I went to a Catholic school and I started to think that they were treating her like a goddess, I mean seriously; praying to her? As an Anglican I believe that the only ones you should pray to are The Trinity.

Anyone else got any views on the praying issue? Should there be a pick on the praying thing?

Mary was the mother of jesus. We should be respectful of her.

Yes but so much of Catholicism focuses on her that they don't actually talk about Jesus all that much.

Why don't you ask a Catholic? Here is my answer: You are not praying TO her, we are asking her to pray for us because she has a closer relationship in heaven to Jesus and God. Its like asking her to put in a good word for us.

i.e. The Hail Mary: "Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death."

God demands all prayer to go to himself. Otherwise its idolatry.

And the point in Jesus dying was to bring down the barriers of sin. That means we no longer have to communicate through prophets to talk to God.

Exactly. :)

Yes, they do seem to see her as a goddess. I was at a Catholic school too (even though I'm not Catholic) and we had to pray to her every day.

Lol, touché TweenaCat! I also went to a Catholic school even though I'm not a Catholic!

When we pray to Mary, we are not praying to her as a god or goddess ... we are asking her to help us to get closer to her Son, who is God. All of us can and should pray to Jesus and have a relationship with Him that is above all other relationships. Mary faithfully followed Jesus her whole life...she wants nothing more than for us to know and love her Son. I do hope that people don't answer this question on what they "think" catholics believe because it does seem that they are wrong assumptions when it comes to Mary.

We are as close to God as Mary is, thanks to Jesus, who died on the cross so that sin does not stand in the way of our relationship with God The Father.

Totally. It does seem to all of us as if they're treating her as God, but since these people commenting said otherwise, then ok. But still, it's like knifewrench said. We can straight on pray to him now. Virgin Mary was just a lucky/wonderful human being who is now in heaven.

Wow, you guys talk as if there aren't Catholics here. I explained it above.

And I can't believe that you said that it seems that they don't even talk about Jesus that much. That's ridiculous.
I don't know what Catholic school you went to, but either you don't remember it well, or it's very strange. I've moved around a lot, and have gone to many different Catholic churches, but absolutely none of them have said more than a possible "Hail Mary" during the sermon and that is rare.

I'm not Catholic myself but my mum teaches in a Roman Catholic school and I've been to enough masses to agree with everyone. It really depends where you go to pray on how much they focus on the Virgin Mary.

knifewrench, the saints actually came *after* Jesus, so when people prayed to them, it wasn't because they couldn't pray directly to God. And when Catholics pray to Mary, they are asking her to pray for them and kind of put in a good word for them.

I said in my above commments that God doesn't value any of us higher than each other, this includes Mary. Therefore praying to Mary is only as effective as a prayer group, except you're only asking one other person to pray for the same thing as you.

I was raised in a catholic family and I only know one prayer meant for jesus/god the others were for either saints or the virgin mary


la guadalupana, la guadalupana, la guadalupana bajo el te-pe-jac

and i find it extremely annoying
i mean shes not a god or anything, sure she gave birth to jesus but shes not god.
nuff said

I am really starting to feel anti-Catholic tendencies on this spot. *sigh*

same her kateliness

I don't know that much about Catholicism, so I really don't know how much of anything they focus on.

YES!! too much if you ask me, I think it's not about gob or Jesus any more

I do think that some Catholics rely too much on praying to Mary/the saints sometimes. It almost becomes like a good-luck charm.

But really, it varies from church to church. Some Catholic churches, like Pentacostal churches, can go a little overboard on some things. For the Catholics, it's Mary. For the Pentacostals, it's the Holy Spirit. On the other hand, there are many Catholic churches (or Pentacostal churches) that have beautiful worship and have all the basics straight.

And personally, I don't think it's fair to judge Catholics until you're willing to try seeing things from their perspective. We may see praying to Mary (or asking her to pray for us) as idolitary...but from what I've seen, most Catholics just consider them as friends to pray for them. Prayer warriors in Heaven, basically. It's kind of a cool idea. I'm still not sure how I feel about it.

But I'm Anglican, so it's easy for me to see things from both sides, lol. (Like my dad says, you take a Protestant and a Catholic, shake 'em up in a bottle and out comes an Anglican!) :D

WE ARE CHRISTIANS!!! WE SHOULDN'T QUESTION OR INSULT OTHER RELIGIONS! YOU ARE BEING CHILDISH, I THINK YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELVES!!!!!

