The Elevation of Mary

     Why do Catholics elevate Mary? 

Like all of us, Mary was in need of salvation, but Christ elevated her as His Mother. 

   She was saved in a unique way by the free gift of Grace at her own conception. This is called the Immaculate Conception. It refers to a unique salvation reserved for Mary because of the role she would play in salvation history. 

Jesus as Scripture states, was like us except in sin. (Hebrews 4:15, 2 Cor 5:21)

It's simple. The Word of God cannot be contained in that which is unholy, or full of sin! 

Therefore it is logical! 

   Christ's mother had to be preserved from all stain of sin in order to contain that which is without sin. Can the unholy contain which is holy? Who on earth is suitable to contain in her womb The Word of God? The words of Jesus in this next verse come to mind.

"Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.” (Matt 9:17 ESV)

There is no doubt in my mind that Jesus' mother who is "blessed among women" as we read in Luke's Gospel that she was preserved from sin at her conception and preserved from sin throughout her life. It is precisely because of that special and unique salvation that she lived her whole life without sin.  

She was the first faithful Christian! 

Mary was the first to believe in Jesus Christ, making her the first Christian. And it is because of her faith in Him, the Messiah who was to come and God's message of holiness that she surrendered herself completely to Him which caused her to say, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." (Luke 1:38 ESV)  

All Have Sinned...

   But the scriptures say, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23.) 

Doesn't that include Mary? 

To answer this I argue that Rom 3:23 isn't speaking of a literal "all" but can be considered a hyperbole. A hyperbole is an extreme exaggeration used to make a point. It is like the opposite of “understatement.” It is from a Greek word meaning “excess.” Like when we say things like, "everyone will be there!" We don't actually mean everyone, but a lot of people. I believe that is what's going on in Romans 3:23. 

Romans 3:23 says, "all have sinned" but we already know that there is exceptions to that. Obviously Jesus isn't included in Romans 3:23, because he never sinned. (Hebrews 4:15, 2 Cor 5:21) Also unborn babies, new born babies, small children, and anyone who has not yet sinned for whatever reason, etc... are also not included in the "all" of this verse, because they haven't sinned yet. 

There are many exceptions to Romans 3:23. Since we know that to be true why couldn't Mary the Mother of Jesus also be an exception? My point is you can't say that Romans 3:23 includes Mary when she could possibly be one of many exceptions to it :) 

The question is how do you know she isn't?

"Not all without exception (every human being), but all without distinction (Jews and Gentiles alike, 3:9; 10:12). That there are exceptions is clear: Jesus was sinless; children below the age of reason do not willfully commit sin; and tradition holds that Mary, by the grace of God, lived her entire life unstained by sin." (From the footnotes of my Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: RSV New Testament)

Don't Catholics elevate Mary?

Yes, but not to the point of deifying her and not to the point of worship. Mary deserves honor, love, respect as the Mother of The Lord. We are called to imitate Christ and he loved his mother perfectly, he honored her following perfectly the fourth commandment. (Ex 20:12, Ephesians 6:2) We are to honor, and love Mary as our own Mother, as Christ does.

For more information on this topic see my post Do Catholics worship Mary? 

"And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?"(Luke 1:41-43 ESV)

The Sacred Scripture elevates Mary in the same way our Lord (who is the Word) does. Likewise the Catholic Church elevates her to the same status, no more, no less! If you think otherwise you are mistaken as to the true teachings of the Church! In Luke's Gospel Mary is "blessed among women."  And in a most prophetic statement Mary declares, "For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed"  These words spoken in sacred scripture are fulfilled by those faithful Christians who honor, love, and call her blessed!

And, What About that Mother of God thing?

Notice that in Luke 1:43 after Elizabeth was "filled with the Holy Spirit" in verse 42, she calls Mary "the Mother of my Lord!" In other words the mother of my God! Elizabeth's Lord is God and the one who is in Mary's womb is Jesus Christ the Messiah, God The Word made flesh (John 1:14) it goes to show that Mary is the Mother of God.

It's in Scripture folks! 

This is why the Catholic Church since the first centuries of Christianity have affirmed that Mary is the Mother of God! In early Christianity the Greek title Theotokos, or "God bearer" as translated was used and still is used to show Mary's unique motherhood. 

