“As a Catholic myself, I must say that if the author were actually expecting to be saved by Mary then he probably did himself a favor by choosing a different religion.”
I remember reading that Catholic MUST pray to Mary in order to be saved.
You didn't read that in ANY approved Catholic literature. Not ever. Never!
Catholics must not doubt or deny any of the Marian dogmas for salvation, prayer to her is theoretically optional.
I remember reading that Catholic MUST pray to Mary in order to be saved.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/2503880/posts?page=1576#1576
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Sacred Heart of Jesus, Thy kingdom come; Thy kingdom come through Mary! —Partial Indulgence
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1 - “Hail Mary, beloved daughter of the Father, Mother of the Divine Son, Spouse of the Holy Spirit, complement of the most august Trinity!”
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6 - To her was granted grace greater than that conferred upon all others, ‘that she might vanquish sin in every respect.’ [Qx: I guess Christ’s vanquishing sin was unnecessary—or ineffectual without Mary’s assistance?]
9 - God loved Mary so much that He gave her the keys to His heart. ‘No one can go to God without Mary drawing him.’ [Qx: I guess Holy Spirit has been relegated to a ‘Walter Mitty’ role as spouse of Mary? That’s SOME POWER to cancel & take over HOLY SPIRIT’S role to draw men to God!]
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4 - “Mary, trusting in the word of the angel, destroyed the sin Eve committed by trusting in the serpent.’ [Qx: Evidently, she beat Christ to the job of vanquishing sin!]
5 - “She desired the safety of everyone, went in search of it, and obtained it; it was also through her that this salvation was wrought.” [QX: What an unnecessary waste of precious Blood and suffering on THE CROSS!!!/sar]
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10 - “As Noah’s Ark saved all the animals that entered it, so Mary saves all the souls that entrust themselves to her care.”
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8 - “If she were not so holy as she is, how could God appoint her to be the ladder of Paradise, the advocate of the world, meatrix between HIm and us?”
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4 - “By becoming Mother of God, Mary belongs to the order of hypostatic union; hence she participates IN the infinite sanctity of God.”
WHAT RANK HIDEOUS BLASPHEMY!
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Whoever wrote that was absolutely misinformed and theologically WRONG.
I’m a life-long Catholic, (pre-Vat.2, and post-Vat.2), and I don’t recall ever being taught I had to pray to Mary to be ‘saved’! Where did you learn that? I went to Catholic school, and never, ever was told/taught that. I did learn all the special prayers for her to pray for me, for her guidance and intercession. But never was I told I was saved by her by doing so.
Now I do think many people went overboard, and got sort of carried away with that. However, I had always understood that special requests or prayers addressed to Mary, the saints, angels, were meant only for purposes of guidance, for help w/a problem, etc...
In fact, in our big old (Catholic)family Bible, there is a glossary where they address this. They say that prayers to these individuals are only meant for help and guidance in doing the work of the Lord, but never to replace or interfere with the worship that rightly goes to God himself!
In other words, these individuals are only role-models to admire and emulate! They overcame personal sins and problems in their own lives, and continued to repent and to for those sins, and to inspire others to do so. These people by their own admission in their own lifetimes, that they looked to the Lord and strove to follow and emulate him. To worship or pray to them instead of God or Christ was not what they wanted!
One illustration of this was St. Francis of Assisi telling people who were trying to “canonize” him. They were referring to him as special, as a saint before he had even died! He very but firmly, told them not to make him into a saint, because “he could still father children”! In other words, he was still alive, was still human w/temptations he had to struggle with every day, and could still fall down! I read this several years ago, in an article in the “Liguorian” magazine.
Source?
You NEVER read that in any official Catholic doctrine. Stop spreading heresy and outright falsehoods.
I've been through a lifetime of Catholic school and Church and never heard that one time. Though I've been to other Christian Churches who spent 1/3rd of the service bashing Catholics. It was quite eye opening when first encountered. Before that I had considered all Christian Churches to be my brothers, as I've never heard a Priest bad mouth another Christian Church. I've decided it's a phenomena akin to little dog syndrome.