Posted on 01/23/2014 9:29:40 PM PST by NKP_Vet
1. Best One-Sentence Summary: I am convinced that the Catholic Church conforms much more closely to all of the biblical data, offers the only coherent view of the history of Christianity (i.e., Christian, apostolic Tradition), and possesses the most profound and sublime Christian morality, spirituality, social ethic, and philosophy.
2. Alternate: I am a Catholic because I sincerely believe, by virtue of much cumulative evidence, that Catholicism is true, and that the Catholic Church is the visible Church divinely-established by our Lord Jesus, against which the gates of hell cannot and will not prevail (Mt 16:18), thereby possessing an authority to which I feel bound in Christian duty to submit.
3. 2nd Alternate: I left Protestantism because it was seriously deficient in its interpretation of the Bible (e.g., "faith alone" and many other "Catholic" doctrines - see evidences below), inconsistently selective in its espousal of various Catholic Traditions (e.g., the Canon of the Bible), inadequate in its ecclesiology, lacking a sensible view of Christian history (e.g., "Scripture alone"), compromised morally (e.g., contraception, divorce), and unbiblically schismatic, anarchical, and relativistic. I don't therefore believe that Protestantism is all bad (not by a long shot), but these are some of the major deficiencies I eventually saw as fatal to the "theory" of Protestantism, over against Catholicism. All Catholics must regard baptized, Nicene, Chalcedonian Protestants as Christians.
4. Catholicism isn't formally divided and sectarian (Jn 17:20-23; Rom 16:17; 1 Cor 1:10-13).
5. Catholic unity makes Christianity and Jesus more believable to the world (Jn 17:23).
6. Catholicism, because of its unified, complete, fully supernatural Christian vision, mitigates against secularization and humanism.
7. Catholicism avoids an unbiblical individualism which undermines Christian community (e.g., 1 Cor 12:25-26).
8. Catholicism avoids theological relativism, by means of dogmatic certainty and the centrality of the papacy.
(Excerpt) Read more at ourcatholicfaith.org ...
http://www.marypages.com/PrayerstoMary.htm
Mary, Help of Those in Need
Holy Mary, help those in need, give strength to the weak, comfort the sorrowful, pray for God's people, assist the clergy, intercede for religious. Mary all who seek your help experience your unfailing protection. Amen.
Morning Consecration to Mary
My Queen, My Mother, I offer myself entirely to thee. And to show my devotion to thee, I offer thee this day, my eyes, my ears, my mouth, my heart, my whole being without reserve.
Wherefore, good Mother, as I am thine own, keep me, guard me as thy property and possession. Amen.
Prayer to Our Lady of Guadalupe
Dear Mother, we love you. We thank you for your promise to help us in our need. We trust in your love that dries our tears and comforts us. Teach us to find our peace in your Son, Jesus, and bless us every day of our lives.
Help us to build a shrine in our hearts. Make it as beautiful as the one built for you on the Mount of Tepeyac. A shrine full of trust, hope, and love of Jesus growing stronger each day. Mary, you have chosen to remain with us by giving us your most wonderful and holy self-image on Juan Diego's cloak. May we feel your loving presence as we look upon your face. Like Juan, give us the courage to bring your message of hope to everyone.
You are our Mother and our inspiration. Hear our prayers and answer us. Amen.
The Memorare
Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored your help or sought your intercession, was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto you, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother. To you I come, before you I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word incarnate, despise not my petitions, but, in your mercy, hear and answer me. Amen.
http://www.stcathek.org/OLPH.htm
Lady of Perpetual Help Novenas
First Novena Prayer ( 1st. and 5th. Saturday)
Behold at thy feet, O Mother of Perpetual Help,| a wretched sinner who has recourse to thee and confides in thee.| O Mother of mercy, have pity on me. I hear thee called by all the refuge and the hope of sinners:| be then, my refuge and my hope.
