Mary & the Saints | cruxchfaithformation

Apologetics Minute: Mary & the Saints

“Why do Catholics call Mary ‘Queen of Heaven’?”

Catholics call Mary the Queen of Heaven because they call Jesus the King of kings. In Jewish culture, if there was a king, then his mother would be proclaimed “Queen Mother” and would have authority just below the king. We even see this in the Kingdom of David, of which Jesus is a descendent, with King Solomon and his mother Bathsheba (1 Kings 2:19). This is not a title someone earned by her own merits, but by the merits and authority of her son; the same is true for Mary and her Son, Jesus. Solomon chose to honor his mother with this title and as king had authority to do so. So is the case with Jesus and His mother as He would certainly have followed the 4th Commandment “honor thy father and mother” (Exodus 20:12).

“Why do we choose saints’ names for Confirmation?”

We choose a Saint’s name for Confirmation because it is that Saint who will be our patron. This Saint will pray and intercede for us during our life to help bring us to heaven (Rev. 5:8; 8:4). The practice of changing one’s name is also prevalent in the Bible. When a person’s name is changed, it signifies a new direction that person’s life will take; a direction intended to lead to God. God did this with Abram, changed to Abraham in Gen. 17:5; and with Simon, changed to Peter in Mat. 16:17-18. We give ourselves a new name at Confirmation because we are turning our lives to God. The Saint whose namesake we choose is meant to help us in this endeavor.

“Why is St. Joseph called the ‘Patron of a Happy Death’?”

St. Joseph is known as the Patron of a Happy Death because of the traditional belief of his life and death. Based on the ancient, though non-biblical, Protoevangelium of James, Joseph was much older than Mary when they were engaged and married. This, along with his absence during the ministry of Jesus in the Bible, led the Church to speculate the possibility that St. Joseph died in the presence of Jesus and the Blessed Mother, which is the happiest earthly death one can experience. If you want a happy death, pray for the intercession of St. Joseph. Also, pray the “Hail Mary,” which asks Mary to “pray for us, sinners, now, and at the hour of our death.”

“Why does the Catholic Church call Mary the ‘Mother of God’?”

The Catholic Church acknowledges Mary as the “Mother of God” primarily because the Catholic Church acknowledges Jesus as God, a foundational belief of Christianity (some of the many Bible verses supporting this view are John 1:1, 14 and 8:58), and that Mary was His mother, another foundational belief of Christianity (some Bible verses for this view are Luke 1:31, 43). During the Church Council of Nicaea in AD 325, the Church determined that the human and divine natures of Christ were inseparable in one Person, God the Son. Mary gave birth to a Person, Jesus. Therefore, Mary is the mother of Jesus, the Mother of God. The word used by the Church to express this fact is Theo-tokos, which is a Greek word meaning “God-bearer,” referring to Matthew 1:21, which says Mary will “bear a son”.

“Why does the Catholic Church believe in the Immaculate Conception of Mary?”

The Catholic Church believes in the Immaculate Conception of Mary, that she was conceived without original sin, primarily because of references in the Bible and writings of Church Fathers, the first Christians after the Apostles. The greeting the angel gave to Mary, “Hail, full of grace” (Lk 1:26), is unique to anyone in the Bible. “[F]ull of grace” means Mary was overflowing with God’s grace. Many Church Fathers titled Mary, “Ark of the New Covenant,” referring to the Ark of the Covenant in the Old Testament, which contained the presence of God. This Ark was completely pure (Ex 25:11-21). If the Old Ark, which contained God, was pure, then it follows that the New Ark, Mary, which contained God in her womb, would also be pure.

“Why would I give honor or love to Mary or the Saints when I can just honor and love Jesus?”

This implies that honor or love only work in one direction as fractions, but we know this is not the case. Consider a family with multiple children: parents do not love the first child less when the second child comes and children do not dishonor the father by honoring the mother. In fact, the opposite is actually true. Parents love an individual child as they seem him/her interact with siblings and a child honors his/her father more by honoring the mother. Love multiples when there are more objects to receive love and one party is honored when its counterpart is honored as well. So is the case with Jesus and Mary (and the Saints). Jesus tells us to “love one another” in Jn. 13:34; 15:17 and “honor your father and mother” in Mat. 19:19. He wouldn’t do this if it would take away love from God, which He tells us to do “with all [our] heart…soul…strength…[and] mind” in Luke 10:27. When we give honor and love to Mary and the Saints, we are actually honoring and loving Jesus more because we are following His commands, which He says those who truly love Him do in Jn. 14:15; 15:10.