"The Virgin Mary, being obedient to his word, received from an angel the glad tidings that she would bear God" (Irenaeus in his Against Heresies, 5:19:1 [A.D. 189]). 

Although Mary is the Mother of God, she is not his mother in the sense that she is older than God, or the source of her Son’s divinity, or the source of God for that matter, for she is neither those things. 

Rather, the Church says that she is the Mother of God in the sense that she carried in her womb a divine person, Jesus Christ, God IN THE FLESH (2 John 7, cf. John 1:14) and in the sense that she contributed the genetic matter to the human form God took in Jesus Christ. For more information and early church quotes  about the Mother of God, like Irenaeus. I highly recommend you read, Mary: Mother of God.

The Catechism of The Catholic Church explains it this way...

490 To become the mother of the Savior, Mary "was enriched by God with gifts appropriate to such a role." The angel Gabriel at the moment of the annunciation salutes her as "full of grace". In fact, in order for Mary to be able to give the free assent of her faith to the announcement of her vocation, it was necessary that she be wholly borne by God's grace.

491 Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, "full of grace" through God, was redeemed from the moment of her conception. That is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854:

The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin.

492 The "splendor of an entirely unique holiness" by which Mary is "enriched from the first instant of her conception" comes wholly from Christ: she is "redeemed, in a more exalted fashion, by reason of the merits of her Son". The Father blessed Mary more than any other created person "in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places" and chose her "in Christ before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before him in love".

493 The Fathers of the Eastern tradition call the Mother of God "the All-Holy" (Panagia), and celebrate her as "free from any stain of sin, as though fashioned by the Holy Spirit and formed as a new creature". By the grace of God Mary remained free of every personal sin her whole life long.

"Let it be done to me according to your word. . ."

494 At the announcement that she would give birth to "the Son of the Most High" without knowing man, by the power of the Holy Spirit, Mary responded with the obedience of faith, certain that "with God nothing will be impossible": "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be [done] to me according to your word." Thus, giving her consent to God's word, Mary becomes the mother of Jesus. Espousing the divine will for salvation wholeheartedly, without a single sin to restrain her, she gave herself entirely to the person and to the work of her Son; she did so in order to serve the mystery of redemption with him and dependent on him, by God's grace:

As St. Irenaeus says, "Being obedient she became the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race." Hence not a few of the early Fathers gladly assert. . .: "The knot of Eve's disobedience was untied by Mary's obedience: what the virgin Eve bound through her disbelief, Mary loosened by her faith." Comparing her with Eve, they call Mary "the Mother of the living" and frequently claim: "Death through Eve, life through Mary."

From The Catechism of The Catholic Church; Article 3, Paragraph 2 "CONCEIVED BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AND BORN OF THE VIRGIN MARY"

Such a beautiful doctrine I just want you all to know about it!

In Conclusion...

Sure the Catholic Church elevates Mary above all other women in history. The Scriptures do. The early Church Fathers do in their writings! Why shouldn't we? She is "blessed among women!" She is the Mother of our Lord who is God incarnate! He was conceived in her womb taking on her flesh to be his own. She raised him, loved him, and was the first to believe in him! When our savior was hanging on that cross she was there too once again as she always had been, loving him, believing in him and following him.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." (Jn 3:16 ESV) 

On that day when her son was hanging on that cross she saw her baby boy and remembered the day (the Annunciation) she consented in faith to be his Mother. You see Mary also gave us something, she gave us her son! And Christ's only concern as he died was us, and his Mother! 

"When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home." (Jn 19:26-27 ESV)

Will you as a beloved disciple take her to your home also? 

Everything Mary is, every title the Church gives her is in relationship to her son. She owes it all to God as we all do! It's always about Christ. He wants us to love and honor her. When we do that we love and honor him! Likewise she wants to bring us to her son, our brother! And she never stops telling us “Do whatever he tells you.” (Jn 2:5 ESV)

I hope you liked the article or at least found it informative regarding what the Catholic Church actually teaches regarding the elevation of Mary. There is so much more I could say. Consider this a start and open your heart and your home to Mary as Christ would want you to.

Remember to check out the links on this article for more information. Good stuff! Also get the awesome book by Tim Staples Behold Your Mother - A Biblical and Historical Defense of the Marian Doctrines learn so much more about our Lord's Mother! I highly recommend it. 

