Posted on 09/03/2014 6:36:07 AM PDT by NKP_Vet
A little six-year-old Protestant boy had often heard his Catholic companions reciting the prayer “Hail Mary.” He liked it so much that he copied it, memorized it and would recite it every day. “Look, Mommy, what a beautiful prayer,” he said to his mother one day.
“Never again say it,” answered the mother. “It is a superstitious prayer of Catholics who adore idols and think Mary a goddess. After all, she is a woman like any other. Come on, take this Bible and read it. It contains everything that we are bound to do and have to do.” From that day on the little boy discontinued his daily “Hail Mary” and gave himself more time to reading the Bible instead. One day, while reading the Gospel, he came across the passage about the Annunciation of the Angel to Our Lady. Full of joy, the little boy ran to his mother and said: “Mommy, I have found the ‘Hail Mary’ in the Bible which says: ‘Hail full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou amongst women.’ Why do you call it a superstitious prayer?”
On another occasion he found that beautiful Salutation of St. Elizabeth to the Virgin Mary and the wonderful canticle MAGNIFICAT in which Mary foretold that “the generations would call her blessed.” He said no more about it to his mother but started to recite the “Hail Mary” every day as before. He felt pleasure in addressing those charming words to the Mother of Jesus, our Savior.
When he was fourteen, he one day heard a discussion on Our Lady among the members of his family. Every one said that Mary was a common woman like any other woman. The boy, after listening to their erroneous reasoning could not bear it any longer, and full of indignation, he interrupted them, saying:
“Mary is not like any other children of Adam, stained with sin. No! The Angel called her FULL OF GRACE AND BLESSED AMONGST WOMEN. Mary is the Mother of Jesus Christ and consequently Mother of God. There is no higher dignity to which a creature can be raised. The Gospel says that the generations will proclaim her blessed and you are trying to despise her and look down on her. Your spirit is not the spirit of the Gospel or of the Bible which you proclaim to be the foundation of the Christian religion.”
So deep was the impression which the boy’s talk had made that his mother many times cried out sorrowfully: “Oh my God! I fear that this son of mine will one day join the Catholic religion, the religion of Popes!” And indeed, not very long afterwards, having made a serious study of both Protestantism and Catholicism, the boy found the latter to be the only true religion and embraced it and became one of its most ardent apostles.
Some time after his conversion, he met his married sister who rebuked him and said indignantly: “You little know how much I love my children. Should any one of them desire to become a Catholic, I would sooner pierce his heart with a dagger than allow him to embrace the religion of the Popes!”
Her anger and temper were as furious as those of St. Paul before his conversion. However, she would change her ways, just as St. Paul did on his way to Damascus. It so happened that one of her sons fell dangerously ill and the doctors gave up hope of recovery. Her brother then approached her and spoke to her affectionately, saying: “My dear sister, you naturally wish to have your child cured. Very well, then, do what I ask you to do. Follow me, let us pray one ‘Hail Mary’ and promise God that, if your son recovers his health, you would seriously study the Catholic doctrine, and should you come to the conclusion that Catholicism is the only true religion, you would embrace it no matter what the sacrifices may be.”
His sister was somewhat reluctant at the beginning, but as she wished for her son’s recovery, she accepted her brother’s proposal and recited the “Hail Mary” together with him. The next day her son was completely cured. The mother fulfilled her promise and she studied the Catholic doctrine. After long preparation she received Baptism together with her whole family, thanking her brother for being an apostle to her.
The story was related during a sermon given by the Rev. Fr. Tuckwell. “Brethren,” he went on and said, “the boy who became a Catholic and converted his sister to Catholicism dedicated his whole life to the service of God. He is the priest who is speaking to you now! What I am I owe to Our Lady. You, too, my dear brethren, be entirely dedicated also to Our Lady and never let a day pass without saying the beautiful prayer, ‘Hail Mary’, and your Rosary. Ask her to enlighten the minds of Protestants who are separated from the true Church of Christ founded on the Rock (Peter) and ‘against whom the gates of hell shall never prevail.’”
Thank you but I know whenever I write something eloquent that says what I’m trying to say it is the Holy Spirit and not me.
Christianity if based on the finished work of Christ on the cross.
Catholics should try trusting Christ for a change instead of looking to Mary for everything.
If Catholics put as much energy in lifting up Christ as they do in lifting up Mary, they'd turn this world on its head.
Thanks for those verses.
It’s pretty clear that Jesus was not an only child.
Nothing like a little sibling rivalry to test one’s character.
After all, He was tempted in every way just as we are and yet was without sin.
That precludes a perfect mother and no siblings.
I can see it now. Mary says to one of the other kids....”Why can’t you be more like Jesus?”
Can you imagine how many times they must have set Him up to fall, trying to trap Him into doing something He shouldn’t?
I tend to think Jesus handled his brothers and sisters quite well...I base that in that he was “teaching” those at the Synagogue at 12 yrs. So imagine what his mind was even younger..... ... PS...Note...Joan Rivers dies at 1:17 today...she's gone.
Your post really caught my eye. I try to write a note of sympathy rather than send a card, and it’s always a celebration of that person’s life. First I pray that the Holy Spirit will guide my thoughts—sometimes I haven’t a clue—and the words always come to me. It may be hard to believe, but I usually receive a personal thank you for my notes, sometimes written ones. My most treasured one is from a widower who said he often read my note because it raised his spirits and gave him comfort. I told him it was the Holy Spirit, not me.
Matthew 13:55 “Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary, and ‘His brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?”
Mark 6:2-3 “And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue; and the many listeners were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things, and what is this wisdom given to Him, and such miracles as these performed by His hands?... “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and ‘brother of James, and Joses, and Judas, and Simon? Are not ‘His sisters’ here with us?”
