The Catholic Gentleman

A blog for Catholic men that seeks to encourage virtue, the pursuit of holiness and the art of true masculinity.

Why the Devil Hates the Blessed Virgin So Much (And Why You Should Love Her)

January 23, 2015

Satan hates the Blessed Virgin Mary. In fact, he has been doing everything in his power to discourage devotion to her and instill hatred for her for two millennia. Have you ever noticed that it is Marian dogmas and devotions that stir the strongest reactions in those who reject the Church? Even some good Catholics are embarrassed by devotion to our Lady, and they feel we should not be too extreme in our veneration of her.

Perhaps you, too, have wondered why the Church holds the Immaculate Virgin in such high regard. Perhaps you have wonder why God has chosen to use her in the work of redemption. Today, I’d like to take a look at why the devil hates the Blessed Mother so much, and why we should be her devoted knights.

She will crush your head

The scene is the garden of Eden. The characters are God, the serpent, Adam, and Eve. The devil is smirking in triumph. He has just deceived Eve, and through her, Adam. Oh, he is proud of himself. You can almost feel the demonic pride in destruction, for he has successfully marred God’s handiwork of creation, and dragged human beings—for whom God has a special love—into death and misery.

God has appeared on the scene to clean up the mess, declaring the tragic curse that has arisen from sin, but also to proclaim the protoevangelium, the first hint at the Gospel and the devil’s doom.

God starts by addressing Satan, telling him he is going to eat dirt for the rest of his days. Then he reveals something that makes Satan cringe in horror—his ultimate defeat will come at the hands of a woman.

And I will establish a feud between thee and the woman, between thy offspring and hers; she is to crush thy head, while thou dost lie in ambush at her heels (Genesis 3:15, Knox)

Now, scholars argue about whether or not the pronoun is masculine or feminine in the sentence, “She is to crush thy head”—that is, whether it refers to the Virgin Mary or Jesus Christ. But I’m going to let you in on a little secret: it doesn’t matter. You see, Jesus is going to crush Satan through Mary. She is the instrument Jesus is going to wield when he destroys his ancient enemy.

With that in mind, it is just as legitimate to say, “he will crush your head” as it is to say, “she will crush your head.” It’s kind of like telling an armed assailant, “One more step and I will shoot you” and “One more step and my .44 magnum will blow you away.” They are both true statements.

So why does being defeated by Mary pain the devil so much? Why does God want to use Mary to defeat Satan? I’ll explain.

“He has put down the mighty from their seat…”

The devil hates, I mean he loathes the fact that his ultimate defeat will come at the hands of a lowly handmaiden. In a way, his proud heart could handle being defeated by God himself because he’s almighty and omnipotent. But being crushed by a little Lady from Nazareth? The thought is absolutely humiliating. It drives him crazy. For if there is one thing the most proud creature in all of creation hates, it is being humiliated.

Satan finds his defeat by the Virgin Mary humiliating because she is a woman, and women are the weaker sex (1 Peter 3:7), and he despises weakness. He loves nothing more than to see women abused, degraded, and objectified. Not to mention that our Blessed Lady is a human, and Satan hates humans because we have bodies, and he is a pure spirit that thinks bodies are disgusting. But there’s another, more profound reason Satan hates being defeated by Mary: She is his replacement in heaven.

You see, Lucifer was originally God’s finest achievement. He was more beautiful, more powerful than all the other creatures that God has made. And as we all know, it went to his head. He was so gorgeous, so mighty that he really thought he could be better than God. The defining marks of Satan are pride and envy of the Almighty.

And what are the defining characteristics of our Lady? First and foremost, she is supremely humble. In fact, she is the most humble creature that has ever existed. For every ounce of pride the devil has, Mary has twice as much humility. For every drop of hate-filled and bitter envy in Satan’s black heart, Mary’s heart is filled with twice as much praise, worship, and love. For every bit of warped and destructive depravity in the devil’s soul, Mary’s heart is filled with more purity and fruitfulness. And by grace, God has made her the most exquisite and most glorious creature in all the universe—the title the devil used to claim.

In every way, the Immaculate is Satan’s polar opposite. In every way, she is his replacement, and he knows it. This Divine exchange of Mary for Satan is revealed in our Lady’s hymn of praise, the Magnificat. 

My soul magnifies the Lord;
my spirit has found joy in God, who is my Saviour,
because he has looked graciously upon the lowliness of his handmaid.
Behold, from this day forward all generations will count me blessed;
because he who is mighty, he whose name is holy, has wrought for me his wonders.
He has mercy upon those who fear him, from generation to generation;
he has done valiantly with the strength of his arm,
driving the proud astray in the conceit of their hearts;
he has put down the mighty from their seat, and exalted the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty-handed.
He has protected his servant Israel,
keeping his merciful design in remembrance,
according to the promise which he made to our forefathers,
Abraham and his posterity for evermore.

In the Magnificat, we see the role of Mary in salvation summarized beautifully:

  • Mary’s humility- “he has looked graciously on the lowliness of his handmaid”
  • God’s marvelous work of grace in her: “Because he who is mighty, he who name is holy, has wrought for me his wonders”
  • God’s casting out of Satan: “Driving the proud astray in the conceit of their hearts, he has put down the mighty from their seat”
  • His exalting of Mary in Satan’s place: “He has…exalted the lowly.”

Worst of all for Satan, his replacement in heaven is none other than the mother of the Eternal Word, Jesus Christ, whose passion and death redeemed the very humanity he has worked so hard to destroy. Her Yes to God undid the disobedience of Eve, paving the way for the saving work of the New Adam. The very weakness of Eve that Satan so scorned was replaced by the humble obedience of Mary, an obedience to the will of God that has made her powerful beyond limits. 

This is the Divine plan for the defeat of his enemy. This is Satan’s humiliation and his doom.

Hasta la vista, Satan

In case you didn’t realize it, Satan hates you. His bitter envy inspires him to destroy God’s creation, to drag it down into the abyss of hell. He would love nothing more for you—image bearer of God—to join in him in the eternal flames of the lake of fire, for misery loves company.

But fear not. The ancient serpent is powerless against the Immaculate Virgin, for in God’s plan, she is the instrument that Jesus will use to humiliate and demolish him. Do you want to crush the head of the devil in your life? Do you want to make it safely through trials, temptations, and storms to our eternal Home? The answer is simple: Call on Mary. Love her, be her devoted servant. Be her knight, her defender, her apostle. Consecrate yourself to her totally and completely—for nothing that belongs to her will be lost. As St. John Damascene said so beautifully, “To be devoted to thee, O holy Virgin, is an arm of salvation which God gives to those whom He wishes to save.”

Satan is on a rampage, wreaking as much havoc as he possibly can—because he knows his time is running out. He is afraid and he is angry, for he knows that one day very soon, he will be crushed by the Woman who makes his heart quake, the woman who “looks forth like the dawn, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army with banners” (Song of Solomon 6:10).

Watch Our Podcast Conversation Now:

—

Prayer

Majestic Queen of Heaven and Mistress of the Angels,
thou didst receive from God the power and commission to crush the head of Satan;
wherefore we humbly beseech thee, send forth the legions of heaven, that, under thy command,
they may seek out all evil spirits, engage them everywhere in battle, curb their insolence,
and hurl them back into the pit of hell. “Who is like unto God?”

O good and tender Mother, thou shalt ever be our hope and the object of our love.
O Mother of God, send forth the holy Angels to defend me and drive far from me the cruel foe.
Holy Angels and Archangels, defend us and keep us.

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Sam Guzman

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COMMENTS

Reader Interactions

Comments

    • Cynthia says

      Exactly..the devil loves technology because it distracts us from the interior life of prayer..the way the world is at this very moment and time in history we should all be on our knees pleading for our lords mercy day and night.

  3. Noah says

    While I agree with your overall point in this article, I do need to point out for the sake of sound exegesis that in both the Hebrew text and the Greek Septuagint text of Genesis 3:15 there is no gender ambiguity as to who stamps on the Serpent’s head – it is the woman’s Offspring. The masculine pronoun (ה֚וּא in Hebrew; αὐτός in Greek) is explicitly present in both texts. However, in the Latin (Clementine) Vulgate, the feminine pronoun “ipsa” is used, which would indicate the woman rather than her Offspring. English translations following the Vulgate such as Knox or the Douay-Rheims would be translating the Latin correctly, whereas a translations such as the RSV Catholic Edition is in agreement with the Greek in the Hebrew. I am rather curious as to how the Latin translation with the feminine pronoun came about given the agreement of the Greek and Hebrew on the use of the masculine.

    • Sam Guzman says

      Noah,

      Thanks for your thoughts. However, ה֚וּא is ambiguous and can mean he or she (see http://biblehub.com/hebrew/1931.htm%20http://biblehub.com/hebrew/1931.htm). The ambiguity of the original Hebrew, which leads to the different translations in the Septuagint and Vulgate, is what has generated the debates about whether or not the verse refers to Christ or Mary. These debates are primarily theological, but again, the best understanding is that it refers to both Jesus and Mary.

  4. Jon says

    Like your site. I have noticed that since I converted to Catholicism in 1982, that every single verse pertaining to Mary in newer bibles has been changed, thus changing the meaning of those verses. ie: the Annunciation, her response to St. Gabriel, the Magnificat, the verses in Genesis where the ‘woman’ will crush the head. Even though these ‘bibles’ are supposedly ‘authorized’, they are more like the King James version. These versions, in my opinion, are very much lacking in substance and taking away our Blessed Mother’s role in our salvation. There’s many people within the walls of the Church who hate Mary and what she stands for. Many prayers are needed these days. Thank you for letting me vent. Get a good Bible to learn from.

    • Linda says

      Thank you! I just had a discussion on the Angel Gabriel’s greeting to Mary with a fellow Catholic, who thinks the new version is so accurate. He has not read books such as AA1025 about the infiltration of communists in the church since the 1930’s,to destroy the church by changing the doctrines, which seems to follow exactly what you just mentioned. I studied briefly with a woman who studied the bible in the three original languages of Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic (spelling?). One of the passages we discussed was the Angel Gabriel’s greeting, which, in the Douay version, was translated to “Hail, Full of Grace”. It was a title he gave her, speaking to a Jewish woman when Jesus had not been conceived and born, yet alone sanctified sin for the sacraments such as Baptism. Everyone had original sin, so the title (at the time descriptive of an important job or position) was the Immaculate Conception, or no Original Sin. Today’s version is the one the protestants use.

    • Ruby McMueller says

      I hardly agree that so many people ‘hate’ Mary. I think rather they are opposed Catholics setting up a Mediatrix between themselves and Jesus, who clearly stated that no man comes to the Father but by Him. This is not hatred toward Mary, it is anger posed toward false doctrine.

        • Ruby McMueller says

          Really “Cowpissdrinker”? There is no anger or hatred in anything that I’ve said. If you choose to distort God’s holy word, it is your choice to do so. The problem is, if you teach others to sin, you will be held accountable for it when your life is over. Jesus said it would be better for a millstone to be tied around your neck and you be thrown into the sea, than to perpetuate sin.
          As a Christian, first and foremost, it is my duty to reveal and uproot false doctrine wherever I find it. It does not make me angry to do so. I do not hate anyone. The vast majority of people who point out that worshiping Mary is wrong, neither hate her nor the people who are doing so. We point it out because God does not wish that even one person should miss out on salvation. Praising Mary, praying to her and worshiping her are acts that our Lord despises. Read the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, and you will find no less than 50 instances where He says so. He is a jealous God, and will not share his glory with anyone.

          • Cowpissdrinker says

            Again that blasphemous born again cultish accusation been thrown at the RC faith result of throwing ur hands in the air and Groving to satanic guitarist .getting people out of the 20 CENTURY born AGAINST cult is not sinning and I know I will b judged by that great judge for greater sins in my past and so will u for being in a cult and dwelling in your ignorance praising & praying is not what God despises but your born again cult does because your congreation is run by Satan masquerading as a angel .when u say read the bible what Bible are u reffering to coz the bible I know clearly states mother Mary is no ordinary women like u guys like to put it she is a powerful creature above all angels . may god open your eyes to wisdom .not trying to sound cocky.

          • Cowpissdrinker says

            U even said ” the vast majority of people who point out that worshiping Mary is wrong neither hate her nor the people doing so ” I can tell u with confidence that u don’t know what your talking about .well for the most part I think nothing can be done about you, u r on the road to perdition and your getting others with you.plz don’t take any duty upon yourself, just b aroung the stove and humble yourself practise humility rather than exposing something your definitely not qualified to do so . pray to The most high host sprit ask for WISDOM And UNDERSTANDING. Peace sister .

        • Ruby McMueller says

          Something is wrong with you. Your heart is full of hatred, anger and misguided attacking. I am no ‘sister’ of yours. You are a thing of satan. I rebuke you in the name of Jesus, demon. Slink back to where you came from.

      • Cowpissdrinker says

        Miss sola scriptura !!!!! U have no idea how false and fabricated that sounds . sola scrptura lol is the invention of a 15century fat monk who twisted the bible to his own destrution , ommited chapters diluted verses that did not suit his theology and reasoning and guess what the” born against” cult stemed from that false man made doctrine which u and million other lost souls adhere to this day. What a disaster.

        • Ruby McMueller says

          Cowpissdrinker, if attacking my character is the best you can do, you’ll have to dig deeper because I have a pretty thick skin in that regard. I’ll stand by the truth of God’s word. Nothing I have said goes against it. Maybe you should read it sometime. You’ll be enlightened!

          • Cowpissdrinker says

            I agree ,u do have a pretty thick skin and a heart hard as a rock typical of all born against .that freakin freeloading cheapskate Lucifer always hated our mother Mary so he will do anything in his power to get u away from the truth .pray for Rome rather than calling us the devil because the devil like to carry out his filty works in the real place of god not in man made ministries .u said u will stand by the truth of gods word then how can u sideline Mary ? That classsic example how u oblivious to ur own lies .u still have time, repent and come back to the catholic chruch which JESUS AWESOME CHRIST has established over 2 thousand years ago.peace.:))

  6. ayik ong says

    I have a question, if satan is also a creation of God, is there a chance that Satan will repent eventually? :)) ahehehehe

    • michelle says

      It would be nice to think that huh. All of lifes problems would fly away! However, angels have a definitive nature. When they decide and action, they are able to see all of its effects and consequences. So, the devil knew exactly what he was doing and was fine about it.
      humans are super different, and were fickle and weak creatures w/out God also, we don’t exactly know the effect of out sin or actions while were doing them.
      hope that helps!

    • Rufus says

      WE live in SPACE & TIME. Angels live in ETERNITY. Anything they do, is for ever. ETERNAL consequences !!! NO way for “repentance!!”