"WE ARE CHRISTIANS!!! WE SHOULDN'T QUESTION OR INSULT OTHER RELIGIONS! YOU ARE BEING CHILDISH, I THINK YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELVES!!!!!"

Of course we should question other religions, in fact; that's how we've come to the conclusion that Christ is our saviour. However, I do get tired of people calling Catholicism a religion. It's a denomination of Christianity. I'm not being childish in questioning some of the methods and practices involved in Catholicism. Were there not some worshippers in the early church who made some very wrong decisions and interpretations of what Jesus said? I'm not saying Catholic beliefs are as misguided as some of those early worshippers, but there are some things I have some serious problems with.

Sometimes I think so, but I'm a young Catholic, and I'm still learning. Mary is the most highly respected saint, and that's why she's respected so much. We also see her as a woman role model for us Catholics.

Yes- the Vigin Mary should be respected but not PRAYED to- you should only pray to the trinity

I'm catholic, and we don't pray to her, we pray only to God, and we respect Mary. There are people who ask her to advocate them, because God chose her to give birth to His son, so she surely has close relationship with Him

This question made me feel upset. I am a Catholic and to me you are making judgements about my religion. Mary is the mother of Jesus we should all be respectful to her. She is just as important as Jesus and God we should pray to all of them not just one.

Oh, now this is getting ridiculous... Again I will say the things I said before.

"God chose her to give birth to His son, so she surely has close relationship with Him"
As Paul stated at least one, God does not show favoritism and it doesn't matter who prays to Him, He will act the same.

"I am a Catholic and to me you are making judgements about my religion"
Catholicism = not a religion, it's a denomination.

"She is just as important as Jesus and God" It's true that Mary is the mother of Jesus, but she is only human; like any of us, she is not perfect. If you're looking for the most holy human, Jesus himself said that as far as humans go "there is none greater than John [the baptist]".

Oh, Mary isn't nearly important as Jesus and God. She is good example how we should live, but that's it. I myself am against praying to saints, but even my family for example has it's protector, and I thinks it's fine, as long as you don't make another religion of it.

knifewrench, you need to chill out! There are Catholics reading your comments, you know. We respect your opinion, and we ask you to respect our. If I wanted to, I could talk about how many things I disagree about other "denominations" but I'm not going to; we are all believers of Jesus and God and should celebrate that, not challenge it.

I don't find anything insulting about Catholics here. Except that we worship Mary more than Jesus. From my experience, it just isn't true. And no mater what other think about Catholic church, which is ok, there are some horrible things that have been done, I'll always consider Catholic church the right one, mostly it's because only united denomination.

she was blessed, but we should pray directly to Jesus not Mary.

Yep.

Mary was the mother of Jesus. We should be respectful of her.
TOTALLY AGREE, SHE'S OUR MOTHER!!!

I'm catholic and we do NOT worship her we worship GOD YOu people who picked yes do not get it We worship god but as someone had sayd before we pray to her like she is putting a good word in and are prayers go up to GOD and JESUS but mary was the one who gave us JESUS so its like thanking her

Actually The People Who Adores On The Virgin Mary Are Lost Because If You Dont Adore God You Are Adoring The Enemy,& Im Not Saying That Mary Is The Enemy,Im Saying That The Evil One Envolves Alot Of Truf But A Little Lie & Trust Me That Little Lie Is More Dangerous Than You Think,We Could Respect Mary But Not Adore Her,Because,That Is Just Wrong,& Remember Mary Is Dead Now But When Jesus Returns He Is Gonna Lift Her Up To Live With Him Forever...

"knifewrench, you need to chill out!" I've only started becoming impatient as of the last comment. I've tried to stay as calm as possible.

"There are Catholics reading your comments, you know. We respect your opinion, and we ask you to respect our." I'm doing my best to respect other opinions, however I feel that it's good to debate some issues. Churches can't progress if we don't confront potential problems. For example, a long time ago the preacher of a church would not allow the members of the congregation to read the Bible or own one, they would have to trust in what the preacher was saying to be directly from the Bible. Obviously this needed sorting out and thankfully (to my knowledge) doesn't happen any more. A few of the details may be a bit sketchy as I heard it a while back but the point stands, there are things that need looking into.

"I don't find anything insulting about Catholics here. Except that we worship Mary more than Jesus. From my experience, it just isn't true." I'm not saying specifically that "Catholics worship Mary", I may have not made this clear back when I started this topic, but I meant to suggest the way that some Catholic churches operate borders on worship. I think the statue thing flies in the face of the 2nd commandment, the prayer thing is unnecessary and the degree to which she is involved in some churches/schools is far too much.

