Posted on 06/13/2015 3:56:17 PM PDT by Eleutheria5
The historic Christian Syrian town of Maalula celebrated Saturday as a new statue of Mary, worshiped in Christianity as the mother of Jesus, was erected in its center, replacing the figure destroyed in rebel attacks in 2013.
Dozens of families gathered alongside government officials and religious dignitaries in the main square, which was adorned with government flags and a giant portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Located north of Damascus, Maalula is one of the world's oldest Christian settlements, and its inhabitants still speak Aramaic, a language spoken by Jews in Israel at the time Jesus was said to have lived.
In April 2014, government troops backed by pro-regime militia recaptured the town from rebel groups, including Al Qaeda's Syrian affiliate Nusra Front.
The fighting damaged the ancient Mar Sarkis monastery and forced the town's 5,000 people to flee their homes and abandon their modest storefronts.
On Saturday, Syrian officials unveiled the new statue of Mary, draped in a white robe topped with a blue shawl, her hands lifted in prayer.
"I made the statue as a message of peace for the ancient and unparalleled town of Maalula," said sculptor Buhaij al-Khoury.
The fiberglass figure stood at just over three meters (10 feet) tall and was placed on the base of the original statue.
.....
(Excerpt) Read more at israelnationalnews.com ...
We DON’T WORSHIP MARY....we VENERATE HER!! Only dumbasses don’t know the diff, like this writer.
Thank you Ann. You beat me to the same words but I shall repeat them: We worship the Trinity, we venerate the Holy Virgin.
And WOE to them that DISS Jesus’s MOTHER......Jesus LOVED His Mother.
Arutz Sheva probably isn’t the best source for info on Christian theology, but you have to admire the strength of these people’s faith.
Hahahahahaaaaaaa! Roman Catholics cultists can be sooooooo funny! They like to play word games without proper knowledge or understanding of the words...
Venerate: to offer honor or respect to (someone) as a divine power (a proper setting in which to venerate God)
Synonyms adore, deify, glorify, revere, reverence, venerate - http://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/venerate
As a WEST VIRGINIAN, I accept your ignorance as a local flaw in knowledge of anything that is NOT Baptist.
God entrusted his only Son to her.
I would love to see these really ignorant hillbillies have THEIR moms DISSED, and see what THEY do......Katie Bar the Door!!
beat me to it
only fitting, she was His only daughter in law
Makes for quite a family reunion, what do you cook up for visits?
Visited her latter years home in Ephesus a few years back,, She was chosen by God..ended up living in a desolate place.. so peaceful.. except for all the tourists these days.
We are all a member of God’s tree,, some of us are a little fruitier than others.
Amazing how outsiders of the rcc know exactly what is going on with the mary worship by catholics.
Did you catch that?
Let's play it again:
Maalula is one of the world's oldest Christian settlements, and its inhabitants still speak Aramaic, a language spoken by Jews in Israel at the time Jesus was said to have lived.
Original Christianity, the Christianity planted by the Apostles themselves as related in the Book of Acts, venerates and loves Mary. Only the 16th century syncretism of Christianity, rationalism, and Platonism you have mistaken for the real thing disrespects her.
Worship-venerate, you are dealing with a VERY FINE LINE there that no Protestant would get near!
When Cortez set up a statue, of what they considered to be Mary, between the Aztec gods, and fell down before it, did the pagans know the difference between the Aztec worshiping of the stone gods of Tezcatlipoca and Huitzilopochtli, and the veneration of a statue of Mary by the Spaniards?
No, to them it looked the same.
Protestants do not worship Mary.
English is rather limited in this regard. Worship is the Enghlish translation of the Latin ‘honor.’ Now ‘honour’ has been an English word for centuries and good ol’ worship got a promotion.
I would love to know how Mary feels about people kneeling down before her, praying to her, etc when the Word says all this worship should be directed towards Christ.
What the HELL are you talking about???
Throw Islam in there, too. I think they have much in common.
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.