  7. Noah says

    Sam, with all due respect I have studied Hebrew for the past 13 years – it is one of my great passions in life. The pronoun הוא (pronounced hu) is never ambiguous. It is the third person masculine pronoun and corresponds only to the English word “he” – or “it” in the cases of non-personal nouns which in English take the neuter whereas in Hebrew all nouns are either masculine or feminine. In fact, Hebrew is just about the most gender specific language that exists – verbs have separate masculine and feminine forms, and possesive forms of nouns – for instance the simple word “his work” in Hebrew – עבודתו avodato – tells you both the gender of the word for work (feminine) and the fact that the person whose work it is is a male. Now one thing that could happen – and is a frequent problem in Hebrew texts – is that the letter vav ו (which is the middle letter of the masculine pronoun הוא hu) and the letter yod י (which is the middle letter in the feminine pronoun היא hi) can be mistaken for one another as they are essentially just longer and shorter versions of one another. I suppose St. Jerome could have gotten a Hebrew text where the middle letter looked more like a yod than a vav while working on the Vulgate and translated it as “she” instead of “he” in the Latin. I could certainly see it being within God’s providence to do so. However, the rabbis who translated the Greek Septuagint would clearly have taken the middle letter as a vav and translated it as “he.” Given that Holy Mother Church holds the Septuagint and the Vulgate as both being inspired translations, I can see the providence evident in God allowing both translations to stand side-by-side. In any event, if there is any ambiguity, it is not in the Hebrew pronouns themselves but rather in the key Hebrew letters which distinguish the masculine and feminine third person pronouns from one another. It would be interesting to match the current Hebrew texts in use with those of the Dead Sea Scrolls and see what those older Hebrew texts say.

    Jon, I’m not sure I understand the comment about the passages in Luke with the Annunciation et al. – at least regarding the RSV. I would of course agree that some of the more modernist translations such as the NAB and the NRSV have their problems. The NAB is just an awkward and honestly bad translation in a lot of ways. The NRSV tends to go too far in the direction of gender inclusive language. As far as Genesis 3:15 is concerned – the difference is simply that the newer translations are from the standard Hebrew texts in use today. (Not that there are not some serious issues which relying overmuch on those official Hebrew texts raises – particularly concerning Psalm 22 and Isaiah 7:14) I think, once again, the fact that the ancient and highly venerated translation which the Catholic Church received in the Greek Septuagint (which agrees with the official Hebrew texts in seeing it as the masculine pronoun) mitigates any argument that translating it as “he” rather than “she” is a modern aberration intent on denigrating the Mother of God. The Septuagint is the text which the Orthodox use (for instance, the Old Testament translation in my copy of the Orthodox Study Bible is from the Septuagint and not the Hebrew) translates the pronoun as “he.” The Orthodox, however, have just as much of a veneration for our Lady and developed Marian theology as we Catholics do.

    • Dan says

      Then, I suppose we will just have to trust what the Church says on the matter. It would know better than any of us.

      • Noah says

        I don’t think the Church has a particular position on this matter as such. Indeed, where authoritative Scriptural texts are concerned, and two ancient and venerable sources such as the Septuagint and the Vulgate present two differing versions of a text, I believe Mother Church wants us to show the utmost care. To be honest, when I was commenting, I was having to think through the issue and look at the biblical text. I was genuinely not trying to be contrary; I saw what I believe to be a legitimate exegetical concern and was trying to work through it for myself and with others on here. Is that not what the orthodox Catholic intellectual tradition does?

        • classicalrealism says

          Hey Noah:
          According to the Dogmatic Council of Trent, the Vulgate is the official Scripture of the Roman Catholic Church. The Vulgate states that ” ‘SHE’ will crush thy head.”
          So, by extension, the RCC does teach that “SHE” will do the crushing because that is what the official Scripture of the RCC states.
          Remember that the Council of Trent also dogmatically stated that we go Scripture AND Tradition. The Doctors of the Church who have commented on the matter side with the “SHE” interpretation.
          If we are to believe every dogmatic teaching of the Church as Pope Leo has ordered us to do, then the matter is resolved. Roma locuta, causa finita est.
          Hang in there Noah.
          The Church’s Dogmas and High Marian Ethos can never be defeated — in spite of all of Satan’s attempts to defeat Her.

      • Bonnie says

        Hi Dan – The Vatican website uses the New American Bible…..and it translates the verse in Genesis as He….not she. Hope this helps.

  8. Mary clarke says

    What an excellent article! I recommend the large book of true consecration to Our Lady, by St Louis de Montford. Also, we should keep in mind Our Lady once said “None of my children is ever lost?” God bless.

  10. Brad Miller Sr. says

    Have you ever read the amazing book by Fr. Donald Calloway called “Under the Mantle: Marian Thoughts from a 21st Century Priest”? It’s the best book on Mary in recent years. The chapter on manhood will blow your mind. All men (and everyone else, too) should read it.

  11. Yvonne Bongle says

    Sam this is a beautiful article and so on spot. Thank you so much for posting this. People really do need to know about the importance of Mother Mary. Again. Thank You.

  13. Bonnie says

    Hello Sam – a friend a link on face book with your article…..after reading it….your comment below smacks of a ‘different gospel’ message that JESUS’ Apostles warned the early Christians to be wary about….

    “But fear not. The ancient serpent is powerless against the Immaculate Virgin, for in God’s plan, she is the instrument that Jesus will use to humiliate and demolish him. Do you want to crush the head of the devil in your life? Do you want to make it safely through trials, temptations, and storms to our eternal Home? The answer is simple: Call on Mary. Love her, be her devoted servant. Be her knight, her defender, her apostle. Consecrate yourself to her totally and completely—for nothing that belongs to her will be lost.”

    Whereas the Gospel message that JESUS’ Apostles were commissioned to preach and teach – preached JESUS and pointed to HIM…not Mary.
    And it DOES make a difference in Whom you believe and trust and put your faith in ‘to make it safely through trials, temptations and storms to our eternal Home’, and in Whom you are devoted too, ….you cannot serve two masters….JESUS is above everything and everyone, including Mary…if you truly knew Him, you’d know that and be pointing others to HIM…the ‘author and finisher of our faith’.

    • Michael says

      Hello Bonnie,
      You are ignoring the clear historical roots of Marian devotion from the earliest history of the Church. Consider the prayer Sub Tuum Praesidium: “WE fly to thy patronage, O holy Mother of God; despise not our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us always from all dangers, O glorious and blessed Virgin. Amen.” The oldest extant papyrus copy of this prayer has been verified to have been written in the 200s AD. The patristic fathers also give testimony to Marian devotion from the earliest time. Now if you read the above prayer carefully, you see that her intersession and protection are asked for, and she has the title “Mother of God”. There is no question that this has been true from the foundation of the Church. Your relying strictly upon the Gospel as your only resource is an inadequate means of grasping the fullness of truth that is the Church. This is demonstrable, as people have been, since the invention of the printing press, arguing over exactly what the Bible means when you remove it from the context of the Catholic Church Tradition. The fact is ( and it is willful blindness to not see this) that the Bible is nothing less than an infallible witness to the teachings of the Catholic Faith. There are more than 30,000 protestant denominations (and counting) based upon the type of exegesis you are using. Clearly “sola scriptura” is a failed method because it divides Christians. If we are ever to be reunited it will be under her protection. She is the Lady clothed with the sun from Revelations. If you are not familiar with it, you might want to look into the events at Fatima in 1917.

      • Bonnie says

        Hello Michael

        I was speaking of the Gospel message that the Apostles taught and preached while establishing the very first early churches…that is why there is no reference to the Catholic Church Tradition that was developed later and over centuries and teachings of the Catholic Faith, where a lot was developed later over the centuries………these teachings and traditions came after the Gospel was preached.

        • Michael says

          I do understand what you were speaking of, and the tactic here – and what you have is nothing more than a tactic- that you wish to determine the debate by limiting the boundaries of the Faith to what you can read in the Gospels, Acts, the letters of Paul, etc. If Marian doctrine is not made explicit by your chosen sources then you have your justification for your behavior. Your tactic implies some uncomfortable consequences for you:
          1) That after the Apostolic age there was no real Christianity happening because it was obviously (even during the very early period in the Roman catechombs) “infected” with Marian devotion.
          2) That, therefore, “real” Christianity happens only where sola scriptura is practiced, and the living Tradition of the Catholic Faith is rejected.
          and therefore
          3) the 30,000 and counting contradictory sects which have proliferated around this belief you are defending are in fact the true Christians….even though they are hopelessly divided.

          If you want to appear on some sort of higher ground, then please show why your position on this issue is not as ridiculous as it seems to anyone with eyes to see.

          Or stop posting your nonsense

    • Noah says

      Bonnie,

      I am a convert to Catholicism from Protestantism. Let me ask you a very simple question. Do you ask other Christians to pray for you to our Lord? Because, then, you are trusting in the intercession of another before Christ. If you can trust another person to “intercede” for you – evangelicals use the term “intercessory prayer” – then why is trusting the intercession of the Virgin Mother of Our Lord and God Jesus Christ an issue? Mary’s intercession takes nothing away from Jesus as our sole Mediator and Advocate anymore than me praying for you does. Nor can you say that it’s different because we are “praying to dead people.” Look at the words of our Lord when arguing with the Saducees because they denied the Resurrection. He told them that, in reference to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, God is not the God of the dead but of the living, implying that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, though their bodies were dead, were nonetheless alive in God (Luke 20:34-38). Beyond that, the New Testament shows us that we are surrounded by a “great cloud of witnesses” urging us on (Hebrews 12). The book of Revelation tells us that the souls of the Martyrs are under the Altar in Heaven before Almighty God crying out “How long O Lord before you judge the inhabitants of the earth.” (Revelation 6:12). Surely, then, the Virgin Mary is not least among this cloud of witnesses and among those righteous souls in heaven that pray constantly for us and for all creation. Read your Bible again, and carefully.

      • Bonnie says

        It doesn’t look as if I need to answer your ‘very simple question’……nor your second question….or even address the ‘imagined retort’ that you posted, as if I had said it – because you then go ahead and respond to it yourself……

        Thank you for all the beautiful scripture references you have posted.

        I love carefully reading my bible….perhaps you can point me to the sections where the Apostles – while they were preaching/teaching the Gospel to those very first Christians in the churches they were establishing….where they suggested that when life became difficult….with trials, temptations and storms…that they were to “Call on Mary….love her, be her devoted servant, be her knight, her defender, her apostle?” If you can’t find any, then perhaps you can post , from their Gospel message Who it was that they said those first Christians should be relying on, trusting in, putting their faith in and turning too in prayer when things got rough….then ask yourself ……has the Gospel change???

        • susan d says

          Dear Bonnie, I do trust Jesus, and He said to His beloved disciple (and are you not His beloved disciple?) “Behold your mother.”

          And when you do turn to Mary, what does she say to us servants? “Do whatever He tells you to do.”

          Don’t listen to the devil, who really DOES hate Mary!!

        • Andrew Patton says

          What are the two greatest commandments? Love God with all your heart, with all your mind, and with all your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. These two commandments are the only Law in Heaven, for all moral law flows from these two. Our Lord is not a hypocrite; He did not enjoin “Honor thy father and thy mother” upon us without practicing it Himself. Likewise, because the saints love us, they pray for us, hoping that we may join them in Heaven, and the Blessed Virgin Mary is chief among the saints. What did Jesus say? “Where two or three are gathered in My Name, there am I in their midst.” Because we have the saints in Heaven praying for us, we are never alone, for they join us in prayer even if there is no one on Earth to pray with us, and where two or three are gathered in Jesus’ Name, there He is among us. The saints in Heaven behold the Face of God, and He fulfills all their needs. The only thing they want anymore is the salvation of those still on Earth, and they pray earnestly for it, for it is written, “The fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” Since the saints no longer sin nor require sleep, their prayers are far more availing than those of the faithful on Earth.

    • nes says

      i agree! as Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me.” Mary HAS NO POWER in whatever means.

      • Linda says

        Don’t get confused with the origin of the power. Mary has power, but because God is behind her and has given it to her. She is the appointed modern day prophetess. If you go to Mary, it is going also through Jesus because it does not stop with her. The two are united when it comes to the salvation of all mankind.

        • William says

          Jesus is God.
          Mary is a sinner, and a human. The big deal is that she was chosen to have Jesus…in an Immaculate Holy Conception with regards to her being virgin AT THE TIME. “Virgin worship” is what the Ephesians DID before they had the Gospel of JESUS CHRIST, ONE NAME GIVEN TO MEN BY WHICH THEY *MUST* BE *SAVED*
          God Bless,
          Praise Jesus Our God.

          • Regina Cummings says

            To make that statement, that Mary is a sinner, is a lie straight out of hell. Your statement implies that Jesus was a slave to sin and to Satan. God created a pure and holy vessel in Mary a virgin who was created without the stain of Original Sin. Again if you are a Christian, and your statement implies otherwise why are you so anti-Mary. Remember Satan knew of the biblical prophecy of the Savior of the World would be conceived by a virgin birth. That was in Genesis. So being the master manipulator Satan is, he had Isis conceive Horus as a virgin birth, and they put up statue to worship this false virgin. Again I don’t know how anyone can profess to love Jesus, and not love his dear mother, Mary.

      • Regina Cummings says

        Mary has power which God the Father has granted her. Just like God granted Moses the power to lead the Israelites out of Egypt
        . It greives me that so many people who profess to love Jesus cannot simply love HIs Mother. No one is asking you to ask her to advocate on your behalf with her son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. How would you like it if someone dishonored and disrespected your mother. I feel sorry for these people who continue on this diatribe to disrespect and dishonor the Mother of God, and the Spouse of the Holy Spirit. How can you stand before Jesus and explain to Him why you couldn’t just love his mother.?

    • Cath says

      Why are you jumping to a conclusion that we worship 2 masters? Is there anywhere in the article that implies or states Mary is above Jesus? We true Catholics know Mary is not above Jesus! However, Jesus loved his mother and wanted her body and soul in heaven with him, that is right under him. Mary is holier than you and me, and Adam and Eve, etc…….so she is closer to her son than any of us. We believe in asking her to pray for us to her son. Two or more people praying to Jesus makes the prayer stronger! I would rather ask her to pray for me versus you. In the end we do NOT worship the Virgin Mary.

      No way, don’t put words in anyone’s mouth.

      P.S. Geez, I have gone through the most extreme religious conversions which is going from Atheism(raised in a household) to Satanism( as a teenager) to Evangelical Christian and finally to Catholicism. A demonic possession is not a pleasant experience and my former Evangelical pastor was not effective at chasing away the demons literally in me. It didn’t work on a long term basis. The Lutheran minister’s exorcism didn’t work on the long term either. It was the exorcism from the 2 Catholic priests that drove away the demons for good! Guess what! One portion of the exorcism was rosaries.

      Okay, so along my quest to find the Christian truth, I have lurked, observed and participated in many Christian internet forums, threads, etc. It is obvious that the most dislike among Christian religions is against the Catholic religion. Why? I truly understand why all the dislike, and it is because Satan knows the Catholic church is the true church. It is the true church which is the teachings Jesus Christ wanted people to follow until the end of time.

      I have gone through wrong paths in my life and have literally had to battle demons of Satan. I am thankful to Our Lord Jesus Christ for saving me and bringing me to a clean life that I feel such a complete difference deep down in my soul. I also give thanks to Virgin Mary and St. Michael, the archangel for interceding for me! They all help defend us in battle!

  15. Belinda PB Betchido says

    Sam, thank you. Well said and explained. I hope many would be enlightened then by reading your article about Blessed Virgin Mary.

  18. Helen Grace J. Aboganda says

    Deep in my heart i just accept what my church teaches as long as it wont harm my faith. Just having faith will lead us to the truth. I rever the Blessed Mother because she is the mother of Jesus my Savior and redeemer. Because if she did not agree to the plan of God then all of us will rot in hell. And that is more unacceptable for me, just thinking that my soul will forever be burning in hell.I love the blessed Mother and I ask for her intercession whenever needed. I am a catholic from birth and I embrace all its teachings
    Including the Mother of Jesus.

