Who are the Catholics: The Orthodox or The Romanists, or both?

It's not theology, just heart-wrenching music.

Well I'll hang with ya there...

Looks like Mary’s gonna have some pretty cold feet

Thank you AG...

From a Roman Catholic's website, what is this picture telling us?"

It shows Mary standing on the earth in the shadow of the cross. You don't need a degree in art history to see the symbolism, but it is an effective Rohrshock test to identify the pathologically anti Catholic.

Yes, you are. But a person who disregards an opinion that is more sound, reasonable and logical than her own is doomed to error.

You forgot to add humility...lolol...

Nice. In basketball terms that would be a ‘slam dunk’ - and one of those where you did it right in the defender’s face as well - well done.

You wrote:

“From a Roman Catholic’s website, what is this picture telling us?”

It tells us that Mary is the mediatrix of all grace. All of the grace we get from God was won for us by Christ on the cross - hence the cross. The grace comes to us - just as THE Grace, Christ Himself, came to us - through Mary.

Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces
by Father William G. Most

Closely related to the Catholic teaching on Mary’s cooperation in the redemption is the teaching that, with through and under her Son, she is Mediatrix of all graces. What exactly does this mean?

The term Mediatrix in itself could refer to either the objective redemption (the once-for-all earning a title to grace for all men), to the subjective redemption (the distribution of this grace to individual men), or to both. It is most usual to use it to refer only to subjective redemption, i.e. , the process of giving out the fruits of the objective redemption, throughout all centuries. We must consider whether or not the term Mediatrix applies to all graces or only to some. We will ask also about the nature of the mediation: is it only by way of intercession, that is, does Mary simply pray to her Son that he may give us grace, or does God also use her as an instrument in distributing grace.

To begin, we can say without doubt that the title “Mediatrix” is justified, and applies to all graces for certain, by her cooperation in acquiring all graces on Calvary.

The Second Vatican Council (Lumen gentium ## 61-62), said:

... in suffering with Him as He died on the cross, she cooperated in the work of the Savior, in an altogether singular way, by obedience, faith, hope, and burning love, to restore supernatural life to souls. As a result she is our Mother in the order of grace.

This motherhood of Mary in the economy of grace lasts without interruption, from the consent which she gave in faith at the annunciation, and which she unhesitatingly bore with under the cross, even to the perpetual consummation of all the elect. For after being assumed into heaven, she has not put aside this saving function, but by her manifold intercession, she continues to win the gifts of eternal salvation for us. By her motherly love, she takes care of the brothers of her Son who are still in pilgrimage and in dangers and difficulties, until they be led through to the happy fatherland. For this reason, the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Auxiliatrix, Adiutrix, and Mediatrix. This however it to be so understood that it takes nothing away, or adds nothing to the dignity and efficacy of Christ the one Mediator. For no creature can ever be put on the same level with the Incarnate Word and Redeemer....”

We notice that Vatican II did not add the words “of all graces.” However, as many papal texts point out, Mary’s role in dispensation flows logically from her role in acquiring all graces. Further, the Council itself added a note on the above passage, in which it refers us to the texts of Leo XIII, Adiutricem populi, St. Pius X, Ad diem illum, Pius XI, Miserentissimus Redemptor, and Pius XII, Radiomessage to Fatima.

Leo XIII, in the text referred to, spoke of her, as we saw above, as having “practically limitless power.” St. Pius X said she was the “dispensatrix of all the gifts, and is the “neck” connecting the Head of the Mystical Body to the Members. But all power flows through the neck. Pius XII said “Her kingdom is as vast as that of her Son and God, since nothing is excluded from her dominion.” These and many other texts speak in varied ways of Mary as Mediatrix of all graces, so often that the teaching has become infallible.

Objection

Protestants object to this , saying that there is only one mediator: 1 Tim 2:5. We agree that there are many ways in which Christ is the only mediator between God and man. 1) There is only one mediator who is such by very nature, being both true God and true man. 2) There is only one mediator whose whose work is necessary, without whom, in God’s plan, there could be no salvation. 3) There is only one mediator who depends on no one else for power.

Mary differs on all three counts. 1) Mary only a creature, but it was appropriate that God be freely choose her as Mediatrix because he had made her Mother of the God-man, the Redeemer—it was she who on behalf of the whole human race consented to God’s plan of salvation by proclaiming herself the handmaid of the Lord. 2) Her role was not necessary, since Christ was and is the perfect Redeemer and the perfect Mediator. Rather, Mary was associated with her Son by the free decision of the Father, a decision which we cannot ignore. 3) Her whole ability to do anything comes entirely from her Son, and hence we are not contradicting Lumen gentium # 62 which says no creature can be ever counted together with Him.

