In response to metmom Cronos wrote:
“What you may have observed does not mean that that is set doctrine and it does not mean that All practised what those you observed practise. For example, on this very forum you have many Catholics who do not fit your observations. You cannot paint us with the broad brush of your observations and as I pointed out — you cannot assume doctrine based on your observations. In Mass for example, we have praise and worship and all mention and direction is to God alone (Mary is only mentioned if she’s in the gospel readings and perhaps in the sermon).”
I do not disbelieve what you say about your own experience, Cronos, or the experience of people you know, perhaps, very well. However, here is the problem as I see it. It is threefold. First, human experience and memory are very subjective things, something that Catholics generally point out regularly when speaking to Protestants. Second, and corollary to the first point, the Catholic Church is supposed to be monolithic, united in doctrine, which is its supposed great strength as compared to the manifestly fractured nature of Protestantism. What you are suggesting here in this post is that Catholicism is in fact, beneath its superficial appearance of unity in doctrine, quite badly fractured itself. Third, the prayer of Pius XII, cited by metmom in a recent post and copied again below for ease of reference, completely contradicts the assertion of your last sentence or, at least, makes it look like the parish where you regularly worship is quite out of sync with the highest authorities of the Catholic Church.
The previous citation of metmom:
Prayer of Pope Pius XII
Enraptured by the splendor of your heavenly beauty, and impelled by the anxieties of the world, we cast ourselves into your arms, O Immaculate Mother of Jesus and our Mother, Mary, confident of finding in your most loving heart appeasement of our ardent desires, and a safe harbor from the tempests which beset us on every side.
Though degraded by our faults and overwhelmed by infinite misery, we admire and praise the peerless richness of sublime gifts with which God has filled you, above every other mere creature, from the first moment of your conception until the day on which, after your assumption into heaven, He crowned you Queen of the Universe.
O crystal fountain of faith, bathe our minds with the eternal truths! O fragrant Lily of all holiness, captivate our hearts with your heavenly perfume! O Conqueress of evil and death, inspire in us a deep horror of sin, which makes the soul detestable to God and a slave of hell!
O well-beloved of God, hear the ardent cry which rises up from every heart. Bend tenderly over our aching wounds. Convert the wicked, dry the tears of the afflicted and oppressed, comfort the poor and humble, quench hatreds, sweeten harshness, safeguard the flower of purity in youth, protect the holy Church, make all men feel the attraction of Christian goodness. In your name, resounding harmoniously in heaven, may they recognize that they are brothers, and that the nations are members of one family, upon which may there shine forth the sun of a universal and sincere peace.
Receive, O most sweet Mother, our humble supplications, and above all obtain for us that, one day, happy with you, we may repeat before your throne that hymn which today is sung on earth around your altars: You are all-beautiful, O Mary! You are the glory, you are the joy, you are the honor of our people! Amen.
Didn't these Catholics just tell us that they don't pray to Mary; they only ask Mary and their Saints to pray to God for them???
The word “altars” is interesting. Don’t protestant churches have altars? Some I’ve been in, do...where the grape juice and crackers are set up before being passed out. So, what is the purpose of the altar? Nothing is sacrified on them, right?
Altars can be places of sacrifice, or places where religious ceremonies are performed, or both, or neither.