    • Winnie says

      Romans 8 (NIV)
      38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[b] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

      Isaiah 55 (NIV)
      8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
      neither are your ways my ways,”
      declares the Lord.
      9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
      so are my ways higher than your ways
      and my thoughts than your thoughts.

      These 2 verses reassure us of God’s love and more importantly that it is not dependent on “anything else in all creation.” The Bible tells us that His thoughts and ways are higher than ours, so if Mary disobeyed, I have no doubt that God will still make a way to save us from eternal separation from Him (i.e. hell). Also, God’s Word says this love of God is in Jesus.

  19. cecilia tan hanlon says

    I have always been a devottee of the blessed mother. Especially praying the rosary and novenas to her. It helps me a lot in my struggles in life. Gives me strength because of my weakness. I dream of one day the whole world will pray the rosary….and there would be peace. My fear of death with the promises of the blessed mother of protection….I just trust in her.

  22. Phil Trimby says

    Jesus said to be holy as the Father is holy, that He (Jesus) does only what the Father tells Him to, and that we are to imitate Him. The Father honored Mary through the angel Gabriel, indirectly through Gabriel appearing to Joseph in a dream telling him to take Mary as his wife, and through baby John in the womb of Elizabeth causing John to leap for joy at the sound of Mary’s greeting, followed by filling Elizabeth to have her proclaim Mary to be blessed among women in recognition of the source of all grace, the Lord, filling her womb. God the Holy Spirit chose Mary to be His spouse overshadowing her. Jesus chose Mary to be the mother of His coming in the flesh (Incarnation), the Father filled her with grace choosing this daughter to mother His only begotten Son. God wrote the fourth commandment to honor our parents. God does what He commands us to do; He will not forgo His own moral codes. Therefore, we too are compelled to honor Mary as Blessed Among Women, Mother of the Incarnation, and proclaim her our Mother. Jesus gave us the Father as our Father; therefore Mary, as His Incarnation Mother. (Mother of God), is our adoptive Mother for she is the spouse of God the Holy Spirit and Mother of God, for Jesus is God. It’s all very simple when the scriptures are properly understood. See Luke chapter 1 and Matthew chapter 1.
    Jesus interceded for us; therefore, in imitation of Him we too act in the capacity of interceding in reflection of His perfect action. Mary in her state of “being full of grace” is alive in Christ and the best created being in imitating her son Who is God and Savior of all. Mary did as the Father desired before Jesus taught the disciples how to pray Luke 1 “let it be done to handmaid according to your will, and John 2:1–11 …do whatever he tells you… after Mary interceded on behalf of the wedding host; the host didn’t even ask her aid. Mary saw that they were out of wine and in charity for neighbor mentioned the need to her son, Jesus, who responded by changing the water to the finest of wine. Thus, Jesus again honored His mother. Mary, Mother of God, mention us to your Son and I will be confident of receiving what is finest for my needs.

    • Bonnie says

      See Luke chapter 1 and Matthew chapter

      Gabriel announces the birth to Mary and tells her what the infant will be called – Jesus – and also tells her what He else He will be called –

      The Son of God.

      30 Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
      31 Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.
      32 He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,* and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,
      33 and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
      34 But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?”*
      35 And the angel said to her in reply, “The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.

      Gabriel tells Mary to name the son that she is to bear…. Jesus….she was the mother of Jesus, Who would be called the Son of God….Gabriel never tells Mary that she is the ‘spouse of God’ or that she is to be called the ‘Mother of God’….as the focus of the narrative is about JESUS and Who HE is….not about Mary.

      Gabriel goes even further to explain why He will be called holy and the Son of God.. it is by the power of the Most High, the Holy Spirit.

      As you say: It’s all very simple when the scriptures are properly understood.

      Why don’t you do what Mary told the servants to do……John 2:1–11 …do whatever HE tells you…

      Matthew 11 (NAB) “Come to Me”

      At that time Jesus said in reply, I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike.

      26 Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.

      27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.

      28 COME TO ME, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.

      29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your selves.

      • Rufus says

        Bonnie, MARY “is” the ONE who carries our request to THE LORD, as in, the Wedding Feast. King David’s MOTHER did the same. Honor your Mother, IS what GOD said & so we do !! Jesus Honors MARY too !! &, her every request !!!! SO !!
        rufus.

        • Rcp says

          Bonnie, you have done a great job defending the truth of the gospel here. I pray that God will provide those blinded with eyes to see.

          Rufus, before using Hahn’s whole David and his mother story as a defends for Mary, you might want to go read it for yourself in the Bible.

          I have no doubt in my mind that Satan loves this article. The Queen of Heaven is one of his greatest weapons. 2 Corinthians 11:4,14

          • susan d says

            Dear, you must have a great imagination! Satan doesn’t love anything!

            And certainly not the celebration of the Mother of God, whose title is “Full of Grace”! Whenever we bless her, we fulfill the prophecy of the Holy Spirit, speaking through Mary! Jesus is the Son of Mary, and He smiles when we love her, as any son would! So rejoice and be glad for your Catholic brothers and sisters in Christ, who are fulfilling the fullness of the Gospel!

      • Day Zero says

        Bonnie, do you believe that Jesus is God and the Holy Spirit Himself? That’s called the Trinity, right? If so, then if He is Son of God, then what is Mary called? Mother of God! Btw, the bible is a Catholic book, so don’t rely on it since you’re not Catholic, know what I’m saying? lol. Also, you don’t know the context of the wedding at Cana. When Mary told the servants to “do whatever He tells you”, it was after Jesus agreed to her request, She was most likely smiling when she told them, eh? Can you imagine that?

        Clearly, these servants followed Marys exhortation, “Do whatever he tells you.” As such, they are portrayed as faithful disciples, obedient to Christs words. Marys words “Do whatever he tells you” spoken in the context of a wine miracle and a wedding feast help reveal Jesus as the messianic Bridegroom coming to renew His marriage covenant with His bride, Israel.

  23. Paul Elarde says

    Sam the discussion about ‘he’ or ‘she’ in Genesis has interested me for many years. If one accepts the Church approved apparitions of Our Lady to St Catherine Labouré in 1830 as revealing a truth and valuable message (and most reasonable Catholics would), then there really is no argument. Our Lady appeared to St Catherine asking her to have a medal struck of the vision that included Our Lady standing on the head of the serpent. Case closed! Interestingly the Genesis text of 3:15 was a supporting scripture in the Papal Bull of the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, so it’s link with Mary cannot be ignored. This medal of the Immaculate Conception is now more commonly known as the ‘Miraculous Medal’ simply because of the countless graces.

    In support of the overall theme in your article is also worthwhile mentioning that if you look at what is defamed these days, you can discover the truly sacred. How many issues are there in the world today that degrades the dignity of women or/and motherhood! The good news is that no matter how bad things get, we know the final outcome – Jesus and Mary will Triumph! On Good Friday the world – including the apostles – thought that Jesus mission was lost. Three days later Jesus played his ‘trump card’ – Resurrection! Likewise God’s promise of the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Reign of the Sacred Heart of Jesus come about when we least expect!

  27. Luigi Burchiani says

    As any good catholic should do i always yeld to Tradition and Spirituality rather than exegetical analisys. So when the apparitions, the teaching of the saints, the prayers and Sacred Tradition all tell me about the graces of Mary and Her privileges as Mother of God then i’m adamant. Per Maria ad Jesu!!!

  28. Lens says

    Just a humble question, why dont we just pray directly to God Himself, the Almighty One? JESUS is our High Priest who is never too busy to listen to our prayers 🙂

  29. Rufus says

    HUMILITY, “is” what it is all about !! Not pride & arrogance !! God will appreciate it MORE when we go through MARY !!! Like a child, going to the Mother, in order to get something from his/her DAD !!!
    Bottom line : Would God be OFFENDED by our approach, through Mary ??
    rufus.

  30. kevin Ross says

    Lens, we do both, we pray directly to God and we ask our friends to add their prayers to ours, our friends on Earth and our friends in Heaven, Mary is one of our friends in Heaven.

  31. S. S. says

    Many questions concerning devotion to Mary, the Tradition of the Catholic Church and prayer are answered quite directly in the Catechism of the Catholic Church which anyone can obtain or read for free online. I would also suggest a book. “Catholicism and Fundamentalism” by Karl Keating (includes Imprimatur and Nihil Obstat).

  32. Winnie says

    “Call on Mary. Love her, be her devoted servant. Be her knight, her defender, her apostle. Consecrate yourself to her totally and completely—for nothing that belongs to her will be lost.”

    I consider myself part of the church, but I for one react on Marian dogmas and devotion because of the ambiguousness on these two. Nevertheless, when there’s ambiguity, we must be like the Bereans in Acts 17:11 (“…they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.”). Therefore, I would also like to learn where in the Bible it is mentioned and confirmed to call on Mary, to love her, to be devoted to her, etc. etc.

    As for Jesus and on the subject on calling on Him, Jesus Himself said the following.
    (John 14:6) Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
    (John 14:13-14) And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
    (John 15:16) You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.

    Yes, Mary was highly favored by God (Luke 1:38), but it is Jesus who intercedes for us.

    Romans 8
    34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
    35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
    37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
    38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,
    39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

    Hebrews 7
    24 but because Jesus lives forever, He has a permanent priesthood.
    25 Therefore He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them.
    26 Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens.
    27 Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for His own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when He offered himself.
    28 For the law appoints as high priests men in all their weakness; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.

    And lastly, in Luke 2 (where Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus then just came from the temple), note that salvation that Simeon mentioned is Jesus, a light for revelation is Jesus, the glory of Israel is Jesus. Redemption is Jesus. Neither Simeon nor Anna turned to Mary to say that she would be the same like Jesus, much less to be above Jesus.

    Luke 2
    28 Simeon took Him in his arms and praised God, saying:
    29 “Sovereign Lord, as You have promised, You may now dismiss Your servant in peace.
    30 For my eyes have seen Your salvation,
    31 which You have prepared in the sight of all nations:
    32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel.”
    33 The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about Him.
    34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against,
    35 so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

    36 There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage,
    37 and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.
    38 Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

    • susan d says

      You are right. NO ONE has said Mary is above her Son!! That would be totally silly! We agree with everything in the Bible. Including that Jesus told us (His beloved disciples) that Mary is our mother, and the Commandment to “Honor your mother and father” means just that. We honor Mary, our mother, because Jesus, our Brother, told us to. Simple. Childlike. And completely opposed to Satan!!

      • Winnie says

        Yes, let us honor. Even God gives honor to men and women. But what people do is beyond honoring. They deify certain persons or they make them gods. I admire Mary. She sets a good example in being obedient and honoring God.

        (Genesis 17:5) No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.

        God said Abraham is a father of many nations. If we follow your logic, then why doesn’t the church deify Abraham like people do to Mary? Abraham was obedient to God too and for that we can admire him and give him honor. But to exalt Abraham to a god, I think not.

        You are right though. “Honor your mother and your father” means just that. That is to honor our parents.

        And we have other mothers too.

        (1 Timothy 5:1-2) Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.

        Let me put it in simple reasoning why it becomes Jesus vs Mary, why we should only choose one and not both of them. When you want to contact a person by phone, you must dial the correct phone number. Let’s say, Father God is the one you want to contact, that would make the phone number Jesus.

        Again, (John 14:6) Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

  33. Daniele Joseph Fernandez says

    Whatever people says, I will always love Mama Mary. I am not well versed with the Bible but what I believe is just as simple as this – In loving Mama Mary, Jesus is happy. Loving Mama Mary is loving Jesus as well…

    • Winnie says

      Hi, Daniele. I didn’t understand the Bible the first time I tried reading it. Causing me to stop and put it down. I don’t fully understand it now, but at least it’s not totally zero understanding. 🙂 It took many, many years after before I picked it back up again. For me, it was just a matter of finding the version that isn’t old English (like the KJV version) and isn’t hard for me. I’m writing to encourage you to make it a daily habit. Little by little. It’s transforming, it’s full of wisdom and truth. 🙂

      Matthew 24
      3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
      4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many.

      God gave us the Bible, so we won’t be deceived. 🙂

  34. susan d says

    Yes, and don’t judge the actions of others, thinking becase they talk wih their mother daily, they are not LIVING with her Son!

  35. Nick says

    To all those non-Catholics posting (trolling) on this site; the same bible you use to rebuke Church teachings about the Blessed Mother is the same bible that the Catholic Church put together over a period of time. If you respect and acknowledge the final canon of books that make up our Bible, why don’t you also trust in that same Church’s theology and INTENDED understanding/interpretation of Sacred Scripture? Sacred Tradition backs Sacred Scripture and Sacred Scripture backs Sacred Tradition; after all, our Lord left behind a Church, not a book, and that CHurch, which has been around since the Ascension of our Lord into Heaven, carries on the traditions and “many things the Lord did but of which are so many that they can’t be recounted in brief”. You wouldn’t even BE a Christian right now if it wasn’t the immediate apostolic succession of bishops and priests prior to the deaths of the original Apostles and Paul. It’s like if a thousand years from now a religion is created that worships you; and after some time a a split occurs; some believe in only using your private journals or diary to truly know how best to worship you and carry on the faith, others maintain that while those journals are important, also hold in high regard the unwritten but just as important traditions that you passed on through your family and friends; just because you never mentioned it in your diary, doesn’t mean you never celebrated Halloween or Christmas…..think about it.

    • Nick says

      If the Catholic Church has the AUTHORITY to choose which books belong in the Bible, then doesn’t that same Church also have the AUTHORITY to declare certain doctrines and dogmas about the Blessed Mother? about the Eucharist? about the Communion of Saints? about Purgatory?

    • Winnie says

      Firstly, I don’t see why any Church can not be rebuked by the Bible even if it’s the one who, as you say, put the books together. In any case, the Words are not from the church.

      (John 1:1) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

      (2 Timothy 3:16-17) All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

      Having said that, are you really sure the Lord did not leave us a book (or His Word)? The Lord left behind His Church, but it is the Church as the body of Christ, who believes in Him. I don’t think Jesus is particular about any denomination. As to whether people would be Christians or not if not for what you said, it is ultimately due to the grace of God.

      I hope you didn’t mean to put anything over the Words of God and undermine the sovereignty of God to put the Bible together (with its current contents as we know it now).

      We’ve all been given the Bible, and each one has been given the wisdom and grace to read and understand it. We’re supposed to examine it each for ourselves. Otherwise, our God-given wisdom and gifts are to naught.

      And of course, there are many ways to worship. How is not the question here. Tradition in general is not the question either. Who should and shouldn’t be worshipped is the question. By the way, Halloween has pagan origins. Christmas as celebrating the birth of the Saviour, now why wouldn’t any Christian want to celebrate that. I also don’t know about those “unwritten.” Sounds to me like it can be a loophole or a “security breach” where anything can become permissible. And if I’m not mistaken, this article doesn’t site anything from the “unwritten.” The writer quotes from the Bible and other people who respond here quote back from the Bible. I understand how the “trollers” as you say can be poking at sensitivies, but then again, what is the Bible for if not to teach, rebuke, correct and train one another.

      (Matthew 6:24) No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other.

      Grace, peace and wisdom be to every reader here.

