THE WORSHIP OF MARY

"This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; 9 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men."

Matthew 15:8-9

The things that the Roman Catholic Church stands for are directly condemned not only by Jesus but also by the prophecies of the apostles of Christ.  Let us examine one of their erroneous doctrines about the worship of Mary, the goddess of heaven.

I was raised as a devout Catholic and was mostly educated by nuns until 8th grade.  By the grace of God, I found the Truth that set me free.  I had been blinded by all the deceptions and false teachings, but my eyes were opened.  It is a sad fact that so many souls in the world are lost, blind, and without the Truth to set them free from the bondage of sin and error. 

I.   THE WORSHIP OF MARY, THE GODDESS OF HEAVEN:

As someone who was raised as a devout Catholic and who also went to Catholic school for many years, this was a big one for me.  I was indoctrinated about the adoration of Mary.  I was taught that Mary was “the mediatrix of our salvation, the ladder of paradise, the gate of heaven, the most true Mediatrix between God and man.”

For Catholics, Mary is Christ, the mediator here on earth.  This is what the pope teaches.  Catholics are more engaged in praising Mary than our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  They actually (I was taught) pray to her to have their prayers answered.  They use what they call “rosary beads” to praise Mary more than God Himself.  Notice that of the 59 beads of the Rosary, 53 beads are “Hail Marys,” and only 6 beads are to “Our Father.”  This is outrageous to me!  This is where most Catholics really have a problem.  No one dare belittle Mary.  When a Catholic is able to see the Truth of this demonic teaching, he is able to set himself free from the Roman Catholic false doctrines.  Sadly, the worship of Mary is where many Catholics stumble!

The Rosary most often ends with a “Hail, Holy Queen” prayer to Mary, not God, our Father in heaven.  The Catholic Church claims that Mary was a perpetual virgin and never had any children other than Jesus.

Catholic officials (clergy) argue that Mary was chosen from among all creatures to bring the Redeemer into the world, entitling her to high praise as our mediatrix.  It is false teaching among the clergy.  Of course, Mary was a good woman, but she was a human being, not a divine being.  Although Mary must be praised for being a god-fearing woman, she is not entitled to be hailed as “the Mediatrix of our salvation.”  How do I know that?  Because the Word of God gives that high office only to Christ, our Lord (I Tim. 2:5).  Are we going to accept the Word of God or the precepts of men?  When men honor her as the mediatrix of our salvation, they unwittingly dishonor her and especially Christ because it is blasphemy to honor a human as only God is worthy of being honored.

They try to get around I Tim. 2:5 by saying that Jesus is “the one and only mediator of our redemption,” leaving the implication that there are other mediators.  But none of them died for us!  So why is it that they cannot cite other Scriptures to prove their argument?  It is just another example of them teaching a doctrine without any Scriptural proof.  

1. I Tim. 2:5 declares,  “… one God and one mediator.”  Nothing else!  There are no other mediators between God and man, but our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us.  Only One could qualify.  The word “mediator” literally means one who stands equidistant from two sides.  
2. Jesus lived with God in heaven before He came in the flesh, born of a woman (Matt. 9:6).  
3. He knew God, the Father.  
4. He understood His love for man and His attitude toward sin.  
5. He, living among men, was tempted as a man but without sin (Heb. 4:14-15).  
6. He knew man, his temptations, and his weaknesses.  
7. This automatically qualified Him to go back to heaven and to advocate on our behalf, representing us as man’s intercessor before the mighty throne of God (Heb. 7:25).  
8. Only Jesus could or can qualify for this high office. 
9. Only One Mediator is needed, and it is not Mary.  
10. Praying to Mary or the departed “saints” removes the One Mediator from that high office.  He alone can hold such a high office, of making intercession for us to God, the Father!  

This theology is more serious and dangerous than I could have imagined!

• Man is not to Pray TO Man But FOR Man:

The Roman Catholic Church doctrine violates God’s Laws when they teach that man can pray to man.  We are taught and commanded to pray only to God (Matt. 6:9) through Christ (John 14:13-14;16:23), and that excludes everyone else, including Mary.

They also twist Luke 1:41-43, which tells of Elizabeth’s words to Mary, a very natural conversation, but there is not a word about Mary being “the Mediatrix of our salvation.”  

“From henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.”  (Luke 1:48)

The proof text disproves their theory rather than proving it.  In this song of praise, Mary is stating the character by which she wishes to be known, namely, the blessed or happy one.  She never said that all generations would call her the Mediatrix of their salvation.  She did not want that! She wanted to be known as the blessed one.  If the statement, “All generations shall call me blessed,” should be interpreted to imply that she is our mediatrix, then Leah is also our mediatrix for she said, 

“For women shall came me blessed.” (Gen. 30:13)  

Take note that this quotation was taken from the Catholic Bible.

