I wrote this about 2 1/2 years ago.
[all emphases in Scripture verses are the author's. Quotes are taken from the New International Version for the sake of clarity of English. The KJV or any other standard translation will not be different in meaning and their translations may be freely used in place of the NIV here.]
When the subject of idolatry is brought up to Catholics, they deny it. When the subject of worshiping Mary is broached, it is said only to be veneration offered to her. But the truth of the matter is that the Roman Catholic Church ascribes attributes, powers, and work to Mary that the Bible ascribes only to God. A quick and clear proof of this may be found in the Rosary, which all Catholics pray, with special attention paid to the closing lines.
First of all when Catholics pray the Rosary, here is what is recited:
The Apostles' Creed -- one time
The Lord's Prayer -- six times
"Glory be...." -- six times
BUT
"Hail Mary...." 53 times
First of all, that certainly shows who has primacy!
Now, let's look at the conclusion to the Rosary:
Hail, holy Queen, Mother of Mercy!
The title of Queen came into the Catholic Church by way of paganism. It is only there that any "Queen" in
heaven or of heaven exists. There is no Queen in or of heaven in any Judeo or Christian theology. It is an entirely pagan concept and, as such, Catholics are subscribing to pagan terminology and a pagan practice.
The following verses are from Jeremiah 7:16-19; and 44:15-28
So do not pray for this people nor offer any plea or petition for them; do not plead with me, for I will not listen to you. Do you not see what they are doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? The children gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough and make cakes of bread for the Queen of Heaven. They pour out drink offering to other gods to provoke me to anger. But am I the one they are provoking? declares the LORD. Are they not rather harming themselves, to their own shame?
...Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, along with all the women who were present -- a large assembly -- and all the people living in Lower and Upper Egypt, said to Jeremiah, "We will not listen to the message you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD! We will certainly do everything we said we would: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and will pour out drink offerings to her just as we and our fathers, our kings and our officials did in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food and were well off and suffered no harm. But ever since we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have had nothing and have been perishing by sword and famine."
The women added, "When we burned incense to the Queen of Heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, did not our husbands know that we were making cakes like her image and pouring out drink offerings to her?"
Then Jeremiah said to all the people, both men and women, who were answering him, "Did not the LORD remember and think about the incense burned in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem by you and your fathers, your kings and your officials and the people of the land? When the LORD could no longer endure your wicked actions and the detestable things you did, your land became an object of cursing and a desolate waste without inhabitants, as it is today. Because you have burned incense and have sinned against the LORD and have not obeyed him or followed his law or his decrees or his stipulations, this disaster has come upon you, as you now see."
Then Jeremiah said to all the people, including the women, "Hear the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah in Egypt. This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel says: You and your wives have shown by your actions what you promised when you said, 'We will certainly carry out the vows we made to burn incense and pour out drink offerings to the Queen of Heaven.
"Go ahead then, do what you promised! Keep your vows! But hear the word of the LORD, all Jews living in Egypt: 'I swear by my great name,' says the LORD, 'that no one from Judah living anywhere in Egypt will ever again invoke my name or swear, "As surely as the Sovereign LORD lives". For I am watching over them fore harm, not for good; the Jews in Egypt will perish by the sword and famine until they are all destroyed. Those who escape the sword and return to the land of Judah from Egypt will be very few. Then the whole remnant of Judah who came to live in Egypt will know whose word will stand -- mine or theirs.'"
Nor does mercy have a mother. It is an original attribute of God -- the eternal God. As Mary herself said, "His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation." (Luke 1:50)
And hear what Peter himself has to say: But you [God's elect, the believers] are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
.
our life, our sweetness, our hope
Is she really that for you? Let's see what the Bible says,
about LIFE:
John 14:6 – I am the way, the truth and the LIFE... -- Jesus is talking there.
Or go back to John 1:4 -- In him [the Lord Jesus Christ] was life, and that life was the light of men.
Acts 17:24-25 -- The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.
Romans 6:23 -- For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
2 Corinthians 3:6 -- He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant -- not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
Colossians 2:3-4 -- For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
2 Timothy 1:9b-10 -- This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
About SWEETNESS
Psalm 119:103, speaking of God's Law, says --
How sweet are your words to my taste,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!