"I'm catholic and we do NOT worship her we worship GOD YOu people who picked yes do not get it We worship god but as someone had sayd before we pray to her like she is putting a good word in and are prayers go up to GOD and JESUS but mary was the one who gave us JESUS so its like thanking her" I've answered this already, God doesn't value any of us higher than each other, this includes Mary. Therefore praying to Mary is only as effective as a prayer group, except you're only asking one other person to pray for the same thing as you.

This has entered a tedious infinite loop.

especially since she was not even a virgin...

^Really? (Sincere curiosity)


Anyways, I just became focused more on my religion. I don't know that much about the Catholic Church and what their choice of devotion is, but I pray to God himself or Jesus daily. Sometimes I pray to Mary. I don't know, they seem like the most important biblical figures in the Bible and the ones who will always lend a hand down to us to assist. I pray to all of them :/

It amuses me when non-Catholics think they know more than Catholics. Catholics do not pray TO Mary, they ask her to pray FOR us. And I agree that no one is in any place to judge anyone else's denomination.

And to those who said it's idolatry, you are seriously mistaken.

Okay, let me make one thing clear: we do not worship Mary. Mary was an admirable human being, a woman of deep faith, but we fully recognize that she is not, nor anywhere close to being, God. We simply ask for her intercession and guidance.
Mary is the mother of Jesus, and therefore, our mother. She brought Jesus into this world; we can't just disregard her.

Stay positive about Mary at all times. The Mother of God is always a giver and part of the save of Salvation. Prudent individuals realize Mary will know how to be a helper when any one of us in the Heavenly body,has our unfortunate turn with fate and destiny.

Mary is the mother of God and she deserves respect. I am Catholic and I don't think we focus too much on her. Yes, we do focus on her but not too much. We worship Jesus, and like weasleyking said, we only ask her for guidance.

Now that's a bit sexistical of you to judge that, ain't it?

Give me one reason why she isn't important enough to pray for. I pray to Mary a lot, but to God as well. No offense but who gives you the right to judge/tell/decide to who people should pray to?

I am not gonna be rude. Ill just state my own opinion.

I am a non-denominational Christian & I go to Baptist Church. I am not gonna judge, just go by what Ive read in the Bible & what I know of the Catholic denomination.

Catholics, to my knowledge, may pray to Mary for them, but thats not who ur supposed to pray to. Yes Mary is an important person to be respected & remembered, but she wasnt more important than any other person in the Bible. The one we r supposed to pray to in order to get to God himself (or just pray to Him) is our Savior, Jesus Christ. Jesus & in parts of the Bible says the same thing. Nowhere does it say that we need to/should/have to pray to Mary or even the saints. Just Jesus. We all have our own relationship with Jesus when we open up & pray to Him. Jesus indeed loved his mother, but shes still like the rest of the humans that walk the Earth today. She is Holy of course, (like others in the past since God used her for a good thing), but she isnt held in the same place as God/Jesus/Holy Spirit.

Now Im not saying that what the Catholics do is wrong. Most denominations worship The Lord in different ways, but still love Him nonetheless. At the end of the day, we r all Christians & will continue to love & serve our rightful Savior.

The ratio of our focus on Mary, compared our focus on God himself isn't an outstanding amount. I'm aware we pray to her more than other's, but I think that she's a great role model for young women out there and as long as you love God and believe in him there's nothing worng with the 'amount' we pray or look up to her.

We don't look to her like a female God at all, and just because one person has had one specific experience, it doesn't mean the entire religion feels the same way.

At the same time, I can see why people would not want to pray to her or any saints... but we're all following the same person in the end and the technicalities shouldn't cause a rift between Catholics and other Christians, because we have a right to believe too.

I used to think they did, but now I don't. I guess I got rid of the stereotype and stopped caring. :/

I think this point hasn't been brought up yet, but I've heard a story that said that Mary has some saying in whether a person goes to heaven or not. She's the "soft spot" of heaven and if she has mercy, God and Jesus are more likely to have it too. That's why Catholics pray to her. I think. It's been a while since I've heard that story...

Wow knifewrentch well put. I also think it is important to debate on some things for a few of reasons. One reason is to open the mind of others. Another reason is to expand your own knowledge by having to think when it comes to questions you don't know. Now that I think about it yes Catholics do focus too much on Virgin Mary. It is Jesus that is the only way to Heaven. If you guys put in a comment that wants me to write an article I will be more than happy to. In fact ask questions more. If I can't answer the question right away, then I will get back to you.

