[TomSmedley]

Can you please show me a single official Catholic or Orthodox reference calling Mary a 'demigod'.

Consider the text of the Salve Regina:

Hail Holy Queen, Mother of mercy
Our life, our sweetness and our hope!
To thee do we cry, poor banished chidren of Eve,
To thee do we send up our sighs,
Mourning and weeping in this valley of tears.

Turn, then, most gracious advocate,
Thine eyes of mercy toward us,
And after this our exile
Show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
O clement, o loving, o sweet Virgin Mary.

Do these sound like words addressed to a fellow human being?

[x5452]

Not a word therein contains "demigod", nor do any of them conflict with scripture.

[Campion]

Do these sound like words addressed to a fellow human being?

If they don't, it's probably because you're used to living in republic with egalitarian pretenses. ;-)

But in an era when people addressed kings and queens in similarly flowery language, they wouldn't have thought it that unusual.

[JohnnyZ]

Do these sound like words addressed to a fellow human being?

And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost. 42 And she cried out with a loud voice and said: Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. 43 And whence is this to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

That's D-R, anyway.

[x5452]

Does Elisabeth's words sound like those used for a fellow human being:

Luk 1:41 And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:


Luk 1:42 And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed [art] thou among women, and blessed [is] the fruit of thy womb.


Luk 1:43 And whence [is] this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?


Luk 1:44 For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.


Luk 1:45 And blessed [is] she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.


Luk 1:46 And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,


Luk 1:47 And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.


Luk 1:48 For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.


Luk 1:49 For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy [is] his name.


Luk 1:50 And his mercy [is] on them that fear him from generation to generation.


Luk 1:51 He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.


Luk 1:52 He hath put down the mighty from [their] seats, and exalted them of low degree.


Luk 1:53 He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away.


Luk 1:54 He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of [his] mercy;


Luk 1:55 As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever.

[Dionysiusdecordealcis]

Please show me a single word in the Salve Regina that must be interpreted as referring to a God? Queen? Most queens I've ever heard of are human. Advocate, mother, womb, children of Eve, sweet, loving, merciful--these all apply to human beings. Some can only apply to human beings (mother, womb), some apply to both God and us (sweet, loving, merciful etc.) In the absence clear evidence to the contrary, since some can only refer to human beings, the rest should be interpreted to refer to human beings.

The burden of proof is on you to show that anything in this hymn requires being interpreted as referring to Mary as demigod.

I'm just a little tired of the way you Protestant anti-Catholics leap to conclusions with texts you are not familiar with. Those of us who pray this daily know very well to whom it is addressed--a woman, the first to believe in Christ (because she was the first to know about the Incarnation), the first believer, the first Christian and thus our mother in the faith.