Assist me, for the love of Jesus Christ;| stretch forth thy hand to a miserable fallen creature who recommends himself to thee, and who devotes himself to thy service for ever.| I bless and thank Almighty God, who in His mercy has given me this confidence in thee,| which I hold to be a pledge of my eternal salvation.|
It is true that in the past I have miserably fallen into sin,| because I had not recourse to thee.| I know that, with thy help, I shall conquer.| I know too, that thou wilt assist me, if I recommend myself to thee;| but I fear dear Mother | that in time of danger, I may neglect to call on thee,| and thus lose my soul.| This grace, then, I ask of thee, and this I beg, with all the fervor of my soul,| that in all the attacks of hell I may ever have recourse to thee.| O Mary, help me.| O Mother of Perpetual Help, never suffer me to lose my God.
3 Ave’s
Hail Mary , full of grace , the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, JESUS. R: Holy Mary Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Second Novena Prayer (2nd. and 4th. Saturday) O Mother of Perpetual Help, grant that I may ever invoke thy most powerful name, which is the safeguard of the living and the salvation of the dying. O purest Mary, O sweetest Mary, let thy name henceforth be ever on my lips. Delay not, O Blessed Lady, to help me, whenever I call on thee; for, in all my temptations, in all my needs, I shall never cease to call on thee, ever repeating thy sacred name, Mary, Mary. O what consolation, what sweetness, what confidence, what emotion fills my soul when I utter thy sacred name, or even only think of thee. I thank the Lord for having given thee, for my good, so sweet, so powerful, so lovely a name. But I will not be content with merely uttering thy name. Let my love for thee prompt me ever to hail thee, Mother of Perpetual Help.
3 Ave’s
Third Novena Prayer ( 3rd. Saturday)
O Mother of Perpetual Help, thou art the dispenser of all the gifts which God grants to us miserable sinners; and for this end He has made thee so powerful, so rich, and so bountiful, in order that thou mayest help us in our misery.
Thou are the advocate of the most wretched and abandoned sinners who have recourse to thee: come to my aid, for I recommend myself to thee. In thy hands I place my eternal salvation, and to thee I entrust my soul. Count me amongst thy most devoted servants; take me under thy protection, and it is enough for me. For, if thou wilt protect me, I fear nothing; not from my sins, because thou wilt obtain for me the pardon of them; nor from the devils, because thou art more powerful than all hell together; nor even from Jesus, my judge, because by one prayer from thee He will be appeased.
But one thing I fear: that in the hour of temptation I may through negligence fail to have recourse to thee and thus perish miserably. Obtain for me, therefore, the pardon of my sins, love for Jesus, final perseverance, and the grace ever to have recourse to thee, O Mother of Perpetual Help. 3 Ave’s
P: Pray for us O Holy Mother of God
R: That we may be made worthy of the promises of eternal life
Matthew 22:37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
Luke 10:27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”
Deuteronomy 6:5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
John 2:1 On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.
John 2:3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.”
Acts 1:14 All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.
Like this, for instance? "Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle." 2 Thess 2:15 KJV
Do you believe a Muslim can be saved by living according to the beatitudes?
No one can be saved merely by living according to the beatitudes. This is what the Church teaches: "For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, for it is the gift of God".
Sorry ... where did I defend pelosi, biden, etc. and call them good?
Just what are those traditions Paul was referring to that he handed down that we are to keep that were not included in Scripture?
How do you know?
How do you know they’re from the apostles, Paul in particular?
How do you know they’ve been passed down faithfully?
What is your source for verifying all of the above?
Please provide the sources for verification purposes.
Peter speaking here.
Acts 4:11-12 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
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We pray WITH Mary and Mary prays FOR us (thus the clear reference in the catechism to her “manifold intercession”).
To claim that we “worship her or attribute to her the attributes of God” is patently untrue.
