Why should we pray to Virgin Mary? The reasons are many.
Why do Catholics pray to Mother Mary? Is Rosary really powerful?
The intercession of Mother Mary is very powerful as Jesus cannot neglect His mothers commands.This can be proved by the first miracle Jesus did at the wedding at Cana. – (John 2:1-11). Mother Mary told Jesus “They have no more wine.” And what was the final result? He turned water into wine.
In “The Poem of the Man-God” by Maria Valtorta, she says that Jesus told her about this incident as “I did it for Mary”. This proves that the intercession of Mother Mary is very very strong.
Mother Mary was blessed with Holy Spirit abundantly. We can see this as we read “At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.” (Luke 1:39-41) ; just by Virgin Mary’s greeting.
Listen to the talk from Apologetics on Mary, Purgatory and The Bible
What the angels thought on this matter:-
When angel appeared before Zechariah,father of John, angel just greets him by his name ,nothing more although he was “upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commandments and regulations blamelessly.” – (Luke 1:6)
When angel appeared before Joseph, the greeting was like this: “an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.” – (Matthew 1:20). Angel greeted him ‘son of david’, thats all.
Now let us see how did the angel greet Virgin Mary. It goes like this: “The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” (Luke 1:28). See the difference….
Also read the article Mary, The Mystical Rose
Yes… go and look who is queen of heaven in bible.
@Liam, Paul gone to so many places with word of god, he never supported their idol worship and their tradition.
the same I am doing here.
Accept or reject Jesus is your choice.
God bless you
Dear Brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
Peter is appointed by Jesus only not by Peter himself.and you people said that if peter only is the rock then other disciples are neglected, no not neglected in general in a kingdom if One king is ruling means that kingdom will go in a systematic way if every one become a king there will not be a perfect ruling and in a nation there will be one Prime minister it is not the mean that there is no other people qualified for that and not that every one who participating in election can become Prime ministers. how there should be a one leader to a team like that for one church one leader and Jesus said to Peter you are a rock in which i build a church not that churches (denominations) don’t try to go away from that in general all the people who believe in Jesus are one and that is the church. And simply don’t try to argue always don’t think that if you Respect mother Mary Jesus will hate you if you love her and his follower’s he also loves you and blesses you. So please stop unwanted arguments if you want to respect her respect her and if you not leave it but the God wanted his worshipers who worship him from the heart and souls not in the mouth please do that.
phil, babu, and others
you guys really make sense after all these comments, ya i agree worshiping idols bowing before them and doing all sort of stuffs is wrong. i get it.
Phil,
You have become a twister of the truth for your egotistical bias(of course you know who the lord of lies is).
Are you saying that the Queen of England-the head of the Anglican communion-is worshipped by her subjects?That they place her on the same level as God?
As for the Baptist the least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he.Can you read-can you understand?
The devil committed the 1st sin and opened its evil to the world via Adam.The Devil had sinned by opposing the will of God when he sought to be equal to his Creator.Adam and Eve were the first human sinners.
(851) is a lot of balderdash and confirms what anti Catholic indoctrination can do to the minds of those who accept or are victims of such lies and hatred.
Phil,
A lover and follower of God as revealed by Jesus reflects love- for God is Love.I hope and pray that I reflect what I am for although I am a part of sinful humanity as a committed member of God’s Church I am a member of his body.And as his follower I have to uphold the truth of The Bible.I believe that I have done so by defending his mother and his church.And as I have said in the past the truth can hurt.But God’s truth must and shall prevail no matter what is said and ones feelings.
Phil,
The one and only one who I oppose is the devil.For this spirit is the cause of all evil experienced by our species since the beginning.
And I have no doubt that he manipulates people to oppose God and his Church.In fact he is the author of ‘hatred’.
Being a Catholic is so much of my being as a mortal that when the Church of Jesus is attacked I am attacked for my faith is a part of who I am.The mystical doctrine of the Body of Christ affirms that.
May God bless you.
To put it in a nutshell:
Mary was prepared by God for a special role.Because of the merits of Christ the mother of Jesus was free from all sin.Gabriel addressed Mary as “being full of grace”.If one is full of grace one is sinless and Mary was a sinless one for how could one imagine and accept our sinless and loving God to be conceived in a sinful person and share the genes of a sinful person.To be reared by a sinful person.
As God chose and so honoured Mary we need not fear to honour her as He did.Mary is God’s masterpiece.The more we honour her the more we honour God!!!
In the last book of The Bible Mary is recognised as the woman who overthrows the dragon.She is a “woman adorned with the sun,standing on the moon,with twelve stars on her head for a crown”.
Yes,all generations opened to the truth, and God is The Truth,shall call Mary “blessed”.
The slayer of the dragon….
Mary’s role in the Church of her Son has become more clear as the centuries go by.In the early centuries the Catholic Church had to deal with many heresies concerning Jesus and after they were dealt with the role of his Mother came into focus.Obivously satan failed influencing those via heresy against Jesus that he turned his attacks on Mary.For since then side by side devotion to Jesus and to his Mother grew apace.
By attacking God’s Mother the lord of lies hoped to splinter the followers of Jesus and although the Catholic Church prevails and will continue to do so based upon our Lord’s assurance to Peter there are many alleged believers outside the fold of Christ.
Which is sad for Christ is the way to our Father.No one can come to God except through him.He is the alpha and the omega,the beginning and the end.The only mediator between mankind and God.The great LOVER OF MANKIND who died to save us and dwelling upon that fact his love for his Mother Mary must be unique!!!!!!! No wonder that satan continues to attack Jesus via his mother by influencing others as he influenced the advocates of the early Church heresies against Our Saviour.
But he is doomed to fail although based upon his ego he is still at it for ones ego is afraid of the truth that as a creature our allegiance is to Our Creator.Anyway Mary will overthrow the dragon.
Liam
I see you are spraying the insults again with no justification other than defending your position of ignorance.
You ask questions but cannot cope with the answers and you say things as if they are true when they are nonsense.
1) Mary was “full of grace” well grace is the undeserved kindness of God and it certainly doesn’t mean she was free from sin. That she was a sinner is not in doubt, the bible is clear and I have shown that she made the sacrifice after giving birth to deal with her sin and uncleanness.
2)Mary was indeed blessed, as indeed we all are. I am sure that every woman would have wanted to give birth to the saviour but that doesn’t make her sinless or anything else other than greatly blessed by God. She is not unique in being greatly blessed by God though.
3) So the woman of Revelation and the one who defeats the dragon is Mary? Are you quite sure fo that?
Strange thing that Revelation 12 doesn’t teach that then.
a)When did Mary flee in to the wilderness for the time specified exactly?
b)It was Michael and the angels who fought the dragon, not the woman.
c)When did a dragon persecute Mary?
d)When did she get wings?
e)When was a flood directed at her?
I think that you cannot answer those questions because the woman isn’t Mary.
4)The devil didn’t commit the first sin, Adam and Eve did. Do read your bible.
5)Yes people worship the queen and that worship is due to God alone. And RCs worship Mary and the Pope and all sorts of idols and that worship is due to God alone.
I cannot help it if you don’t understand that when God says not to make idols and not to bow down before anyone but Him he means it!! All worship (bowing, ring kissing and prostrating and acts of such like) are due only to God.
If you disagree then look up why people bow to the queen. Don’t just spout words and say it aint so take the time to educate yourself and then you can make an informed comment.
regards
Phil
+
The sin of the devil was
PRIDE-HE WANTED TO BE BETTER THAN HIS CREATOR.
That is why he approached Eve…and as a result she and Adam disobeyed God.
And throughout human history the sin of pride is the basis of selfish,egotistical and ‘I am right mentalities’.Thus, being God- Jesus was aware of our weakness and that is why he established the Catholic Church and assured Peter that the Holy Spirit would guide us in matters of faith and morals.Those who left Catholicism over the years abandoned our Lord’s assurance and as a result there are various interpretations of Holy Scripture resulting in hundreds of denominational churches.But thank God that the end of division maybe in sight via the ecumenical movement.Please pray for unity for it is the will of our Saviour.
Phil,
If it was not Mary please let us know who it was or is? And as I asked you before and do now- are you Anglican or what? Also you are lieing when you state that I worship Mary.
Well said Phil.
@Liam,read Revelation chapter 12 + Book of Hosea + ask & pray God to open your blind eyes + history + will guide you to find the women in Rev 12.
Liam , follow Bible NOT Vatican’s text books.
God bless you
Rgds
After the fall of our 1st parents God decided upon our redemption via his son Jesus.But as we know his plan involved Jesus taking on human form.Thus he would raise up a woman to give birth to his son-Mary.A woman who would not succumb to the wiles of satan and who would be victorious because she would conquer the devil as the instrument of God himself;for it is God who will place enmities between them.
The new ‘Eve’ so to speak would give birth to a Man,one who will become’partaker of flesh and blood,that through death he may destroy him who had the empire of death,that is to say,the devil.'(Heb.2,14)As the new Woman(Mary)will reverse the fate of Eve,so the new Man will undo the work of Adam,that’as by one man sin entered into the world and by sin death… so much more the grace of God and the gift,by the grace of one man’ may regenerate the human race to God;and ‘as by the disobediance of one man many were made sinners,so also by the obedience of one many may be made just.'(Gen.3,15.)
As a Man and a Woman were associated in the fall of humanity, so a Man and a Woman will work together for our Redemption.The new Adam and the new Eve- Our Lord Jesus and his Mother Mary.
The Bible
~~~~~~~
Please bear in mind that The Bible was written over many years by different authors in different countries.All claiming to be divinely inspired so the Church held a council in Carthage 397ad where a decision was made accepting 72 books and rejecting others.The list was then sent to Pope Siricius who in time approved the Christian Bible.
In time when the so called protestant bible came into being it was the Catholic version minus some books from the Old and the New testaments.However, many of the present denominational bibles now contain all 72 books.
Obviously the Pope’s approval was sought for he was called ‘head’ of the Bishops and being the successor of St.Peter who was head of the apostles.The Pope therefore is the visible head of the Church of Christ,the one who acts for Christ,the Invisible Head.Thus the meeting at Carthage and the decision of Pope Siricius to grant approval of the Bishops decision related to the statement of Jesus to Peter:”I will entrust to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you declare bound on earth shall be bound in heaven; whatever you declare loosed on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
Which confirms the Jesus willed continuity from Peter via others to the Present Pope.
@Liam – Woman in Revelation 12 is not Mother Mary. Please read the below
Rev 12: 1 – A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman, clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head.
The same kind of dream Joseph seen.
Genesis 37: 9 Joseph had another dream which he told to his brothers, “I saw the sun, the moon and eleven stars bowing down before me.”
See the similarity between the two dreams. Here Joseph seen only eleven stars. Why ? because Joseph’s tribe is the twelfth star of Israel.
In Bible Israel is mentioned as bride/virgin in so many places.
See the below verses
Jeremiah 31: 4 I will restore you again, and you shall be rebuilt, O virgin Israel!
Isaiah54: 5 For your Maker is to marry you: Yahweh Sabaoth is his name. Your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel: He is called God of all the earth.
Isaiah54: 6 For Yahweh has called you back as one forsaken and grieved in spirit. Who could abandon his first beloved? says your God.
Isaiah54: 5 For your Maker is to marry you
The above verse saying God going to Marry that woman. If that woman is Mary then we have to assume Jesus going to marry his Mother?
Rev 12:6 while the woman fled to the desert where God had prepared a place for her; there she would be looked after for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
Mother Mary never fled to desert. Israel was in slavery in Egypt. Mother Mary and Joseph with infant Jesus fled to Egypt , but that’s for Jesus’s safety. Here the woman is fleeing for her safety.
Hos 2:15 And I will give her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.
In the above verse “She “ is not Mary. She is Israel.
Rev 12:2 She was pregnant and cried out in pain, looking to her time of delivery.
Mother Mary is not crying . As a nation Israel is crying . see the below verse
Isaiah26:17 As a woman in travail moans and writhes in pain, so are we now in your presence.
The same mentioned by Jesus in Mathews and in Micah also.
God bless you
Rgds
Dear Liam
You really should try posting things that re true.
The Christian Canon was arrived at by the church, said church (represented by the bishops) was said to be infallible as a group.
The book list agreed was 66 books plus 6 others which were said to be useful for information but not considered suitable for determining doctrine. They were lesser books and treated as such.
The Pope was neither asked to authorise or approve them as Councils were considered to be infallible.
Exodus 20:4, “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:”
John 14:6, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
Phil,
What you state is as usual contrary to the Truth.Only the Pope in matters of ‘faith and morals’ is infallible.The Catholic Councils were not but if they adhered to the decisions of the Pope then the Church as a whole was infallible.
Since Peter is the foundation and Rock (recall-Jesus changed Peter’s name from Simon to Peter- which means rock)which the Church of Christ rests upon and has the keys by which he can allow people to enter or be excluded from the Kingdom of Heaven then Peter and his successors must be infallible.
Admittedly it was a couple of hundred years before the title Pope (Father)was used by believers to refer to the Bishop of Rome for Peter had gone there and set up the Holy See.
PETER
~~~~~~~
There is no doubt that the apostles and early Christians recognised Peter as the head of the Church on earth.Not only does his name always appears at the head of any list of the apostles but he is expressly referred to as the leader in the early literature of the Catholic Church.It was Peter who presided over the election of Matthias,the replacement for the fallen Judas.He was the first to preach the Gospel openly and the first to take the controversial step of receiving a pagan into the new people of God.And when St.Paul started his missionary activity,he first went to visit Peter in Jerusalem.(Galatians 1,18).
Babu,(Isiah:54.5)
Please try to understand what I have written and that does not include that I state that any use of the term ‘woman’ in the old Testament only refers to Mary.
And may I draw your attention to the fact that the Holy Spirit is the Spouse of Mary for after God the Father sought her consent to conceive the Word (the 2rd person of the Holy Trinity)who was to be named Jesus then I believe that spiritually Mary was in a sense married.After all she gave birth to the Son of God.
To conclude,the Blessed Trinity is the mystery of all mysteries.This side of the grave we will never fully grasp the truth of its reality.That is why God ensured the establishment of the Catholic Church in order to receive via The Spirit that all matters of ‘faith and morals’ are in line with His WILL.
Liam you need to check your facts before you post.
At the time of Carthage the Popr wasn’t considerd to be infallible. In the 1800’s the idea that the Pope was thought to be infallible was declared to be a Protestant lie, intil it became Rc dogma that is!
Phil
Phil,875.
When Jesus said to Peter That He was to receive the #Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven# he was saying to Peter and his successors through the centuries that in matters of ‘faith and morals’what the Popes declared was ‘INFALLIBLE’.
It would appear that you are now argueing for the sake of your ego for no one could hold your attitude towards the Mother of God-think of it’THE MOTHER OF GOD’-
Oh dear Liam you appear to have lost your train of thought.
When Jesus said x he meant y is an astounding lie often used by those who wish to decieve.
Why don’t you read what Jesus said and see if 1) It means anything in context and 2) If what it means has anything to say about someone not present or yet to be born.
“And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
So there we have Christ saying he will do something at some point in the future.
1) Did Peter, or any of the disciples ever suggest that they could loose something on earth that would be loosed in heaven? Or that they could bind heaven?
2) Did they ever say that they now had the keys? Did they mention the keys at all? ever?
3) Did Jesus ever mention any person not present would also have these keys at some point? Did any NT writer mention that such a position was passed on to anyone? Even after the death of Peter?
4) Does the bible say who has the keys now? Yes it does!!! I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
So if Peter had they keys then Jesus has em now :-)
The bible – busting the balls of the heretics for nearly 1650 years :-)
Phil
@Liam
see below verse,about the keys
Luke 11: 52 A curse is on you, teachers of the Law, for you have taken the key of knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you prevented others from entering.”
Key is word of God. This key is used by peter first time and 3000 persons added to the church.
Look below who is owner of the key
Isaiah 22:22 Upon his shoulder I will place
the key of the House of David:
Revelation 1:18 “and mine are the keys of death and the netherworld”
Revelation 3:7 “who holds the key of David; if he opens, nobody shuts and if he shuts nobody opens”
So the key is not with Peter.
See what Peter said
Acts 3:6 But Peter said, “I have neither silver nor gold, but what I have I give you: In the name of Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah, walk!”
Now you tell me from where Pope got the Golden and silver keys?
The Pope doesn’t even have the keys to his own house in Vatican. Pray only to our Lord Jesus or else face consequences. He is our Savior and Redeemer. Only he is worthy and only his blood has the power to wash away our Sins. Amen!
SLÃN (Farewell)
When satan finds persons that he can use in his battle against God and his Mystical Body – the Catholic Church,whether they are willing or unfortunate victims,there are many around as contributions to this debate confirms.
(YES,THE TRUTH HURTS BUT IT HAS TO BE EXPRESSED FOR WE ARE MODERN APOSTLES IN DEFENCE OF THE TRUTH IN OUR OPPOSITION TO THE FATHER OF LIES)
The latter VICTIMS requires our prayers and divine forgiveness.May God bless them and may his Holy Spirit enlighten them to see and follow the TRUTH.
Babu, please read the New Testament part of The Bible when it is clear that Jesus gave the ‘keys’ to our holy father Pope Peter.
Our Creator came to us through Mary for she is the Mother of God.(Even the protestant founders accept that).If as some state Jesus casted his mother aside why was she present at his crucifixion and death and other major landmarks in our salvation?
I pray to Mary for she is the Mother of Our Saviour and my spiritual mother for Jesus is my brother and Redeemer.A gentle Jewish virgin ordained by God to bring the Saviour of humanity to earth.Yes, she was right when she sais ‘all generations shall call me blessed’.
Alas,I now depart from this debate and leave those who sincerely seek the truth in the hands of God’s Holy Spirit- the ordained Spouse of the Blessed Virgin.And fear not for Mary loves you all.God Bless!!!!!!!
In the plan of Salvation, after Adam and Eve was thrown out from the Garden of Eden. God made it clear that He will not allow us to remain away from Him by declaring in Genesis 3:15 this prophesies. “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.†In this verse God was talking to Satan which was represented by the snake, and to the Woman as the Mother of all mankind, represented by Eve. Here, God declared that there will be an offspring of the Woman that will crush the head of Satan, or in other words will defeat his abominable ways of bringing us to our damnation. But, even if Salvation was acquired for us by the offspring of this Woman, Satan will still try his best to strike us on our heel, which means that like a traitor, he will throw to us many trials that will prove to God that we are not worthy to be with Him forever.
If we will go to the New Testament, You will find a Virgin, A Woman who became the Mother of God’s only Son. Her Offspring Jesus Christ fulfilled the prophesies aforementioned above, by dying on the cross and coming back to life after three days, defeating the clout of death in us, reassuring us that as we claim our inheritance to be God’s Children we to will live forever in the bosom of our Almighty Father.
In completing Jesus mission of redeeming us, God needed the Woman who gave birth to Jesus, and did everything to prepare Him for God’s plan of saving us.
Think about how Angel Gabriel gave this Woman so much respect at that young age of 15, by calling her “Full of Grace.†Wow. Full of Grace, meaning that like a full glass of water, that you cannot put anything to it anymore. This Woman is “Full of Grace†that no sin can ever touch her. She was “Full of Graceâ€, or Immaculately conceived not for her sake, but for the sake of her Son Jesus Christ, who is God Himself.†Remember, God can never stay in a sinful state, which is why this Woman was preserved from sin, so that God’s only begotten Son can stay for 9 months, in the tummy of this Woman who is “Full of Grace†which complement Jesus who is also “Full of Graceâ€, being God’s only begotten Son.
Have you wondered how much God the Father love this Woman? He waited for so many generations before He decided to fulfill His plan of Salvation. He waited for this Woman to be born and reached her 15th birthday, before God initiated His plan by sending Angel Gabriel to this Woman and asked her, if she will go with the plan of God.
How many of us, will brag, when this thing happened to us. You might even have some TV coverage, so that people will know that you are the chosen one, who will be the Mother of God’s Son. But, instead of leaping for joy, this Woman went down on her knees, as she said so humbly, “I am the handmaid of the Lord, be it done unto me according to thy wordsâ€. But, it did not stop there, after receiving God’s message; she went to help her cousin who was also pregnant. She could have just stayed home comfortably being served by Angels, but she decided to share these wonderful blessings by helping and sharing her joy. By this, God might be tapping His back and telling the Angels, “See how great my choice is.â€
We cannot choice our mother, but Jesus being a man and God at the same time had chosen this Woman to be the vessel where He will stay until He was born. Growing up, this Woman gave Him all Her Love, caring for Him and making sure that Jesus will realize the plan of Salvation. Jesus Himself love His Mother so much. What more proof we need, when Jesus gave in to the request of His Mother to do His first Miracle, even if it was not yet His time.†Yes, with the simple request of his Mother, when she said in Cana, “Son they don’t have wine.†Jesus was adamant in doing His first Miracle, for if He did it, He will be calling His mom, “Woman†not as a disrespect but a clarification, that if He will do His first Miracle, she will no longer be just His mom, but she will be the “Woman†prophesied in Genesis 3:15, who will be now the Mother of all mankind that will be the one leading us in crashing the head of Satan.â€
After telling her son her request, this Woman went back to the servers, and what she said, “Do what my Son tells you to do.†Wow, This Woman had never taken anything for herself, but instead, she direct people to “Follow what Jesus tells them to do.†This Woman had never taken any recognition for her self. The whole time of Jesus life, this Woman was always there caring for Jesus, assuring Him of her love, feeling all the pain that her beloved child suffered, telling people to do what her Son tells them to do. What simplicity? What Humility?
Now, I want you to recognize this Woman. She is our Mother Mary. I don’t know how our non Catholic friends, don’t want to recognized her Motherhood. They will say that they love Jesus and the will only need to direct their love to Jesus and no one else. They hate the respect that we are giving Mary. They hate it when we asked our Mother Mary to pray for us. They have never thought that God Himself had chosen Mary to be His Mother. IF Jesus Himself loved her Mother so much. How will he feel, if somebody who loves Him will say, It is only you that I cared for, I don’t care about your Mother. Think about this, how you can love somebody, if you don’t love the things that defined Him.
As I introduced my mom to my wife, I was so happy when I saw how my wife served my mom. The more my wife gave importance to my mom, the more my love for her became greater.
For those non Catholic friends of ours, I want you to go back to Genesis 3:15. God put enmity between (Mary) the Woman and (Satan) the Serpent, When Jesus was Dying on the cross, think how He included giving importance to Mary, by giving her as our Mother, usually when a man died, what He only cares are the people that He loves, and before He breath His last He never forgotten to mention Mary His Mom, is there more proof of Jesus love for Mary than reminding us that she was being given to us, as our Mother. Therefore, who do you think would want to remove Mary to be a part of the Gospel? Yes, Satan, because He knew that if He can take away Mary from our Faith, He can easily take our soul to Hell, because there is no Mother who will be there to protect us. Like the chick that went away from the Mother Hen, being alone and no one to protect it, the snake could easily gobble the chick for no one will fight for it.
Now whose side are you? The Woman (Mary) side who will crash the head of the Serpent (Satan), or the Serpent side, who will try to sneak in, and bring all these lies that is proliferating in the other non Catholic Churches.
Be real, and tell me if you can just Kicked out your Mom from your house, because the person you love, don’t want them to be a part of you. For this person loves you so much, but he/she had nothing to do with anyone you love? (ADAI)
God bless…May Mother Mary hold you close to Her Bosom…..
Friends,
Please read this new article on Mother Mary’s Faith. Go to:-
https://www.turnbacktogod.com/marys-faith-a-model-for-the-church/
God Bless You All
Georgy
I refer you all to the Lord’s message in tlig.org
Type in: For Martin Luther’s Followers.mp4
Please read the advice before commenting – for your sake
There is no doubt that Mary was a good virgin Woman.I believe that she is in Heaven.but the problem is that Bible not teaching that we have to pray to Mary.Catholic Church started after 300AD.Before 300AD in Apostolic Church there was no consideration about Mary.She was also a normal member of Jerusalem Church.After 300 AD only this kind of prayer started(Prayer to saints)Mary was just like other woman.In Heaven there is no priority to anyone.The ultimate authority is bestowed only in God alone.Mary was not God she was a women.Through the death of our Lord Jesus we have the direct access to God .There is no mediator.Catholic Church is made by man not by God.We have to read the Church History.There we can see the corruption& adulatory of the of your great saints. Inn order to make money these kind of unwanted things started.My conclusion here is accept Jesus as your personal savior take adult baptism have a holy life and pray direct to Jesus.Then you can have a eternal,peaceful, successful and happy life.Thank you May the dear Lord Jesus Christ bless everyone who read this
Mary is sad because people pray to her!
Look, a testimony of someone who’s been to heaven, she said Mary is miserable because people pray to her:
http://www.spiritlessons.com/Documents/8_year_old_girl/English_Rapture_and_Tribulation.htm
Might I suggest to Wilson to check out the Lord’s message on 22nd Dec. 1987 in the True Life in God website (tlig.org)
Or check out the same message in the video link I quoted above ( sorry i don’t know the proper address )
The Lord was speaking to the followers of Luther who do not honour the Blessed Virgin Mary – Our Holy Mother.
Please don’t give the usual ‘brush-off’
given by baptists for the appearances of Our Lord and Our Holy Mother, as the work of the devil. Read the messages. The Lord said that His Hymn of Love (i.e. tlig) will only take root in those whose hearts are pure.
Jonathan, thats very interesting. We need to have the spirit of discernment to recognise the Truth.
Why don’t you tune in to the Mary TV broadcast from Vienna live this afternoon ?
It will be conducted by the Medjugohre visionaries.
When we pray to Mary, we ask her to intercede on our behalf to God, our Father. Her sadness is because of our sinful waywardness and disbelief in Her Son’s Great Sacrifice. She is sad because her children are hell-bound out of choice. Any mother would be.
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The deceiving in this world is terrible that all the time we go with what “we” understand about God and we less ought to think what “God” is reveling to us. This is called deception.
I just want to warn everyone through these verses from God.
1 Timothy 4:1
The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.
The above thing will happen for people who do not read and walk according to Bible.
Repent!!!!!!!!!!!!! who are worshiping Idols including so called Jesus Idols and Mary Idols! or even photos according to the following verse
Exodus 20:4,5
You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God,
Read Isaiah 44:9-20 too, to know how the deceiving is…
If you do not repent, the results is below.
Revelation 21:8
But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, “the idolaters” and “all liars” they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.
John 14:6
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
When Jesus told “Iam the way” in Bible, Whats the Role Mary is playing. Do you think your parents, friends or your priests worshiping mary are higher than Bible (God’s Word)?
Guys dont say that Jesus came to this world through mary. It is false..Jesus was existing even before the world is created.
John 1:3.
All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
Not even the death of mary is recorded in Bible. If any one say that they know regarding the mary’s life, find in Bible not through wiki or google. If you believe in People, internet than the Bible, you are in most pathetic situation.
It is a deception of devil to pull you people to hell.
Worshiping Mary is not taught by God in Bible.
My beloved I warn against everyone who are deceived by the devil because of not reading and walking according to God’s words (Bible)….Read and walk according to Bible… Dont think anything beyond Bible…. If you do not walk according to Bible, the end is lake of fire… Dont respond to your delusions.
Guys and girls who are speaking about miracles… How do you know that it is from God. Why cant it be from Devil to deceive you.
God says that in Rev 16:14
For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
Some people might say this “Lot of people are worshipping mary, cant it be true?”
Dont go by quantity go by quality. Please reading the below verse.
Matthew 7:13-14
Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and “many” enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
Dont go to people, go to Bible
God is calling you. Repent!!!!!!!!!!!!
In the name of LORD and SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST
Your brother
Anand
Brother Anand, do you know that when Our Lord was on earth, the jews accused Him of coming from the devil ?
That is what you and all the baptists and charismatics are doing now. You are the modern day pharisees.
Read John again, and compare what the pharisees said of the Lord to what you are saying now to Our Lord’s and to His, and Our Holy Mother’s appearances on earth through the centuries – and now at Medjugore.
You should check out the fruits of their appearances, the messages they brought and still bringing – don’t follow what your pastors brainwashed you with. Judge the tree by its fruit. The problem with baptists and charismatics, they have used the bible as their god – like the pharisees, the Torah. Their hearts are set, they stand at the gate of heaven, not going in themselves, nor allowing their sheep to enter.
Read the messages brother. Read the Lord’s messages in TLIG. It opened my heart and brought me out of the darkness.
A word of advice: If you should read True Life in God messages, be careful what you decide.
The Lord said: ‘… Those who condemn these messages will have to stand before me one day …’
God bless.
Hai friends,
1. Can we call Mary as “VIRGIN MARY”?
Is she still virgin?
The Bible is clearly stating that she got children after Jesus through “Joseph”(Mt.13:55). If you believe still Mary as virgin you are making her children equal to Jesus, who came to save us.
2. Should we pray to Mary?
When you were a child Paul, did you ever ask your mother for anything instead of your father ? Or did you ever run to her for protection or for comforting ?
Mary is our mother – all christians, anyway (refer to Revelation 12)
For the final time, when we pray to Our Blessed Mother, we ask her to intercede to Our Father and to Her Son on our behalf.
Prayers are for intercession, and for protection. She is powerful, and will step and crush the head of the serpent (Gen 3). Demons are scared of Her.
Paul, like many posts above, you seem to know very little about Our Blessed Mother.
May I suggest you check out the records of Her appearances on earth at Fatima in 1917, at Garabandal in the 60s, and now at Medjugorhe.
Also at Lourdes in the 19th century.
You might become enlightened
One main difference Paul. Jesus’s father is God – the Holy Spirit.
As to the Catholic’s belief that Mary had only one child, even though the bible says otherwise, we will surely know the moment we cross the veil.
The Father speaks:
‘. .find your comfort in Her embrace and in those same arms that carried My Son through the desert in to Egypt; honour the Mother who honoured Me with Her graciousness, why, have I not highly favoured Her ?
I have done great things for the Woman clothed with the sun so that from that day forward when My Spirit covered Her, all generations would call Her blessed. . .
who tells you that I shall not listen to Her ?
Has your mother not interceded at Cana ?
These signs were performed so that your spirit may understand what your spirit rejects today; this sign was meant for all ages to come; the Woman adorned with the sun, adorned with My Holy Spirit and who fills the world, ranks as Mother of God. . .’
Ref: tlig.org
Word of advice: Be careful about negative comments on True Life in God.
Jesus says: ‘Those who condemn this work will have to stand before me one day. .’
i have been reading thru some of the comments and debates by different people having different opinions about the topic “should we pray to mother Mary?” think about this, if God wanted us to pray to Mary, wouldn’t He ask us to do so? if God could give Ten commandments, is it too hard for Him to ask us to include Mary among Them? I believe the answer would be “no!”
so why is that we are so loving to the mother? i love my mother very much, that doesn’t make my father less significant and vice-verse. We think mothers to be greater than fathers because it was by pain the she brought us to the world. Its embedded in our minds the more pain one has to endure the more great that person is. we have made pain the measure of greatness. that is why we think we receive penitence when we go thru a hard pilgrimage. the more hardship that we endure the more we are forgiven.if we are thinking “only my pain will give me the forgiveness of sin”; then we are nullifying the act of Christ on the cross. Salvation kept by God is simple and not at all complicated.
now, back to the topic. why is that father’s are given less preference in all the culture, the Indian culture has more mother God’s and there are more male Gods, not fathers! this can be seen in almost every culture. so now the question arises “why is there no Fathers?” i believe it is the plan of the devil to keep us away from Father God. when Jesus asked us to pray, whom did He ask us to pray to? He said “our Father in Heaven…” if he wanted us to pray to mother He would have taught us to start our prayer with that. If he hasn’t done that then why should we?
It is sad that we have made Father figures brutal, cruel and unmerciful. Read the Bible it says about the Loving Father God! it doesn’t say about the red-eyed monster! i’m not saying that we need to disrespect our mother, God respects motherhood. but He hasn’t made mother the God.
Jesus speaks:
‘. .She is the Queen of Heaven, She is My Mother and your Mother, the loveliest of women, beautiful as Heaven, radiant as My Glory, unique in Her Perfection, the Delight of My Soul, She is the Woman with twelve stars on Her Head for a crown, the Vessel of My Glory, the Reflection of My Eternal Light… She is the Vessel of the True Light, the Word made flesh, who lived among you…
not only have I assigned Her as the Queen of My angels and My creatures,but I have assigned Her to be My Throne…’
Re: tlig.org
The two messages above are for those who do not honour Our Blessed Mother.
Please be careful how you comment
Hello Joeli,
Can you please show me where in the bible mentioned these
She is the Queen of Heaven,
She is My Mother and your Mother,
the Queen of My angels
beautiful as Heaven,
radiant as My Glory,
unique in Her Perfection, the Delight of My Soul,
Can you prove that the Woman with twelve stars on Her Head for a crown, is Mother Mary?
Before reply please read you bible with your blind eyes. We have to beleive christ and his words NOT those who seen in Portugal/Lourde.
Jesus is God
Rgds
I agree with Paul and Anand #885 & 887
Those who think Mother Mary is God then you booked your ticket to Hell.
One God one meditor thats Jesus
There is no 2 gods and millions of mediators.
Can anyone answer my simple questions below?
Mother mary is queen of heaven?
One single verse saying mother mary is our mediator?
Can you show me one verse saying God appointed priests in NT?
Can you show me one verse saying the apostles made idols of jesus and prayed to that statue?
Can you show me where is rosary and its promises?
Can you prove that Revelation 12 women is Mother Mary?
Can you show me one verse explaining how and when Mary went to heaven ?
In NT only one command Mary given to us. That is “follow jesusâ€. So lets follow jesus not his mother
God bless you all.
Rgds
Babu the reference is at the end of the messages.
Read the references and decide for yourself.
Don’t let your pastor decide. Let your heart decide.
True Life in God is a rephrasing of the Scriptures by Our Lord Himself. The title was given by the Father.
Please be mindful of the warning given in the previous posts.
For your information babu. no one in the Catholic Church says Mother Mary is GOD. There is one GOD, and one Mediator – CHRIST. We ask the Angles and Saints and especially Mother Mary to pray for us because they are already with GOD in fromt of HIS Glory. Just answer this question, ‘Why do you ask your fellow (so called) christians to pray for your problems?’
And now for your questions Babu:
Mother mary is queen of heaven?
Yes. She is Queen of Heaven. period !
One single verse saying mother mary is our mediator?
I have explained this in the above paragraph.
Can you show me one verse saying God appointed priests in NT?
Read the conclusion of St. Matthew’s Gospel. There He commisioned His apostles to continue His work and make dicples of all nations. This is one of the verses in which Jesus concericating them has Priests.
Can you show me one verse saying the apostles made idols of jesus and prayed to that statue?
There is no direct Biblical verse saying so but, St. Thomas when he came to India carved out a cross on a rock and brought a painting of Mother Mary and used to meditate in front of them. And remember we don’t worship idols. It just serves as a reminder of incidence and people. When the Isralites incenced the Ark of the Covenent did they venerate the gold that outlined it? or the stones that were kept inside it or the cedar wood that hold it? It was the God’s words that they venerated. simillarly we venerate the angles and saints not there statues or icons. our only worship in the breading and adoring of the Bread & Wine-HIS BODY & BLOOD.
Can you show me where is rosary and its promises?
The History of rosary and its promises would run as long as this entire blog. I recomend you to read the wekipedia content of the ‘History of Rosary’.
Can you prove that Revelation 12, women is Mother Mary?
I have already told in ma previous posts that the apparition of Mother Mary in a south Indian district of Tamil Nadu. depicts these qualities of the Woman in Revelations Ch 12. Our Lady of Good Health – vailankanni.
Can you show me one verse explaining how and when Mary went to heaven ?
That is the point where all of you go wrong. The Bible did not reveal this truth to us but the Holy traditions have. and still the grave of Mother Mary remains empty.
Does heaven have a queen? The bible doesn’t say it does, nor that it will have nor that it ever did. The only bride that has a standing in heaven is the church, the bride of Christ.
Revelation speaks of the future of what will happen in heaven and yet there is no mention of Mary in heaven at all, Jesus and God and angels those who die in the great tribulation are all mentioned as being in heaven and yet no mention of Mary.
Note this verse from Book of Wisdom 1:
Because into a soul that plots evil, wisdom enters not,
nor dwells she in a body under debt of sin.
If wisdom cannot enter a body indebted to sin, how can the Lord of Wisdom be born of one with Sin.
Pls Think…….
I have stressed always in my posts that the Orgin of the Bible is from the Catholic Church/Apostles and their appointed Head of Church, viz., The Pope. The Bible 4-gospels was written 4-languages for different regions. So translation are to the nearest, and not exact, which you can see as you read this post.
This is a pretty long mail, but take time to understand and not just read through and post 1 verse question…..
It is a curious fact that some seem to have a major problem with the Virgin Mary. It is a problem that goes far beyond theological reason and debate. In some quarters there seems to be a major antipathy, almost hatred, directed at one of the key figures in the story of redemption. In fact a few protestant apologists write of the Mother of the Redeemer almost as if she were the enemy of God. How can this unhealthy state of affairs have come about?
Perhaps it has something to do with the misogynistic tendencies that were evident in many of the Reformers, although most actually maintained Marian doctrines that would surprise their modern-day followers. There is also a great deal of ignorance among modern-day protestants as to the Scriptural and other ancient support for most of the Marian doctrines. It is the fundamentalist move away from Mary that has been the recent aberation. Yet even many Protestant Christians who are not so extreme still believe that Catholic and Orthodox doctrines on the Virgin Mary are unscriptural and are inventions of the Medieval Church, being unknown to the early Christians.
How true is this?
To find out, we must examine the doctrines about the Virgin Mary which Evangelical Protestants claim to be unscriptural
1. Mary is the Mother if God
2. Mary is the Mother of All Christians
3. Mary’s Bodily Assumption into Heaven
4. Mary Queen of Heaven
5.The Immaculate Conception
6. Mediatrix
7. Ever Virgin
1. Mary is the Mother of God
This is quite simply explained. The main puzzle is why any Christian should object to this title. All Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and also IS God, being the 2nd Person of the Trinity, along with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Jesus is also the son of Mary. Now many Protestants are quite prepared to say “Mary, Mother of Jesus,” but balk at saying “Mary, Mother of God.” Why?
There is probably an element of cultural conditioning here. Giving Mary such a title seems too grand to many protestants. For centuries most protestants have tried to ignore Mary, and have avoided all talk and discussion of her – except perhaps to condemn Catholic “excesses”. But this is a serious matter. To call Mary the “Mother of Jesus” and yet refuse to call her “Mother of God” is to diminish Jesus as well as Mary, for it is a denial that Jesus is truly or fully God.
It was this sort of thinking that led to the formal definition of the title Mother of God at the Council of Ephesus in 431AD. Patriarch Nestorius had preached that Mary was not Mother of God, being only the mother of Jesus’s physical body, which was then indwelt by God the Word. This was condemned as Heresy, since the Gospels tell us that the Word did not unite with man, but was made man. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us..” (John 1.14). This is a crucial difference. Jesus was not two persons: the Son of God, and the Son of Mary, but one person, the Son of God and Mary. If this were not so, his death could not have saved us.
THE NATURE OF JESUS
1. To be our Saviour, Jesus needed to be both fully God, and fully man, descended from Adam. He could not be a counterfeit, or someone who just looked human..
2. God the Word has existed as spirit from the beginning of time.
3. At the Incarnation, through the action of the Holy Spirit, God the Word took flesh and full humanity from the Virgin Mary. Both His Human Nature and His human body came from Mary, These united with His Divine Nature in Jesus.
4. This produced one person with one consciousness, both fully God and fully man, who is truly both Son of God and Son of Mary.
5. . The Virgin Mary is therefore the Mother of ALL of the PERSON of Jesus Christ, and is therefore truly Mother of God the Son.
Nestorius did not recant, and founded his own church – which is no longer with us. In effect, in saying that Mary was the Mother of Jesus, but not the Mother of God, he was denying the reality of the incarnation. Attempts to downgrade Mary seem always lead to a downgrading of the full divinity of Jesus.
BUT DOESN’T CONCENTRATING ON THE VIRGIN MARY DISTRACT US FROM GOD AND FROM JESUS?
This is a common complaint of Protestants, but one I really fail to understand. Does admiring any part of God’s creation distract you from God? When you walk through a forest of tall, ancient trees and you admire their beauty, does it distract you from God? When you look at a sunset or a towering mountain, does that turn you away from God? Of course not. For most people such things draw them closer to God.
Similarly when you admire people like St Francis, Mother Theresa, or other Christians who have given up their lives to serve God. Does that make you turn away from God – or is it more likely to make you think of the greatness of the God who inspired such people? So it is also with Mary.
2. Mary is the Mother of All Christians
An evangelical Christian once retorted indignantly to me “Mary isn’t my Mother.” To which I was forced to respond. “Then what you’re really saying is that Jesus is not your Brother.” And in truth it is as simple as that. If we as Christians are brothers of Jesus, then, as with Jesus, God is our Father and Mary is our Mother.
The bible also teaches, that all Christians become part of the body of Christ. Again this re-emphasises the fact that as Christians become one with Jesus they share with Him, the Fatherhood of God and also, the motherhood of Mary.
The New Testament has two further passages which confirm Mary’s motherhood of Christians:
John 19.25: Near the cross of Jesus, stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing near by, he said to his mother, “Dear woman, here is your son,” 27 and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on the disciple took her into his home.
This is not just a personal bequest of his Mother to John, but, being from the cross itself, has a greater significance. First of all, if Jesus were merely asking John to take care of Mary, He would have made His first request to John. But if you look at the passage, you will see that His first statement is to Mary. The emphasis is therefore upon Mary being Mother to John, not John “looking after” Mary. John here represents all the disciples of Jesus, and hence all Christians, who are given Mary as their Mother.
Revelation 12.17: Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring – those who obey God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus.
This passage shows the Dragon (Satan), making war on the Woman (Mary)’s offspring, following the birth of Jesus. (see Queen of Heaven for more on Revelation 12) These offspring, clearly represent the community of Christians, who are “the rest of” Mary’s children.
HERE TOO TYPOLOGY COMES TO OUR AID.
The Old Testament contains many “Types” or precursors of New Testament figures or events. Adam is accepted as a “type” of Jesus, who is sometimes called “the 2nd Adam”. Adam, as the first man, sinned, and brought death to all. Jesus, as the second Adam, did not sin, and brought life. So too as Eve brought death to us through disobedience, ” Mary as “the Second Eve”, brought life through her obedience. So how is the first Eve described?
Gen 2:20: “The man called his wife’s name Eve because she was the mother of all living.”
And so the Second Eve became the mother of all who live in Christ.
3. Mary’s Bodily Assumption into Heaven
I find it strange that Protestant Evangelicals never seem to wonder where Mary is now, or what her role might be. If they do chance to wonder, they generally keep it to themselves. Raise too many of the wrong topics, and questions may start being asked about whether you really are “one of the group”. Therefore it is quite common for Protestant evangelicals who are quite certain that Uncle Fred is in heaven, wearing his kingly crown, or that they themselves are heaven bound, to question Mary’s presence there.
So, let’s scotch that one straight away. If the Virgin Mary isn’t in heaven, then there’s very little chance that anyone else will ever get there. Mary is the supreme example, or prototype, of what happens to a person who fully places trust and faith in God. Everything we hope to become in Christ, She already is. . Out of the millions of “decisions” made for Christ, Mary’s was the first. Therefore, whatever promises the Holy Scriptures hold for us, Mary already possesses.
BUT WHY DO PEOPLE SAY THAT MARY WAS TAKEN BODILY TO HEAVEN – IT’S NOT WRITTEN IN THE BIBLE?
The problem with showing Mary’s Assumption, (or the deaths of Mary or most of the Apostles, for that matter), in the Bible, is that the Gospel record ends before any of these events occurred. The Assumption is, however, implicit in Revelation Chapter 12 (see Queen of Heaven).
Mary’s Bodily Assumption is also a long-standing teaching of the Ancient Churches. The celebratory festival in August dates from at least the 400s in Palestine, and had reached Gaul by the 500s. The setting of a Festival Day for a doctrine is evidence not only of a strong and almost universally-held belief in that doctrine, but also of a long-standing belief – since it is rare for Festival to be celebrated for a belief or incident for which there is not some long attestation. As a comparison, the date of December the 25th for the celebration of Christmas was set only in 354 AD by Pope Julius I.
Early references to the Assumption of Mary include Timothy of Jerusalem in around 380 AD, who wrote: “Wherefore the Virgin is immortal up to now, because He who dwelt in her took her to the regions of the Ascension,”
Gregory of Tours in 580 wrote: “Mary, the glorious Mother of Christ, who, we believe, was a virgin before and after childbirth, was, as we have said before, carried to Paradise preceded by the Lord amidst the singing of angelic choirs.”
Apocryphal writings detailing the Assumption have been dated back to the 200s. Although other early references are few, the fact that the Celebration of Mary’s Assumption into Heaven was not opposed in what was a highly disputatious age, argues strongly for a general acceptance and belief in the doctrine.
BUT ISN’T IT WRONG TO SAY THAT ANYONE BUT JESUS ASCENDED INTO HEAVEN? THAT IS HIS PRIVELEGE ALONE.
This point is quite often made by Protestant apologists. But they are mistaken. The Old Testament tells us that both Enoch and Elijah were assumed (taken) bodily into heaven. So Mary’s Assumption, far from being unbiblical, in fact follows a strong Biblical pattern. Furthermore, it appears from the New Testament, (Jude 9), that Moses too may have been assumed into heaven, even though no record of this appears anywhere in the Old Testament. This, incidentally, provides a biblical record of an important teaching that was passed down over an extremely long period purely by Oral Tradition.
ISN’T MARY’S ASSUMPTION A NEW DOCTRINE?
No. As we have already seen, it is a very old belief in the Church. What happened in 1950 was that the Pope “defined” it as a Catholic dogma. This did not make it a new doctrine – it simply reinforced its status.
The fact that the Christian Community has believed from the earliest days that Mary was taken bodily into heaven can also be proved from the fact that no-one ever claimed to have her relics.
From the times of the persecutions, relics of the Saints had an immense value. Christians would often risk their lives to collect the remains of martyrs from the Arena and preserve their relics. In later days, having the body of a holy Saint in your church could make your city wealthy. St Peter’s body has the greatest church in the world built on top of it. Thomas a Becket drew enormous pilgrim crowds to Canterbury. St James drew millions to Compostella. Any Church or city that could have claimed to hold Mary’s body, or even a single bone from her finger would have at once become one of the richest and most popular places of pilgrimage in the world. In fact about 400 AD the Emperor Marcian asked the Patriarch of Jerusalem to bring the relics of Mary to Constantinople to be enshrined in the capitol. He was informed that there were no relics of Mary.
So valuable were relics that many were accused of fraudulently manufacturing them just to draw pilgrims and create wealth. Yet from the earliest days no-one has claimed to have the body of the Virgin Mary – or even as much as a single small bone. Why not? Because her body was hard to find? Not really. Plenty claimed to own part of the True Cross or even the Crown of Thorns. So why did no-one claim to have Mary’s body? There is one reason. Quite simply because no-one would have believed them. From the earliest days of the Church everyone KNEW that Mary’s body was not on earth. Every Christian knew that she had been assumed bodily into heaven. If there had been room for any argument about that fact, if there had been room for the slightest doubt, then some church somewhere would have claimed to have had Mary’s body.
4. Mary Queen of Heaven
Another doctrine many Protestants object to is that Mary is the Queen of Heaven. So what Biblical justification is there for this?
Rev 12: 1-5: A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven; an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron sceptre. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne.
Here is a Bible passage that shows Mary crowned in heaven. She wears a heavenly crown of twelve stars. A crown plainly denotes Queenship. How much more clearly could Mary’s honour be illustrated?
BUT THERE ARE OTHER INTERPRETATIONS OF THIS PASSAGE. THE WOMAN MAY NOT BE MARY.
I once read this passage to a group of born-again fundamentalists who had not been pre-prepared with an acceptable Protestant “interpretation”. Their reaction? A shocked “but that’s Mary!” It was quite obvious to all of them.
However Protestant Bible scholars, realising the implications of recognising the figure here to be Mary often simply just deny it. For some reason fundamentalist Protestants looking for a female image in Revelation, prefer the scarlet woman of Revelation 17. Revelation 12 makes them squirm, and they strain to find another interpretation. The main two are:
1. The Woman in this Passage represents the Church. The twelve stars are the twelve Apostles.
2. The Woman represents Israel. The stars are the twelve tribes.
BOTH INTERPRETATIONS SUFFER FROM SEVERAL MAJOR FLAWS.
1st. If the Woman is taken to represent the Church, then we face the immediate paradox of the Church giving birth to Jesus! This is clearly nonsense.
2nd If the Woman is taken as Israel, we have an exalted Israel. Yet Israel was not exalted at the time of Jesus’s birth. Most of Israel was astray.
3rd. Neither interpretation is a simple, literal reading of the text. If Protestant scholars have agreed on one thing it is that we must look for the clear, obvious interpretation of a bible text. Who is the woman who gave birth to Jesus? Jesus’s Mother. Simple.
4th. Both alternative interpretations are contextually wrong. For all the other figures in this passage represent individuals, not ideas or classes of people. The Child is clearly Jesus, the Dragon is clearly Satan, each star swept out of the sky is one of the rebel angels who followed Satan. Later in the passage, we find Michael and his angels, and also the Beast – the Antichrist. The Woman is the only figure in the passage who, according to some, is not the individual stated in the text, but a collective representation.
5th. Conversely, when Israel, Christians or the Church appear elsewhere in Revelation, they do not appear as personifications. They appear in literal form, as groups of individuals. See Rev 7.4: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel; Rev 7.9: ..a great multitude that no-one could count…; Rev 12.17: ..the rest of her offspring – those who obey God’s commandments…. Even where the Church appears as the Bride of Christ, and a female personification would be expected, we do not get one. Instead of appearing as a woman, the Church appears as a City – the new Jerusalem. Rev 21: 9-10.
6th. If there is any doubt as to what a symbolic personage in Revelation might represent, or if a veiled meaning is intended, that meaning is immediately explained in the text. The Lamb is defined as the Lord of Lords, the Dragon is Satan. The Heads of the Beast are Kings. However no such explanation is given with respect to the Woman, underlining that the obvious meaning is the one that is intended.
7th. If we look at the reference to the Sun, Moon and Stars in this passage, we can compare it with Joseph’s dream in Genesis, which so angered his brothers. In the dream the Sun, Moon and Stars represented his father, Isaac, his mother, and his eleven brothers. Together with Joseph, this gives us the total of 12 stars which appear in the Revelation vision. Since Joseph and his brothers were the forebears of Israel, the Sun, Moon and stars can indeed be taken to represent Israel. BUT in Revelation the Sun, Moon and Stars are not the subjects of the Vision. They instead form the adornments of the woman. This indicates that although the Woman is linked with Israel, she is quite clearly NOT Israel.
8th. The Woman of Revelation 12 is introduced as a great sign in Heaven. Where else in the bible can we see a Woman announced as a great sign. Look at Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son.” We can see that this is exactly the same sign as in Revelation 12, confirming that the Woman in both occurences is Mary.
THE ONE WHO FITS PERFECTLY
It is possible that there are subsidiary meanings to the figure of the Woman – as there are to some other figures in Revelation. But the obvious primary meaning – that the woman giving birth to Jesus is actually Jesus’s mother – must be accepted. The only reason that Protestant scholars fight so hard against it, is that it conflicts with their deep-seated anti-Mary bias.
Subsidiary meanings then fit in and harmonise. Mary, although Mother of Jesus is also part of the church and Mother of all Christians (Rev 12:17). Hence the 12 stars representing the twelve apostles. Mary is also true Daughter of Israel and of the royal line of David. The twelve stars therefore also represent the twelve tribes of Israel. Mary thus forms a key transition, and link, between Israel and the Church. Neither of the Protestant interpretations fully links the parenthood of Jesus, the parenthood of Christians, the twelve Apostles and the twelve tribes. Only Mary fulfils all the requirements of this passage.
DOES THE BIBLE ENDORSE THE CONCEPT OF A HEAVENLY CROWN?
2 Tim 4:8 – Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me that day…..
James 1:12 – Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life.
1 Peter 5:4 – And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.
Rev. 2:10 .”..Be faithful even unto death and I will give you the crown of life.”
A CROWN YES. BUT WHERE DOES MARY’S QUEENSHIP COME FROM?
As we have seen, a crown indicates kingship. Jesus promises crowns of Glory, Life and Righteousness to all who persevere and endure with him to the end. This is certainly the case with Mary. And looking to Timothy, we read:
2 Timothy 2:12 – If we endure, we will also reign with Him…
This is a promise made to all who endure to the end with Christ, as Mary did. They will have a share in Jesus’s Kingship.
And Mary’s Queenship has still more bases in Scripture. She was the “God-bearer”, and as such has a unique relationship with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. As the first to say “Yes” to God’s plan, she is also the First Christian. She is also Mother of the Church. for as Brethren of Jesus, Christians are Children of Mary.
OLD TESTAMENT QUEENSHIP – MARY PREFIGURED
When we look into the Old Testament, we find even more support for the Queenship of Mary. Jesus is the Messianic King. This Messianic Kingship is pre-figured in the ancient and Godly Kingship of David and Solomon. At the time of the historic Israel, next to the throne of the King was a second throne. Many would assume that the second throne belonged to the wife of the King, but in Israel it belonged to the mother of the king. In Aramaic the word “Gebirah” means Queen Mother. Gebirah was the official title of the Queen Mother, and was a position of authority and honour. Her roles were advisor to the king, and advocate of the people; anyone who had a petition or sought an audience with the King did so through her. This was so when Adonijah cunningly sought a high-ranking bride from Solomon:
1 Kings 2: 17-21: So he continued, “Please ask King Solomon – he will not refuse you – to give me Abishag the Shunammite as my wife. “Very well,” Bathsheba replied, “I will speak to the king for you.” When Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah, the king stood up to meet her, bowed down to her and sat down on his throne. He had a throne brought for the king’s mother, and she sat down at his right hand.
The special status of the Queen Mother remained throughout the time that the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah endured:
Jeremiah 13:18: Say to the king and to the queen mother, “Come down from your thrones for your glorious crowns will fall from your heads.” The cities of the Negev will be shut up and there will be no-one to open them. All Judah will be carried into exile, carried completely away.
The Gebirah was a trusted advisor to the King:
Proverbs 31.1: The sayings of King Lemuel – an oracle his mother taught him: ” Verses 2 to 9 continue with specific advice on being a good ruler.
See also 1 Kings 15.13 and 2 Kings 10:13; 12:1; 14:2; 15.33; 22.1
In Scriptural terms therefore, just as Jesus’s Messianic Kingship is prefigured in the role of King of Israel, so Mary’s role is prefigured in that of the Gebirah. The existence of this rare and unusual institution in Israel and Judah is providential. It reflects and prefigures the Messianic order. Mary is Heavenly Queen Mother, because her son Jesus is the Heavenly King.
BUT SURELY “QUEEN OF HEAVEN” WAS A PAGAN TITLE, USED OF ISIS AND ISHTAR. IT’S USE MUST BE UNCHRISTIAN.
This is a thoroughly bogus argument. There are a great many Pagan titles, and most make use of common forms of words. “King of Kings” was a title used by many Pagan Gods. So was “Son of God” and “Lord”. Jupiter was titled King of Heaven.
Many anti-Christian theorists argue that Jesus took the style and powers of Helios, the pagan Sun God. Others suggest that Dionysus, who was born of a virgin, raised from the dead, and gave his followers bread and wine, was transformed into the biblical jesus by Early Christians. You will not have to look far in a major bookshop or library to find arguments of this sort. Countless books are in existence that equate Jesus with any number of pagan deities from Krisna and Buddha to Shamanistic spirits. The number grows almost daily. Protestants would instantly condemn these books and the arguments they contain as thoroughly dishonest, and as crude attempts to tarnish Jesus by false association. It is unfortunate that some then go on to use these self-same dishonest tactics to try to malign Mary.
There is, however, as we have seen, an abundance of biblical proof that Mary’s Queenship is both proper, and scripturally based
5. The Immaculate Conception
Quite simply this doctrine states that the Virgin Mary was preserved free of Original Sin from the moment of her conception, and so was made sinless.
WHAT IS THE POINT OF THIS DOCTRINE?
It has to do with the Holiness of God. God cannot tolerate Sin. Mary as the God-bearer in Jesus had to be sinless in order to be in such close proximity to God Himself. The whole Bible teaches that God’s presence demands and imparts holiness. (Ex 3:5; Deut 23:14; 1 Cor 3:17; 1 Jn 3:5-6; Rev 21:27). The Jewish high priest entered the Holy of Holies only once a year, under threat of death if God’s instructions were violated (Lev 16:2-4,13). The Ark itself was so holy that only a few were allowed to touch it (Num 4:15; 2 Sam 6:2-7). Thus, Mary, due to her physical and spiritual relationship with God, necessarily had to be granted the grace of sinlessness.
In other words, since Jesus took flesh in and from Mary’s body, and also obtained His Human Nature from Her, she had to be perfectly sinless. The only question that then arises is when and how Mary was made sinless.
Protestants are quite willing to admit that we are cleansed of our sins at baptism. Yet Mary could not have been baptised at the time of the Annunciation, or even Jesus’s birth. For this reason her sinlessness had to come in a special and unique manner. To be pure and free from all sin as God required, she had not only to be free of sin at one point in time, (as one is immediately after baptism,) but to remain sinless throughout her life.
JUST A MINUTE. DIDN’T MARY HERSELF ADMIT THAT SHE NEEDED A SAVIOUR? HOW COULD SHE BE SINLESS?
Mary did indeed agree she needed a Saviour:
Luke 1.46: And Mary said “My soul glorifies the Lord 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour,”
But this presents no difficulty. We have seen that Mary needed to be perfectly sinless in order to bear Jesus. Did she attain that sinlessness through her own human efforts? No. She was redeemed by her son – as was all the rest of humanity. She needed God’s Grace. And in order to be, and remain, sinless she needed that grace before her own birth.
We can see that in Luke 1.46 Mary speaks of God as her Saviour, but she speaks in the present tense. She does not say “God, who will be my Saviour.” She has already been redeemed.
If we look at one of the Old Testament passages that Mary bases her words upon, we see this more clearly.
Isaiah 51.10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
As virtually every educated 1st Century Jew would have recognised, in echoing this passage, Mary clearly considered that God had already clothed her with the garments of salvation, and covered her with the robe of righteousness. Her sin had already been wiped away.
This is supported by the angel’s greeting to Mary:
Luke 1.28: The angel went to her and said, “Hail, you who are full of grace (Literally: you who have been and remain filled with Grace). The Lord is with you.”
Grace in the New Testament is seen as the antidote to sin. (Rom 3:24, 5:15-17, 6:14 11:6) So being filled with Grace strongly implies sinlessness. And since Mary required the grace of redemption before her own birth, it is quite fitting that this happened at her conception. Is this a problem for God? No. Jesus is the perfect Redeemer. Therefore he must have redeemed one person perfectly. That person is Mary, having been redeemed by Jesus from Original Sin from the moment of her own conception.
BUT I’VE BEEN TOLD THAT “FULL OF GRACE” IS A MISTRANSLATION. MY BIBLE SAYS “HIGHLY-FAVOURED”.
I’m afraid that those who translate the angel’s greeting as “highly-favoured” have been guilty, for whatever motive, of making a false and rather misleading distinction. The Greek word used by the angel is Kecharitomene. The root of this word is Charis, meaning Grace. The prefix Ke means that the grace was already perfectly present before the angel appeared. The suffix mene means that Mary was the recipient of this grace.
Now Charis can also be translated simply as favour. So Highly-favoured could be a conceivable translation – but this would only be acceptable if the word “favour” were used as a translation for “Charis” everywhere else in the New Testament. But THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN. Even those bibles which translate “Charis” as Favour” when referring to Mary, translate it as “Grace” everywhere else. This is highly misleading because in the New Testament the word “Grace” has a particular meaning distinct from “Favour”. In the New Testament “Grace” is a gift of God that saves from sin and its effects. So translating the word any differently is wrong. The correct translation is rightfully “Full of Grace”.
BACK TO TYPE
To back this up, let’s look again at Adam and Eve as “types” of Jesus and Mary. Paul wrote of “..Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come.” (Rom 5.14.) The Church fathers spoke of: “Death through Eve, Life through Mary.”
In A.D.155, Justin Martyr wrote,
“.. Eve, a virgin and undefiled, conceived the word of the serpent, and bore disobedience and death. But the Virgin Mary received faith and joy when the angel Gabriel announced to her the glad tidings that the Spirit of the Lord would come upon her” (Dialogue with Trypho)
St Irenaeus wrote:
“the knot of Eve’s disobedience was loosed by the obedience of Mary. What the virgin Eve had bound in unbelief, the Virgin Mary loosed through faith.”
(Against Heresies 180-199 A. D.)
We know that the First Adam and the First Eve both started their lives in an immaculate state, there being no Original Sin before the Fall. We also know that the Second Adam started his life in an immaculate state — Christ had no Original Sin or its stain — and so we should expect the Second Eve to also start her life in an immaculate state. If the First Adam and the First Eve were immaculate, and if the Second Adam was also immaculate, then the Second Eve will be immaculate as well.
ONE OTHER OBJECTION
It is difficult to see why some Protestants object to the Immaculate Conception. Martin Luther himself accepted it (see below.) But the following verse is sometimes raised in an attempt to disprove the doctrine.
Rom 3:23: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…”
The problem with this is that the word ‘ALL’ here is the Greek word, ‘PAS’, which can have different meanings to the absolute that we immediately think of – as shown in other verses of Holy Scripture.
John 12:19, “All the world has gone after him!” Did everyone in the entire world really go after Christ?
Mt 3:5-6, “Then went out to Him Jerusalem, and ALL Judea, and ALL the region about the Jordan; and they were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.”
Were all of the people of Judea, and the region about the Jordan baptized?
Luke 2:1 “And an order went out from caesar Augustus that ALL the world should be counted.”
Was everyone in the whole world counted?
Rom 11:26, “ALL Israel shall be saved.” Will everyone in Israel truly be saved?
Rom 15:14, “…you yourselves are full of love, filled with ALL knowledge…” The only person filled with ‘ALL’ knowledge is God Himself.
The Greek word ‘PAS’ in many verses in Scripture simply means a ‘great number’, ‘most of’, or ‘a lot’. So its appearance in the quoted passage can in no way be used as an objection to the sinlessness of the Virgin Mary.
A final quotation on this subject:
“It is a sweet and pious belief that the infusion of Mary’s soul was effected without original sin; so that in the very infusion of her soul she was also purified from original sin and adorned with God’s gifts, receiving a pure soul infused by God; thus from the first moment she began to live she was free from all sin.”
Martin Luther: Sermon, 1527
6. Mediatrix
Much of the devotion to Mary shown by Christians of the Catholic and other Ancient Churches depends upon Mary’s mediation. This mediation is seen in terms of Mary’s assistance in prayer and in obtaining grace.
Many Protestants oppose prayer to Mary and the Saints, citing this verse:
“For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; ” (I Timothy 2:5).
SO IF JESUS IS THE ONE MEDIATOR, WHY PRAY TO MARY?
As in other cases, Protestant fundamentalists often tend to quote just one verse completely out of context. So let’s look at the whole passage.
“I urge then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone – for kings, for all those in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceful life in all godliness and holiness. This is good and pleases God our Saviour, who wants all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man, Christ Jesus.”
1Timothy 2:1-5
From this full text of the passage we can see three important things:
1. Paul is asking fellow Christians to pray and intercede with God for those in authority and for other third parties.
2. These prayers and intercessions are being made on behalf of other people, and to God. This is a mediation of prayer. Christians are being asked to mediate between all people, Christian and non-Christian, and God.
3. Since this is all one passage, it is absolutely clear that when Paul refers to there being only one mediator between God and men, he is not referring to the mediation of prayer. Jesus’s unique mediation is a different mediation – the mediation of our salvation.
Jesus is the one Mediator of our salvation, our only Saviour. But He is not our only intercessor, as the whole passage above clearly indicates. So the one passage that fundamentalists have used to deny intercessionary prayer, when read in context, actually backs up intercessionary prayer.
YES. BUT WHY SHOULD I ASK MARY OR ANYONE ELSE TO PRAY TO GOD FOR ME WHEN I CAN PRAY TO HIM MYSELF?
When we are ill, or someone we care for needs prayer, we ask other people to pray to God for us. Why do we do this if our own prayer is enough?
In James 5. 14-16 we are told to get the Elders of the Church to pray for us and to annoint us when we are sick. Reading on, we find:
James 5: 16-18 ” …The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful. Elijah was a human being like us; yet he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain upon the land. Then he prayed again, and the sky gave rain and the earth produced its fruit.”
So we see that intercession strengthens prayer. And the more righteous and faithful the intercessor is, the more powerful the prayer.
BUT THAT IS PRAYER ON EARTH. I’VE BEEN TOLD THAT PEOPLE IN HEAVEN CAN NEITHER SEE US OR PRAY FOR US.
That is a recent, man-made doctrine, with no authority behind it.
Hebrews 12.1 speaks of “a great cloud of witnesses” who surround us, and who consist of the faithful holy ones of God. Many examples of these witnesses are given in the preceding Chapter 11 of Hebrews.
Later in the Bible we see this vision of heaven:
Revelation 4.4: Surrounding the throne were twenty four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads.
Revelation 5.8: …and the twenty four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
The twenty-four elders are shown offering the prayers of Christians to God; which is a mediatory role.
WHY MARY IN PARTICULAR?
The basic creed of Christianity, the Nicene Creed, accepted by all Trinitarian Christian Churches, refers to the Communion of Saints. All Christians in heaven and on earth are together (i.e. in communion) through Christ. As we have seen, those in heaven can witness what goes on on earth and offer prayers to God. This intercession is powerful, because those in heaven are truly “righteous”.
Of all creatures in heaven, Mary is closest to God, being the God-bearer. As a fellow Christian, and indeed the first Christian, she has access to the throne of grace through Jesus. As the Mother of all Christians, she cares and intercedes for her children. As the Heavenly Queen Mother (see above) it is her office to make requests of the King of Kings. Therefore Mary’s intercessionary prayer is the most powerful and effective.
Seeking Mary’s intercession probably dates back to the earliest Christians. One of the oldest Christian prayers recorded in writing, the Sub Tuum, from the 200s AD, is a prayer to Mary:
We fly to your patronage, O holy Mother of God.
Despise not our petitions in our necessities,
But deliver us from all dangers,
O ever-glorious and Blessed Virgin!
BUT I DON’T NEED MARY WHEN I CAN GO DIRECTLY TO GOD.