      • Nick says

        “We’ve all been given the Bible, and each one has been given the wisdom and grace to read and understand it. We’re supposed to examine it each for ourselves. Otherwise, our God-given wisdom and gifts are to naught.”

        …if that were really the case then why is there over 30, 000 different protestant sects in the U.S.A. alone? It’s because trying to discern the Word of God outside the Church leads to wrong conclusions and heresy often; hello 7th Day Adventist and Jehovah Witnesses just to name a few.

        We take for granted the doctrines of the Holy Trinity and Christ being both fully God and fully human, but those truths can’t be explicitly known or extracted from just reading over Sacred Scripture alone, especially without any prior exposure to Christianity. It took the Church guided by the Holy Spirit, several centuries to fully understand and develop that belief explicitly as one God in three distinct persons.

  39. L says

    Wow… Thank you for writing this article. You don’t know how much this means to me… it’s been an extremely emotionally painful experience finding my way back to the Catholic faith. If only you knew. If only you knew.

    • susan d says

      Thank you for coming back. Your presence does enrich all of us, whether we know it or not. So, truly, I thank you.

      As a convert, I experienced my own pain at being “born again” Catholic. But it is nothing compared to the blessings! Well worth the pain, as I hope you also experience. In any case, my prayers are with you.

  40. Asya Antartica says

    This is how Satan’s hatred of Mary is manifested. We see and hear it everyday. Most of the oppressions in the world are against women… young and old alike. Women who are either forced to commit abortion or who decide to abort their babies on their own free will. Baby girls who are not welcomed in many countries and are considered as a doom to their family and so they are killed even before they are born. Young girls who are sold to prostitution or who enter prostitution to get away from their current situations. Young girls who are forced to become young brides of old men so they don’t add up to their family’s poverty. Young girls who are not allowed access to education as they are deemed second class citizens. Young girls who have to labor in order for their family to have food on their table. Women who are potrayed by media as toys and source of entertainment and pleasure for men – Pornography in all its varying forms- from the billboards, magazines, TV and the internet. Women who have to fight their fertility through artificial mean so they won’t bear any offspring. Motherless generations of children as the mothers have to work in foreign lands as domestic helpers (very apparent in countries like the Philippines and India). Women who are maltreated, abused, thought of with impure images and raped. We know that men are not spared of these ill realities but why do I focus on women? Because these women are the mothers of these men. A home with a “fallen” mother has a small percentage to become a sacred home. Problematic children are usually the fruits of mothers in deep trouble or the lack of mothers to guide and mold them. Satan’s attack on women are then felt by generations and generations of human beings, starting from their mothers. Any form of oppression against women makes Satan feel very victorious. Let’s protect ourselves as women from all these temptations and the harsh realities of life. Mama Mary, please be with us. We can’t do this by ourselves. We need you, our dear Mother.

  41. Toni says

    Even here, Satan tries to “confuse” us, by the comments made that are very close to being negative. I am not a Biblical Scholar, I cannot quote the Bible as well as others. But this I do know. I know GOD, and I Love Him and Adore Him. And I know that He chose Mary, who am I to question God’s perfect plan?? I have had an experience where I fell to my knees in the chapel and yelled at her, I needed help and I needed it fast, this had to do with taking care of my mother who had Alzheimers. I was totally broken, in spirit, mind, and body, I could no longer deal with this, and yes I yelled, I said why won’t you help? It is not for me that I ask but for my mother, and all of a sudden, a warm and peaceful, and loving feeling took over me, I have never felt that peaceful and calm and strong before, and have not since, I know she interceded for me, and Jesus sent me the graces I needed to take care of my mother. For ten years, I took care of her, and I loved her, and treated her like she was my new born child. I saw things in a different way, I saw things through love, no longer thinking it is my duty to take care of my mother, but it was not a blessing that I could take care of her. One more thing, towards the end, my mother was in a coma, no brain activity, and her organs were shutting down. Minutes before she died, I was at her bedside holding her hand, she opened her eyes, looked at me, ( now remember I said there was no brain activity), and she told me, it’s beautiful so beautiful, so many flowers and I see Jesus and Mary, they are beautiful. And then she took her last breath. In my eyes that was a miracle especially since months before she had lost the ability to speak. Do I love Jesus, yes I do, do I love the Blessed Mother, yes I do. And I will continue to be for the rest of my days, in The Blue Army, and The Living Rosary Army, praying the Rosary for all of the world. I need no Biblical translation I know, Jesus and Mary.

    • John Mc Donald says

      That was a beautiful story, tears welled up in my eyes reading about your mother.

      Jesus said to St John while dying on the cross,

      “Mother behold thy son, son behold thy mother”.

      Jesus was giving his mother to be our heavinly mother also.

      Mary conceived without sin pray for us who have recourse to thee.

  44. Daisy says

    I have downloaded this article and given it to our converts from other faiths. They love it and shaking the belief of others. They have seen miracles of Mother Mary right before their eyes. Thank you God for giving us Mother Mary.

  45. Frank Balkevicus says

    The Title should have read Why Satan and Baptist’s hate the Blessed Virgin Mary so much.

  47. Richard says

    I’ll listen to what protestant says when all 30, 000 different combinations of them can actually agree on the fundamentals of Christianity. Until then, I’ll stick with the oldest and the best, God’s One TRUE Holy, Catholic and Apostolic church. Blessings.

  49. Padre Joe says

    Hopefully this might help a little.

    1. From Catholic Answers
    In the first four centuries of the Church many books, such as the seven letters of Ignatius, the Letter of Clement [the fourth pope] to the Corinthians, the Didache, and The Shepherd were revered by many Christians as inspired but were later shown to be non-inspired.

    It was not until the Councils of Hippo and Carthage that the Catholic Church defined which books made it into the New Testament and which didn’t. Probably the council fathers studied the (complete) Muratorian Fragment and other documents, including, of course, the books in question themselves, but it was not until these councils that the Church officially settled the issue.

    The Muratorian Fragment (so-called because it represents only a portion of the actual second-century document discovered in 1740 by Lodovico Antonio Muratori), is the oldest extant listing of New Testament-era books revered by early Christians. It was written sometime between 155 and 200. Patristic scholars believe the unknown author originally wrote the list in Greek (since the Latin is very poor), but the oldest copy available is an eighth-century Latin manuscript.

    Although the Muratorian Fragment is important in studying how the early Church developed the New Testament canon, it doesn’t give exactly the same list of books that was later adopted as canonical at the councils of Hippo and Carthage. The Muratorian Fragment is just that: a fragment of a larger list of books which were considered canonical or quasi-canonical during the second century.

    The plain fact of the matter is that the canon of the Bible was not settled in the first years of the Church. It was settled only after repeated (and perhaps heated) discussions, and the final listing was determined by Catholic bishops. This is an inescapable fact, no matter how many people wish to escape from it.

    2. Council of Hippo (393) and Carthage (394-419) *several meetings*

    3. That being said, the Canons were not put together as such, so there were still *teachings* being done by the apostles and their successors (the Church Fathers). I’ll remind you in John chapter 16 it says: ““I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth.”

    4. Thus in prayer, the Church Fathers discerned (with the Holy Spirit) that:
    *Irenaeus
    “The Virgin Mary, being obedient to his word, received from an angel the glad tidings that she would bear God” (Against Heresies, 5:19:1 [A.D. 189]).

    *Hippolytus
    “[T]o all generations they [the prophets] have pictured forth the grandest subjects for contemplation and for action. Thus, too, they preached of the advent of God in the flesh to the world, his advent by the spotless and God-bearing (theotokos) Mary in the way of birth and growth, and the manner of his life and conversation with men, and his manifestation by baptism, and the new birth that was to be to all men, and the regeneration by the laver [of baptism]” (Discourse on the End of the World 1 [A.D. 217]).

    *Gregory the Wonderworker
    “For Luke, in the inspired Gospel narratives, delivers a testimony not to Joseph only, but also to Mary, the Mother of God, and gives this account with reference to the very family and house of David” (Four Homilies 1 [A.D. 262]).

    “It is our duty to present to God, like sacrifices, all the festivals and hymnal celebrations; and first of all, [the feast of] the Annunciation to the holy Mother of God, to wit, the salutation made to her by the angel, ‘Hail, full of grace!’” (ibid., 2).

    *Peter of Alexandria
    “They came to the church of the most blessed Mother of God, and ever-virgin Mary, which, as we began to say, he had constructed in the western quarter, in a suburb, for a cemetery of the martyrs” (The Genuine Acts of Peter of Alexandria [A.D. 305]).

    “We acknowledge the resurrection of the dead, of which Jesus Christ our Lord became the firstling; he bore a body not in appearance but in truth derived from Mary the Mother of God” (Letter to All Non-Egyptian Bishops 12 [A.D. 324]).

    *Methodius
    “While the old man [Simeon] was thus exultant, and rejoicing with exceeding great and holy joy, that which had before been spoken of in a figure by the prophet Isaiah, the holy Mother of God now manifestly fulfilled” (Oration on Simeon and Anna 7 [A.D. 305]).

    “Hail to you forever, you virgin Mother of God, our unceasing joy, for unto you do I again return. . . . Hail, you fount of the Son’s love for man. . . . Wherefore, we pray you, the most excellent among women, who boast in the confidence of your maternal honors, that you would unceasingly keep us in remembrance. O holy Mother of God, remember us, I say, who make our boast in you, and who in august hymns celebrate your memory, which will ever live, and never fade away” (ibid., 14).

    *Cyril of Jerusalem
    “The Father bears witness from heaven to his Son. The Holy Spirit bears witness, coming down bodily in the form of a dove. The archangel Gabriel bears witness, bringing the good tidings to Mary. The Virgin Mother of God bears witness” (Catechetical Lectures 10:19 [A.D. 350]).

    *Ephraim the Syrian
    “Though still a virgin she carried a child in her womb, and the handmaid and work of his wisdom became the Mother of God” (Songs of Praise 1:20 [A.D. 351]).

    Athanasius
    “The Word begotten of the Father from on high, inexpressibly, inexplicably, incomprehensibly, and eternally, is he that is born in time here below of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God” (The Incarnation of the Word of God 8 [A.D. 365]).

    Epiphanius of Salamis
    “Being perfect at the side of the Father and incarnate among us, not in appearance but in truth, he [the Son] reshaped man to perfection in himself from Mary the Mother of God through the Holy Spirit” (The Man Well-Anchored 75 [A.D. 374]).

    *Ambrose of Milan
    “The first thing which kindles ardor in learning is the greatness of the teacher. What is greater than the Mother of God? What more glorious than she whom Glory Itself chose?” (The Virgins 2:2[7] [A.D. 377]).

    *Gregory of Nazianz
    “If anyone does not agree that holy Mary is Mother of God, he is at odds with the Godhead” (Letter to Cledonius the Priest 101 [A.D. 382]).

    *Jerome
    “As to how a virgin became the Mother of God, he [Rufinus] has full knowledge; as to how he himself was born, he knows nothing” (Against Rufinus 2:10 [A.D. 401]).

    “Do not marvel at the novelty of the thing, if a Virgin gives birth to God” (Commentaries on Isaiah 3:7:15 [A.D. 409]).

    *Theodore of Mopsuestia
    “When, therefore, they ask, ‘Is Mary mother of man or Mother of God?’ we answer, ‘Both!’ The one by the very nature of what was done and the other by relation” (The Incarnation 15 [A.D. 405]).

    *Cyril of Alexandria
    “I have been amazed that some are utterly in doubt as to whether or not the holy Virgin is able to be called the Mother of God. For if our Lord Jesus Christ is God, how should the holy Virgin who bore him not be the Mother of God?” (Letter to the Monks of Egypt 1 [A.D. 427]).

    “This expression, however, ‘the Word was made flesh’ [John 1:14], can mean nothing else but that he partook of flesh and blood like to us; he made our body his own, and came forth man from a woman, not casting off his existence as God, or his generation of God the Father, but even in taking to himself flesh remaining what he was. This the declaration of the correct faith proclaims everywhere. This was the sentiment of the holy Fathers; therefore they ventured to call the holy Virgin ‘the Mother of God,’ not as if the nature of the Word or his divinity had its beginning from the holy Virgin, but because of her was born that holy body with a rational soul, to which the Word, being personally united, is said to be born according to the flesh” (First Letter to Nestorius [A.D. 430]).

    “And since the holy Virgin corporeally brought forth God made one with flesh according to nature, for this reason we also call her Mother of God, not as if the nature of the Word had the beginning of its existence from the flesh” (Third Letter to Nestorius [A.D. 430]).

    “If anyone will not confess that the Emmanuel is very God, and that therefore the holy Virgin is the Mother of God, inasmuch as in the flesh she bore the Word of God made flesh [John 1:14]: let him be anathema” (ibid.).

    My Dear protestant brothers and sisters, do not be deceived by false teachings. The Catholic Church has been around for 2,000 years. She is the Bride of Christ, which he can only have one bride, not several mistresses (let’s be honest, their are too many break-off Protestant denominations, which I don’t believe was what Christ wanted. It is my prayer that you will be open to what Holy Mother Church teaches, she who is still being led by the Spirit of God and thus we continue the New Testament in our own day in age. Come drink from the font of life dear friends, and receive not only half, but the whole treasure of Christ in both Scripture and tradition!

  50. Brody O. says

    Christ said “no one comes to the father but by me”. Within the correctly translated 10 commandments, the 2nd commandment is “have no other gods or graven images before me…” This article is inconsistent with what the holy bible states. This writer and any affiliates who would agree with this incorrect doctrine should be “marked” (Romans 16:17). I pray you read the bible for yourselves and recieve the understanding from the Holy Spirit as to what it means.

  52. oscar says

    Mary is the true mother of the world as she said it in her apparition in Rwanda, my brothers and sisters who still doubt i pray you realize that.

  53. S says

    Thank you and God bless you for this article. God bless Cath. It is so simple: you cannot truly and intimately love a person without respecting and revering his mother. Jesus Himself does so. How can we intimately and truly love Him and His Father without venerating His mother?

  54. chrysanthus maria says

    Very nice article … a very strong Catholic stand… we must be sturdy in our Marian devotion for this devotion alone can lead us to an authentic Christian lifestyle—- the Eucharist!

  55. Richard Sequeira says

    Our Blessed Mary , always leads us to her Son Jesus Christ . To me she is the Words greatest evangelist . She literally gave birth to the Word of God , then shared His divine life with humble shepherds , and there wise Kings , the looked after Him and His needs and cares for 30 years , followed his thoughts words and deeds , and death for 3 years . Was with the apostles at Pentecost , and has visited Humanity and the Faithful the past 2000 years to tell the world to give up sin and come back to God !The Blessed Virgin Mary , who is the Mother of the Eternal Word, Jesus Christ is the absolute terror of the Devil and Demons .This has been stated by the Vatican’s chief exorcist Fr. Gabriel Amroth and it has also been my experience during exorcisms since the past 38 years .

  56. Barry says

    Your article is edifying, inspiring, motivating and certainly well-articulated. Thank you Sam!
    Could you possible provide the necessary icon that would facilitate the resharing of your material on GooglePlus too?

  57. Annette says

    Being a child of the 60s, the feminist movement made me see my female gender as a negative thing. My later conversion to the traditional Roman Catholic faith gave me a new love and respect for being female, through the role model of the Blessed Virgin

  58. Gary says

    Let me try this again. I guess I did something wrong the first time.
    I need Clarity. Which of the translations of Hebrew used the original Aramaic Characters not the changed or revised. I use the Douay Rheims.

