Prayer
Should we pray to Mary?
The Catholic Catechism encourages prayer to Mary:
“When we pray to her, we are adhering with her to the plan of the Father, who sends His Son to save all men. . . . We can pray with and to her” (para. 2679).
The Catholic Catechism states that we are “adhering with her to the plan of the Father” when we pray to Mary, yet nowhere does the Bible teach us to pray to anyone other than God. Furthermore, there is nothing in the Bible that teaches that by praying to Mary we are adhering to any plan of the Father. When Jesus was teaching the disciples to pray, He said to them,
“This is how your are to pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; and do not subject us to the final test, but deliver us from the evil one” (Matthew 6:9–13).
Jesus taught His disciples about God’s plan for us. And when He taught His disciples to pray, He taught them to pray to God. In Matthew 6:9–13, Jesus did not teach that these are the words we must pray; He said, “This is how you are to pray.” I am not saying that it is wrong to pray the “Our Father,” as we call it. I am saying that Jesus intended this prayer to be the pattern for our prayers. This pattern for prayer directs the prayer to God. If prayer to someone else were acceptable, Jesus certainly would have told His disciples when He was teaching them how to pray. But He never did.
The Bible additionally tells us,
“...in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God” (Philippians 4:6).
This verse clearly tells us that we should pray and present our petitions to God. Again, nowhere does the Bible teach us to pray to anyone other than God.
Should we pray to the saints?
The Catholic Catechism teaches that we should pray to the saints:
“The witnesses who have preceded us into the kingdom, especially those whom the Church recognizes as saints, share in the living tradition of prayer by the example of their lives, the transmission of their writings, and their prayer today. They contemplate God, praise him and constantly care for those whom they have left on earth. When they entered into the joy of their Master, they were ‘put in charge of many things.’ Their intercession is their most exalted service to God’s plan. We can and should ask them to intercede for us and for the whole world” (para. 2683).
But the Bible teaches that it is the Holy Spirit and Jesus who intercede for us:
“And the one [God] who searches hearts knows what is the intention of the Spirit, because it intercedes for the holy ones according to God’s will” (Romans 8:27).
“It is Christ [Jesus] who died, rather, was raised, who also is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us” (Romans 8:34).
“...he [Jesus] is always able to save those who approach God through him, since he [Jesus] lives forever to make intercession for them [believers]” (Hebrews 7:25).
Both Jesus and the Holy Spirit intercede for us, and they are both God. Nowhere does the Bible teach that those who have died before us can intercede for us, and nowhere does the Bible teach us to pray to anyone other than God.
When a person prays to a saint, that person demonstrates his or her belief in that saint, as well as faith and hope in the saint to hear and answer prayer. Despite the fact that the Catholic Catechism encourages belief in the saints, it also teaches the following in agreement with the Bible:
“We must believe in no one but God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit” (para. 178).
“Faith in God leads us to turn to him alone as our first origin and our ultimate goal, and neither to prefer anything to him nor to substitute anything for him” (para. 229).
The Bible tells us that our faith and hope should be in God. First Peter 1:20 and 21 say,
“He [Jesus] was known before the foundation of the world but revealed in the final time for you, who through him believe in God who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.” (1:20-21)
Since we are to “believe in no one but God,” since “faith in God leads us to turn to him alone,” and since we are to place our faith and hope in God, how can we believe in, have faith and hope in, turn to, or pray to Mary or any other saint?
____________________________________________________________
If you would like a free copy of the book
for yourself or to share with family or
friends, simply e-mail me at:
Joe@TeachingsOfTheCatholicChurch.com
and I will be happy to send one to you.
____________________________________________________________