WHY CATHOLICS PRAY THROUGH MARY, SAINTS AND WHY THEY WILL NEVER STOP

This is an article by 'SAFA BEST' and the content is strictly SAFA's opinion and thought

He Writes
***A protestant friend once said, "When I go to a doctor I don't want to talk to his mother." That is an interesting analogy. However, this friend talks regularly with his pastor and asks the pastor to pray for her. The pastor doesn't turn her away by saying, "Don't talk to me! Don't ask me to pray for you! Go straight to Jesus!" The pastor has compassion and "intercedes" (stands in the gap, and not in a Jesus mediator way but close to it) for her. He prays for the congregation and for individuals. He has compassion and wants to assist people in their relationship with Christ. This in no way diminishes Jesus' role as the Lord and Saviour and most importantly as the only WAY.
Heaven is not a "dead" place. Catholics believe people in heaven are alive . (Mat 19:29, 25:46, 10:17-22, Mk 10:30, Lk 10:25-30, Lk 18:18-30, Jn 3:15-16). Catholics asks Mary to pray to Jesus for us. And by "us" they mean everybody catholic or not.
Mary is a "born again" Christian who received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and spoke in tongues 2000 years before Pentecostals got the gift (Acts 1:14, 2:3). She knows how to pray - yes, even in tongues!
I am sure you would have had powerful experiences with the Holy Spirit. It is amazing when He comes upon us. Some of us have experienced miraculous healings. But who among us has experienced the power of the
Holy Spirit in such a way that the God of the universe became flesh inside us? Mary experienced the Holy Spirit like none of us have.
In the Rosary we ask Mary to "Pray for us sinners." We believe Mary is totally alive, and is praying for us the way a faithful pastor would pray for his congregation, except much more so. She's interceding for the unborn, for mothers contemplating abortion, and for many others who are experiencing sorrows in our world, and who need Jesus.
DO CATHOLICS WORSHIP MARY?
Many think the word "pray" means "worship." So it makes sense that they think Catholics who "pray" through Mary actually "worship" her. Let's look up the word "pray" in the dictionary. Here is what Webster's says about the word pray:
(1) To utter petition to God
(2) To make a fervent
request: PLEAD
(3) To beseech: implore
(4) to make a devout or earnest request for.
The first thing to notice is that "worship" is not included in the definition of "pray." It does not mean "worship." A prayer to Mary is clearly not a petition to God. Mary is not God, and there is not one faithful Catholic since the apostles who has said she is. So clearly it is not the first meaning. The English language is often limited in that we often have to use the same word to say different things. There are several meanings of the word "pray." When Catholics pray to God they "utter a petition to God." When they pray to Mary and the Saints they are making a "devout or earnest request for" prayers from Mary or the saints. In
mediaeval times when a royal court official was asking something of a person who outranked him, he would say "I pray thee your majesty."You have to say that in an English accent to get the full effect ! The person was simply making a request in a polite manner.
Catholics believe Mary is a prayer warrior. That's her job. She was given a full-time 24/7 prayer ministry. She said, "all generations will call me Blessed" and "my soul magnifies the Lord" (Luke 1:46). Catholics know this is significant.
Even the father of protestant church once said in his sermon "the veneration of Mary is inscribed in the very depths of the human heart." - Martin Luther, Sermon - September 1, 1522
There is a difference between veneration of Mary and worship of Jesus . This was formalized in writing way back in 757 AD at the Seventh General Council:
1 . Latria - adoration that is given to the Trinity alone ; occurs 5 times in the Bible but always refers to God (Jn 16 :2, Rm :9 :4, 12 :6, Heb 9 :1, 6)
2 . Hyper- dulia - veneration to Mary (as the mother of God)
3 . Dulia - honor paid to saints and angels ; occurs 5 times in the Bible (Rm 8 :15, 21 ; Gal 4 :24, 5 : 1 ; Heb 2 :15) There are plenty of Old Testament references that distinguish veneration from worship.
"Then Moses went out to meet his father in law, and he bowed down and kissed him.." (Exo 18:7)...(also 1 Chron 29:20, 1 Sam 24:8)
Why then would we want to take the focus off of Jesus and pray through Mary, or any one else for that matter?
It is an interesting choice of words because Mary said the opposite about herself. In the Bible, Mary clearly spells out her role in eternity:
"My soul magnifies the Lord, And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has regarded the lowly state of his maidservant; For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed". (Lk 1:46-49) This is what Catholics call Mary's Magnificat. The Bible says Jesus is magnified by Mary's soul . A soul is not limited by life on earth. Mary reinforces her eternal ministry by saying "all generations will call me blessed." If the Bible intended Mary's ministry to end with the birth of Jesus, or at Jesus' death, or even at Mary's death, I don't think it would use that language.
A magnifying glass increases the object it is focused on, so being in relation to Mary's eternal soul does not draw focus away from Jesus, it does the opposite. It magnifies Him. This is the Bible's word to the people of God. Protestant pastors do sermons on just about every passage of Scripture except this one. I invite you to try to remember a sermon on Luke 1:46-55.
Catholics believe Mary's soul still "magnifies the Lord" for Christians of our generation who choose to relate to her. Currently, Catholics are pretty well the only ones upholding the biblical prophecy to call her blessed, which was intended for all generations, and for all Christians. Our experience with Mary has actually significantly improved our relationship with our Lord and Saviour, Jesus. We think time spent with Mary is no more de-focusing than time spent with our other Church friends or with your pastor.
The logical end to the "defocusing" theory is that we should never talk to or pray with any other Christians. It suggests we shouldn't go to prayer groups, or even read the Old Testament (because it predates Christ). It suggests we should only talk with Christ alone and never even talk to another human being. That seems like a definition of a hermit and although it is a valuable calling, it's not for us. When I acted on stage as Odewale in The Gods Are Not To Blame, my mother did not want to jump on the stage and take my place in the spotlight (although that would have been pretty funny). She wanted everyone to know that her son was on stage. She wanted everyone to go see me.
That was her role. Mary's role is not to jump on centre stage and take the place of Jesus. She just wants everyone to know about her Son Jesus and she will do anything to help that relationship.
The Psalmist said "my cup overflows" (Ps 23). That is what God is. He is overflowing with graces that He shares with His mother and all his children. If He loves you and me so much as to invite us to join in His ministry, it is not hard to imagine that He would invite His mother to join.
We think that Christians in heaven pray through Christ much better than you and me. They are much closer to Christ than you and me. Protestants pray for each other, and they don't say they are taking God's place. When we pray for one another we are participating in the mediation but we are not the mediator. Catholics believe that saints in heaven, including Mary, can pray for us just as well (or infinitely better than) our friends on earth.
In Hebrews 8:6, it says Jesus has obtained a more excellent ministry than any of the high priests. In 9:15 and 12:24 the passage goes on to say He is the mediator of a New Covenant, Catholics fully agree. We fully agree He is the mediator. We believe Christians in heaven are a heck of a lot more aware of who Christ is than we are. The Bible says that He has helpers that participate in His ministry by His invitation. We believe He has invited Christians on both sides of heaven to do that.
When a saint enters into the joy of their Master, they are "put in charge of many things" (Mat.
25:21) Saints are serious prayer warriors. We don't think that praying with the Saints detracts from the worship of God anymore than praying with friends detracts from worship of God. Saints are not all knowing, but they know a heck of a lot more about this spiritual game than us. They are creatures. This does not take away the tremendous benefit we can get from communing with them.
We don't worship her. She is a friend who prays for us and has shown us very cool things about her Son, Jesus. We believe we are
better Christians today because of Mary.

Written By SAFA BEST