Sincerely

Joanne Utke

Videos for more information

Do Catholics Worship Mary?

 The short answer is an absolute NO!

     The Catholic Church condemns the worship of anyone or anything other than God! If you would like proof you can read The First Commandment section of The Catechism of The Catholic Church right now by clicking the link.

What about kissing a statue of Mary, or adorning it with flowers, isn't that worship?

To answer that question first I need to ask you something. 

What about that looks, or seems like worship to you? 

Kissing someone or even something that represents someone we love doesn't show worship, it shows love, honor and respect! Do you worship your spouse when you kiss them? What about a photo of a loved one who has passed on? Do you worship your mother and father when you show them honor and respect? Do you worship your home when you adorn it with flowers, or other beautiful things? 

The answer is no, these things are a sign of love and not worship. Likewise we adorn the graves of our loved ones with flowers, and no one says that's worship. In every area of life we show honor and respect to people, and objects which represent people we love by doing these things. 

Before the invention of the photograph people had paintings of their loved ones and those they honored. Religious people paint what is known as Icons to represent a Saint whom they love. Statues too have been and are a common way to represent those we admire and honor. Whether they be a Saint in Heaven or an admired person in our culture. 

Thousands of people every year visit the huge statue of Abraham Lincoln at the Lincoln memorial to honor a great man and no one says these people are Lincoln worshippers. I could go on... 

Likewise Catholics use statues and paintings to represent those they love, honor and respect in the same way that we all do! Catholics honor Mary and love her as Christ does. She is not due worship, but honor, and respect, which Christ was pleased to give her in his earthly life and still bestows on her in heaven. Never in the 2,000 + year history of Christianity has the Church taught otherwise. 

We see this admiration, love and honor towards Mary when read Scripture.

I am using the King James Bible for these quotes but you should also look them up in your own personal bible for study purposes. 

"And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women." (Luke 1:28 KJV)

"And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord." (Luke 1:41-45 KJV)

"And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name." (Luke 1:46-49 KJV)

"blessed art thou among women"  

"all generations shall call me blessed"

These prophetic statements are fulfilled in the Catholic Church where Mary is forever blessed, loved, and honored, from generation to generation for 2,000 years!

But, Don't Catholics Pray to Mary? 

Isn't That Worship?

When the Church as well as individual Catholics Pray to her it is simply an address, a solemn request. No different than when you ask a loved one to pray for you. Catholics believe Mary and all the Saints are in heaven with Christ worshiping, glorifying him and being glorified with him!

"The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together." (Romans 8:16-17 KJV)

Those in heaven pray on our behalf because the "effectual fervent prayer of a righteous availeth man much." 

"Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." (James 5:16 KJV)

In conclusion...

Mary wasn't just any woman, "blessed art thou among women!"  She wasn't MERELY a vessel that housed the baby Jesus like an incubator, or something. In fact if you talked about anyone's mother with such coldness they probably wouldn't be your friend long. 

Why is that? Because mothers especially are due honor, and respect! And not just your mother, or your friends mother, but our Lords mother also. Christ loved his mother and honored her perfectly in accordance with the law (Exodus 20:12).

"Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth."  (Ephesians 6:2-3 KJV)

If honoring our own mother is so important then how much more important is it to honor the mother of our Lord who's flesh he took for his own in her womb, the same flesh that hung on the cross for our sins! 

Christ, who gives us everything he has, including his own mother!

Thanks for reading! 

Joanne Utke

 For more on this topic please read my other posts linked below. 

Mother of Perpetual help prayer found on Social Media, my response.

Mother of Perpetual Help prayer found on Social Media

  My Catholic Answer to an image of a Marian prayer (image below) that I saw posted to social media. 

I had never seen this before and just had to give my reply. This was posted by a self professed Christian, who desperately wants to believe that Catholics worship Mary. Those who post such things have no idea what the Church actually teaches, or how to understand the Marian language that has been used by Catholics for thousands of years. 

I agree that posts like this can throw the unsuspecting and poorly catechized Catholic for a loop! This is why I welcome the challenge to understand and refute this claim made by non Catholics. 

I have written other articles answering the question, Do Catholics worship Mary? Namely the articles, The Elevation of Mary and Do Catholics worship Mary? 

