Posted on 09/03/2014 6:36:07 AM PDT by NKP_Vet
A little six-year-old Protestant boy had often heard his Catholic companions reciting the prayer “Hail Mary.” He liked it so much that he copied it, memorized it and would recite it every day. “Look, Mommy, what a beautiful prayer,” he said to his mother one day.
“Never again say it,” answered the mother. “It is a superstitious prayer of Catholics who adore idols and think Mary a goddess. After all, she is a woman like any other. Come on, take this Bible and read it. It contains everything that we are bound to do and have to do.” From that day on the little boy discontinued his daily “Hail Mary” and gave himself more time to reading the Bible instead. One day, while reading the Gospel, he came across the passage about the Annunciation of the Angel to Our Lady. Full of joy, the little boy ran to his mother and said: “Mommy, I have found the ‘Hail Mary’ in the Bible which says: ‘Hail full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou amongst women.’ Why do you call it a superstitious prayer?”
On another occasion he found that beautiful Salutation of St. Elizabeth to the Virgin Mary and the wonderful canticle MAGNIFICAT in which Mary foretold that “the generations would call her blessed.” He said no more about it to his mother but started to recite the “Hail Mary” every day as before. He felt pleasure in addressing those charming words to the Mother of Jesus, our Savior.
When he was fourteen, he one day heard a discussion on Our Lady among the members of his family. Every one said that Mary was a common woman like any other woman. The boy, after listening to their erroneous reasoning could not bear it any longer, and full of indignation, he interrupted them, saying:
“Mary is not like any other children of Adam, stained with sin. No! The Angel called her FULL OF GRACE AND BLESSED AMONGST WOMEN. Mary is the Mother of Jesus Christ and consequently Mother of God. There is no higher dignity to which a creature can be raised. The Gospel says that the generations will proclaim her blessed and you are trying to despise her and look down on her. Your spirit is not the spirit of the Gospel or of the Bible which you proclaim to be the foundation of the Christian religion.”
So deep was the impression which the boy’s talk had made that his mother many times cried out sorrowfully: “Oh my God! I fear that this son of mine will one day join the Catholic religion, the religion of Popes!” And indeed, not very long afterwards, having made a serious study of both Protestantism and Catholicism, the boy found the latter to be the only true religion and embraced it and became one of its most ardent apostles.
Some time after his conversion, he met his married sister who rebuked him and said indignantly: “You little know how much I love my children. Should any one of them desire to become a Catholic, I would sooner pierce his heart with a dagger than allow him to embrace the religion of the Popes!”
Her anger and temper were as furious as those of St. Paul before his conversion. However, she would change her ways, just as St. Paul did on his way to Damascus. It so happened that one of her sons fell dangerously ill and the doctors gave up hope of recovery. Her brother then approached her and spoke to her affectionately, saying: “My dear sister, you naturally wish to have your child cured. Very well, then, do what I ask you to do. Follow me, let us pray one ‘Hail Mary’ and promise God that, if your son recovers his health, you would seriously study the Catholic doctrine, and should you come to the conclusion that Catholicism is the only true religion, you would embrace it no matter what the sacrifices may be.”
His sister was somewhat reluctant at the beginning, but as she wished for her son’s recovery, she accepted her brother’s proposal and recited the “Hail Mary” together with him. The next day her son was completely cured. The mother fulfilled her promise and she studied the Catholic doctrine. After long preparation she received Baptism together with her whole family, thanking her brother for being an apostle to her.
The story was related during a sermon given by the Rev. Fr. Tuckwell. “Brethren,” he went on and said, “the boy who became a Catholic and converted his sister to Catholicism dedicated his whole life to the service of God. He is the priest who is speaking to you now! What I am I owe to Our Lady. You, too, my dear brethren, be entirely dedicated also to Our Lady and never let a day pass without saying the beautiful prayer, ‘Hail Mary’, and your Rosary. Ask her to enlighten the minds of Protestants who are separated from the true Church of Christ founded on the Rock (Peter) and ‘against whom the gates of hell shall never prevail.’”