About HOPE
Romans 15:13 --May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
1 Timothy 1:1 -- Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope...
1 Timothy 4:9-10 -- This is a trustworthy saying that deserved full acceptance (and for this we labor and strive), that we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe.
1 Timothy 5:5 -- The widow who is really in need and left all alone puts her hope in God and continues night and day to pray and to ask God for help.
And from Peter himself, 1 Peter 1:20-21 -- He [Christ Jesus] was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.
Thus, Biblically, God Himself is our life and our hope, and His Law -- His Word -- our sweetness. By ascribing these qualities to Mary, the Roman Catholic Church is blasphemously ascribing to her the qualities only God has.
To continue with the words Catholics pray, though:
To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve;
to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in the valley of tears.
What an insult to God! Look at what His Word says, in contrast:
Romans 8:28 -- And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
John 15:11 -- I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. Those words are from our Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 15:13 (again)-- May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Galatians 5:22 -- But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Philippians 1:25-26 -- Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 -- Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Peter 1:8 -- Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
.
Turn, then, most gracious Advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us;
Advocate? Let's see what the Bible says:
Job 16:19-21 --
Even now my witness is in heaven;
my advocate is on high.
My intercessor is my friend
as my eyes pour out tears to God;
on behalf of man he pleads with God
as a man pleads for his friend.
Hebrews 7:23-25 -- Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
Did Job know about the coming Messiah? He certainly did. It is from him we hear the words, "I know that my Redeemer lives." in Job 19:25. We have an Advocate and Intercessor who saves us completely. We need no other and our Lord needs no help.
.
and after this our exile show us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus;
1 John 3:2 -- Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.
1 Corinthians 1:7-9 -- Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.
Born again Christians do not need anyone to SHOW them Jesus! They already are indwelt by the precious Holy Spirit, as Paul states so clearly in Romans 8:9 --"You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ." It is true that there will come a time when we will see Him as He is, which is not this time yet. But when that happens, Mary will have no part in facilitating it. The sheep do not need anything but proximity to see the Shepherd.
.
O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.
In Genesis 2:24, we read -- For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
In Matthew 1:20-25, we read,
But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph
son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her of
from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he
will save his people from their sins."
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" -- which means, "God with us."
When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
Now, in 1 Corinthians 7:3-5, we read
The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. The wife's body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband's body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife. Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
Now go to Hebrews 13:4 -- Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure...
If Mary did not have sexual intercourse with her husband Joseph she was defiling the marriage bed and the meaning of marriage as intended by God. Mary was not a virgin after Jesus was born. She was a normal wife and had normal children, as mentioned in Matthew 13.
.
Pray for us, O holy mother of God.
First of all, we already have the Holy Spirit who prays for us when we don't know what we ought to pray ourselves -- In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. (Romans 8:26)
So to ask Mary to pray for us is an insult to the Holy Spirit, for that is HIS function -- or part of it.
Secondly, God has no mother. The term "mother of God" is entirely pagan and can be traced all the way back to ancient Babylon and the great apostasy. Mary was the mother of Jesus' earthly body, and that is all. She was in no way, shape, or form, the progenitor of His deity!
.
That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Made worthy? We are NEVER worthy of anything from Christ. The whole point of the Christian message and the whole point of Christ's work here was that the only way we have any worthiness at all is through Him and in Him. Apart from our Lord Jesus Christ, we have no worthiness of anything, including His promises.
And keep in mind one other thing -- His promises are promises. Those who are His will receive all that is promised. They cannot be made worthy apart from Him, and once in Him there is no holding back:
For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of
sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are
God's children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs --heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if
indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
... For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to
separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (from Romans 8 )
The Mary that the Rosary is prayed to is ascribed the attributes, powers, and work of God. She is not, in any way, the young woman who gave birth to the infant Jesus that night in Bethlehem about 2000 years ago. The Mary of the Rosary is the same Queen of Heaven the Jews in Egypt were burning incense to. The same Queen who comes down in Roman mythology and Greek mythology, which is present in Egyptian mythology and the Hindu religion. Her original was probably the wife of Nimrod if linguistics is giving us enough of a clue.
The one person the Mary of the Rosary is NOT, is the mother of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.