  60. Moe says

    Regarding the gender of the one crushing the head, context clues clearly reveal that God is talking about a woman before and after the crushing. It would therefore follow that she is doing the crushing.

  61. Sharon says

    Thank you so much for this article, Sam. I have passed it on to others, as I have many of your blog and Facebook posts. I said a prayer for you this morning because it is too easy to think that people like you don’t need prayer, but of course you do. May Our Lord and his precious Mother continue to inspire you.

  63. Mary H. says

    What people fail to realize is there were more books written than the ones they included in the bible. There are books written that explains the Blessed Mother and her place in Jesus world. They figured that generations ahead would honor her and put her in a special place. But along the way the schisms and separation of Christians from the church sadly decided that only the words written in the books that were chosen for the bible are the only words of God. Therefore Mary’s devotion has been lost to some of the generations to come. We do not worship Mary or the saints. We have a special devotion to Mary and honor her in a special way. Everyone is always saying about things that are written in the bible. Did it ever occur to them the things not written there are also facts. Does it say in the bible we are not to have devotion to Mary. Does it say in the bible we worship the saints and Mary. Didn’t think so. You also have to look at God’s word as things He has not inspired to be written. If it doesn’t tell you it’s not so than maybe it is so. So devotion to her is very important because she still is God’s instrument to destroy Satan.

  64. Noreen says

    Um, to all the folks here bashing each other back & forth about what their “own personal beliefs” are about Mary… WE’RE ALL ON THE SAME SIDE!!! But here we are, Christians, fighting amongst each other over how we worship God…. This bickering back & forth under the guise of who is more versed in the Bible & it’s various translations reeks of Satan’s plan to destroy us by turning us on one another. Can’t we just agree to disagree? I am Catholic. I love my Creator & all that He has created, including Mary. If I choose to PRAY the Rosary or directly speak to the Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ then that’s my choice. Good or bad at least I am reaching out to the Father. But keep in mind there is no Father without The Mother and there is no Mother without The Father. Otherwise there would be no Baby Jesus, no New Adam & no New Eve. Therefore, now this is my own personal Belief so don’t knock it cause frankly I don’t care how you Believe as long as you Believe… Therefore, I’m sure God doesn’t care how we Believe as long as we are reconciled in Him. He is the Creator of all things “visible & invisible” so who are we to judge one another on what we think we see & don’t see because either way He created us all & is the One to judge us in “The End”.

  67. Mayday says

    I am always amazed at the simple comments by Protestants who sincerely think they will reveal something new that Catholics have not always held and believed since the beginning of the Church. “No one comes to the father but by me” or “have no other gods or graven images before me…” And to this revelation we naive Catholics are supposed to say,”WOW, I never saw that before!.” Seriously? Did you not know that we celebrate and proclaim Jesus Christ is Lord everyday in our liturgy? Get real, get rooted, and get humble. Catholics know full well who Christ is and what He did and how He intended to pass it on. He is the foundation and cornerstone of everything we do. Build your straw man arguments, but you will never change the Truth: Jesus founded one, holy, universal, apostolic church and it is not the evangelical baptist church on the frontage road. He promised to protect His one Church until the end of time, no matter how bad man may mess it up along the way. And furthermore, He fully expected the salvation message to be taught to us not just by His divine revelation and holy word (which was recorded, authorized, and preserved by that same Church), but in the lap of our mother, father, grandmother and yes, our blessed mother in heaven. Why is that so hard to understand when most of you reading this were brought to Christ not by Christ alone or faith alone, but by the intercession and assistance of one of his loyal disciples? I am eternally grateful to those in my life who cared and loved me enough to share the Gospel, but I don’t worship them, and nor does any other Catholic I have ever met.

  68. Edward says

    It is very clear, the bible alone concept will lead to many interpretations. Therefore church authority and tradition is important so that the holy bible is interpreted correctly. Devotions to our lady stirs a lot of reactions from other christian denominations because they do not understand. I suggest going to the catholic answer website will be very helpful. I am 47 years old. I remember when i was 13 years old we use to pray for Russia who was very powerful communist nation at that time. This was one of our ladys request. Rusia is not powerful as before. The Soviet Union got divided and that was made possible through the intercession of our lady. Thank God for our lady. God bless!

  69. Shelia Johnson says

    I was searching to find positive consolation on my conflict with reliance on Mary but I stopped reading half way through. Your examples don’t make sense considering Revaltions and our redemption through the mere Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ. Most of these are not in specificity to Mary within the Bible. Also your example interpretation of 1 Peter 3:7 is extremely biased. If you reference a source it needs to be direct or summary, not interpretation. I’m not knocking Mary. I honor her. But I do think it seems everyone is forgetting quite literally why Jesus was here in the first place. “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” John 14:6

  70. rickhall824963827 says

    Thanks be to God for the spreading of HIS WORD to the four corners of this world.
    I, like many here and I am sure elsewhere, have pondered on these same concerns which always leads me to Romans 8:28 while reminding myself of Isaiah that HIS thoughts are nor my thoughts and HIS ways are not my WAYS but much higher than I can conceive.

    Mary, is the greatest of all Witnesses that Christians of any “variety” could possibly imagine. Lest I get ahead of myself, John 1 states in clearly. In the Beginning that there was the Word and the Word was with GOD and the Word was GOD. Why or how could this be? Pondering further one should ask oneself, HOW MANY GODS, do you as a Christian believer have? How many Saviours, do you as a Christian Believer have?

    If there is any answer but ONE, then there-in might be the issue.
    With that premise, as a Christian believer, IS JESUS, the CHRIST? YOUR LORD? YOUR SAVIOUR? There should again be only but ONE answer here. Isaiah is given who the LORD is. Isaiah is given that there is only ONE GOD, ONE SAVIOUR, ONE MIGHTY ONE, KING OF ISRAEL, ONE MIGHTY COUNSELOR………

    So, if someone should say that Jesus is not LORD, NOT the CHRIST, NOT the Saviour, then surely HE is not GOD to this person. Is this person a CHRISTIAN Believer? There is only ONE answer here as well.

    Now, for a Christian Believer, and further a Catholic Christian believer where “Catholic” lends itself to the truest meaning of UNIVERSAL, there is ONLY ONE GOD, ONE LORD, ONE SAVIOUR, ONE HOLY UNIVERSAL CHURCH given from Jesus Christ our LORD, GOD and SAVIOUR to Peter,

    The greatest Witness to the human transition of all of this, who indeed said YES to the angel Gabriel when asked to “choose” to accept, is the Mother of the LORD, Jesus, the Christ, the Saviour of the world.

    Catholic Christians Honor and revere Mary NOT above the LORD, NOT equally to the LORD. Christian Catholics “honor” Mary as MOTHER of Our LORD and because she said YES to the LORD and as a result gave birth to the LORD, OUR SAVIOUR.

    There is not one Christian Bible that denounces that Mary gave birth to Jesus.
    Either a Christian Believes Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Saviour, the Lord or they reject this and are not Christian at all. GOD told Isaiah in Isaiah 43:3 and 43:11 who HE IS.

    GOD told John, the apostle, in JOHN 1 who HE IS.
    Matthew tells us all in Matthew 28:16-20 what the LORD says.

    Perhaps many do not worship the LORD if they question this.

    HIS ways are indeed above ours. Accepting that HIS ways are indeed above ours, Mary,
    became the Mother of our LORD, Jesus, Christ.

    Mary was there as WITNESS from the initial YES to his conception, to HIS birth, to the visitation of the Wise Men, to HIS presentation in the Temple, to HIS adolescence, to HIS start of HIS ministry with the witness and baptism by John, to HIS Trial by the Romans, to HIS suffering on the road to Calvary, to the FOOT OF THE CROSS, to HIS DEATH, to the placing in the TOMB, to the RISING from the TOMB, To HIS Ascension, To the upper room on Pentecost… and on to this day via the Rosary.
    http://www.rosary-center.org

    I am not called to convince anyone. I am not called to change anyone’s mind. I AM called to do just as the apostles were called, to spread HIS WORD, to speak Boldly when called upon, to not reject HIS TRUTH of HIS WORD. Thanks and Praise be to God. Amen!

  71. dom says

    Comments from you all reminded me of what St Augustine of Hippo said: “If you believe what you like in the Gospel’s, and reject what you do not like, it is not the Gospel you believe, but you believe in yourself” It is no wonder the protestants all the Christians outside Roman Catholic will continue to reformats theme! Dom

  73. Dike Daniel says

    Oh thank you Susan for that wonderful reply,
    Our blessed Virgin is full of grace without any blemish and God directs us to her as our mother John19:26-27

    Hail Mary, pray for us who have recourse to thee

  74. Jamie says

    Doesn’t matter who defeats the devil as long as he is defeated…after reading this I have such more profound understanding why the devil hates Our beloved mother Mary…such an awesome article.

  75. Erin says

    The living Messiah is truly here…testimnonyofthetwowitnesses.com
    I promise with all of my heart , all breath I take my life and soul,
    Knowing what that promise means, which I don’t take lightly
    that Holy Father Pope Peter the last and his wife Mary Romanus
    are truly the brother and sister of Christ! When writing to Pope
    Peter and Mary ones heart and soul is dicerned right from the
    thrown in Heaven! He is the living earthly Messiah also He
    Is the great Catholic monarch along with King Jesus Who
    IS coming back at His third coming! Out of Jesus great love
    and mercy the unborn babies of abortion are coming back
    too they have true parents who want them and love them
    Oh Holy Father and Mary Romanus are so good!
    The little flock as long as they Do all that King Jesus
    and our True Pope growing in virtue and humility and
    Obediance and persevere in doing so will not only
    Reverse age but shall not die also! Mary was never
    Separated fro God , She was there from the start
    , She was United in the sufferings and death of her son
    and She is now United in the hearts of Holy Father
    Petrus Romanus and His wife Mary through the
    because the Sacred Hearts are right in them!
    Sadly to say most all will reject then and rehang
    Jesus on the Cross again through the rejection
    of His True brother and sister! They people
    must choose between the Word which never
    changes and which is living write in His Testimnoy
    and Heart of His two witnesses and true little flock
    Or between the anti Christ who will mimic all that
    Jesus did in His life! Obama and Francis are the
    two beast spoken of in the bible and it has
    Been revealed from Heaven Obamas third term
    is fixed!

    Jesus let me hold Him right in my dream He
    Is so beautiful and handsome so peaceful no
    words can describe! He was good to me
    To let me experience a communion with the
    unborn babies ! Hell is very real too I disobeyed
    His Testimnoy I experienced the excruciating
    pains of hell! It was so scary!

    The little flower answered my prayers too
    about His Testimnoy! I truly hope you
    Pray about it too before you Jesus turn
    Jesus away righting you ,
    His eyes get so sad like hurting ones
    best friend from what I saw in my dream.

    Most people didn’t want Jesus as a infant
    Most didn’t want His death and sacrifice
    and sadly to say they are doing it all over
    again by spitting on Him and His true brother
    and sister and true little flock! He is hidden
    in His Word for they can’t handle His Just
    Anger! Oh my gosh it truly take a lot to
    have Him get to Just Anger! Our nation
    Flunked as a whole , and until are nation
    Humbles itself to His two witnesses and
    Repentance they shall reap what they so!
    For Obama is not going to end tell the people choose!

    Erin Bell

  77. Jessi perez says

    Yes! Satan indeed hates Mary so much but he cannot defeat Mary the way what he did with Eve that he deceive her. In Luke 1:35 “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God. Through her the only begotten son of God become flesh and dwelt among us as what the angel Gabriel has said his name is Emmanuel: God is with us. Mary was the first witness and follower of Christ. She knows her son very will compared to those who knew him. Mary was so close to Jesus heart same way as the son was close to her mother’s heart. Lets read Luke 21:51 Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. 52 And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man. Mary did not leave her son until death. Even on the cross Jesus did abandon her mother he entrusted her mother to his apostle John the beloved. Mary was powerful that Satan cannot come close to her. The first woman Eve failed and was tempted by the Devil but the second Eve Mary succeeded and was never been tempted. Mary is just a human being like us but she is very different in character compared to us because she has the heart to obey and fallow what God had instructed to her. She was the handmaid of the Lord. If Mary loves her son so much then she loves us to as her own children. Jesus was under her mother’s care and submissive to her authority while he was still alive on earth but he never questioned her mother but he was obedient. Inside my heart I know Mother Mary very will because the saw her and she said to me from now on call me your mother and your now my son.

  78. dennis says

    Its good to see someone standing up for Blessed Mary the bride of the Holy Spirit many protestant leaders fail badly to recognize her for this reason and put her down. Lord Jesus had half brothers and sisters as St Joseph as he had been married before he met Mary and thus much older, I believe St Joseph had died before Lord Jesus started his ministry at 30 years of age. To further add that Lord Jesus was Bless Mary only son was before he died on the cross he said to St John take this women to be your mother and to Mary take this man to be your son why Would Lord Jesus say this to Blessed Mary if she had other children. No way.

  79. Tammy says

    Christ crushed satans head!! When He shed His Blood on The Cross for our sins!! The Son is God as is God The father is God the Holy Spirit is God the holy three are in one and the same… No one come to The Father except though The Son That is Christ He defeated the enemy and death on the cross and through his resurrection For God gave His only begotten Son, the holy lamb of God!! Only The SON sits on the right side of GOD Almighty!! For Christ was with The Father before He formed the world and the universes and galaxies and Havens

  80. lindaroseann says

    Go back to Genesis chapter 3 verse 15, “I will place enmity between thee and the WOMAN, between thy seed and her seed, it shall bruise thy head.. Then go and research the Miraculous Medal. It was originally called the Medal of the Immaculate Conception, but so many miracles were attributed to it that it is now called the Miraculous Medal instead. Look at the picture. There is Our Lady crushing the head of Satan. The Son of God defeated Satan by opening the doors of heaven for us through His crucifixion, but man continues to be sinful. Jesus will come again to judge the living and the dead (Matthew) so he sends us His (and our) Mother Mary, given to us while He died on the cross (WOMAN behold thy son) to bring us back to God from all our sinfullness. God created the 4th commandment: Honor Thy Mother and Thy Father. He does not go against His own Law. Honoring His/Our Mother Mary does not go against God or His Law.

  81. James says

    Glorifying Mary more than Jesus is outright blasphemy of the highest order. Nowhere in the whole Bible are commanded to worship Mary. Let them study the ten commandments well and they can see why. Catholic dogmas are not taking anyone to heaven now or ever. Some call Mary the mother of Jesus virgin Mary. On the contrary, she had other children after Jesus, and hence not a virgin anymore. All of us at some point were virgins just like her; why are we not referred to as virgin Kamau, O’Keefe or Barbara? Aren’t we capable of attaining spiritual maturity to the same level? Catholicism is a fake religion with all that comes with it. The rosary is an adoption of ancient satanic prayer tool just like the rest of the lot.

