Posted on 06/25/2020 7:16:04 PM PDT by ADSUM
The Blessed Mother was the first Christian and blessed without sin, the ark of the New Covenant, that bore Jesus as our Savior and now in Heaven as a saint. We pray to and for all members of the Body of Christ on earth, in Heaven and n Purgatory.
Does the Bible say we should approach the saints with our prayers? Yes, in two places. In Revelation 5:8 John saw the Lamb, Christ Jesus, on a throne in the midst of four beasts and 24 elders. When the Lamb took the book with the seven seals, the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb in worship, “each one having a harp and golden bowls of incenses, which are the prayers of the saints.”
Similarly, in Revelation 8:3-4 we are told that something similar happened when the Lamb opened the seventh seal of the book: “Another angel came and stood on the altar, having a golden censer, and many incenses were given to him, in order that he will give it with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne. And the smoke of the incenses went up with the prayers of the saints from the hand of the angel before God.”
These texts give us a way to understand how the saints offer our prayers for us. Our prayers are like nuggets of incense. They smell sweet and good. The 24 elders around the throne, who are saints, and the angels offer these nuggets of incense for us. They set them on fire before the throne of God.
Acts 8:24 James 5:16
In a dream, God commanded King Abimelech to ask Abraham to intercede for him: “For [Abraham] is a prophet and he will pray for you, so you shall live” (Gen. 20:7).
Paul wrote to the Romans: “I exhort you, brothers, through our Lord Jesus Christ and through the love of the Spirit, to strive with me in prayers to God on my behalf, that I may be delivered from the disobedient in Judaea and that my ministry may be acceptable to the saints in Jerusalem, so that in the joy coming to you through the will of God I may rest with you” (Rom. 15:30-32).
The faith of the Church is that the saints are not really dead, but are fully alive in Jesus Christ, who is life itself (John 11:25; 14:6) and the bread of life who bestows life on all who eat his flesh and drink his blood (John 6:35, 48, 51, 53-56). The saints are alive in heaven because of the life they have received through their faith in Christ Jesus and through their eating of his body and blood.
The book of Revelation shows the saints worshipping God, singing hymns, playing instruments, making requests to Christ to avenge their martyrdom, and offering prayers for the saints on earth (Rev. 4:10, 5:8, 6:9-11).
Because they are alive, we believe that we can go to them to intercede for us with God. We do not need to see apparitions or hear their voices in order to believe they will pray for us in heaven. We trust that the saints will accept our requests for help and will present them to Christ for us.
The Catholic Church has always believed that Jesus Christ is the one mediator between God and man. It is the death and resurrection of Jesus alone by which people are saved.
The Rosary is a spiritual weapon that can protect us. There were several examples given in the video. The Rosary is hated by Satan. What is wrong with repeating prayers, do you not repeat the Our Father often?
Are all of your prayers listed in the Bible or has God told you to either say or not say certain prayers?
The Blessed Mother told the children at Fatima: “Pray the rosary every day, in order to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war.”
The predecessor to the Rosary were prayer beads or Psalter. Often the monks could not read or write, so they memorized prayers and recited them.
Thank you for posting
Luke 1:42 is very interesting. Especially when read with Luke 11:27-28: “And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, BLESSED IS THE EOMB THAT BARE THEE, and the papa which thou hast sucked”.
“BUT he said, Yea RATHER, BLESSED ARE THEY THAT HEAR THE WORD OF GOD, AND KEEP IT”.
Did you get that, Salvation? This woman was lifting Mary up in praise: BLESSED is her womb and her paps.
Does Jesus Christ say “Yes, my mother is to be praised. Blessed is her womb and paps”?
No, He did NOT say anything of the sort. He said RATHER than calling his mother BLESSED, those who HEAR THE WORD OF GOD AND KEEP IT are BLESSED.
It’s quite clear what Christ thought of THOSE WHO WOULD PRAISE HIS MOTHER.
BTW: Luke 1:41 speaks of The FRUIT of Mary’s womb being blessed, NOT Mary. It’s the FRUIT, CHRIST, NOT the womb, MARY.
Why are you praying to Mary? Nothing Biblical about that. In fact, it's contrary to the Bible. Pray to God directly, or through Jesus, but not through Mary.
Nonsense,
.
The Bible makes no mention of it nor contains instructions on how to pray it.
Throwing in a few Scripture verses taken out of context to give something a Biblical window dressing does NOT mean something is Scriptural or *from the Bible*, when it can’t be found anywhere in it.
