Here is Martin Luther in his own words:
"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's Sermon "On the Day of the Conception of the Mother of God," 1527.
I’m not required to honor Mary. It’s not a requisite of my faith.
We do on Mothers Day...does that count ?
My question is why do these religion threads always turn into a snark-fest? Riddle me that. Then look internally.
We do not consider her as Deity. And, we don't pray to the Saints, either.
Protestants do call her blessed. Of course she was blessed as was Abraham, David, Gideon, etc.
Psalm 1 says "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly". Thus, if you are godly you are blessed. Mary doesn't have a corner on the blessedness dept.
We honor her, but we don’t build statues of her or pray to her. We also don’t have statues of Abraham or King David, and we don’t pray to them, either.
I value Msgr. Pope’s blog.
90% of what he has to say is valuable Christian teaching.
The other 10% (like this one) I skip over and wait eagerly for the next scripture-based one.
Although it says in Luke that Mary is blessed, Jesus also said the weak in spirit, the meek, the peacemakers,the persecuted, the pure of heart, the merciful, those who mourn, and those who thirst for righteousness are blessed as well. It seems, by definition, Mary belongs to a pretty big group. How does one member of this class get elevated above others? Are some more blessed than others?
But you “honor” her by violating the 2nd Commandment.
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.
The Bible tells us “Then He said to the disciple. “Behold they mother!” John 19:27. That is sufficient.
Never met her. Hope she was a nice lady. Don’t expect to ever meet her.
Amen!
Does she deserve more honor than Moses, Paul, John the baptist, King David or Daniel?
Of course we honor Mary. Same as we honor all the other children of God throughout the Bible, and each other. But we don’t worship them and put our trust in them for our salvation.
Papists think that if we don’t kneel before altars of Mary, offer incense and confess Mary as our savior, that we must not honor her. It’s the same reaction the old Pagans probably used to have if you didn’t worship their particular deity, but preferred maybe Jove or some other god to give your attention to.
How is kneeling before her graven image, surrounded by candles and music, unabashedly praying to her, asking for favors & forgiveness & guidance, promising devotion, and declaring her perfection & power & worth, anything BUT worship?
My soul magnifies the Lord,
And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
For He has regarded the low estate of His handmaiden,
For behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
For He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name. And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with His arm:
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
and exalted those of low degree.
He has filled the hungry with good things;
and the rich He has sent empty away.
He has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy;
As He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to His posterity forever.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen
Magníficat ánima mea Dóminum,
et exsultávit spíritus meus
in Deo salvatóre meo,
quia respéxit humilitátem
ancíllæ suæ.
Ecce enim ex hoc beátam
me dicent omnes generatiónes,
quia fecit mihi magna,
qui potens est,
et sanctum nomen eius,
et misericórdia eius in progénies
et progénies timéntibus eum.
Fecit poténtiam in bráchio suo,
dispérsit supérbos mente cordis sui;
depósuit poténtes de sede
et exaltávit húmiles.
Esuriéntes implévit bonis
et dívites dimísit inánes.
Suscépit Ísrael púerum suum,
recordátus misericórdiæ,
sicut locútus est ad patres nostros,
Ábraham et sémini eius in sæcula.
Glória Patri et Fílio
et Spirítui Sancto.
Sicut erat in princípio,
et nunc et semper,
et in sæcula sæculórum.
Amen.
She became the Mother of God, in which work so many and such great good things are bestowed on her as pass man’s understanding. For on this there follows all honor, all blessedness, and her unique place in the whole of mankind, among which she has no equal, namely, that she had a child by the Father in heaven, and such a Child . . . Hence men have crowded all her glory into a single word, calling her the Mother of God . . . None can say of her nor announce to her greater things, even though he had as many tongues as the earth possesses flowers and blades of grass: the sky, stars; and the sea, grains of sand. It needs to be pondered in the heart what it means to be the Mother of God.
(Commentary on the Magnificat, 1521; in Luther’s Works, Pelikan et al, vol. 21, 326)
WHY the Daily Rosary?
•Our Lady has 117 titles. She selected this title at Fatima: “I am the Lady of the Rosary.”
•St. Francis de Sales said the greatest method of praying IS- Pray the Rosary.
•St. Thomas Aquinas preached 40 straight days in Rome Italy on just the Hail Mary.
•St. John Vianney, patron of priest, was seldom seen without a rosary in his hand.
•”The rosary is the scourge of the devil” — Pope Adrian VI
•”The rosary is a treasure of graces” — Pope Paul V
•Padre Pio the stigmatic priest said: “The Rosary is THE WEAPON”
•Pope Leo XIII wrote 9 encyclicals on the rosary.
•Pope John XXIII spoke 38 times about our Lady and the Rosary. he prayed 15 decades daily.
•St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort wrote: “The rosary is the most powerful weapon to touch the Heart of Jesus, Our Redeemer, who so loves His Mother.”
•MARY, QUEEN OF THE HOLY ANGELS — PRAY FOR US!
•”Jesus, Mary, I Love You, Save Souls”
•J.M.J. = JESUS, MARY, JOSEPH - the Holy Family......
From Catholic Online