Catholic Prayer to Mary and Jesus

Question:  I am currently in a relationship with a practicing Catholic. I am protestant (Baptist) and am trying to educate myself on his beliefs.  We have talked about these things, however, I like finding information on my own as well.  I have read over all the information on this site, however, I still have a few questions.  How do Catholics approach prayer?  Do they pray to Mary or Jesus, and why?

Answer:

I tried to respond to your first question about how Catholics approach prayer in an earlier email.  Here I would like to talk about your second question, namely about Catholics praying to Jesus and to Mary. 

The Scriptures tell us that we pray to God through Jesus in the Holy Spirit -- this is Saint Paul's great insight into the nature of specifically Christian prayer.   

Theologically, Catholics believe that if our prayer is directed to God the Father, we are simultaneously praying to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; if our prayer is directed primarily to Jesus, we are simultaneously praying to the Father and to the Spirit; and if our prayer is directed primarily to the Holy Spirit we are also praying to the Father and the Son.   

Since the Holy Trinity is a divine community of Persons, prayer directed to One of the divine Persons -- Father, Son, Spirit -- reaches the other divine Persons; the Father shares everything with the Son and the Spirit; the Son shares everything with the Father and the Spirit; the Holy Spirit shares everything with the Father and the Son. 

So, yes, Catholics pray to Jesus as the Second Person of the Most Blessed Trinity.   

The more difficult part of your question -- especially from a Protestant point of view -- is why Catholics also pray to Mary. 

We have many ways, as Catholics, of talking about this aspect of our prayer.   

To be a Christian means, among other things, accepting Jesus into your life.  Mary literally accepted Jesus into her life for when she said "Yes!" to the archangel's invitation and the Holy Spirit overshadowed her, Jesus made His home in her womb.  So, for Catholics Mary is the First Christian, the first human being to accept Jesus Christ into her life.   

As the First Christian, she is, so the speak, the Prototype of what being a Christian means.  In that role, we Catholics feel that Mary has something like a "first among equals" role as exemplar for us.   

So, we Catholics feel very comfortable going to her in prayer for guidance and help since she walked this road of living the Christian life before anybody else.  When we pray to her, we are, in a sense, asking for her wisdom and insight about how to live our Christian lives more perfectly; since she's already done it, we look to her for example, direction and guidance. 

Another way that we Catholics think of our practice of praying to Mary is the following.  We are perfectly comfortable as Christians asking other Christians for prayer support when we are confronted by special needs, crises, or stressful circumstances.  Calling up a Christian friend and saying, "Please pray for me, I'm going through a really tough time" makes complete sense to us.   

Christians also believe that death is not the end of life.  Death is a 'door' through which we pass, as we move from one room in our Father's Mansion, the room of this life, to another room in the Lord's House, which is the room of eternal life.  The dead in Christ are surely alive!

 Mary, as the First Christian, is, then, alive in Christ -- sharing the glory of heaven with her Son and all those to whom God has given eternal life. 

So, when we Catholics pray to Mary, we are simply saying that since she is alive in Christ in the glory of heaven, we can go to her, asking for her prayerful support -- in much the same way that we would ask a Christian in our Church community to support us with his or her prayers. 

 The fact that Mary is alive in life-beyond-death in no way minimizes her ability to pray.  In fact, we Catholics would say that since Mary is with her Son, her prayers have a special kind of efficacy and power. 

Another way that Catholics talk about praying to Mary builds on the idea of a special bond between a parent and a child, and particularly on the bond between a Mother and her Son.  In many human relationships, a mother has a special role in the life of her children.  Mary, being such a magnificent mother, and Jesus, being the Perfect Son, surely had a marvelous and ultimately close relationship.  When we Catholics pray to Mary, we are simply assuming that the closeness between this Mother and her divine Son continues in life-beyond-death, and we are asking this special and wonderful Mother to speak to her beloved and divine Son on our behalf. 

A last word about the way Catholics see our prayer to Mary:  When we pray to Mary, we Catholics are, essentially, saying, "Blessed Mary, you are living in the very Presence of God, would you please take my request, my prayer, and put it before God Who chose you to be the Mother of His Son?"  We are acknowledging that, as the Bible says, all generations call her "blessed" precisely because God offered her a unique role as the Mother of Jesus and because she accepted God's invitation.  That intimacy which Mary had with God continues in the glory of heaven.  When we Catholics pray to her, we are simply saying, "Please ask God to hear our prayers now...and at the hour of our death!"

 Does a Catholic HAVE to pray to Mary?  No, we don't HAVE to pray to Mary.  But, praying to Mary is one of the greatest gifts the Catholic Church has to offer us -- so why in the world wouldn't we accept this magnificent gift?!?  While we don't have to pray to Mary, most Catholics WANT to pray to her because she is special to God, special to God's Son, and she, therefore, very special to us!  We never 'worship' Mary -- "worship" is what we give to God alone.  But we do have a very deep love and a very high regard for this blessed woman!

 Thanks for your question; hope this helps some.