What is the deal with Mary, the mother of Jesus, with Catholics.

[Kidlicious]

Is she Divine, or what? Is she just pure? See to me pure and divine are the same things. But I don't believe she was either. Just wondering what the catholic belief is.

[giblets]

[Berzerker]

awww

[pchang]

Hail Mary full of grace
Help me find a parking place

[Dinner]

Your cat probably gave you brain cysts.

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/03/how-your-cat-is-making-you-crazy/308873/

[Ben Kenobi]

Is she Divine, or what? Is she just pure? See to me pure and divine are the same things. But I don't believe she was either. Just wondering what the catholic belief is.

Catholics believe three things that protestants do not.

We believe that Mary was immaculately conceived, that she is sinless and that she ascended into heaven.

All three are connected to each other. She ascended because she is sinless, and she is sinless because she was immaculately conceived.

The justification for the immaculate conception is that Christ chose Mary. Christ needs to have a sinless Human nature and a divine nature in order to be sinless himself, since the bible teaches he was free of original sin. So what he did was set things up for his future mother when she was conceived to preserve her from original sin. It is why the Catholic church teaches that Christ was Mary's savior in that she was spared of sin by Christ himself.

That's also why it's not turtles all the way down.

Her ascension comes about because the Church teaches that the wages of sin is death and that without sin we would not die. So Mary was carried up into heaven.

We don't pray to her, we don't worship her, but most Catholics see her as one of the biggest saints, if not the biggest.

[Ming]

We don't pray to her,

From Catholic Online...

A Prayer to the Blessed Virgin
much recommended by the holy Priest J.M. Vianney, commonly called the Cur� of Ars.
Thou, Most Holy Virgin, who dost evermore stand before the throne of the Most Holy Trinity, and to whom it is granted at all times to pray for us to the most beloved Son, pray for me in all my necessities; help me, combat for me, give thanks for me, and obtain for me pardon of all my sins; help me especially at my last hour, and, when I can no longer give any sign of the use of reason, then do thou encourage me, make the sign of the cross for me, sprinkle me with holy water, and fight for me against the enemy. Make in my name a profession of faith; favour me with a testimony of my salvation, and never let me despair of the mercy of God. Help me to overcome the wicked enemy; and when I can no longer say, "Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I place my soul in your hands, say it for me; and when I can no longer hear human words of consolation, then do thou comfort me. Leave me not before I have been judged; and if I have to expiate my sins in purgatory, O pray for me instantly, earnestly, and admonist my friends to procure for me a speedy enjoyment of the blessed sight of God. Lessen my sufferings, deliver me speedily, and conduct my soul into Heaven with thee, that, united with all the Elect, I may there bless and praise my God and thyself for all eternity.
Amen.

Maybe you should do some more research on what you claim to be an expert on...

And are you forgetting the Hail Mary... you must have learned that one...

[Ben Kenobi]

Well, that didn't last long. Mods thread****ting.

[Ming]

What's wrong with simply pointing out yet another mistake you've made?

You stated something, and you were corrected, as usual.

[Kidlicious]

No protestant ever told me that she was sinless, only that she was a virgin. You said that Christ needed a divine nature in order to be sinless. By that logic Mary must be divine, or she can't be pure.

[Ben Kenobi]

No protestant ever told me that she was sinless, only that she was a virgin.

Yeah, it's a major doctrinal difference. Catholics believe she was sinless over and above being a virgin.

You said that Christ needed a divine nature in order to be sinless. By that logic Mary most be divine, or she can't be pure.

Christ doesn't get his divine nature from Mary. He gets his Human nature from her. He's fully God and fully man. In a sense he's always had his divine nature, but the incarnation adds his human nature to his divine nature, when Christ chose to become man.

[Ming]

So Ben, I guess you don't want to address the mistake you made. Please show proof that Catholics don't pray to the Virgin Mary.

[Ben Kenobi]

Ming, I'm not going to reply to you here over Kidicious' question. If you want to revive our discussion, I'll happily discuss it with you in another thread. Start it, I'll answer it.

[Alexander's Horse]

He is only a postulant Ming

Big Mary fan here. Don't want to explain. Too personal.

[Alexander's Horse]

gah jon miller...