  82. lindaroseann says

    We’re not glorifying Mary more than Jesus. We don’t worship Mary, only God. The church that Jesus left with the apostles is the Catholic church. The word catholic was Greek meaning universal, and was used as universal christian. When St. Paul, who was killing the christians in the early church, was struck down by Jesus, Jesus did not ask him why he was persecuting the christians, he asked why he was persecuting HIM. The church is the body of Christ. To say that about Catholicism is the same as saying that about Jesus. It would also mean that God would not be God because you’re also saying that He created a church and He doesn’t know what he’s doing. PROTESTantism was nowhere around at the time. It would also mean that God doesn’t know what He’s doing now, does it? Starting a Church and then saying that 40,000 denominations of protestants (who can’t agree on much of anything) know better is a lie that was starting centuries ago and now you’ve been told to keep you from leaving their ministries and going to the true church.

  83. James says

    For your information, the church that Jesus that left behind was a Sabbath worship church not a Sunday worship church. Sunday worship was started by Emperor Constantine. This was no surprise as it is written of it in Daniel 7:25. I quote from the web; Notice: “It was Constantine who first made a law for the proper observance of Sunday and who appointed that it should be regularly celebrated throughout the Roman empire.” This could have been the very first step of ‘bending’ the ten commandments to accommodate the wish of individuals, replacing the original faith with fake believes and misleading many, leading them astray.
    As would be expected at the time the apostles were into Judaism proper. It is well known that it was total blasphemy not to keep the ten commandment to the letter had very serious repercussions. As I have said earlier, church that Jesus left behind was a Sabbath worship community, with a twist though, they were filled with the Holy Spirit and could ‘see’ where you and me cannot. You can accept anything as universal as long as it is acceptable by the world at large but that does not make it right before God( the universality of the catholic church lies in itself only). As much as you would like us to believe, you cannot tie that believe with history as it is so far.
    On the other hand Protestants had to break away from wrong teachings and lies that have been peddled as early as the time of Emperor Constantine. They may have many splinter groups, actually more than the figure your provided, but one thing is clear, they have opened a path light for themselves to avoid being doomed with the rest of the world. Where I live we have a splinter of Roman Catholics who we call ‘charismatic catholics’ who worship in spirit and truth. They don’t touch alcohol and worship on Saturday. One thing I am sure of, if R.C is the ‘true’ church as you say, then hell should be widened to hold all who were before us, with us and those to come.

  84. lindaroseann says

    Here is also something from the web to help you:
    http://www.bibleprobe.com/sundayworship.htm Sunday worship became the day of worship because of the Resurrection. We are not Jews, and are not bound to the same Sabbath laws as they were. See the attachment for more explanation. Jesus said that He did not come to change the Law, He came to fulfill it. You don’t slaughter lambs anymore for a sacrifice, do you? Fulfilling the Law was bound to make changes due to its nature, but don’t be confused–the 10 commandments are the 10 commandments. The 3rd commandment was placed there for rest and to give worship to God. It was called the Sabbath because it was given originally to the Jews, but it was meant for all of us, regardless.
    Jesus agonized in the garden over disunity. He left promises to the apostles that He would never leave them, until the end of time. The apostles were the first Bishops. If God were so unhappy with His church He could have made one of the three doctrines of the Reformation His church, with Catholicism going away.,That has not happened. If anything, it has flourished even more.
    Here’s another question. Where are your proofs? We have the back-up of God Himself in the approved apparitions such as Fatima, where the major miracle of conversion and healings took place in 1917. My Portuguese friend’s grandfather was there and saw the whole thing. The doctrines for apparitions with miracles cures and conversions are always in line with Catholicism. There are others, such as Akita, where the Sister who received the messages from above was healed from her deafness (this was a documented deafness before she received the messages), as well as the woman who had stage 4 brain cancer and was instantly cured. Remember that Catholicism had its beginnings from Christ and the apostles. He would NEVER have mankind changing doctrines because that would mean that He lied, and He does not.
    Did your founders die before they made up their doctrines? NO! They are simply matters of opinion, and when you think you know better than Christ and His promises, then you can add in arrogance.

  85. James says

    Let me begin by a very simple question, why would you like to benefit from a product yet you do not want anything to do with its origin? Then, as you say, they slaughtered animals for the forgiveness on their iniquity. The dispensation has changed(Hebrews 7:1-22) but He did not change the Sabbath worship, He Himself did worship that way!(Luke 4:16). You put it that the Law was meant for the Jews, aren’t we human just like them? Does heavenly commandments discriminate between races, color, e.t.c? No, they are a standard across the board. You also put it that He came to fulfill the same Law yes, all that was spoken of Him by the prophets, and the Psalms: why then would anyone think going against Matthew 12:8 where Jesus refers to himself as the ” Lord of the Sabbath”, the institutor of the Sabbath so to speak? You have watered down one thing you said ‘ but it was meant for us all’, thus agreeing that someone somewhere change this for his own benefit. Like I said in the last comment it was Emperor Constantine who change it.
    Let me put it another way; for those who have seen the light, saved so to say, those who have accepted Jesus as their personal savior for that matter, celebrate their redemption through His resurrection every other day(Romans 6:5), why would I seek to break a commandment, change and appointed different day in the name resurrection? Wouldn’t it change the very purpose, the very Law we purport to follow?
    Proofs? You call Fatima phenomena as proof that God approves the Catholicism? The description of an apparition is ‘a ghost or a ghostlike image of a person.’ 2Chorinthians 11:14 sheds some light as to what happened. So as to lead more people astray, the devil, the master of disguise, is crafty. The same case happened to the so called man and mortal, St. Dominic in the year 1214; he claimed to have been handed the rosary by the virgin Mary. 1Timothy 4:1 also give us quite a scene of the future. Apparitions are not Godly, miracles are and that is the major difference between the two If you are talking of miracles, they are happening every other day around us. I have witnessed doctors, medical doctors with over twenty years’ experience, write off a patients in this age of HIV and AIDS, yet the patients walk home to live to a mature old age.
    As for dreams, people dream and the dreams come true, people prophesy and the prophesies come true. But as for apparitions, may they remain out of my life for ever. The Bible is very clear as to visitations. I would rather test the spirits first and then accept or reject them as per the results(1John 4:1).
    The human race has been known to change rules, doctrines to suit themselves. Religions the world over have been doing the same. From what I have read from you, you champion catholicism, you sound like one. I was brought up as one, I have but studied the bible as from age ten and now I have different perspective of Christianity in general. I know where to stand as far as faith concerned. Most religions that we have now, have their origins from Christ(including Islam). But the truth has been distorted to suit individuals nonetheless.
    Since getting saved, I have had dreams, vision and premonitions all my life and all of them have come out true. Thus I cannot stand an apparition to guide me, no. To give an example, in 1998 in January I had a dream. I was to drive our director to another town for a meeting. In the dream half way to that town I saw a forty feet rig lying on its’ side with smoke bellowing from the engine compartment. That very same morning the dream was replayed live before my eyes. The accident was in the same shopping center as in the dream and the truck was the same color as the one in the dream and was lying on its left side with smoke rising as in the dream.
    All I am saying is God loves us and wants to use us yet we are always running away from Him by our actions and believes. The world dynamics do not augur well with the weak because they will always conform to it I am afraid.
    One more drawback for the catholic during our time: there is the issue of child molestation the world over by catholic priests. Are they serving God or themselves? I have a colleague who has never come to terms with the fact he was molested, he has never recovered since. He is in his late thirties and no amount of counseling has healed him.

  86. James says

    Sorry for forgetting to point out the commandment about the Sabbath is number four and NOT number three as you said.(NKJV)

  87. lindaroseann says

    It’s number 3 in our faith. The first 3 commandments are based primarily on one’s relationship with God, the rest are towards Mankind.

    • James says

      I understand fully why it is number three in your faith. Number two was deliberately removed, the one that talks about making graven images(statues) and worshipping them, because your churches are full of them. Right from the compounds, the alters, the way of the cross, and effigies of the virgin Mary. Some even have statues of Jesus and Joseph. If I have never been a catholic, I would not understand but now I know too well.
      By removing that commandment another verse was put into play, Revelation 22:18-19, that says whoever adds to it(the word) to him/her plagues described thereof shall be added to him/her or whoever removes a word of this book( the bible) to him/her shall be removed his/her share of the tree of life.
      We need not have physical applications in the form of images of the divine. The Pharisees and the Sadducees tried even to write the ten commandments on their robes to impress the population. They even expressed their piety before people but that did not impress God. The word is clear in Jeremiah 31:33, and Joes 2:29 is all I need God in my heart to be His. The only requirement is faith, the word of God to direct me, Holy Spirit to guide me and a clear conscience to go with these, then and only then will I be contented in my faith. Anything outside that is pure falsehood and utter lies from the evil one, the architect of all evil, satan.

  88. rickhall824963827 says

    Clearly there are NON-catholics trolling this for their own agenda here and spreading false scripture. No Catholics WORSHIP Mary, THE VIRGIN [ see Luke 1:26-28]. Yes LUKE 1 clearly states Mary as a Virgin including words from the Angel Gabriel. Catholic will honor the Mother of the Lord. Catholics have only 1 Saviour, 1 Lord, 1 GOD, 1 Holy Spirit, 1 mighty Counselor, right out of Isaiah 9:5-6 and 43:3 and Luke 2:11 and many other passages.

    ALL Catholics I know including myself believe Genesis 1 AND Genesis 2 where GOD, the Creator rested on the SEVENTH DAY. Man DID NOT create the Sabbath through any law. GOD created the Sabbath for man.

    As far as the Priests and molestations, thanks for pointing out that NO other Church is cleansing themselves of this abomination except the Catholic Church.. If you think it does not exist in your church or denomination of belief, your are deceived [ Romans 1 ].
    If you think it is wrong for it being brought into the light from within the Catholic Church, there again you are deceived. If you wish to persecute, punish hold responsible any Catholic for such an atrocity, that would be akin to holding every family member of a mass murder accountable for the atrocity committed by their family member who was a mass murderer by association. That logic is faulty.

    A Catholic does not agree with such an abomination of molestation nor do they agree with covering it up. To not admit it exists under your own Church and to not root it out is an abomination. When good people fail to do nothing, evil prevails.

    The Catholic Church can lay claim to the authority given to Peter from Christ to build his Church. The lineage is there from the beginning with every Bishop of Rome whom Peter was the1st bishop of Rome historically and rooted in scripture. Christ gave this authority to Peter. By whose authority does any other denomination profess and carry on that lineage? None that I am historically aware of except the Catholic Church. Christ gave this authority to Peter to carry it out. to dismiss this as trivial or meaningless is diminishing that which was handed on by Jesus Christ to man as of no importance.

    Non-catholics love to come and convince Catholics that they are the deceived. I will point out that the ones generally speaking in this tone are speaking from ignorance about something that they have no knowledge of nor are they a part of. Many when they disagree leave the Catholic church. This is not a problem. This is a cleansing. Man doe not know better than GOD. That is why the Evil one was thrown from heaven thinking he was equal to or above GOD.

    To speak without knowledge or understanding about anything would be speaking out of ignorance.

    The Catholic Church carries out the mission of Christ to DO THIS IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME, The Breaking of the Bread, the EUCHARIST as was commanded at the Last Supper. To diminish this would be to diminish HIS sacrifice at Calvary and HIS command to Preach and spread Christ Crucified to all the the world.

    I am not here to convince anyone of becoming Catholic make no mistake of that but certainly the TRUTH is the TRUTH even if nobody believes it and a lie is still a lie even if everyone believes it. I have only spoken from the Bible which is the Truth and a Catholic will professes this truth directly from the Bible. To intentionally change that would be to change the WORD itself and no man it capable of changing the WORD of GOD.

    12 apostles died preaching the TRUTH, The WAY, The Christian Belief, The Life.
    To come here and throw stones at Catholic’s or their beliefs is not quite Christian now is it unless you are the ONE without SIN?

  89. dennis says

    Lord Jesus mother Mary is the bride of the Holy Spirit her only child is Jesus. So Mr Catholic gentleman I want to know the mass represents our Lord Jesus last supper so where do you see our Lord performing a baptism during the last supper that the Catholic Church is doing today. This is wrong and a mockery to our Lord and also the disgusting he priest telling the church to put out their right arm like a Nazi salute for supposedly a blessing when did this Luciferianism enter into our church. What has happened to the Lord’s sacred rite those who are doing this are heading for perdition..

    • James says

      Mary was a vessel used by God for His purpose. She was the servant of God, subject to God’s will. If she did what was right in the eyes of God, her reward is in heaven. Glorifying will not change the status quo. As for the rest of your gibberish, you had better explain yourself.

  90. lindaroseann says

    To James: Your faith was founded on another human being, giving you the rules. You have not obviously done your research. We do not worship statues. Sometimes God allows messages to be given in a symbolic form, which is what statues really are. They were originally created to assist the people who could not read in telling a story. Go read about the messages of Akita. Then go back into Scripture where the description of the Ark of the Covenant was given. The description includes angelic statues. God understands how statues can work to help us visually since he cannot come here in His glorified self since most of us would not be worthy for such a vision. You can also go on You Tube and see, on video, the statue of Mary in tears and all the Iraqi Christians who were witnessing it, as well as other examples.
    You said you were originally Catholic? How sad. You had the gift of the true faith, yet you let another human being tell you otherwise. By the way, here’s some historical facts for you. The Protestant Reformation was started by 3 men, Martin Luther, King Henry VIII, and Calvin. All the protestant faiths have been derived throughout the centuries from these 3 sets of beliefs, whether they want to admit it or not. Each level away from the faith brought beliefs further and further away from what was left to the apostles and First Fathers of the Church. (There’s a visual branching that I have seen and you could probably find on the internet.) Here are some facts you may or may not know about your original founders: King Henry the VIII wanted a divorce, beheaded his wives, and martyred anyone who refused to follow his new “church”. Martin Luther threw books out of the Bible because they did not follow what HE wanted (and who gave him any authority to do so, anyway?) leading people to believe that you could go to heaven on faith alone, when James specifically states that faith without works was not possible (sorry, I don’t have a Bible in front of me for the exact quote, but that was pretty close). Luther also gave people the idea that they could be their own pope by interpreting a complex book their own. The result is the total fracturing of Christianity. Some of the accounts we’re getting in our parish today with the people coming into the Church are two-fold: 1) They almost left Christianity because the protestants were arguing with them that theirs was the true faith, to the point of harassment. 2) People are told that they have been baptized (which states in Scripture that water is necessary) because they simply called on the Holy Spirit, and nothing more. This has really made people angry when they learn and understand the truth.
    By the way, here is a review of the 10 commandments from the Vatican website:
    http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/command.htm
    May I also recommend a series of books that will take you through Christianity’s history? They are written objectively, so you may not find them “exciting” since it deals with historical facts: “The History of Chrisitanity” by Warren Carroll. Their are a total of 8 or 9 volumes (he passed away when on one of the later volumes and a colleague was supposed to complete it for him.) It’s a lot of reading, but you can go to the volume of history that interests you and not get a slanted viewpoint.