In the Religion forum, on a thread titled One Hundred Fifty Reasons I’m Catholic - And You Should Be Too!, BlatherNaut wrote:
To claim that we “worship her or attribute to her the attributes of God” is patently untrue.
The various haters here who make that false statement know full well that the claim is a baldfaced lie; hatred defaces them and allows the vile calumnies to spew forth. Pray for them, they need it.
Can you possibly quit trying to avoid the fact that RCs are predominately liberal, and which Rome treats as members in life and in death, and the evidence consistently overwhelming testifies to, thus you must resort to relegating them all as biased and unreliable, and can only offer the manner of sophistry that has been consistently exposed? Give it lest you become even more marginalized.
Bearing false witness when you have repeatedly told the truth tends to paint good protestants in a bad light. Please refrain from doing so.
LOL I think metmom, I, and others have posted enough evidence to the contrary. Making the claim that Catholics don’t pray to Mary or the saints is starting to look rather pathetic.
Come on, Vlad, you can throw better misdirection than that, can't you? The truth is, I exposed your lies, and you don't want anyone to know. This is what you wrote early on:
>>>Christ, as the Savior, sent His Church, the Catholic Church, into the world to bring the forgiveness<<<
I was astonished anyone would write such a thing. Christ sent 'THE CATHOLIC CHURCH"? Only a complete novice would believe that.
In a recent thread, you changed your strategy and hid your true belief with this "photo-shopped" version:
>>>Jesus said He would establish the Church and He did. The Church is His Body, His Bride. The gospel and Church always go together. There is no way to separate them.<<<
And I replied with a qualified "that is correct." That is, the only reason I wrote, "that is correct," is because you left out the "Catholic Church is the Church" part. And I qualified my post with 10 verses of scripture that demonstrated the Church of the Firstborn in heaven has nothing in common with the Catholic "Church."
And how did you respond? Did you compare God's Word that I provided with your previous claims? Did you point out how "heavenly mount Sion" and "heavenly Jerusalem" and the "holy temple is within you" all correspond to the doctrine of the Catholic "Church?"
No. You came back with, as I said, the dumbest post I have read in my 14 years on FR, as follows:
>>>Thanks for admitting I was correct.<<<
That was it? I referenced scripture that completely contradicts what you wrote earlier--that the Catholic "Church" was Sent by Christ to bring forgiveness--and you had no rebuttal?
LOL!
Philip
What is your source for verifying all of the above?
Some better questions: What is your source before 325 AD (when the Council of Nicaea formally codified the New Testament)? And do you assume the scriptural compilation agreed upon at the Council of Nicaea was infallible as Catholic Tradition holds? If not, why assume that your Bible is valid? Without Catholic Tradition, the council is nothing but a bunch of old bishops glueing together their personal hand-picked selections.
I’ll use just the bolded excerpts from the prayer.
we cast ourselves into your arms
1 Peter 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. (When did we need to replace God with Mary?)
confident of finding in your most loving heart appeasement of our ardent desires, and a safe harbor from the tempests which beset us on every side.
Hebrews 4:15-16 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (once again Catholics replacing Christ with Mary)
O crystal fountain of faith
Romans 12:3 according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. or "a measure of faith." (but Mary is the “fountain of faith” for Catholics)
Lily of all holiness
1 Samuel 2:2 There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God. (for Catholics however, “all holiness” is given to Mary)
Conqueress of evil and death
Hosea 13:14 I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes. (but Catholics claim it was Mary who conquered death)
Convert the wicked
John 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. 8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 Of sin, because they believe not on me; (Catholics have even replaced the Holy Spirit with Mary)
Statement by catholic Bishop Liqouri “.......We often more quickly obtain what we ask by calling on the name of Mary than by invoking that of Jesus.....” She...is our Salvation, our Life, our Hope, our Counsel, our Refuge, our Help”
Need I go on? Catholics have replaced virtually every attribute and working of God and given that to Mary in their worship.
So where do you think grace comes from?
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