Why Do Catholics Talk to the Dead? Is it OK to Pray to Mary, the Saints, & Angels?

  

SHOULD WE PRAY 
TO MARY AND SAINTS?

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Merriam-Webster’s Definitions:

Necromancy - the practice of talking to the spirits of dead people

Medium - a person through whom other persons try to communicate with the spirits of the dead

“Should we pray to Mary and Saints?” - Important Passages of The Catechism of the Catholic Church to Consider:

• “We can pray with and to her.  The prayer of the Church is sustained by the prayer of Mary” (CCC 2679)
• “prayer unites us in the Church with the Mother of Jesus” (CCC 2673)
• “the Churches developed their prayers to the holy Mother of God” (CCC 2675)
• “in countless hymns and antiphons expressing this prayer…entrusts the supplications and praises of the children of God to the Mother of Jesus” (CCC 2675)
• “we can entrust all our cares and petitions to her: she prays for us” (CCCC 2677)
• “by entrusting ourselves to her prayer we abandon ourselves to the will of God together with her” (CCC 2677)
• “Medieval piety in the West developed the prayer of the rosary” (CCC 2678)
• “Mary is the perfect Orans (pray-er)” (CCC 2679)
• “The witnesses…especially those whom the Church recognizes as saints…constantly care for those whom have left on the earth.  Their intercession is their most exalted service to God’s plan.  We can and should ask them to intercede for us and for the whole world.” (CCC 2683)
• “it is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from their sins’ she offers suffrages for them” (CCC 958)
• “prayer is the raising of one’s mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God” (CCC 2559)
• Where is confessing to God?
• “In prayer, the pilgrim Church is associated with that of the saints, whose intercession she asks” (CCC 2692)
• “it is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from their sins’ she offers suffrages for them” (CCC 958)
• “The Church encourages us to prepare ourselves for the house of death. … to ask the Mother of God to intercede for us ‘at the hour of our death’ in the Hail Mary; and to entrust ourselves to St. Joseph, the patron of a happy death” (CCC 1014)
• “This teaching is also based on the practice of prayer for the dead, already mentioned in Sacred Scripture: ‘Therefore [Judas Maccabeus] made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from sin.” (CCC 1032)
• “The Christian funeral…aims at expressing efficacious communion with the deceased” (CCC 1684)
• “The Church…asks [to the Father] to purify his child of his sins and their consequences and to admit him to the Paschal fullness of the table of the Kingdom. … by communicating the Body of Christ…by praying for him and with him.” (CCC)
• “saints…constantly care for those whom they have left on earth…their intercession is their most exalted service to God’s plan.  We can and should ask them to intercede for us and for the whole world.” (CCC 2683)
• “the Church…sustains the hope of believers by proposing the saints to them as models and intercessors” (CCC 828)

“Should we pray to Mary and Saints?” - Important Scriptures to Consider:

• Deuteronomy 18:10–12 “There shall not be found among you…a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD. And because of these abominations the LORD your God is driving them out before you." (ESV)
• Leviticus 19:31 “Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the LORD your God.” (ESV)
• Isaiah 8:19 "And when they say to you, ‘Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living?’” (ESV)
• 1 Samuel 28:15 “Then Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” Saul answered, “I am in great distress, for the Philistines are warring against me, and God has turned away from me and answers me no more, either by prophets or by dreams. Therefore I have summoned you to tell me what I shall do.” (ESV)
• 1 Chronicles 10:13–14 "So Saul died for his breach of faith. He broke faith with the LORD in that he did not keep the command of the LORD, and also [14] He did not seek guidance from the LORD. Therefore the LORD put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse." (ESV)
• Isaiah 45:20 “Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, you survivors of the nations! They have no knowledge who carry about their wooden idols, and keep on praying to a god that cannot save.” (ESV)
• Hebrews 7:27 "He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.” (ESV)
• James 1:5 “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” (ESV)
• Romans 8:26–27 “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. [27] And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” (ESV)
• Romans 8:34 “Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.” (ESV)

IS IT OK TO PRAY TO ANGELS?