“BUT he said, Yea RATHER, BLESSED ARE THEY THAT HEAR THE WORD OF GOD, AND KEEP IT”.
Yes, Jesus already knew His Mother was blessed and completely obedient to GOD, but Jesus was telling the woman and us that we need to fully understand the word of God so that we are obedient to God. God blessed Mary as sinless and gave her special graces and she did God’s will so that Jesus could die on the cross for us.
I am sure that you don’t believe that only her womb and breasts were blessed as parts of the body do not work independently.
If you reread Luke 1.42 correctly you will see that Elizabeth called both Mary and the unborn Jesus blessed.
The Blessed Mother was sinless from conception in her mother’s womb and more blessed than other women including the original Eve. As part of the plan for salvation, Jesus is the new Adam and Mary is the new Eve as the New Covenant.
Luke 1.41 tells us the unborn John the Baptist leaped in his mother’s womb (Elizabeth).
Why do protestants want to belittle the Blessed Mother’s role in our salvation? Many protestants try to say that we worship Mary, but we do not and the Catholic Church has stated that explicitly. The Blessed Mother is our mother and we pray to her like any saint in Heaven who is closer to God so that God will help us. Jesus appreciates the prayers of all his faithful followers. As Catholics, we proceed on the path to salvation as a community with the help of others, especially the Blessed Mother.
Unbelievable! It is a shame that you do not see or accept the words in the Bible inspired by God as worthy of prayers.
So are all of your prayers contained in the Bible?
So why do protestants claim that all that Jesus taught is contained in the Bible? Protestant doctrines of “Sola Scriptura” and “Sola Fide” are not taught in the Bible. Which protestant doctrine should be considered God’s Word?
There other questions that were not answered:
So where does it say that Sola Scripture is the only authority of the teachings of Jesus? Not 2 TIM 3:16-17 when St Paul tells us to follow tradition (2 Tes 2:15
Do you then reject the authority of Jesus to give His authority to Peter and his successors?
Jesus says “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church (Catholic Church). I will build my Church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom oh heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:18-19) So please explain your understanding of Jesus giving authority to His Church?
Jesus us told us to pray for others “But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those that persecute you. (Matt 5:44) So those in Heaven and closer to God free of other distractions, their prayers have greater confidence and devotion than anyone on earth. We should be thankful for the prayers of Mary and the saints. The saints prayers are offered up in Revelations 5:8 “and with golden bowls of incense, which are the prayers of the saints” The Body of Christ (including those in Heaven) pray for each other to God.
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in Heaven.” (Matt 5:16) Jesus wants us to do good works with faith and love so that we may join Him in Heaven.
Your comment: “There is no compromise on these issues” I agree. Can you substantiate your beliefs in your doctrines?
Are these quotes in your Bible? What’s wrong with repeating them.
Doesn't matter that 'those' words are in the bible...They will do nothing to protect you from the devil as the article claims and there is nothing in there to attack the devil...
Luk 4:8 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
There is the offensive weapon of the word of God...
Rev 19:10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
Knowing this scripture and many others like it will protect you from the wiles of the devil...
The Devil likes nothing more than convincing you that flowery phrases from your rosary will protect you while he deceives you through your ignorance of the meatier parts of the scriptures that reveal him and his methods of deception...
You always misquote scripture obviously to convince other Catholics that you and your Church have some sort of authority...
But Jesus didn't...Peter and the rest of the apostles were given the charge of taking Jesus' teaching to the Jewish world only...Where's the Catholic Church in that context???
The charge to build the 'church', the worldwide church open to everyone which became far, far, far larger than the church Peter was responsible for was given to the Apostle Paul...Jesus gave it to Paul, not Peter...The Catholic Church claims to be that Gentile church, doesn't it???
So was Jesus lying, or are you again misquoting and misunderstanding scripture???
You didn’t answer the question, only made unconvincing statement.
You should read and truly understand Matthew 16:15-19.
So little understanding of God’s Words.
Read Mark 16: 15 “Go into the world and preach the Gospel to the whole creation.” “but he who does not believe will be condemned”
And Matthew 28: 16-20
So by ignoring God’s Catholic Church and misrepresenting God’s Word, does your unbelief result in condemnation?
Read Mark 16: 15 “Go into the world and preach the Gospel to the whole creation.” “but he who does not believe will be condemned”
Mar 16:17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
Mar 16:18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
I can only assume then that you fall into this category...If you are following Mark 16:15 you must also be following verses 17 and 18...