In this article you will see my response to the image I happen to see on Social Media. I try not to pay too much attention to the blatant attacks on Catholicism that seems to be common place on Social Media. But once in awhile however I do feel the need to respond.

This is such a time! 

Like I said I welcome the challenge. I have been studying Catholicism for many years. Through Catholicism I have come to love the scriptures, and our Lord Jesus Christ. 

First of all regarding that image. I am not sure where this is from because there is no source. But it is definitely using some very high sounding language. This language seems to be a lot like divine language that is being attributed to Mary. 

It is a prayer that seems to be following the Mother of Perpetual Help tradition found in The Catholic Church. This is a tradition that can be traced back to the year 1495 AD. And is associated with a 15th-century Byzantine icon of the Madonna and Child shown below. 

Prayers following this Catholic tradition ask for the help and protection of The Blessed Mother, Mary. Those who are not familiar with Catholic Marian theology will not understand the language used. They wrongly perceive that prayers such as this show a Marian worship in The Catholic Church. 

Second; Any high sounding language used in The Church, in reference to Mary who we know from scripture, is "Blessed among women" (Luke 1:42) is done in the light of her Son and our Savior, "and blessed is the fruit of your womb!" (Luke 1:42) 

We see that Elizabeth first blesses Mary as The Mother of The Savior, and then Blesses her womb which contained in The Savior Himself. 

It obviously pleases Christ to show honor to His own mother even before Himself. 

Why? Because she loves God and always points to Christ. 

Mary explains it like this...

"My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.

For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;

for he who is mighty has done great things for me,

and holy is his name." (Luke 1:46-49) 

So the big answer is NO! 

Catholics do not worship Mary and never have. We do often use high sounding language when referring to her, but this is only because of Jesus Christ! I will also argue that we do this because God does in His Word as shown in Luke's Gospel. We do not believe that Mary is due any worship. We worship God, and also specifically Jesus Christ who we believe is God. We call her "blessed among women" because that is what is says she is in the Scriptures. We are the fulfillment of her prophetic statements in God's Word. 

We are the generations who call her blessed!

At this point the poster was not convinced of what I was saying. This person is a lot like everyone who I have chatted with over the years about Catholic teaching. They are coming from a place of assumption rather than facts. They think they know what Catholics believe and what The Church teaches because of what they heard from the haters instead of what they know in truth. From my experience those who strongly object to The Catholic Faith never read the catechism, and they never took any time to actually learn what The Church is all about. Those that do honestly and prayerfully, become Catholic. 

Maybe that's what they are afraid of...

Someone replied with a source for this prayer, but it was a blog post that twists Catholic theology. They are trying to create a Catholic theology that doesn't exist, namely that Catholics worship Mary and that Catholics believe that Mary is another redeemer. 

Which is absolutely not true! 

I explained that any veneration given to Mary is in light of her Son. Without Christ she deserves no such language! Without Christ she is just another Hebrew girl that existed a long time ago. Without Christ she is nothing and We are nothing! 

Jesus does what His Mom asks of Him...

We can read in John chapter 2 about Mary's intercession at the wedding feast at Canna. Mary told Jesus about the problem and HE LISTENED TO HER! Then He performed His first public miracle which lead to His death on the cross saving sinners. 

So NO, we don't worship her but we honor her for what she has done for us by saying yes to God always. She is also the first Christian because she believed in Christ before any other human did! And she does The Will of God always. Remember, she has NO POWER OF HER OWN, it is Christ, and always Christ! 

The power of prayer...

The only power that we can even say that she has, IS THE POWER OF PRAYER! Her prayers when she was on earth, as well as now in Heaven is for God's Will to be done. And the beautiful thing is that we all have this power if we follow Christ and do The Will of God. 

"Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." (James 5:16 NIV)

This is why we pray to Mary and other Saints who are in Heaven with Christ. When they pray for us to God, He sends us the Grace we need. Don't we need all the help we can get? Do you believe prayer is helpful to us? I believe...

Prayer is not worship but asking for what we need

To pray to someone means to ask them a request. That is an old use of the word not seen much anymore but Catholics still use it. In the KJV, "I pray you" shows up 83 times, "I pray thee" over 500 times. It is used to ask someone and not just God a request. You can see the examples of this here.