    • James says

      With all sincerity I will refer you to something that has been written by a respected scholar from U.S.A. With certainty, I know you will not like it because it touches the very core of your faith. Whatever is critical of you faith will never sit well with all R.C. members. The truth be told because the same truth will set you free. There will always be differences in opinion when it comes to beliefs, but the truth is only one. Faith in God and obeying all commandments, removing all filth from our lives to make us acceptable before God. Any false teachings will be punished; the followers plus their teachers will have something to answer for.
      Now back to your reference, supporting all the comments that I have made on this column, here is the link:

      http://carm.org/roman-catholicism

      That reading will give an insight of what your church is all about, a false religion with a thousand and one canon laws based on fake beliefs. Why would I pray the rosary when Jesus showed us how to pray. I do not have any business with a lady who died and is waiting for the judgement day. If any teaching is not in the bible it nowhere and is not true. It is evident that in the later days people will teach other people what they want to hear(2Timothy 4:3).
      In the same vein your faith is based on another human being feeding all of you with lies. Those Akita apparitions are a sham, nothing more, nothing less. Now concerning St. Peters Square, did you know that the obelisk that stands there was originally based in Egypt dedicated to idol worship? Do your research and stop following faith blindly. It came from a place called Heliopolis. Roman Emperor Caligula brought it to Rome in the year 37BC. In the year 1586 it was moved again from where it was a few hundred meters to it’s current location. What has true worship got to do with idol obelisks talked about in Leviticus: 26:1? There is no justification of having it there if you worship God who created heaven and earth. For a tree to bear good fruit, it must be good in the first place.

      • lindaroseann says

        I tried to use the link you sent, but the webpage is no longer available, according to my search engine after I clicked on both yours and the search engine link. However, I found this: http://www.evangelicaloutreach.org/carm.htm. All you did is leave proof that the break-up of Christianity left nothing but confusion arguments, divisions, and heresies. This person is obviously not a respected scholar by everyone. Warren Carroll is first and foremost a historian who investigated the history of the Church and states facts that are accurate. He was not a Catholic originally, but became one after his research when he realized how many lies were given by many people outside the church. Where does it state ONLY in the Bible? NOWHERE! Look at 2 Thessolonians where it states to also include tradition. That was thrown out by most protestant churches.. Look where Jesus said to Peter, On this rock I will build my church AND THE GATES OF HELL SHALL NOT PREVAIL AGAINST IT. WHATEVER YOU BIND ON EARTH WILL BE BOUND IN HEAVEN, WHATEVER YOU HOLD BOUND WILL BE HELD BOUND. Don’t tell me your faith follows the Bible–they only follow their version of it. Go read Warren Carroll for an objective vewpoint of history. You have to research who you’re reading–anyone can write anything.
        As for the rosary, you should recognize a few things: 1) The Our Father is used to introduce each decade 2) If you know your Bible so well, you should recognize the beginning of the Hail Mary. It’s based on Scripture. The second part is asking for her prayers. Don’t you have people you ask to pray for you? When you pray the rosary, you meditate on the life of Christ using the scriptural descriptions, so you are meditating on the Bible.
        I really have to ask why someone who is so anti-catholic is trolling catholic websites. Perhaps something in the back of your mind is questioning whether you really should have left the church and you’re looking for answers.

        • rickhall824963827 says

          The person known as James here is not a Christian Linda. Read his responses carefully. No where does he profess to be a Christian. In fact, he rejects Jesus Christ and states HIM to be just “a man”. He also rejects His Mother Mary altogether as satanic.

          Evil rejects Jesus Christ and would love nothing better than to cause doubt, sow discord, and reject the WORD of GOD as not being the WORD of GOD. That is what I read in the statements made by the person called James here.

        • James says

          Thanks, I copied this off the web. This what I was talking about. If this does not have much there more references, much more as of 2014 on the Vatican and the Pope that paints a grim picture of that church.

          A list of false teachings in the Roman Catholic Church

          by Matt Slick

          The Protestant Reformation happened for a reason. Basically, it was to combat the many false teachings that the Roman Catholic Church had adopted through the centuries. When Martin Luther compared Catholicism to Scripture, the result was his nailing the 95 theses to the Wittenberg door. However, instead of reforming the Roman Catholic Church, it resulted in the protesters, the Protestants, whose aim was to get back to the Scriptures.

          Following is a summarized paragraph with references found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) of many of the false teachings of Roman Catholicism. How do we know they are false? By comparing Scripture with what is taught.

          ———————–

          The Catholic Church is the one true church (CCC 2105), Infallibility of the Catholic Church, (CCC 2035), Only the Roman Catholic Church has authority to interpret Scripture (CCC 100), The Pope is the head of the church and has the authority of Christ (CCC 2034), The Roman Catholic Church is necessary for salvation (CCC 846), Sacred Tradition equal to scripture (CCC 82), Forgiveness of sins, salvation, is by faith and works (CCC 2036 CCC 2080 2068), Full benefit of Salvation is only through the Roman Catholic Church (Vatican 2, Decree on Ecumenism, 3), Grace can be merited (CCC 2010 CCC 2027), The merit of Mary and the Saints can be applied to Catholics and others (1477), Penance is necessary for salvation (CCC 980), Purgatory (CCC 1031 CCC 1475), Indulgences (CCC 1471 CCC 1478 CCC 1498 CCC 1472), Mary is Mediatrix (CCC 969), Mary brings us the gifts of eternal salvation (CCC 969), Mary delivers souls from death (CCC 966), Prayer to the saints (CCC 2677), The Communion elements become the actual body and blood of Christ (CCC 1374 CCC 1376).
          1.The Catholic church is the one true church
          1. CCC 2105 “The duty of offering God genuine worship concerns man both individually and socially. This is ‘the traditional Catholic teaching on the moral duty of individuals and societies toward the true religion and the one Church of Christ.’ By constantly evangelizing men, the Church works toward enabling them ‘to infuse the Christian spirit into the mentality and mores, laws and structures of the communities in which [they] live.’ The social duty of Christians is to respect and awaken in each man the love of the true and the good. It requires them to make known the worship of the one true religion which subsists in the Catholic and apostolic Church. Christians are called to be the light of the world. Thus, the Church shows forth the kingship of Christ over all creation and in particular over human societies.”

          2.Infallibility of the Catholic Church
          1.CCC 2035, “The supreme degree of participation in the authority of Christ is ensured by the charism of infallibility. This infallibility extends as far as does the deposit of divine Revelation; it also extends to all those elements of doctrine, including morals, without which the saving truths of the faith cannot be preserved, explained, or observed.”

          3.Only the Roman Catholic Church has authority to interpret Scripture
          1.CCC 100, “The task of interpreting the Word of God authentically has been entrusted solely to the Magisterium of the Church, that is, to the Pope and to the bishops in communion with him.”

          4.The Pope is the head of the church and has the authority of Christ
          1.CCC 2034, “The Roman Pontiff and the bishops are ‘authentic teachers, that is, teachers endowed with the authority of Christ, who preach the faith to the people entrusted to them, the faith to be believed and put into practice.’ The ordinary and universal Magisterium of the Pope and the bishops in communion with him teach the faithful the truth to believe, the charity to practice, the beatitude to hope for.”

          5.The Roman Catholic Church is necessary for salvation
          1.CCC 846, “How are we to understand this affirmation, often repeated by the Church Fathers? Re-formulated positively, it means that all salvation comes from Christ the Head through the Church which is his Body: Basing itself on Scripture and Tradition, the Council teaches that the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation: the one Christ is the mediator and the way of salvation; he is present to us in his body which is the Church. He himself explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and Baptism, and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through Baptism as through a door. Hence they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it or to remain in it.”

          6.Sacred Tradition equal to Scripture
          1.CCC 82, “. . .the Church, to whom the transmission and interpretation of Revelation is entrusted, does not derive her certainty about all revealed truths from the holy Scriptures alone. Both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honored with equal sentiments of devotion and reverence’.”

          7.Forgiveness of sins, salvation, is by faith and works
          1.CCC 2036, “The specific precepts of the natural law, because their observance, demanded by the creator, is necessary for salvation.”
          2.CCC 2080, “The Decalogue contains a privileged expression of the natural law. It is made known to us by divine revelation and by human reason.”
          3.CCC 2068, “so that all men may attain salvation through faith, Baptism and the observance of the Commandments,”

          8.Full benefit of Salvation is only through the Roman Catholic Church
          1.”For it is only through Christ’s Catholic Church, which is “the all-embracing means of salvation,” that they can benefit fully from the means of salvation,” (Vatican 2, Decree on Ecumenism, 3).

          9.Grace can be merited
          1.CCC 2010, “Moved by the Holy Spirit and by charity, we can then merit for ourselves and for others the graces needed for our sanctification.”
          2.CCC 2027, “Moved by the Holy Spirit, we can merit for ourselves and for others all the graces needed to attain eternal life, as well as necessary temporal goods.”

          10.The merit of Mary and the Saints can be applied to Catholics and others
          1.1477, “This treasury includes as well the prayers and good works of the Blessed Virgin Mary. They are truly immense, unfathomable, and even pristine in their value before God. In the treasury, too, are the prayers and good works of all the saints, all those who have followed in the footsteps of Christ the Lord and by his grace have made their lives holy and carried out the mission in the unity of the Mystical Body.”

          11.Penance is necessary for salvation
          1.CCC 980, “This sacrament of Penance is necessary for salvation for those who have fallen after Baptism, just as Baptism is necessary for salvation for those who have not yet been reborn.”

          12.Purgatory
          1.CCC 1031, “The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned. The Church formulated her doctrine of faith on Purgatory especially at the Councils of Florence and Trent. The tradition of the Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture, speaks of a cleansing fire:
          2.CCC 1475, “In the communion of saints, “a perennial link of charity exists between the faithful who have already reached their heavenly home, those who are expiating their sins in purgatory and those who are still pilgrims on earth. Between them there is, too, an abundant exchange of all good things.” In this wonderful exchange, the holiness of one profits others, well beyond the harm that the sin of one could cause others. Thus recourse to the communion of saints lets the contrite sinner be more promptly and efficaciously purified of the punishments for sin.

          13.Indulgences
          1.CCC 1471, “The doctrine and practice of indulgences in the Church are closely linked to the effects of the sacrament of Penance. What is an indulgence? ‘An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the action of the Church which, as the minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the saints.’ ‘An indulgence is partial or plenary according as it removes either part or all of the temporal punishment due to sin.’ The faithful can gain indulgences for themselves or apply them to the dead.'”
          2.CCC 1478, “An indulgence is obtained through the Church who, by virtue of the power of binding and loosing granted her by Christ Jesus, intervenes in favor of individual Christians and opens for them the treasury of the merits of Christ and the saints to obtain from the Father of mercies the remission of the temporal punishments due for their sins. Thus the Church does not want simply to come to the aid of these Christians, but also to spur them to works of devotion, penance, and charity.
          3.CCC 1498, “Through indulgences the faithful can obtain the remission of temporal punishment resulting from sin for themselves and also for the souls in Purgatory.”
          4.CCC 1472, ” . . . On the other hand every sin, even venial, entails an unhealthy attachment to creatures, which must be purified either here on earth, or after death in the state called Purgatory. This purification frees one from what is called the “temporal punishment” of sin . . . ”

          14.Mary (there are many false doctrines concerning Mary found in Roman Catholicism, here are a few)
          1.Mary is Mediatrix, CCC 969, “Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix.'”
          2.Mary brings us the gifts of eternal salvation, CCC 969, “Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this saving office but by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation . . . ”
          3.Mary delivers souls from death, CCC 966, ” . . . You [Mary] conceived the living God and, by your prayers, will deliver our souls from death.”

          15.Prayer to the saints
          1.CCC 2677, “By asking Mary to pray for us, we acknowledge ourselves to be poor sinners and we address ourselves to the ‘Mother of Mercy,’ the All-Holy One. We give ourselves over to her now, in the Today of our lives. And our trust broadens further, already at the present moment, to surrender ‘the hour of our death’ wholly to her care.”

          16.The Communion elements become the actual body and blood of Christ
          1.CCC 1374, “In the most blessed sacrament of the Eucharist “the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained.”
          2.CCC 1376, “The Council of Trent summarizes the Catholic faith by declaring: “Because Christ our Redeemer said that it was truly his body that he was offering under the species of bread, it has always been the conviction of the Church of God, and this holy Council now declares again, that by the consecration of the bread and wine there takes place a change of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of his blood. This change the holy Catholic Church has fittingly and properly called transubstantiation.”

          • rickhall824963827 says

            Looks like a giant nerve has been touched here James, I noticed you ignored entirely anything posted directly to you that disputes your ignorance. I defined the word ignorance for you as well. I put no words in your mouth. You clearly state rejection of Mary, the Mother of Jesus Christ. You clearly reject the authority of the catholic church handed to Peter by Jesus Christ. You clearly reject the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.

            James does quite well at quotes from humans even though he has the same ability to read the BIBLE as we all do.

            That is where anything I have written to you, James, comes directly from including reference to LUKE 1 and 2 where the virgin Mary was specified. Even so, I noticed you still disrespected the Mother of the LORD as just a lady and a vessel.

            You can throw stones about what a man writes and quote the web?? (comical) about what a man disputes about the Christian Universal Church that was handed authority by Jesus Christ to Peter. It only matters what the LORD says.

            Interestingly you FAIL to quote what CHRIST says Himself. You FAIL to dispute in any adequate way what HE teaches that the catholic church accepts as TRUTH. In fact HE commands and states. DO THIS IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME. HE states THIS IS MY BODY. HE states THIS IS MY BLOOD. No man states this. Christ states this and HE commands to do this in remembrance of HIM.

            He states after this that many could not accept this AND WALKED AWAY.

            This is not up for interpretation nor rejection as you do reject this and hence reject the LORD. You can’t just reject some of the LORD and claim to be a Christian as you do. Jesus states HE and the Father are ONE and Jesus states HE will ask the Father to send the Comforter, the holy Spirit. You either wholly accept HIM or you wholly reject HIM.

            There is NO luke warm. There is no grey area. That is the deception of evil. The LORD himself states get way from HIM, HE never knew you and HE will spit you out. You, James confuse what man interprets and “thinks” in this case about the catholic church versus what the LORD says about the apostolic church HE gave authority to. Then you come back and verbally blaspheme and insult anyone who does not agree with you.

            I am not swayed by a person who rejects Jesus Christ and HIS teachings.
            I am not the least bit convinced by an agnostic that writes from ignorance. You write about hearsay. You are not a Christian when you reject the LORD and HIS teachings and you certainly have dodged every instance of exactly what denomination and beliefs you ascribe to except Agnosticism.

            This would be what stating your belief and foundation looks like James contrary to what you write about and what you reject of the catholic Christian Church.

            I AM a catholic Christian who believes in the authority handed on to Peter by Jesus Christ Himself. I believe in the teachings and WORD of the LORD.

            I believe in GOD the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth
            and in Jesus, Christ, HIS only Son, our LORD. Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into Heaven and sits at the right hand of the GOD, the Father Almighty. From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Amen.

          • Andrew Patton says

            Does it offend you that the Bible says that faith without works is dead? Are you offended by the command, “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only?” Verily, those who say, “Jesus is Lord,” but neglect the works He has commanded shall hear Him say to them, “Depart from Me, you workers of iniquity, I never knew you!” Why? Because while they profess Him with their lips, they deny Him with their actions.

      • rickhall824963827 says

        To James: You are here attempting to convince Catholics of a conspiracy and deception perpetrated on the Faithful. I have noticed that you have dodged any meaningful response meant for you. Clearly, information directly from the Bible is here for you to read and also research for YOURSELF. Yet, you come back with rhetoric from men/women or scholars that you expect to represent your beliefs and to convince Catholics of the great deception and you blaspheme the Holy Spirit. It is felt that you won’t heed this message to its end but prayerfully I hope you will.