“Is it ok to pray to angels?” - Important Passages of The Catechism of the Catholic Church to Consider:

• “the Church…invokes their [the angels] assistance in the funeral…’May the angels lead you into Paradise…she celebrates the memory of certain angels more particularly ? (St. Michael, St. Gabriel, St. Raphael, and the guardian angels’” (CCC 335)
• “Beside each believer stands an angel as protector and shepherd leading him to life” (CCC 336)
• “The Church venerates the angels who help her on her earthly pilgrimage and protect every human being.” (CCC 352)

“Is it ok to pray to angels?” - Important Scriptures to Consider:

• NOTE: The Bible does not mention Raphael or particular “guardian” angels assigned to each believe nor does it support praying to them for assistance as prayer is an act of worship and angels refuse worship.
• Why does the book of Tobit give so much attention to angels compared with every other book of the Bible?  Does that concern you about its trustworthiness?  Should it?
• Revelation 22:8–9 “I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me, [9] but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.” (ESV)
• Colossians 2:16–19 “Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. [17] These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. [18] Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, [19] and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.” (ESV)
• Hebrews 13:5 "he has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.’” (ESV)
• Romans 1:22–25 “Claiming to be wise, they became fools, [23] and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. [24] Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, [25] because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.” (ESV)

“Should we pray to Mary, Saints, or Angels?” - Important Questions to Consider:

• Where does the Bible describe or prescribe praying to Mary, Saints, or Angels?
• Why would we talk to angels when we have the Spirit of God within us, to whom we can speak at anytime?  Is not the God the Holy Spirit more powerful than angels?  
• Is it not insulting to ignore the Holy Spirit (whose job is to intercede for us) and instead speak to created beings rather than the Creator?
• Where does the Bible say that every believer have an individual angel assigned to them?
• How is praying to unseen spiritual beings not a form of worship?
• Where does the Bible describe the dead as praying for the living?
• Is talking to the dead (Mary and Saints) in prayer any different than necromancy?  Why or why not?
• Why does God give so many warnings about necromancy and mediums like in Isaiah 8:19?
• Why was Saul’s sin “that he did not seek guidance from the Lord” directly so serious? (1 Chronicles 10:13–14)
• When was prayer to Mary, the saints, and angels invented by the Catholic Church?  Why?

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Are Images of Jesus, Mary, Saints, or Angels Helpful or Harmful? Do Relics & Rosaries have Power?

 

 ARE IMAGES AND STATUES OF JESUS, SAINTS, ANGELS, OR MARY HELPFUL OR HARMFUL?

DO RELICS AND ROSARIES HAVE SPIRITUAL POWER?

The Catholic Blog - Helping people find answers to the most common questions about Catholicism with answers from the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Bible. (www.catholic.blog )

Merriam-Webster’s Definitions to Consider: How similar are these terms?

Icon - “an object of uncritical devotion; a religious image usually painted on a small wooden panel”

Idol - “an object of extreme devotion; a greatly loved or admired person; a picture or object that is worshipped as a god”

“Are Catholic images helpful or harmful? Do relics and rosaries have power?” - Important Passages of The Catechism of the Catholic Church to Consider:

• “in the Old Testament, God ordained or permitted the making of images that pointed symbolically toward salvation by the incarnate Word; so it was with the bronze serpent, the ark of the covenant, and the cherubim” (CCC 2129)
• “the Christian veneration of images is not contrary to the first commandment which proscribes idols. … ‘whoever venerates an image venerates the person portrayed in it.’ The honor paid to the sacred image is a ‘respectful veneration,’ not the adoration due to God alone” (CCC 2132)
• “The veneration of sacred images is based on the mystery of the Incarnation of the Word of God.  It is not contrary to the first commandment.” (CCC 2141)
• “Previously God, who has neither a body nor a face, absolutely could not be represented by an image.  But now that he has made himself visible in the flesh and has lived with men, I can make an image of what I have seen of God … and contemplate the glory of the Lord, his face unveiled” (CCC 1159)
• “sacred images of the holy Mother of God and of the saints…truly signify Christ, who is glorifies in them…they make manifest the ‘cloud of witnesses’ who continue to participate in the salvation of the world and to whom we are united…so too are the angels” (CCC 1161)
• “‘Following the divinely inspired teachings of our holy Fathers and the tradition of the Catholic Church (for we know that this tradition comes from the Holy Spirit who dwells in her)…holy images of our Lord and God and Savior, Jesus Christ, our inviolate Lady, the holy Mother of God, and the venerated angels, all the saints and the just, whether painted or made of mosaic or another suitable material, are to be exhibited in the holy churches of God, on sacred vessels and vestments, walls and panels, in houses and on streets” (CCC 1161)

Merriam-Webster’s Definitions to Consider:

Amulet - a small object worn to protect the person wearing it against bad things (such as illness, bad luck, etc.)

