love for Him and desire to imitate Him in this trait.

We can hardly go wrong by imitating ANY facet of His character, including His devotion to the Blessed Mother through whom He chose to come to us after all, no?

 

[RisenAgain]

RisenAgain,

I agree with you in part: like you, I don’t hold with the logic of the post you quoted.

On the other hand, though, I don’t agree with your statement

That, to me, seems like going to far in the other direction.

Why so? Do not our actions speak louder than our words?

I understand that it is a little “scary” to hear Catholics speak this way - but Jesus Christ is the VINE- and we must abide in Him- or we perish!

Praying The Hail Mary (through it mentions the name of Jesus) - is to me more like gazing at the fruit of the VINE - instead of drinking the living and soul-preserving sap from the very VINE itself!

Therefore - for me; Praying to Jesus is way different - and much more important than praying *about *Jesus.

Please hear me. I am not being drastic - just real.

I love Jesus Christ with all of my heart, and nothing shall so occupy my time as to separate me from the closest possible communion I can share with him - even if it be an inch . . . or a millimeter.

Sorry to have to be so bold - But not even a prayer sanctioned by the Church will I allow to distance me from my Lord. I cannot bring myself to do it. I am a stranger in this evil world - like a man in prison: And I only have a limited amount of phone calls that I can make every day. Therefore, I want EVERY SINGLE ONE to be made to Jesus Christ my Lord.

Christ is my First Love and I desire him more than ALL. This is demonstrated in my prayer life - :yup: