Why only Mary?

[holy_wood]

O.K. I’m Catholic and I understand the whole veneration of Mary thing **(I mean if you don’t deserve some serious props for bearing and raising God incarnate then what exactly should you get praise for), **but I wonder why we as Catholics do not place half the attention on the 11 Apostles ( Judas excluded for obvious reasons), the prophets, or the Early Church Fathers as we do on Mary?

I mean with all respect these individuals did more for the spreadind of Christrianity as well as Gods devine revelation than Mary was ever recorded as doing…So with that in mind why don’t we have prayers and Masses in their honor?

 

[LilyM]

Because we’re not commanded by the ten commandments nor any other scripture to take them as spiritual parents and honour them as such in the way same way we are with Mary. Mom and Dad always get top billing

Besides which - if you go to Mass on any of the Apostles’ feastdays (for example right now, 3rd May, is the feast of Sts Phillip and James the Apostles) the prayers of the Mass will mention them, so will the Mass readings usually make reference to them :yup: So they are honoured in that sense.

And you know the same St Jude who is patron of difficult causes and who has whole columns in the newspapers devoted to people thanking him and publishing prayers to him? That’s St Jude Thaddeus the Apostle (not to be confused with Judas who betrayed him). He’s an incredibly popular saint.

 

[holy_wood]

Because we’re not commanded by the ten commandments nor any other scripture to take them as spiritual parents and honour them as such in the way we are with Mary. Mom and Dad always get top billing

And funnily enough - you go to Mass on any of the Apostles’ feastdays (for example 3rd May which is the feast of Sts Phillip and James the Apostles) and many of the prayers of the Mass will mention them, so will the Mass readings :yup: So they are honoured in that sense.

Perhaps, but why don’t we focus on Joseph. He had just as much if not more inflence on our Lords life as Mary. He decided not to stone her after an Angel of God told him that her pregnancy was Devine will, doesn’t that show of faith deserve some high raise,

Besides even Christ and the Aostles honored the Patriarchs of Old, in a way that was no doubt greater than what we do in the Church today. Why don’t we?

Matt. 3:9; Luke 3:8 Luke 1:32 Luke 1:55 Luke 16:24,30 Heb. 1:1

 

[Dirk_Skene]

Just as a suggestion … maybe read “True devotion to Mary” The ideas may help your undersatnding … Hey … question … have you been able to make a TOTALY private retreat? It is good for disernment. Make sure it covers a whole weekednd at least.

 

[Pax]

I happened to take the name Joseph as my Confirmation name. I have always had a great attachment and respect for the foster father of Jesus. I enjoy working with my hands and making things. Frequently these things involve working with wood. Whenever, I’m involved in a project I always ask that Jesus and Joseph be at my side to guide my hands and to give me patience. Likewise, my brother who is a wood worker, a carver, and an artist has a devotion to St. Joseph. He has always referred to his work area as “St. Joseph’s Downstairs Work Shop.”

Devotion and veneration are highly individual and vary from person to person. Worship of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are the center of our public liturgy and worship, and are the focus of our private worship and prayer. There is great freedom in veneration and devotion. Since Mary is the mother of Jesus, she receives more than the other saints, but there is plenty of room for honoring all of our brothers and sisters in Christ that have gone before us to heaven.

 

[LilyM]

Perhaps, but why don’t we focus on Joseph. He had just as much if not more inflence on our Lords life as Mary. He decided not to stone her after an Angel of God told him that her pregnancy was Devine will, doesn’t that show of faith deserve some high [raise,

Besides even Christ and the Aostles honored the Patriarchs of Old, in a way that was no doubt greater than what we do in the Church today. Why don’t we?

Matt. 3:9; Luke 3:8 Luke 1:32 Luke 1:55 Luke 16:24,30 Heb. 1:1

Every single church within a 10-kilometre radius of me has statues, paintings and stained glass windows of St Joseph right alongside those of Jesus and Mary. Ever take a look at the nativity scene at Christmas?

I personally wear a medal of St Joseph and say his every day his litany and one other prayer to him (there are loads of prayers to him readily available on the internet and in most any Catholic prayer book you can find). There’s plenty of private devotion to him and most of the Apostles.

And what more honour can we give ANYONE than mentioning them by name in our supreme act of worship, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass? We can’t!
[/quote]

 

[holy_wood]

Just as a suggestion … maybe read “True devotion to Mary” The ideas may help your undersatnding … Hey … question … have you been able to make a TOTALY private retreat? It is good for disernment. Make sure it covers a whole weekednd at least.

I’m only a senior in highschool, so no weekend retreats for me.

 

[holy_wood]

Every single church within a 10-kilometre radius of me has statues, paintings and stained glass windows of St Joseph right alongside those of Jesus and Mary. Ever take a look at the nativity scene at Christmas?

I personally wear a medal of St Joseph and say his every day his litany and one other prayer to him (there are loads of prayers to him readily available on the internet and in most any Catholic prayer book you can find). There’s plenty of private devotion to him and most of the Apostles.