Charm - something worn about the person to ward off evil or ensure good fortune

Fetish - an object of irrational reverence or obsessive devotion

“Are Catholic images helpful or harmful? Do relics and rosaries have power?” - Important Passages of The Catechism of the Catholic Church to Consider:

• “Medieval piety in the West developed the prayer of the rosary” (CCC 2678)
• “Christian prayer tries above all to meditate on the mysteries of Christ, as in lector divine or the rosary” (CCC 2708)
• “The liturgical feasts dedicated to the Mother of God and Marian prayer, such as the rosary, an ‘epitome of the whole Gospel,’ express this devotion to the Virgin Mary.” (CCC 971)
• “sacramentals…prepare us to receive grace and dispose us to cooperate with it” (CCC 1670)
• “from the Paschal mystery of the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Christ…all sacraments and sacramentals draw their power.  There is scarcely any proper use of material things which cannot be thus directed toward the sanctification of men and the praise of God” (CCC 1670) 
• “among sacramentals, blessings (of persons, meals, objects, and places) come first” (CCC 1671)

“Are Catholic images helpful or harmful? Do relics and rosaries have power?” - Important Scriptures to Consider:

• 2 Kings 18:4–6 And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan). [5] He trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel, so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him. [6] For he held fast to the LORD. He did not depart from following him, but kept the commandments that the LORD commanded Moses.” (ESV)
• Jeremiah 3:16–17 “And when you have multiplied and been fruitful in the land, in those days, declares the LORD, they shall no more say, “The ark of the covenant of the LORD.” It shall not come to mind or be remembered or missed; it shall not be made again. [17] At that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the LORD, and all nations shall gather to it, to the presence of the LORD in Jerusalem, and they shall no more stubbornly follow their own evil heart.” (ESV)
• Revelation 11:19 “Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple.”
• Exodus 20:4–5 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. [5] You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me" (ESV)
• Why does the Catholic Church combine the 2nd & 1st commandment into just the “first” commandment & then split out the 10th commandment into two? (CCC 2051)
• Deuteronomy 5:8–10 “‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. [9] You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, [10] but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.” (ESV)
• Leviticus 26:1  “You shall not make idols for yourselves or erect an image or pillar, and you shall not set up a figured stone in your land to bow down to it, for I am the LORD your God.” (ESV)
• Deuteronomy 4:16–19 “beware lest you act corruptly by making a carved image for yourselves, in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female, [17] the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, [18] the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth. [19] And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the LORD your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven.” (ESV)
• Micah 5:13 “and I will cut off your carved images and your pillars from among you, and you shall bow down no more to the work of your hands” (ESV)
• Psalm 97:7 "All worshipers of images are put to shame, who make their boast in worthless idols; worship him, all you gods!” (ESV)
• Ezekiel 7:20 “His beautiful ornament they used for pride, and they made their abominable images and their detestable things of it. Therefore I make it an unclean thing to them.” (ESV)
• Habakkuk 2:18–20 “What profit is an idol when its maker has shaped it, a metal image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation when he makes speechless idols! [19] Woe to him who says to a wooden thing, Awake; to a silent stone, Arise! Can this teach?Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in it. [20] But the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.” (ESV)
• Isaiah 2:8 "Their land is filled with idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their own fingers have made.” (ESV)
• Acts 17:29 “Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man.” (ESV)
• Colossians 2:18 “Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind” (ESV)
• Revelation 13:14 “and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived.” (ESV)
• Revelation 22:8–9 “I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me, [9] but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.” (ESV)
• Romans 1:22–25 “Claiming to be wise, they became fools, [23] and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. [24] Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, [25] because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. (ESV)
• Ezekiel 13:20–21 “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against your magic bands with which you hunt the souls like birds, and I will tear them from your arms, and I will let the souls whom you hunt go free, the souls like birds. [21] Your veils also I will tear off and deliver my people out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand as prey, and you shall know that I am the LORD. (ESV)
• Psalm 20:7 “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.” (ESV)
• Acts 5:15 “so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them.” (ESV)
• Acts 19:11–12 “And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, [12] so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them.” (ESV)
• Acts 19:19 “And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver.” (ESV)
• Mark 5:28 “For she said, ‘If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.’” (ESV)
• Mark 5:34 “And he said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.’” (ESV)

