Prayer to Mary is a way of being drawn towards Jesus. Just as a Protestant might go to a pastor to say, “pray for me” with the assumption that your pastor will point you to Jesus—so also a Catholic will pray to Mary with the confidence that she will direct us to the Lord Jesus. It is an act of intercession.
Catholics do not pray to Mary as if she were God. Prayer to Mary is memory of the great mysteries of our faith (Incarnation, Redemption through Christ in the rosary), praise to God for the wonderful things he has done in and through one of his creatures (Hail Mary) and intercession (second half of the Hail Mary).
Answer: Why Pray to Mary? Because Jesus has given us his Blessed Mother as our great spiritual mother (Rev. 12:17), a heavenly advocate who intercedes for us.
God preserved Mary from sin, and she conceived our Lord by the power of the Holy Spirit, bringing Christ into our world. Catholics can't help but honor the Blessed Virgin Mary, who is full of grace, the Mother of God and our Mother, for her “yes” to God that made the Incarnation possible.
The earliest recorded prayer to Mary is the sub tuum praesidium (3rd or 4th century) and the earliest depictions of her are from the Priscilla catacombs in Rome (early 3rd century).
The Catechism of the Catholic Church, in paragraphs 721–726, claims that Mary is the first dwelling-place of God in salvation history. As such, she is the masterwork of God and the start of God bringing mankind into communion with Jesus.
The phrase "pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death" demonstrates that Catholics view Mary not as a goddess to be worshipped, but as a helpful ally in the life-long struggle against sin and temptation. In all of the Marian prayers offered by Catholics, there is not a single claim of Mary's divinity.
The Catholic's honor and love for Mary reflects their deep love of God, who made Mary who she is. In Luke 1:48 Mary proclaims that “All generations will call me blessed..” God created Mary as such a pure, graced filled creation that from then until all eternity she will be called blessed.
Devotion to the Virgin Mary does not, however, amount to worship – which is reserved for God; Catholics view Mary as subordinate to Christ, but uniquely so, in that she is seen as above all other creatures.
Praying the Rosary allows us to encounter Mary and to enter the mysteries of Jesus Christ. From his Incarnation, to the Cross, to the Resurrection, we come to understand that God has revealed himself and saved us. May the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady of the Rosary, continue to inspire us to a life of discipleship.
The Catholic Church affirms wholeheartedly that we can go straight to Jesus in prayer. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, The prayer of the Church, nourished by the Word of God and the celebration of the liturgy, teaches us to pray to the Lord Jesus.
Let's summarize: Catholics confess their sins to a priest because that is the method of forgiveness that God established. The Almighty alone has the power to forgive sins, and the Son of God granted that authority to His Apostles.
Although there are some requirements for confessions, the main reason why many Catholics receive this sacrament regularly is to experience the love and forgiveness of God. Confession can cleanse your soul, improve your relationship with God and allow you to live in His light.
Jesus, therefore, seeing his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing by, said to his mother: iWoman, behold thy son.; Then, he said to the disciple iBehold thy mother.; And from that hour the disciple took her to his own (home). This very well-known text is one of the most important Marian passages in Scripture.
Aside from the name itself, priests are referred to as father for multiple reasons: as a sign of respect and because they act as spiritual leaders in our lives. As the head of a parish, each priest assumes the spiritual care of his congregation. In return, the congregation views him with filial affection.
Q: Is it necessary for salvation to believe in the help of Mary and the saints? A: It is through Mary that salvation (=Christ) came to us but she is not salvation. She is the first redeemed person through Jesus. Catholic faith does not obligate us to believe in Mary as the mandatory way to or source of salvation.
In praying the Hail Mary, we repeat this greeting of God as a way to honor the woman He favoured to become the mother of His Son. The second half of the Hail Mary prayer was added by the Church to invoke the prayers of the Holy Mother of God who we humbly and piously fly to for help.
Worship belongs only to God. Catholics do ask Mary to pray for us and believe that her intercession has a great effect in calling forth God's grace and mercy.
The petition first appeared in print in 1495 in Girolamo Savonarola's Esposizione sopra l'Ave Maria. The "Hail Mary" prayer in Savonarola's exposition reads: "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
The simple answer is no, Catholics don't worship Mary. We pray to Mary, but not in the same way we pray to God—and not to worship her as a god.
The encyclical Mystici corporis Christi from Pope Pius XII (1943) holds that Mary was also sinless personally, "free from all sin, original or personal". The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that by the grace of God "Mary remained free of every personal sin her whole life long."
Q: Is there a biblical basis for the Rosary? A: As you know the bible does "not" tell us to pray the Rosary because this form of prayer originated only during the middle ages. However, important elements of the Rosary are biblical and/or belong to the common Christian beliefs.
Broadly, Roman Catholicism differs from other Christian churches and denominations in its beliefs about the sacraments, the roles of the Bible and tradition, the importance of the Virgin Mary and the saints, and the papacy.
The Hail Mary is traditionally prayed by Catholics, but many people (both Christian and non-Christian) feel drawn to Mary. They recognize her powerful witness as a faithful disciple of Christ and seek her aid as a compassionate spiritual mother.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that one must confess serious sins at least once a year (CCC 1457). One can commit a serious sin without it being a mortal sin.