Well, I'm not Catholic, and I don't know much about them, but I recently read a book about a Catholic family and they worshiped Mary like she was God. I definitely disagree with that, but I don't know if that's typical for Catholics to do. I believe we should respect her by all means, but respect is different from praise.

Well, I know Ive commented before, but Im not gonna judge, just say what I feel.

Im not generalizing, but u arent supposed to worship anyone but Jesus/God. Mary was/is a very important person in the Bible, but she is like the rest of us humans. She isnt above us. Im not accusing, but worshipping is a bit too much. Just Him. We all worship the Lord, but in different ways. I just dont agree that u have to pray to any of the saints/Mary when it says in Scripture that the only one u should pray to, since we all have our own relationship with Him, is Jesus. Just going by what I've learned. <3 all Christians tho. It does bug me when some do refer to Catholicism as a separate religion when it is just another denomination of Christianity. Oi.

@bratski; THANK YOU!!!!
There are so many dumb-ass morons who claim Catholicism is a whole different religion while it's a denomination of Christianity!

But other than that I disagree with you :P.
I mean to me it's not the importance of Mary it's the fact that, according to the bible, when God judges over souls whether they go to heaven or hell, Mary will always try to get them in heaven. Also, because she's not God or Jesus themselves, she feels much more closer than God or Jesus.

I've never really had a proper look at Catholicism, so I wouldn't know.

I pray to Jesus. According to the bible he is the ONLY WAY to the FATHER! I've not a thing against Catholics. I just pity those who know not the truth

I definetley think she deserves recognition, but I don't know what the Catholics do, so I can't judge them.

Catholics do. i would know that cuz my aunt is Catholic
but i picked idk cuz idk
i know they focus alot but idk how much alot

hey im catholic but we still pray to God we just pray to her because she gave birth to Jesus n whoever says we only worship Mary im gonna brogue kic you in yo face

^^^I don't think anyone is being rude, so u can calm down a bit tho. As Christians, the Only One we all should pray to is Jesus. He's the Intercession to God The Father, not Mary. She's important, but not to worship in any capacity. Whether u are Catholic, Baptist, Anglican, Evangelist, Pentacostal, Lutheran, Methodist, Salvationists, Orthodox, Nazarene, non-denominational, etc., ur still a Christian cuz u believe that Jesus Christ died for ur sins (making us all sinners), & worship & serve Him, no one else. Praise God. <3

hey we dont talk how you guys dont take bread n wine like we do so screw you guys we still worship God just cuz we pray to mary that dont mean we dont worship God assholes

Yes :)

I am/was Catholic and I know for a fact that we don't pray to her we pray with her, we arent praying to the saints we are praying with the saints. I feel like other sects in Christianity sometimes target Catholicism as being a different religion than christianity and its really stupid

thank u someone realizes that we do not worship saints or mary

It's kind of funny to me that there's more acceptance from other religious fan groups than in this one

No... We are focused on Mary because she's the mother of Jesus! And Jesus is important too! The last time I checked Jesus is as important as Mary! Seriously! Don't judge other religions like that if you don't like them well TOO BAD! I think other religions don't concentrate enough on her, in fact!
When I was taught to pray I was also taught to pray to Mary! I thank her for giving birth to Jesus! I think the "yes" people just don't know a lot about Catholicism!

So, all the Christians going "you shouldn't pray to Mary, that's idolatry!" are never going to pray for their mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, whatever, right? And you're never going to ask others to pray for you, right? Because that's idolatry.

What the Catholics do with Mary is the same thing as asking people to pray for you, or praying for others in need. Literally. Same thing. Do some Catholics go over-board? Yes. But you could say the same thing about any Christian denomination in regards to any topic ever.

Well, there are many different churches around the world, but our small differences don't matter. What matters is that God loves us all, and we should love him back.

I don't know enough about it to make a good decision. I would really just like to witness a Catholic praying to Mary and see if it seems like worship or not.

I don't know much about the Catholic faith, but I honestly don't care who they worship or pray to. If they are not harming others, then it's not my place to say shit. You do you, and I'll do the same.

They literally pray to her like God and place her on a pedestal. She is absolutely a role model and important woman, but she does not not not need to be worshipped (or "venerated" as they say, which is more or less the same thing in practice) nor would a person as pious as her want that.

You don't need to ask her to pray for you. She's passed on. You have friends and family for that. Praying to the dead is considered a sin.