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.
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