If you can't claim vs. 17 and 18 you certainly can't claim vs 15...
Again, Peter and the 12 were sent to Jews only...
Mat 10:5 These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:
Mat 10:6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Mat_10:5 These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:
I don't have trouble understanding God's words...Understanding is easy...Believing the words is the hard part, isn't it.........
You may be able to read God’s Word, but it is questionable whether you truly understand them. Satan knows the scriptures well and tries to mislead many.
For example, Matt 10:5 Jesus sent his twelve disciples on a mission trip to a specific area with specific instructions. Later in Matthew 28 Christ commissioned His Apostles and their successors “”All authority in Heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.”
It is very clear that God wanted all to be taught about God and salvation. The Catholic Church is one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church. Not like the protestant and other heresies with 30,000+ flavors (doctrines).
I don’t believe that I have ever come across a devil or a serpent. In the Catholic Church, we have priests as exorcists that have that responsibility in each diocese.
If many didn’t always look for the negative without an open mind, then they might be able to understand and accept God’s Truth.
I don’t believe that the anti-Catholic protestors are devils, just led astray and partially influenced by them. They are just lost sheep(souls) that we pray for that may return to God’s Truth before they die. Many protestants have whole heartily done so and joined the Catholic faith.
You still didn’t answer questions defending protestant unbiblical doctrine.
2Th 2:15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.
That would be the spoken tradition OR the epistle tradition (scripture)...
So if your understanding is correct, we can follow Catholic tradition and completely ignore the bible, or can can follow the bible and completely ignore Catholic tradition...It does say 'spoken' tradition OR 'epistle'...Only problem is, none of this spoken tradition was passed down from anyone to anyone...There is no history of it...
You and your Church of course distort this verse to mean that you guys can create tradition out of thin air and claim some authority for it...
Your comment: “You and your Church of course distort this verse to mean that you guys can create tradition out of thin air and claim some authority for it..”
You accuse the Catholic Church of distorting verse which is exactly what you are doing. Did this come from the democrat party playbook?
You still didn’t answer the question.
Mindless is certainly not the way to pray. We pray the Our Father as Jesus told us (Matthew 6;6-13) and we ask His Mother Mary to pray with us.
Catholics like to reflect and meditate on the mysteries, For example:
The Agony of Christ in the Garden.
The Scourging at the Pillar.
The Crowning with Thorns.
The Carrying of the Cross.
The Crucifixion and Death of Our Lord on the Cross.
Reflecting on the suffering of Christ can bring one closer to Jesus and help us be willing to avoid sin and offer our earthly suffering to God as he suffered so much for us.
Your comment: “Why are you praying to Mary? Nothing Biblical about that. In fact, it’s contrary to the Bible. Pray to God directly, or through Jesus, but not through Mary.”
So are you on the side of the deceiver Satan that we should not ask the Blessed Mother to pray with Us?
Perhaps you should consider Revelations 12 where “the dragon stood before the woman (symbolizes Mary and the Church) who was about to bear a child, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared by God (in Heaven)”
The Catholic Church is a community(the Body of Christ) that prays together including the Blessed Mother and the saints in heaven.
So where is it contrary to the Word of God?
Praying for each other is simply part of what Christians do. As we saw, in 1 Timothy 2:1–4, Paul strongly encouraged Christians to intercede for many different things, and that passage is by no means unique in his writings. Elsewhere Paul directly asks others to pray for him (Rom. 15:30–32, Eph. 6:18–20, Col. 4:3, 1 Thess. 5:25, 2 Thess. 3:1), and he assured them that he was praying for them as well (2 Thess. 1:11). Most fundamentally, Jesus himself required us to pray for others, and not only for those who asked us to do so (Matt. 5:44).
Since the practice of asking others to pray for us is so highly recommended in Scripture, it cannot be regarded as superfluous on the grounds that one can go directly to Jesus. The New Testament would not recommend it if there were not benefits coming from it. One such benefit is that the faith and devotion of the saints can support our own weaknesses and supply what is lacking in our own faith and devotion. Jesus regularly supplied for one person based on another person’s faith (e.g., Matt. 8:13, 15:28, 17:15–18; Mark 9:17–29; Luke 8:49–55). And it goes without saying that those in heaven, being free of the body and the distractions of this life, have even greater confidence in and devotion to God than anyone on earth.
https://www.catholic.com/tract/praying-to-the-saints
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