Posted on 03/27/2015 8:43:52 AM PDT by Salvation
Featured Term selected at random:
NECROMANCY
The art of divining the future through alleged communication with the dead. It was mentioned in the Bible and found in every ancient nation. It was forbidden by Mosaic law in any form, whether as alchemy, magic, or witchcraft. It is also forbidden by the Church. One reason is that the practice lends itself to dependence on the evil spirits who can pretend to foretell the future, but only to deceive and mislead the practitioners. In modern times it is called spiritism or spiritualism. (Etym. Greek nekros, corpse + manteia, divination; Latin necromantia.
All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.
Except of course, when the said apparition is Mary.
The thing is the soul is alive and in heaven for the saints and the Blessed Mother. Actually Mary’s body is there too.
The souls can pass on our prayers to God, no problem. So can Mary.
“Interesting. Thank you for posting that.”
Actually, MeganC, it was deceptive.
There are devotions that focus on one saint or another, and some people—including some Catholics—might think their expressions of such devotions to be a bit...ah, florid?
Despite this language, each and every Catholic who practices such devotion knows that the source of all power and all good is God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
If I ask Saint Mary or Saint Michael the Archangel to obtain for me one grace or another, I am fully aware that only God can grant it. I just think that a request coming from the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, is received more sympathetically than the same request coming from me.
Remember that the word “pray” just means “request,” in the English of the Bible. The works of Shakespeare are shot through with requests beginning, “Prithee...” Which means, “I pray of thee.”
But not praying as one prays to the only being worthy of worship, just requesting something of a mortal.
There are those who will not be convinced by the truth of this matter, who continue to insist that religious art is idolatry, and that Catholics are too stupid to understand the difference between praying directly to God (in whichever person of the Trinity) and asking a Saint to pray for us.
Weel, we ain’t thet stoopid. We dus unnerstand this difference.
“Except of course, when the said apparition is Mary.”
No Catholic believes that one can summon the Blessed Virgin. That would be necromancy.
Mary appears when and where and to whom it pleases God that she should, and perhaps sometime she whispers a word in His ear about some poor soul whose prayers have moved her merciful heart. I don’t know what the criteria are. I don’t know why God does such things.
I do know, however, that He does do such things, and more frequently than I once thought.
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