Why not say “I don’t need the rest of my family as long as I have my father”? The Church is a single body; the different members interelate and rely on one another: “The eye cannot say unto the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” (I Co 12:21).
WHY DO WE NEED MARY?
Mary has a vital part in the entire work of redemption. The Lord does not want to save us without our participation. He seeks our voluntary acceptance of salvation. He stands at the door, knocks and waits. (Rev. 3:10).
In the same way, since the incarnation of the Son of God was necessary for the salvation of the human race, that incarnation would not be achieved by force, but needed the consent of the chosen one. Thus the incarnation, and the salvation of the entire human race were brought about to a major extent because the Virgin Mary, by faith, consented to God’s plan.
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” (Luke 1:38)
The extent of Mary’s act of faith is often overlooked. She was a single virgin, betrothed to Joseph, and giving birth to a fatherless child would place her in dire peril of disgrace, abandonment and possibly much worse, in a society that customarily stoned adulterers to death. Nor did she know what Joseph’s or her family’s personal reaction would be. Yet she did not hesitate to accept God’s commission. Her trust in God made her the first Christian believer and the first among the redeemed. As the Mother of God, the girl from Galilee became the highest created being. When she said “yes” to God her answer was on behalf of the whole human race. Just as Eve’s disobedience was on behalf of the whole human race. In this way, the Virgin Mary’s significance in the work of our salvation is of the first order.
St. Irenaeus Against Heresies (circa 189 A.D.) :
..the virgin Eve, betrothed to a man but nevertheless still a virgin, was unhappily led astray,– yet that deception was done away with because the Virgin Mary, betrothed to a man but nevertheless still a virgin, heard the truth spoken by an angel, and was obedient. For just as the former was led astray by the word of an angel, so that she fled from God when she had transgressed His word; so did the latter, by an angelic communication receive the glad tidings that she should
sustain (portaret) God, being obedient to His word.
The former disobeyed God, yet the latter was persuaded to be obedient to God, so that the Virgin Mary might become patroness (advocata) of the virgin Eve. And thus, as the human race fell into bondage to death by means of a virgin, so is it rescued by a virgin; virginal disobedience having been balanced in the opposite scale by virginal obedience. In the same way the sin of the first created man (protoplasti) is made amends by the correction of the First-begotten, the coming of the serpent is conquered by the harmlessness of the dove, those bonds being unloosed by which we had been fast bound to death.
In reference to the Blessed Virgin, St. Ephraem (373) said: “With the Mediator, you are the Mediatrix of the entire world” Antipater of Bostra, a Father of the Council of Ephesus (AD 431), wrote: “Hail you who acceptably intercede as a Mediatrix for mankind.”
Revelation 12.17: Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring – those who obey God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus.
Having been given to all Christians by Jesus as their heavenly Mother, Mary is always there for the help of her children.
7. Ever Virgin
The traditional belief of all the Ancient churches is that the Virgin Mary remained a virgin all her life.
“For neither did Mary, who is to be honoured and praised above all others, marry anyone, nor did she ever become the Mother of anyone else, but even after childbirth she remained always and forever and immaculate virgin.” (Didimus the Blind, The Trinity. 381 AD)
Many Protestants choose to argue with this, quoting the following text:
Matt 1.24-25: And being aroused from sleep, Joseph did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife, and did not know her until she bore her son, the Firstborn. And he called his name Jesus.
There are two points here. 1. The word “until”, sometimes taken to imply that Joseph “knew” Mary after the birth of Jesus; and 2. “Firstborn”, sometimes taken to imply other children.
With regard to the word “until”, let’s look at the following verses:
Matt 28.20: “..and surely I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
John 21.22: Jesus answered. “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?”
2 Sam 6.23: “no son was born to Michol, the daughter of Saul until her dying day.”
In all these examples, the word “until” does not mean that Jesus will cease to be with us after the end of the age, that John was intended to die should he still be alive when Jesus returned, or that Michol had a son after death. The word “until” shows that the writer is concerned primarily to inform us what happens before a specific event – not after.
For the rest, let us allow a very unexpected defender of Marian doctrine to answer the points:
There have been certain folk who have wished to suggest from this passage [Matt 1:25] that the Virgin Mary had other children than the Son of God, and that Joseph had then dwelt with her later; but what folly this is! For the gospel writer did not wish to record what happened afterwards; he simply wished to make clear Joseph’s obedience and to show also that Joseph had been well and truly assured that it was God who had sent His angel to Mary. He had therefore never dwelt with her nor had he shared her company… And besides this, Our Lord Jesus Christ is called the first born. This is not because there was a second or a third, but because the gospel writer is paying regard to precedence. Scripture speaks thus of naming the first-born whether or not there was any question of the second.”
John Calvin; “Sermon on Matthew”, published 1562
BUT WHAT ABOUT JESUS’ BROTHERS MENTIONED IN THE BIBLE?
There are several gospel references to Jesus having “brothers and sisters”. This is the most specific:
Matthew 13:55. “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers, James, Joses, Simon and Judas? 56 Aren’t all his sisters with us?”
One traditional response is that these may have been children of Joseph from an earlier marriage. Joseph is traditionally held to be much older than Mary.
Another important factor here is that the language used in the Palestine of Jesus’s time was Aramaic. In the Aramaic language used at that time, there was no word in existence to denote cousin. The Jews therefore had to use the word brother where they meant to describe any close male relative. This is so even today in many languages and cultures, particularly where there is an extended family system. The loose term “brother” or “sister” is used to cover the children of ones uncles and aunts as well as those of ones own parents.
WHAT PROOF IS THERE OF THIS?
Gen 14:14 “And when Abram heard that his Brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan.”
The “brother” referred to here is Lot. Lot was the son of Aran, Abram’s own dead brother (Gen 11:26-28). He was therefore Abram’s Nephew, even though the text refers to him as a “brother”.
BUT THE NEW TESTAMENT WAS WRITTEN IN GREEK, WHICH DOES HAVE A WORD FOR COUSIN.
This is a bit of a red-herring for two reasons. Firstly, there is evidence from the Early Church Fathers that the Book of Matthew, at least, was originally written in Aramaic, and so was translated into Greek. Secondly, we know that the people of Palestine in Jesus’s time spoke in Aramaic, and it is therefore in Aramaic in which the oral stories which were later written down to form the Gospels, were transmitted. So it is likely that the Aramaic word “brother”, meaning not only sibling, but any kinsman, was translated into the Greek word “brother”, which has the tighter meaning of sibling only. This is clearly what has happened in Genesis 14.14 above.
SO WHO WERE THESE “BROTHERS OF JESUS?”
A. While James and Joses are mentioned as Jesus’s brothers in Matthew 13:55, it is made clear in Mathew 27:56 and Mark 15:40 that their mother was another Mary.
Matthew 27:56 Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.
This “other Mary” at the Cross, is revealed in John 19:25 to be the wife of Cleophas. Mary of Cleophas is therefore revealed as the mother of two of Jesus’s so-called “brothers”, James and Joses.
B. In John 19:25, the original Greek states. “But by he cross of Jesus were the Mother of Him AND the sister of the Mother of Him, Mary the wife of Cleopas AND Mary the Magdalene.” The precise positioning of the ANDs makes it clear that Mary the Wife of Cleopas, is also referred to as the Virgin Mary’s sister. Since we know no-one has two daughters and calls them BOTH Mary, we know that sister here does not mean sister. The same would apply to “brother” with reference to Jesus.
C. In the introduction to the Book of Jude, Jude introduces himself as: Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ, and a brother of James. If Jude/Judas were truly the brother of Jesus, why wouldn’t he say so? He identifies himself in his letter as brother of James, but significantly as servant of Jesus. To have identified himself as Jesus’s blood brother would have added enormous weight to his epistle, but he doesn’t so identify himself here. We know the reason, because James and Joseph have already been revealed to be sons of the other Mary in Matthew 27 and Mark 15. Judas then must also be a son of this other Mary. Mary wife of Cleophas. So another of Jesus’s so-called “brothers” is eliminated.
D. James “Brother of Jesus” is referred to as one of the APOSTLES by Paul in Galatians 1:19. . We know that neither of the Apostles named James was actually a Son of Mary. So James, “brother of Jesus” cannot be a Son of Mary. He is actually James, Son of Alphaeus (thought to be another form of Cleophas)! James is a kinsman of Jesus, but not a sibling.
A few more points:
In Luke 2:41-51, the twelve-year-old Jesus goes missing on a trip to Jerusalem, and is only found three days later in the temple. Yet in all this time no mention at all is made of any other children, even though the entire family made the journey together. If all the people mentioned in Matthew were actually surviving children of Mary, she would have had at least seven children younger than Jesus to look after! In fact both Mary and Joseph race back to Jerusalem to find him, through country filled with bandits, something they could not have done if there had been babies and other young children in need of care!
The people of Nazareth refer to Jesus as “the son of Mary” (Mark 6:3), not as “a son of Mary”
Finally, if James and Joseph, Simon and Jude, were children of Mary, and if Jesus had even more brothers and sisters, why did Jesus commit His Mother to the care of St. John at His death?
See my comments
We ask our fellow Christians to pray for me because they are living people NOT dead people.
Mother mary and millions of catholic saints are NOT our mediators
Mother mary is queen of heaven?
Yes. She is Queen of Heaven. period !
Give me the bible verse
In NT those who believe in Christ are priests.
Show me the verse in Bible. Not st.thomas trip to India
I don’t need weki. If the rosary is not in bible then its man-made tradition.
I have bible and I don’t need to travel to India to find out the queen of heaven.
At least you agree here there is no proof. Even my grandfather body is not traceable that doesn’t mean that he gone to heaven and living like a king over there.
Open your bible and find out the truth.
Rgds