"What is the communion of Saints?"

Christianity has always emphasized that Jesus didn't leave [us] orphans (Jn. 14:18). Evidence of this is the Church�s belief in the communion of Saints. Saints are those in heaven praying for us to join them. We see prayers of the Saints rising to God in Rev. 5:8. We call it the communion because we are many members brought together as one (comm-union). This communion is a diverse family of all ages, times and races. This follows when St. Paul said, There is neither Jew nor Greek?slave nor free?male and female?you are all one in Christ Jesus in Gal. 3:28. The beauty of the Church's recognition of these holy people is that, today, we can find a person to relate to each of us and whom we can trust for help. Who's your favorite Saint? Join him or her in prayer today.

“Why does the Catholic Church believe in the Assumption of Mary into heaven?"

The Catholic Church believes that Mary was assumed body and soul into heaven at the end of her earthly life because of both the writings of the Bible and Sacred Tradition. In Gen. 3:15, God puts enmity between the offspring of the devil and “the woman.” On two separate occasions Jesus calls His mother “woman” (Jn. 2:4 and 19:26), a strange label for one’s own mother. This is to emphasize the enmity Mary, the “woman,” has with the offspring of the devil, which is death. With enmity between her and death, it follows that she was spared from death. Also, St. Paul says “the wages of sin is death” in Rom. 6:23. If, as the Church teaches, Mary was conceived without sin, it also follows that she was spared from its “wages”.

“Why would I pray to Mary or the Saints when I can just pray directly to Jesus?”

While there is certainly nothing wrong with praying “directly to Jesus,” there also isn’t anything wrong with praying to Mary or the Saints since they direct our prayers to Jesus and intercede for us. This may sound like an unnecessary “middleman,” but a more correct understanding would be to think of them as magnifiers of our prayers. This idea comes from the Bible, which says, “the prayer of a righteous person is very powerful” in James 5:16. Mary and the Saints, being in heaven, certainly are more “righteous” than we are and whose prayers are more “powerful” than ours. We also have evidence of prayers of Saints rising to God in Revelation 8:4. Mary and the Saints spent much of their time on earth praying for others. It would make sense that they would continue to do so in heaven.

"Why do Catholics say the Hail Mary?"

Catholics say the Hail Mary because it comes from the Bible. The first two lines of the prayer come directly from Scripture. "Hail [Mary], full of grace?" comes from the Angel Gabriel's greeting to Mary in Luke 1:28. Then, "Blessed are you among women?" is what St. Elizabeth said to Mary in Luke 1:42. The second half of the Hail Mary also continues the faithful practice of asking others to pray for us. We ask our friends and family to pray for us, why wouldn't we ask Mary to do so as well?

“What’s the difference between praying with the Saints, as Catholics claim to do, and communicating with the dead?”

The difference between these two practices, the first very good and spiritually beneficial, and the second very sinful and spiritually damaging, is literally the difference between the living and the dead. This is because the Church does not believe the Saints to be dead at all. This comes from what Jesus said in Mk. 12:27, that God is the “God of the living”. The Saints are those in heaven who have received eternal life. One could say they are more alive than we are. Also, there is the difference between prayer and use of a medium. When we pray, we ask the Saints to pray with and for us. Our goal is to bring us to God as the Saints in heaven are with God perfectly. The use of a medium, however, seeks to undermine God’s Will by working around the means He gave us to seek our own ends.

“Why do Catholics honor Mary, Jesus’ mother?”

Catholics honor Mary because Jesus honored Mary. As followers of Jesus, it is in our best interest to do as He did or “be imitators” of Him (Ephesians 5:1). The Bible says Jesus subjected Himself to Joseph and Mary despite the fact that He was God of the universe (see Luke 2:51). Also, consider that Jesus was without sin, meaning He followed the Ten Commandments perfectly, the fourth being “honor thy father and mother” (Exodus 20:12). Along with Jesus, the angel Gabriel honored Mary upon greeting her when he said “Hail, full of grace,” the only time in the entire Bible a person was greeted in such a way (Luke 1:28).