Roman Catholic theology asserts: 

 “And to increase our confidence, St. Anselm adds, that when we have recourse to this divine mother, we may not only be sure of her protection, but that sometimes we shall be sooner heard and be saved by invoking her holy name than that of Jesus our Savior.  And he gives the reason;  Because it belongs to Christ as our judge to punish, but to Mary as our advocate to pity.  By this he would give us to understand that we sooner find salvation by recurring to the mother than the Son.”  (The Glories of Mary, St. Alfonzo Liguori, p. 149).  

It all boils down to this:  

1. Christ is too hard, too difficult, and too demanding (exacting).  
2. Mary can manage things better than Christ since she is more qualified to act on our behalf.  

So, Roman Catholics should take all their problems to Mary, who will either act independently of God or throw a woman’s influence upon Him until she has her way in everything.  What a shame for the Roman Catholic Church to make such a harsh, untruthful, disgusting statement about our Savior!  I cannot fathom that!  It is too much for me!

Alas, I ask the Roman Catholic Church, how dare you treat our Savior this way?!  Such disgusting and untruthful statement makes it easier to see why their prayers are filled with “Hail Mary,” and why their prayers addressed to Mary are more emphasized than the prayers to God.  

“The entire Rosary consists of one hundred and fifty Hail Marys…  The principal prayer of the Rosary is Hail Mary, repeated one hundred and fifty times.”

Take note that the Bible in contrast to this unscriptural doctrine declares:  

1. "God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him [not Mary] might be saved."  (John 3:17)
2. “According to his mercy he [not Mary] saved us.”  (Titus 3:5)  
3. “The same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him [not Mary].” (Romans 10:12)  
4. “If ye shall ask anything in my name [not Mary’s name], I will do it.”  (John 14:14).  
5. “I [not Mary] am the way, the truth and the life:  no man cometh unto the Father, but by me [not by Mary]  (John 14:6)
6. “And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father,  Jesus Christ the righteous [not Mary].  (I John 2:1)  
7. “I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for His name’s sake [not for Mary’s name’s sake].”  (I John 2:12)  
8. “I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ [not Mary].”  (Eph. 3:14)
9. “Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father [not Mary] in my name [not Mary’s name] he will give it to you.”  (John 16:23)

Catholic clerics assert that the Lord considers the glory of Mary as His own and exults in it!  They support this false argument with Isa. 48:11 where He said, 

“And My glory I will not give to another.”  

No man can make this Scripture read that the LORD considers the glory of Mary as His own.  So it is Roman Catholic Church theology versus the Truth of God's Word found in the Bible.  Another Scripture,  

"I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols”  (Isa. 42:8).  

Implicitly they are stealing the glory of Christ and giving it to Mary.  This is wrong!  Both Peter and Paul speaking of Christ said, 

“To whom be glory for ever and ever”  (Galatians 1:5; II Tim. 4:18; Heb. 13:21; I Peter 5:11). 

No inspired writer ever said,

“To Mary be glory for ever and ever.”  

The apostles were guided into all Truth (John 16:13).  They were not guided by the doctrine of glorifying Mary.  Hence, this doctrine is not part of the Truths of God.

What they need to acknowledge is that Mary shares in Christ’s glory and not our Lord in her glory, exulting it.  This is blasphemy!

CONCLUSION:

The Roman Catholic Church wishes to glorify Mary since she was the fleshly mother of Jesus. This false doctrine grows out of the error of placing too much emphasis on the physical relationship of Jesus.  If Jesus had wanted us to worship Mary, then He missed a marvelous opportunity of glory. Instead, Jesus taught that the greatest honor comes from obeying the Word of God.  He places the emphasis mainly on the spiritual and not the physical.

Catholicism asserts that Mary is the “Mother of God.”  But the Bible never calls Mary the “Mother of God.”  If she were to be the “Mother of God,” then she would be divine.  No one can deny that Jesus is divine since He is the Son of God.

1. Christ “was made flesh and dwelt among us.”  (John 1:14)
2. And in the process of this incarnation, Mary became the human mother of Jesus, not the mother of His divinity, not the “Mother of God.”  
3. God is the Creator of Mary. 
4. She is a creature, not a self-existing being like God.  
5. It is pure idolatry to worship and serve a creature rather than our Creator.  

If the Roman leaders had read the Bible, they would have encountered this verse in the Bible, in the letter to the Romans.  This letter was given to Rome before she invented the glorification of Mary, of saints and of angels.  They must heed the warning:

“Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator.”  (Romans 1:25)

Oh!  Roman Catholics, how can you kneel before an image such as Mary, praying to her saying, “Hail Mary,” “Hail Mary,” “Hail Mary,’ in the light of these Scriptures!!  How do you dare make a creature such as Mary, the goddess of your religion, when you know well our Only Creator is to be our Only God in heaven?

May we always love the Truth and never compromise it but tell it like it is.  May we allow God's Word to mold us to see the errors and false teachings while we distance ourselves from the evil doctrines of men.  May we proclaim the glorious Gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ to the lost.

Luci