John 2:12 “After this He went down to Capernaum, He and His mother, and ‘His brothers’, and His disciples; and there they stayed a few days.”
Acts 1:14 “These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, ‘and with His brothers’.”
1 Corinthians 9:4-5 “Do we not have a right to eat and drink? Do we not have a right to take along a believing wife, even as the rest of the apostles, ‘and’ the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas?”
Galatians 1:19 But I did not see any other of the apostles except James, ‘the Lord’s brother’
Strong's Concordance
http://biblehub.com/greek/80.htm
adelphos: a brother
Original Word: ἀδελφός, οῦ, ὁ
Part of Speech: Noun, Masculine
Transliteration: adelphos
Phonetic Spelling: (ad-el-fos')
Short Definition: a brother
Definition: a brother, member of the same religious community, especially a fellow-Christian.
Here is a link to the occurrences of the Greek word *adelphos*.
http://biblehub.com/greek/80.htm
The word *sister* (adelphe) in the Greek is the same.
http://biblehub.com/greek/79.htm
The word used is *brother* not *cousin*.
It can't mean a member of the same religious community in the context in which they occur, because then that would mean every man in Israel could be identified as Jesus' brother. So that would not identify Jesus as anyone in particular's brother.
It's not going to mean *brother in Christ* as that concept was not yet in place and the Jews, who knew Jesus as a Jew and knew His brothers as Jews, would not even begin to understand the new birth and what being in Christ meant.
They didn't even understand who JESUS was, much less being a *brother in Christ*.
The only definition left then, is to mean physical brother.
And it would not be *cousin*.
The word for *relative* that is used for Elizabeth is *suggenes*, not *adelphe*.
http://biblehub.com/greek/4773.htm
Strong's Concordance
suggenes: akin, a relative
Original Word: συγγενής, ές
Part of Speech: Adjective
Transliteration: suggenes
Phonetic Spelling: (soong-ghen-ace')
Short Definition: akin, a relative
Definition: akin to, related; subst: fellow countryman, kinsman.
Take your smart mouthed garbage else where. You believe your way and I will believe the Bible way. End of subject.
Christ told Mary that John would now be her son on earth. And John took care of Mary thereafter. She was not, and you will never be able to provide Scripture to prove otherwise, that she was no longer heard of in Scripture after Acts. She is not preaching, writing Scripture, providing insite, providing the Gospel. That WAS given to Paul and he did that. Mary did not. End of argument. You can believe whatever it is you believe and I will follow the Gospel of 1 Corth 15: 1-4. No where there is Mary mentioned.
They were not clear.
She was not, and you will never be able to provide Scripture to prove otherwise, that she was no longer heard of in Scripture after Acts.
_______________________________
You are welcome for my sharing the verse from Acts to correct what you first stated:
*** The Scriptures tell nothing of her doing anything after the crucifixion.***
You say: She is not preaching, writing Scripture, providing insite (sic), providing the Gospel.
There is nothing written about any such actions on her part in the scriptures. However, we do not know ALL that happened in the lives of the Apostles, disciples and with Mary. I would think it natural for her to share insight from all those things she kept in her heart about Jesus. I would think it natural and probable that she was asked to share about some of that by John and the others. As for sharing the Gospel, It is quite likely that she shared this precisely because of her devotion to her Son. All of us, who are called followers of Christ are called to do just that.
You say: You can believe whatever it is you believe and I will follow the Gospel of 1 Corth (sic) 15: 1-4. No where there is Mary mentioned.
Thank you. I will continue to believe in God’s plan of salvation as revealed in the beauty and majesty of the entire Bible. I will also continue to show great respect for the Mother of my Savior.
...”They were not clear”...
I’m not responsible for your inability to understand....if you can’t understand clarity then there’s not much can be done.
Clarity
noun
1.
clearness or lucidity as to perception or understanding; freedom from indistinctness or ambiguity.
If you continue to believe that Salvation comes through Mary, you are in for a shock. You continue to believe a false gospel if you will, that is your choice and your fault. We are finished here friend. I don’t follow false gospels and am not going to argue the point with you or any other that believes it comes through Mary. Any others that want to jump on that ship, I am not going to argue with you either. End of conversation. Good bye.
If you continue to believe that Salvation comes through Mary, you are in for a shock.
______________________________________
Honestly, I think we both believe the Good News exactly as God planned it. By her Fiat of saying YES to God, Mary gave birth to Jesus. Jesus IS the Savior, Who has restored the way to heaven for us. Look, Retired....I am pretty sure that both of us joyfully exclaim the following and we MEAN it with every fiber of our being:
Praise be the Name of Jesus Christ–Lord, Savior and Victor of the entire world!
I also agree that we should not argue. Evil is multiplying at an astounding rate these days and I think it all the more important that we Christians stand against it...putting our complete TRUST in God alone. THAT should be our focus. ...and... This will become increasingly important in the days to come. May the Lord, Jesus bless you and protect you and may He keep us all on the path to holiness.
I don’t worship Mary. God and the Son and Holy Spirit are the focus of worship in the Catholic Church.
I don’t understand why you voice such untruths, pamphlets, someone who hates the Catholic Church?
Nevertheless, you are still a Catholic and will always be a Catholic since you were baptized as one.
Almost there...do likewise with “context”.
Nothing worse than a lapsed Catholic.
You were baptised a Catholic and you’ll leave this world a Catholic. Now it still might be a Catholic who does not practice the faith, but a Catholic nevertheless.
You mean that Bible that Catholics compiled and canonized? Without the Catholic Church you would know nothing of Jesus Christ. Facts are facts.
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