        This is a choice, a personal choice that you are making. We all make our OWN personal choices related to our eternity with GOD. You are sowing discord which is an abomination. These are not my opinions. This is directly from the Bible. You have an agenda and you cannot disprove anything a Catholic has represented here accept by using what your own logic tells you.

        This is said respectfully to you with the premise that everyone will be face to face with the LORD. Nobody will be there to represent your heart and the truth within it but You.
        Your fight is not with any Catholic Christian here. It clearly is a conflict with the LORD.

        Perhaps you could prayerfully put the effort that you have here in using your time more constructively by reading the WORD. The Holy Spirit will take over if your heart is open to receiving the Truth you seek. The WORD states that we are all called to be saints and it states also that we all fall short. Humans are flawed and not perfect which in itself presents the need for GOD in our lives to overcome our flawed humanity. How is that possible to know? I am no different than you and it happened for me, a sinful flawed human being just like you. GOD loves us all the same.

        It is noticed that you are claiming without specifying just what Church or denomination you accept as being the truth, but that you know more than the LORD himself and are disrespecting HIS Mother by claiming her to be basically useless in the scheme of man’s redemption. Clearly, you could not disrespect the Mother of the LORD if you accepted that she indeed bore the LORD, Jesus, Christ as promised in Isaiah and fulfilled in Luke.
        If you are in disbelief of this, your argument is with the LORD himself and not the Christians who accept HIS WORD as Catholics do accept this as truth.

        Your arguments are not new. Paul, the apostle, held some of the very beliefs that you are espousing. Until it was revealed directly to him by the LORD himself, Paul denied and persecuted the believers of the WAY. After his direct interaction with the LORD, he would choose to never go back. Perhaps, your relationship with the LORD is what is lacking just as it was for Paul. The LORD says to ask and you shall find, knock and it will be opened if you ask within HIS will. You have not because you ask not says the LORD. It is quite clear that you are asking proof from flawed and sinful catholic humans for the Truth. It is quite clear that you feel catholic Christians are evil and deceptive liars. Yet, you appear to be unable to admit that you yourself are indeed a flawed, sinful human just the same.

        At best, it appears to me that you are an Agnostic that NEEDS PROOF of the very existence of which catholic Christians speak and you have an expectation or accept that flawed sinful man can carry this proof to you so that you can then rationally weigh this proof for your human acceptance. This has been going on for thousands of years and yet no unequivocal proof exists to dispel the WORD of the LORD which is the foundation and Faith of the catholic Church. I would be very shocked if you, James, an unbeliever, read this far because to state what you have here is blaspheme and is pure disrespect and rejection of the LORD, Jesus, Christ and HIS WORD.

        It would sting and appear offensive to you to hear this TRUTH because evil does not wish to hear the TRUTH. You can’t be offended by a catholic Christian because you feel catholic Christians are the evil yet you will feel offended. Why? Evil knows Jesus, Christ is the Saviour and is LORD, The TRUTH. This is why evil dwells on this earth and not eternally with GOD. Evil will be hateful toward the Truth and reject the Truth.
        Nothing I have stated here is a lie because the foundation of what I am speaking is the WORD of the LORD and not mine at all. I accept HIS WORD on faith that HIS promises and WORD are TRUTH.

        I am not called to convince an unbeliever or make an unbeliever believe what I believe. to be true. It would be foolish of me to think that could ever occur. We do not know each other and it definitely cannot be personal, again, because we do not know each other. I am only called to share and speak the WORD and to never reject the LORD and HIS ways. There is no explanation that will be acceptable to an unbeliever from any catholic Christian writing here. As an unbeliever, You can never say that you were not told of this Truth which is the very purpose of my writing this here whether it is acceptable or not to an unbeliever

        Faith is the very essence of the catholic Christian. You have to have faith in the LORD, GOD before you can accept HIS existence. For a person who does know the LORD, he can never please GOD for the primary purpose of a Christian is to know GOD, love GOD and to serve GOD eternally above all else. Make no mistake it is not blind faith of which I speak for the faith of which I speak is founded on the WORD of GOD which is inerrant. If you should find that you can claim errors within the WORD of the LORD, take this up “directly” with the LORD. No man has to be in the middle. We all have the same access to GOD at any time we need. He has never failed to show up and HE will answer. If the WORD of GOD has shown anything, it has shown that there are consequences for those who reject the LORD and HIS WORD.

        A Doctor of the church stated over 800 years ago the following in regard to the catholic Christian Faith which is as true then as it is today especially related to unbelievers.

        “To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible” Saint Thomas Aquinas

        • rickhall824963827 says

          EDIT: For a person who does “NOT” know the LORD, he can never please GOD for the primary purpose of a Christian is to know GOD, love GOD and to serve GOD eternally above all else.

          • lindaroseann says

            Is your source as reliable as the last one? Sounds like it. That wouldn’t make Jesus God, now would it? It would mean that the promises He gave to the apostles at the Ascension that He would be with them until the end of time are null and void.
            Again, why are you trolling around Catholic websites. Go to your own with your twisted up garbage. Anyone who hates the Church will be asked the same question given to Saul (St Paul) Saul, Saul, why do you persecute ME? You simply won’t listen, so you’ll just have to wait until the next life before you’ll understand.

  91. DeMO says

    I find it easy to explain statues and saints. They are the Patriots of the Church to put in non secular terms You don’t pray or worship George Washington but you do have statues and buildings named in his honor. The Church has been doing the same since its beginning.
    Simple explanation for simple question.

  92. DeMO says

    I find it interesting how people will take pieces of the ancients and modern teachings “of man” as justification for their purpose. It is all a matter of faith and what you are looking for.
    Anything man touches will be flawed but at least with religion is a basis to keep the faith alive. Do you believe in The Eternal? Do you wish to follow the Light? Today those in confusion use the misguides of the present and future as excuse or in some cases a reach out for something to give them a reason to dispel or seek faith. You are humans you have free choice. Interesting, on earth we have the ways of the angles in those that would follow and those that refused the Eternal even with the knowledge they were give.
    That is the question that needs to be answered. Why? In the Question “Why?” lies the answer to all.

  93. Darkai Mary says

    Mother Mary is my spiritual Mother , she is so kind , so understanding & also her prayer & intercession is so powerful , I have experience in my life. I love her somuch that’s why I use to pray rosary always.

  94. Jonathan Douglass says

    Thank you! I recently had a dream in which Satan and his demons entered my house and wreaked havoc there. It was only when I prayed the Hail Mary and Holy Mary that I was able to drive Satan out, and all the chaos subsided. This has a direct relation to events in my life where I see the havoc of Satan being wreaked everywhere in my marriage at the moment. Thanks again for your wisdom!

  95. Tom Harper says

    Our Lord’s perfect obedience to The Father begins in the womb of His and our Blessed Mother when He obeys the Father’s commandment to honor our Mother and Father. With Jesus literally inside Her, He speak through her when She tells Her cousin Elizebeth, “all generations shall call Me blessed.” Our Lord Jesus honors His Mother by having all generations call Her blessed, thus beginning His perfect obedience to His Father’s commandment before He was even born. What an amazing way to honor His/our Mother and the test of time has verified His perfect obedience. Oh how I love Her inspite of my unworthiness and pleasure of sin. She crushes Lou every day with Her love. Amen.

  96. Mike says

    July 2, 2016 Message to Mirjana

    “Dear children, my real, living presence among you should make you happy because this is the great love of my Son. He is sending me among you so that, with a motherly love, I may grant you safety; that you may comprehend that pain and joy, suffering and love, make your soul live intensely; that I may call you anew to glorify the Heart of Jesus, the heart of faith, the Eucharist. From day to day through the centuries, my Son, alive, returns among you – He returns to you, though He has never left you. When one of you, my children, returns to Him, my motherly heart leaps with joy. Therefore, my children, return to the Eucharist, to my Son. The way to my Son is difficult, full of renunciations, but at the end, there is always the light. I understand your pains and sufferings, and with motherly love I wipe your tears. Trust in my Son, because He will do for you what you would not even know how to ask for. You, my children, you should be concerned only for your soul, because it is the only thing on earth that belongs to you. You will bring it, dirty or clean, before the Heavenly Father. Remember, faith in the love of my Son will always be rewarded. I implore you, in a special way, to pray for those whom my Son called to live according to Him and to love their flock. Thank you.”

  97. Shantal says

    Thank you for the article. I can imagine why the enemy dislikes Mother Mary. She is appearing to more and more people for them to turn to her son. I speak from a place of love as I believe as catholics and Christians we need to stand together. Let us be neighbourly. I believe that Jesus is working supernaturally in our life’s. The Bible is the foundation . However in the midst of prayer the Lord Jesus speaks to us. Yes we need discernment . But how blessed are we that he presents himself and instructs his angels and his mother to help us as well. Jesus said to the thief next to him … who confessed … that he too will be in paradise with Jesus. How can people say that Mary is dead . Judgement happens at death. There has been so many real accounts of heaven and hell and purgatory. Spitrial warfare is real. Also Jesus looks at St. John and says behold this is your mother. And looks at his mother behold this is your son… she is our Mother . We have a mother and father in heaven. Let us respect her and honor her. I believe she prays and pleads with her son on behalf of our sins. She pleads for mercy. I believe that the Lord Jesus is my saviour and love him very much . But I am thankful for Mary and the Saints. They are great examples. I love Mary. She loves us as well or she will not be appearing to people to ask them to repent and turn to Jesus. Lord Jesus help us all. Take away the need for people to be right in the name of religion. Can everyone not see that God wants a relationship with us? I pray in Jesus name that we can respect one another and love one another and become united as one for the Lord. Let us respect Mother Mary … how hard must it have been for her to watch her son … our Lord Jesus Christ to live and die for all of us. She was human and a mother after all…. and then to watch us as human being disrespect her sons legacy …. no wonder she has been given the grace to intervene and help us see the light. Bless you Mother Mary.

  99. lindaroseann says

    To Nadia: Be careful which website you take seriously. The Bilderberg group is the group that is the elites, and they are not all jewish.That website is anti-sematic and reeks with Nazi overtones. Don’t forget that Mary asked us to pray specifically for Russia’s conversion, not the Jews, although we should be praying for their conversion to chrisitanity. We not see peace until everyone accepts Jesus because He is the Prince of Peace.

  101. dennis says

    The Holy Mother is the bride of the Holy Spirit, a lot of protestants forget this fact they look down on her, and make false claims she had many children which is not true, her only child was Lord Jesus, that’s why when he was dying on the cross he said to St John take this women to be your mother and to Holy Mother take this man to be your son. Why would our Lord say this if Holy Mother had other children. The other fact I would like to know could they commit sin if the son of God was living with them?

  102. Ruby McMueller says

    I am mortified by these, your words above: “Your relying strictly upon the Gospel as your only resource is an inadequate means of grasping the fullness of truth that is the Church. This is demonstrable, as people have been, since the invention of the printing press, arguing over exactly what the Bible means when you remove it from the context of the Catholic Church Tradition. The fact is ( and it is willful blindness to not see this) that the Bible is nothing less than an infallible witness to the teachings of the Catholic Faith.”
    My friend in Christ, using the Bible as a means to grasp the fullness of the Catholic church is sorrowful, very sorrowful. It implies that the Church is more sacred than the Word of God. The Bible is the only living, God-inspired source of absolute truth. To deny this is to be guilty of preaching another gospel than the one that Paul taught to the early church. In fact, he said that even if an angel were to preach another Gospel to you, let him be accursed.
    As a Christian, you had better hope that the Bible is nothing short of the one and only true source of Truth.
    Praying to Mary is a grievous sin. It disobeys God’s most precious commandment: Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Praying to anyone or anything except for the Holy Trinity is an abomination to our God. He clearly says so many, many times throughout the Old Testament.
    I spent the first 30 years of my life in Catholic school, bowing and kneeling before the statue of Mary, kissing her feet, praying to her. It breaks my heart that I was lured into such a detestable practice. Now Catholics try to tell other people that they do not ‘adore’ Mary, or treat her above Jesus, that they do not kneel before statues or bow to them. It is absolutely not so, it’s just something Catholics say when they get caught red-handed doing so. Most Catholics are too embarrassed to admit that they really do these things, so they lie about it. My family does.
    Mary was an instrument used by God for the fulfillment of His purposes, as were many men and women throughout scripture, including the prophets. They are not to be adored or prayed to either. God clearly says so in His word. Even for those who do not put Mary ‘above’ Jesus, as Catholics like to claim, the fact remains she is being adored, as much as, less than, greater than, those are all semantics. It makes no difference to what extent. God specifically said that the land would vomit out the people who inhabited the Promised Land because they prayed to and worshiped other gods, and their practice poisoned the land.
    God commanded that no man make an image and bow to it. You can not change the words of the Bible without committing a serious sin. You will certainly be held accountable for every person you lead astray from the truth.

  103. rickhall824963827 says

    Ms McMueller: Probably best to stop where you are on a Catholic Forum. What you are attempting would be akin to me going to an atheist forum to convert or change a belief there. I have also been following your words. Either you are intentionally misleading others or you know better. From what I have read of your responses including stating that you were 30 years raised in the Catholic Church, you know better. It is a fact that something PURE cannot come from something impure as you suggest Mary, the Mother of Jesus, the Lord and Saviour to be just another impure person. There is no sin in honoring the Mother of the LORD. I refer you to the fifth commandment if you think it to be a sin. Jesus is our LORD and GOD, the Father and indwelling Spirit of All. If you do not accept this, it is upon you. TO not recognize the Mother of the LORD as Holy and Pure is to say that the LORD was born in an impure vessel and shared in the womb impure blood coursing through His Body provided through his impure Mother. This a false truth from another doctrine that surely does not recognize Mary to be PURE or anything more than just a child bearing surrogate. In addition, since Jesus is part of the Trinity and not able to be separated from HIS DIVINITY, and hence his Purity stays intact from birth, he cannot be born of anything impure. You are not honoring the commandments To honor thy Father and Mother. Jesus himself as others have stated here did give us HIS MOTHER while on the Cross. She is called the VIRGIN MARY in honor of her purity as matter of truth as stated in LUKE chapter 2. You did state that the infallible TRUTH is critical for you. I fail to see why you would not accept the Truth expressed by Jesus Himself while on the cross nor the WORD as written in LUKE 2. Perhaps looking up the information on the miracle of the sun. or O MILAGRE DE SOL will provide you a connection to the rosary and prayers within which are prayers prayed while contemplating the life of Jesus. So much more could be stated to you but it is not for me to convince you of anything. I am only accountable to speak the Truth as the WORD reveals and the Spirit confirms. You have a choice and have made a choice. Apparently so have many catholic Christians here. I am not condemning you. You do that to yourself as I neither know you nor do I have such a power, Only the LORD, Himself can judge your heart. Therein is a 2 way street. You have no capacity to make such judgments on others. All of this said without anger or angst to you but in peace and love of a fellow human searching for truth.

    The only part of your statements I find agreement with is that you state you are no longer Catholic. Catholic only means universal of which Jesus himself handed on authority to Peter, a man, to carry on his church. EVERY catholic holds that there is only ONE church. One GOD, One Saviour,, One Spirit in Christ and certainly no one above or equal to GOD, the LORD of Hosts, the Creator, King of Israel, Mighty Counselor,,I AM, the ALPHA and the Omega.

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