Really, the Father did not need her at all, except that if He decreed the incarnation, He necessarily decreed a Mother: she was and is that Mother. But everything else in which He has employed her is not needed.

Yet, if we recall the economy of redemption, it is clear that the Father wants everything to be as rich as possible, so that He will not stop with something lesser if there is more than can be done. Really, the incarnation in a palace, without death, would have been infinite in merit and satisfaction, as we have seen in the section on her cooperation in the redemption.

Further, the principle of St. Thomas helps here. In Summa Theologiae I. 19. 5. c., Thomas says that it pleases God to have one thing in place to serve as a title or reason for granting something further, even though that title does not move Him. It is His love of all goodness and good order that leads Him to act this way. Hence too, even though Calvary earned infinite forgiveness and graces, the Father wills to provide titles for giving out these, in the Mass. Even though He did not need even our Lady, yet He willed to employ her. Even though there is no need of any other saints, in objective or subjective redemption, yet He wills to add them—all to make everything, every title, as rich as possible.

Lumen gentium speaks of her as taking care of all her children. We are extremely numerous, but yet not infinite in number. Therefore, we are not too numerous for her to see and care for. For her capacity for that infinite vision of God is in proportion to her love on earth, so great that Pius IX, as we saw, said it was so great that “none greater under God can be thought of, and no one but God can comprehend it.”

Is her mediation merely by intercession, prayer for us to her Son and to God the Father? Or does she also play a role in the distribution of graces from the Father through her Son to us? Many today, influenced by Protestant theology, tend to speak of grace merely as favor, and so say grace is not a thing given. But that would imply Pelagianism, the heresy that says that we can be saved by our own power. For if God merely sits there and smiles at me, and gives me nothing, that would mean that I had to do it by my own power.

So we answer, since Mary was associated with her Son in acquiring grace for us, she will also share with him in distributing that grace to us. This fits well with the words of the Popes, who call her the administra of grace, meaning that she administers or dispenses it. So Pope Leo XIII, Iucunda semper, said:

“... when He [the Father] has been invoked with excellent prayers, our humble voice turns to Mary; in accordance with no other law than that law of conciliation and petition which was expressed as follows by St. Bernardine of Siena : ‘Every grace that is communicated to this world has a threefold course. For by excellent order, it is dispensed from God to Christ, from Christ to the Virgin, from the Virgin to us.’”

http://www.ewtn.com/faith/teachings/marya4.htm

And here is what the picture DOES NOT MEAN:

1) It doesn’t mean Mary is god or that we think of her as a god.

2) It doesn’t mean Mary is responsible for our salvation.

3) It doesn’t even remotely hint, indicate or say that Mary was ever nailed to the cross for our sins.

4) It doesn’t say that anti-Catholics have a clue about God, the Bible, Mary or Christian art.

Hmmm. I want to moderate your thesis thus: In the infrequent places where the two differ it is because the KJV folks had an agenda.

They certainly did...They wanted to make the most accurate translation of the Majority Texts...And they did...

You wrote:

“You forgot to add humility...lolol...”

I didn’t forget. It was unnecessary to add it.

The imagery that probably best depict this is that of a gaggle of streetwalkers coming out of the whorehouse with the Madam patting them on their backs for their good work.

Comparing Catholics to streetwalkers? Nice. I guess your "Madam" is the pope then.

One big difference is that the KJV was based upon the Stephenus Greek text from the 16th Century for the NT and the ben Asher Masoretic Hebrew (from the 10th Century). For stylistic purposes, it also copied a lot from the Douay.

Show us the evidence...

From a Roman Catholic's website, what is this picture telling us?

It means you have FAILED yet again!

The website you got that picture from is Cosepp Technology Online . The owner of the website appears to be a Catholic, but he certainly doesn't speak for the Church and he doesn't claim to. Additionally, Our Lady of All Nations has been specifically REJECTED by the Holy See.

pesky, PESKY facts...

I read Greek pretty well with a crib close to hand - thanks to 2 years of it in college - but it was classical not koine and that creates a few problems. Can't read Hebrew, so use the Septuagint ("If it was good enough for Jesus Christ . . . ")

Still, I used it to clinch arguments with my former (Episcopal) pastor because ECUSA seminaries haven't required Latin, Greek OR Hebrew in 50 years! Our former church used the RSV - my favorite passage to hate was Matthew 22:21 "emperor" when the original Greek clearly says "Caesar".

The NAB doesn't just employ dynamic translation where there's a 'gender neutral' issue - it uses it elsewhere as well. I have a bunch of work coming in here so don't have time to check right now. But my major objection is the horrid, obtuse, clunky language. NOT suitable at all for reading aloud in church. Check out Luke 2 for a really lame version of something we all know by heart from King James.

Faith AND works together, same as anyone else.

Any time. Childish analogy: a talent of mine