And what more honour can we give ANYONE than mentioning them by name in our supreme act of worship, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass? We can’t!

True, but again it seems to me that we focus way to much on Mary. I’m not against its just “The Church as a whole” does not seem to honor the Apostles and others as they do Mary. ( At least from my perspective, I do not know what they do in the other Rites).

 

[Genesis315]

We honor the Apostles a lot (Sts. Peter and Paul have multiple Feast days each, for example). The fact is, Mary was sinless and was the perfect disciple of Jesus. God honored her more than we could ever–all the honor we do give her falls short of what she actually deserves–(and of course the honor she is owed by us is almost nothing compared to that owed to Almighty God).

St. Paul says to give honor to whom honor is due. As the Mother of Our King, she is our Queen and we should treat her as such . Likewise, from the Cross, He made her the Mother of the Church–and again, that is why she receives such honor.

 

[Genesis315]

Just as a suggestion … maybe read “True devotion to Mary” The ideas may help your undersatnding …

Good suggestion by St. Louis de Montfort. I also suggest “Glories of Mary” by St. Alphonsus Liguori, a Doctor of the Church.

 

[Crumpy]

I think there’s a gender issue here, underlying the devotion to Mary.

OK, some protestants complain that Mary took the place of Diana to the Romans of Constantine’s era. The Church suppressed the pagan devotions, and substituted Mary for Diana, as a replacement.

The same sort of thing is said about honoring Mary as Our Lady of Guadalupe replacing the pagan worship of who? the Incas, perhaps.

Christianity is top-heavy with male personalities, and so we need a BIG Mary to balance it out.

That’s not to deny Mary’s theologically-significant role as Jesus’ mother, and as she is presented in scripture.

Well, I mean, why don’t we have a St. Moses, for that matter? a St. Noah? a St. David the King? St. Abraham?

Why do we have so many Italian saints? I think JPII canonized over 500 saints to balance things out a bit. Why are so many saints priests or consecrated religious?

In the last 24 hours on EWTN, somebody was talking about our main goal in life to BE saints. I agree. The universal call to holiness.

I think the saints are not to be idolized, but to be popularized for their becoming saints amidst temptations and opposition. I don’t think any veneration or honor from us can hold a candle to the honor and glory that God has bestowed on Mary.

I’m puzzled by the invocation in the Hail Mary. Why would we need to pray to Mary to intercede for us? You mean we have to ask? Do parents withhold love, affection, attention, nourishment, etc. to their children unless they are asked?

I’ll still say my daily rosary, but I don’t understand this.

 

[Dirk_Skene]

I’m only a senior in highschool, so no weekend retreats for me.

I know you are being practical. But everybody needs it about once a year Once you make it your habit you’ll love it.

 

[b_justb]

May 2, 2007 Memorial of Saint Athanasius, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
May 3, 2007 Feast of Saints Phillip and James, Aposltes

Catholic Culture’s Liturgical Calendar

Look at the calendar, lots of memorials and feasts to lots of the Saints you’re asking why we don’t pay attention to. Go to daily mass and you’ll grow accustomed to hearing about all the wonderful saints we call to mind in prayer in the mass every day. If you can’t get to mass daily, you can have a private devotion with the Scripture readings of the day and check the calendar for prayers and devotions for the Saints being honored by the Church Militant for that day.

 

[Fidelis]

Just as a suggestion … maybe read “True devotion to Mary” The ideas may help your undersatnding …

I also recommend Scott Hahn’s book **“Hail, Holy Queen.” **

amazon.com/Hail-Holy-Queen-Mother-Word/dp/0385501692/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-2866602-2526514?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1178203410&sr=1-1

It’s a quick but highly informative read, and it’s available at most major bookstores, like Borders or Barnes & Nobles (which I know they have tons of in California because I grew up there! ),

 

[Deo_Volente]

Grace & Peace!

With Our Lady, I think we need to remember that she’s not just like any random holy person. She bore, both in her body and in her soul, the Word of God. She is Daughter of the Father, Mother of the Son, Spouse of the Spirit. The crown she receives in heaven is symbolic of the crown she bore here on earth: the Incarnation of God.

All of this makes her, also, into a more symbolic figure than the other saints. In her, we see the Church. In her, we see the soul of every believer responding to God’s grace with “Let it be done to me according to your will!” In her, we see the Eighth Day of Creation, the New World, the New Jerusalem, the Renewal of the Universe. And in her we see what shape that renewal takes–the taking up of Creation, through humanity, into the Divinity which is accomplished by the Incarnation, Life, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension of the God-Man is mirrored in the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin into Heaven, and her Coronation as Queen of Heaven. In Our Lady, we know what it is that we and all things have been destined for. In her, we know what the accomplishment of God’s will for us looks like. And we know how we must cooperate with grace in order to enjoy the Awful Splendor of the Most High. When we recognize ourselves in her, and her in us, and when we live that identification, then we find ourselves bearing the Word as she did–we find ourselves conforming to God in Christ through the firm and gentle pressure of grace applied by the Spirit.