When we pray to Mary we are asking her to pray for us who are here on earth. Why? Because she is alive with Christ in Heaven glorifying God on our behalf. Not only that those who are alive in Christ are also glorified with Him. We know that because that is what the bible says :)

"Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to 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." (Rom 8:12-17 NIV)

If I ask you to pray for me, will you say NO, go to God? 

If you are a good Christian I don't think that you would say that to me. As Christians it is a moral good to pray for one another. Our prayers are then taken up to God on our behalf. There is no doubt in my mind that God hears our prayers. And I don't think that this Christian responsibility to pray for sinners ends just because we enter the glory of Heaven. 

To be clear...

The only power that Mary has or any Saint has IS THE POWER OF PRAYER! 

Just like the bible says as already quoted in James 5:16.

Those in heaven whether it be a Saint (which is a person saved in union with Christ) or Angels who are there with Christ bringing our prayers to God. 

How do we know? The bible tells us so... 

"And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God's people." (Revelation 5:8-9 NIV) 

One family in Christ...

In Catholicism Christ's Church is one family in God. This family consist of those on earth who love Christ, follow Him and do The Will of God. As well as those who have died in God's Grace and are being glorified with Him in Heaven. Not to mention all the angels who are also in this divine family with us...

"Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized be one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body." (1 Corinthians 12:12-27 NIV) 

Since we are all one family in Christ, we care for one another! 

But what about the language in the prayer? 

Well for a short answer it's all about Christ, who is God! Without God and His Grace no goodness, or virtue can exist in us at all. He is the good we wish to obtain and the Grace we need to do anything at all! That is true with us and it is true for Mary who was saved by His Grace. 

She is our Mother of Perpetual help because she is in Heaven praying for us. Praying and glorifying God is what you do in Heaven. And she and all the Saints is doing it perpetually. Why? As the mother of Christ she cares for us because her son cares for us. She loves what He loves! And we love her because He loves her.

How does she help us? She helps us with her prayers to God for us, and the prayer of a holy person is powerful. (James 5:6 as already mentioned) If we read the words of the prayer in question we see that it is God who answers the prayer not Mary. And that we are only asking her to advocate for us to God. 

Family analogy; It's like when a child is in trouble because he made a mistake and fears what his father will do when he comes home from work. The child might appeal to his mother before his father gets home. His belief is that his mother will smooth things over with dad. When dad gets home there may be a lesser punishment or no punishment at all. The mother's compassion for her children appealed to the merciful heart of the father, causing him to have mercy on the child. If this can be true in our human families, how much more in our divine family? 

We are a family in Christ with God as our Father, Jesus as our brother and Mary as our mother. Catholics take this family relationship seriously. If we want to take our relationship with Jesus Christ seriously then in my opinion we need to take a relationship with His mother seriously too. What kind of son, who respects and honors his mother, will respect someone who doesn't? 

It's always God's power, God's decisions doing it but she is our advocate to Christ on our behalf because He listens to her. We honor her because Jesus honors her. We want to love who He loves and honor who He honors. “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you." Exodus 20:12 NIV)

How can we place our eternal salvation on her? Because we trust that she is praying for us and that her prayers are powerful and answered by her son. It is not as crazy as it sounds lol! But that is Catholicism in a nut shell. To the world it seems foolish and really weird. But it is the scriptures experienced in every aspect of The Beautiful Liturgy.  

In conclusion; You don't have to use Marian prayers like The Mother of Perpetual Help to be a Catholic if you don't want to. These prayers are there for our spiritual growth but not a requirement to becoming Catholic. 

Also asking others to pray for us is a big part of our faith but it is not a requirement of being a Catholic Christian. Catholics go to Jesus in every moment we can find and it is Jesus who we worship at mass! We also believe that when we ask others to pray for us we are in fact going to Jesus as long as the person we are asking worships Him too. 

This takes me to a thought I have been having in the last year. Is it appropriate for a Christian to ask someone who is not a Christian to pray for  them? I will be doing an article on this but my answer is NO! If someone does not believe in The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, they will not be presenting our petitions to The Lord but to some false god or demon. This would not be ok for a Christian. Those who we know in life love Jesus Christ and His Father are the ones we want to pray for us. 

I want to thank you for taking the time to read this. 

May God bless you and keep you in His Grace always.

Sincerely Joanne Utke