Those were my thoughts as well. It is just more evidence that Catholicism is based on made up stories.
But who was the intercessor at the Wedding of Cana?
Who said, “Do whatever he tells you.”
She always defers things to her son.
Are you not believing this in the Bible?
Mary had one son, Jesus Christ.
IIRC James was killed.
I have often written on this Forum defending the Catholic religion from biased posts by Protestants and Evangelicals. Time to be fair -- the Mary doctrine isn't the problem here; the problem is that it is couched in this falsely righteous little story about Protestants saying Mary was "just a common woman" and that the protagonist's sister "would sooner pierce [her own child's] heart with a dagger than allow him to embrace the religion of the Popes!”
Come on, now. That characterization is just nasty, and not at all how the vast majority of non-Catholic Christians see their view of Mary or of Catholicism.
Is that mentioned in the Bible? What about Joses, Judas, and Simon?
LOL! I was just responding to what he wrote. “more for me” indicates a limited amount to be shared. And the quoted part came from his post, not mine.
I know, right? It really gets tiresome, both sides. And don't lets get started on the Mormon flame wars, either. And people wonder why we are called "the stupid party."
Your not fooling anyone other than other Catholics. One only needs to go to Catholic prayer sites to see that Catholics indeed do pray TO Mary asking her to do things. The words of those prayers assume she has the same powers as God has. Catholics need to stop using that "we don't pray to her" line. By the Catholic Churches own admission they do indeed pray TO Mary.
Except inasmuch as they claim that Mary was sinless. Only Christ was sinless.
Mary was a sinner, just like you and I and every other human being who has ever lived on this earth, excepting only the Son of God.
There are no other exceptions, including Mary.
To claim that Mary was not deified is to tacitly accept the fact that she, too, was a sinner, just like all the other Saints.
Why Catholics find it necessary to cling to such an obvious fallacy as the sinlessness of Mary is beyond me. Nothing said regarding Mary in the New Testament supports the outlandish notion that she was somehow a second example of a sinless human being. That characteristic adheres solely to Christ, and there is absolutely no basis for extending the concept beyond Him.
Indeed, the sinlessness of Mary is a man made addition to scripture, and as such, it is a false teaching.
It's unfortunate that the Catholic Church has so heavily conditioned its membership into believing such a clearly man-made doctrine.
IMHO, it is an example of the intrusion of Goddess mythology into Christendom...
God the Father honored Mary to be be the Ark of the Convent to carry His Son. If the Catholic Church accepts that the Father made Mary perfect, I’m not going to disagree with the Father either.
Asking HER to enlighten??? I thought Catholics claim they don't pray TO Mary. Scripture teaches that it's the task of the Holy Spirit to enlighten. So here we have evidence of Catholics not only praying TO Mary but ascribing to her attributes of God. The deceptions Catholics try to perpetrate are astounding.
Are you trying to second-guess God? God, at the very beginning of the world picked Mary as the Mother o Christ. Through him she was spared from original sin so that she could be a holy abode for the infant, Jesus, growing within her.
Prayers that you will someday understand.
We ask her to pray for us and for others.
This incredibly bigoted statement says all any non-Catholic Christian needs to know about you.
Again, you are projecting a false argument. I never said one cant pray to Jesus. A person can pray to whoever or whatever they want.
Jesus taught that we should go directly to the Father and pray to him.
That's not surprising. The Catholic Church has declared that Muslims and Catholics serve the same god.
“Again, you are projecting a false argument.”
No, I am not doing in that in the least.
“I never said one cant pray to Jesus.”
I didn’t say you did. I asked a question if you were saying that. That’s why I used a question mark.
“A person can pray to whoever or whatever they want.”
Not morally he can’t.
“Jesus taught that we should go directly to the Father and pray to him.”
But we can only accomplish that through Christ and His power for He is the mediator between God and man. That is true even of His saints. Asking for their intercession before the throne is only accomplished through the mediatorship of Christ which He shares with His perfected saints.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.