The other Saints show us this in their ways as well. But Mary’s is the supreme example among the Saints. It is not for nothing that she is Queen of Saints. And it is not for nothing that she should be Queen of Our Hearts.

Under the Mercy,
Mark

Deo Gratias!

 

[ElizabethAnne]

O.K. I’m Catholic and I understand the whole veneration of Mary thing **(I mean if you don’t deserve some serious props for bearing and raising God incarnate then what exactly should you get praise for), **but I wonder why we as Catholics do not place half the attention on the 11 Apostles ( Judas excluded for obvious reasons), the prophets, or the Early Church Fathers as we do on Mary?

I mean with all respect these individuals did more for the spreadind of Christrianity as well as Gods devine revelation than Mary was ever recorded as doing…So with that in mind why don’t we have prayers and Masses in their honor?

The apostles could not have done their work without Mary first saying “yes” to God, agreeing to bear His Son. She was just a young girl who was getting married and starting her life. God asked her to carry a child, and she said “yes.” What faith she had! Every time I think about it, I am amazed.

Because Mary said “yes,” she became the first tabernacle, carrying God inside her. Because of her cooperation with God’s will, God gave the world His only Son to die on the cross for us.

Mary’s faith is an example to all of us. We are all called to say “yes” to whatever God asks, even if He asks something that seems impossible or too difficult.

 

[elvisman]

O.K. I’m Catholic and I understand the whole veneration of Mary thing **(I mean if you don’t deserve some serious props for bearing and raising God incarnate then what exactly should you get praise for), **but I wonder why we as Catholics do not place half the attention on the 11 Apostles ( Judas excluded for obvious reasons), the prophets, or the Early Church Fathers as we do on Mary?

I mean with all respect these individuals did more for the spreadind of Christrianity as well as Gods devine revelation than Mary was ever recorded as doing…So with that in mind why don’t we have prayers and Masses in their honor?

Holy_wood - consider this.
In the Old Testament, the Ark of the Covenant had to be pure and was venerated. In fact, to touch it without having the proper authority meant death. People bowed before it and held it with EXTREME respect, veneration and FEAR.

In the New Testament, Mary is the Ark of the NEW Covenant. How much MORE should SHE be respected? How much HIGHER should she be held. She actually carried GOD within her - PHYSICALLY, whereas the first Ark carried the tablets which the Commandments were written on, Manna and Moses’ staff, among other things.
Jesus is our Salvation. I can’t imaging NOT placing her above all other mere humans.
Hope that helps.

 

[puzzleannie]

O.K. I’m
I mean with all respect these individuals did more for the spreadind of Christrianity as well as Gods devine revelation than Mary was ever recorded as doing…So with that in mind why don’t we have prayers and Masses in their honor?

that is a subjective judgement, and we do have prayers and Masses in honor of the apostles, martyrs, fathers of the Church, canonized popes and other saints, on their feast days and at other times during the year, and pray to them during LOTH on those days, and other times as well.

 

[Cari]

Have you looked at it from the “New Adam” and the “New Eve” viewpoint?

Because of our original parents, Adam and Eve, sin, death, toil, pain in childbirth, etc. etc. was ushered into the world. The gates of Heaven were closed to us. The ultimate grounding. But, even at our darkest hour, God didn’t leave us with despair. He said, “I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel.” (Genesis 3:15, D-R)

This was the first prophesy of Jesus’ Incarnation. But there was still a whole lot of suffering and sinning and selfishness and general evil that we had to wade through. But we brought it on ourselves.

Then, in some tiny town in a backwater place occupied by a foreign power, a girl is offered a choice. She, like, Eve, has the choice that will offer Life or (continued) Death to all people. Mary, knowing full well what could happen to a girl pregnant outside of wedlock (death) and the horrifying manner in which it could occur (stoning), fully trusted in God, His Mercy, His Will, and His Love, and said “Yes”.

Her Fiat allowed the Incarnation to be born, and, as the New Adam, act in perfect obedience to God the Father, even unto death. His sacrifice opened the gates of Heaven again. Mary’s sacrifice showed us how true Christians are meant to be.

Every Apostle, every other disciple, every saint sinned at some point. Peter denied Our Lord three times. Paul killed Christians, St. Francis was a rich playboy. As someone said, Mary is humanity’s sole boast. She is the only one, thanks to the singular privledge of the Immaculate Conception, who always put God first. That’s why we heap so much praise and honor on her. Not to slight others, but to praise the creature that is, in a sense, God’s masterpiece.

 

[neitsab]

O.K. I’m Catholic and I understand the whole veneration of Mary thing **(I mean if you don’t deserve some serious props for bearing and raising God incarnate then what exactly should you get praise for), **but I wonder why we as Catholics do not place half the attention on the 11 Apostles ( Judas excluded for obvious reasons), the prophets, or the Early Church Fathers as we do on Mary?

I mean with all respect these individuals did more for the spreadind of Christrianity as well as Gods devine revelation than Mary was ever recorded as doing…So with that in mind why don’t we have prayers and Masses in their honor?