“Are Catholic images helpful or harmful? Do relics and rosaries have power?” - Questions to Consider:

• If objects from the Old Testament such as the bronze serpent, the ark of the covenant, and the cherubim were so important for our faith, why do we not have them today?
• Why did King Hezekiah destroy the bronze serpent in 2 Kings 18:4?  How does verses 5 & 6 describe King Hezekiah?
• Why is the ark of the covenant now in Heaven and not on earth? (Revelation 11:19)
• What does Acts 19:19 teach us about dangers that can be found in objects?  When should we get rid of or destroy objects?  Why is trust the critical issue?
• Why did the early church father Eusebius warn against amulets being dangerous?  When can an object like a rosary, relic, statue, or image become more like an amulet in our hearts?
• Why did people use objects as idols in the Bible?  What were they trying to gain?  What were they trying to get rid of?  When can an object become an idol in our hearts today?
• Why are we warned about putting our trust in objects like horses and chariots (military might) for protection from evil?
• In Acts 5:15-16 was the healing from the proximity to Peter, or from the faith in the Spirit of the Living God that caused them to draw near to Jesus within Peter?
• Did the woman’s proximity to Jesus heal her?  Did the woman’s touching of Jesus heal her?  Or was it her faith?  Objects and proximity to objects are not needed.  Faith in Jesus is what is needed.
• In John 5:1–11 at the Pool of Bethesda Jesus does not choose to heal everyone.  Why not?
• Why doesn’t Jesus, Peter, or Paul require an offering in return for the healing that came?  Is it wrong for the Church to collect offerings in conjunction with healings? 
• SEE: “What Does the Bible Say about Idols?” www.trustworthyword.com/idols

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Is It True that Mary Never Died? Did Mary Ascend to Heaven?

  

IS IT TRUE THAT MARY NEVER DIED?

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Is It True That Mary Never Died? - Passages of The Catechism of the Catholic Church to Consider:

• “the Immaculate Virgin…was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things.” (CCC 966)
• “she shares in the glory of her Son’s Resurrection, anticipating the resurrection of all members of his Body” (CCC 974)
• “But while in the most Blessed Virgin the Church has already reached that perfection whereby she exists without spot or wrinkle, the faithful still strive to conquer sin and increase in holiness.  And so they turn their eyes to Mary: in her, the Church is already ‘all-holy’” (CCC 829)

Is It True That Mary Never Died? - Scriptures to Consider:

• Acts 2:32–36 “This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. [33] Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. [34] For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand, [35] until I make your enemies your footstool.’ [36] Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” (ESV)
• 2 Kings 2:10–12 “And he said, “You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it shall be so for you, but if you do not see me, it shall not be so.” [11] And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. [12] And Elisha saw it and he cried, “My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” And he saw him no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.” (ESV)
• Genesis 5:23–24 “Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. [24] Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.” (ESV)
• Hebrews 11:5 “By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God.” (ESV)
• Proverbs 30:6 "Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.” (ESV)

Is It True That Mary Never Died? - Questions to Consider:

• Where does the Bible reference Mary as a Queen?
• Who are the only three people that the Bible references as going directly to Heaven without dying?  Why is there such clear evidence and observation about their ascensions?
• Why would the Bible not reference Mary as ascending directly to Heaven also?  Who observed it happening?  Where is it described?
• When was this idea added to church Tradition? Why did not the apostles or early church fathers speak of this happening with Mary?
• If such a significant claim is made by the Catholic Church, without biblical or early church evidence, is the Catholic Church trustworthy on other issues?

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