By the way, I have many times thought of becoming a Catholic, my beliefs match yours 99% anyway.
But it’s this one big issue - praying to someone who isn’t God... I just can’t do it.
God Bless, sister.
Neither can we :-)
We don't 'pray' to Mary or the 'saints'; we ask them to intercede on our behalf. Oh sure, we also go to the Top and ask our Lord but we know from history (the Wedding Feast of Cana) that our Lord listens to His mother.
I have many times thought of becoming a Catholic
Then you will appreciate this story from someone who, in a million years, NEVER thought of becoming a Catholic, much less a christian. But God acts in extraordinary ways.
That's made plain at the end of the Rosary, when you finish by saying, "Let us pray. O God, who by the life, death and resurrection of thine only Son, our saviour, Jesus Christ, hath gained for us the fruits of everlasting life; grant that we, by meditating on the mysteries of the Holy Rosary, may imitate what they contain, and obtain what they promise, through the same Christ Our Lord, Amen."
You're not praying to Mary when you say the Rosary - the Hail Mary is a request for her help. And each 10 beads you are supposed to be meditating on an event in the life of Christ -- if you look up the 20 Mysteries (there are 4 sets of 5) you will see that all but 2 are incidents from the Life of Christ (other than the Assumption and Coronation of the Virgin at the very end -- which can be seen as the ultimate reward of a holy life.) The Our Father, the Glory Be, and the Fatima Prayer (after every 10 beads) are all directed to God - The Our Father to God the Father, the Fatima Prayer to Christ, and the Glory Be to the Trinity.
You're not praying to Mary any more than you're praying to your Sunday School classmates when you ask them to pray for you. "Pray for us sinners . . . "
The thread was not posted to "disrespect" anyone. The blogger who posts this site is a former Protestant and I used the Catholic Caucus designation which was lifted by the Religious Mod.
I am a cradle Catholic and so I cannot say HOW you feel. That would be presumptuous of me. I also know that many of my Protestant brethern (including some who have eventually converted and become Catholic), admit that this is something they have the "greatest" trouble and soul-searching with (the Hahns are examples, I believe).
As for me, I cannot remember a time when my mother and my aunts did not say the rosary and often more than one in a day.
The blog has four links that go over various aspects of the rosary. It is interesting that this woman, who did not like the rosary, not only says it now but has an incredible curiosity in its history!
I am fond of saying that we should Witness to our beliefs, but that the Holy Spirit takes things from there. I wish you would consider joining us, especially if this is one of the few things holding you back. I can tell you that my sister attended a funeral of an elderly man, and the family who was not Catholic asked her to say the Rosary. She led those who wished to say the Rosary for the repose of this man's soul. Afterwards, several Baptists had a number of questions about the Rosary since they had just seen the "Passion of the Christ" and noted that the Hail Mary is taken largely from Luke.
I wish you the Lord's peace! May God bless you for your courage to speak out so respectfully.
In Christ Jesus,
Frank
Additionally, if you don’t want to pray to Mary or any of the other Saints, DON’T DO IT. There is no such requirement, many of us don’t, but it is allowable. Oh, and if we do we still close with “through Jesus Christ Our Lord.”
Mary has NO power herself....she was ASSUMED into heaven, body and soul......Jesus ASCENDED into heaven......Own power.
Praying the Rosary is not required of Cathoics.
Do you ask others to pray for you, such as on any of the various prayer threads right here on FR? Do you pray for others yourself?
How is it any different than asking Saints to pray for you? We’re not praying to the Saints or Mary, we’re asking them to pray for us.
“... pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.”
You're right.
I've read many of your posts and I thought you already were a Catholic. Without knowing a thing about you, I certainly formed that impression from your writings.
Best wishes.
Perhaps you may find peace and devotion in the Jesus Prayer that Orthodox Christians pray on their prayer ropes. Before I discovered the Orthodox Church I had begun to pray the Prayer of the Publican. It was about a year later (praise God) that I discovered the Orthodox Church to discover the Jesus Prayer which has been prayed since before the Great Schism.