{"id":3793,"date":"2015-07-24T03:30:55","date_gmt":"2015-07-24T08:30:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicbookblogger\/?p=3793"},"modified":"2015-07-17T20:43:06","modified_gmt":"2015-07-18T01:43:06","slug":"prayer-to-mary-is-good-and-right-mary-day-003","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicbookblogger\/2015\/07\/24\/prayer-to-mary-is-good-and-right-mary-day-003\/","title":{"rendered":"Prayer to Mary is good and right, Mary: Day 003"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"year_with_mary_alphonsus_2\"<\/a>Prayer to Mary is good and right<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0St. Alphonsus Liguori, one of the great Marian theologians, notes that it\u2019san article of the Catholic faith that we can and should call on Mary and the other saints to pray for us. And it\u2019s only reasonable to do so.<\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not only lawful but beneficial to invoke and pray to the saints\u2014and more especially to the queen of saints, the most holy and ever-blessed Virgin Mary\u2014so that they may obtain for us God\u2019s grace. This is an article of faith. It has been defined by ecumenical councils, against heretics who condemned it as injurious to Jesus Christ, who is our only Mediator. But if the prophet Jeremiah after his death prayed for Jerusalem (see 2 Mc 15:14); if the elders in the Book of Revelation presented the prayers of the saints to God (see Rv 6:8); if St. Peter promises his disciples that after his death he will be mindful of them (see 2 Pt 1:15); if holy Stephen prays for his persecutors (see Acts 7:59); if St. Paul prays for his companions (see Acts 27:24; Eph 2:16; Phil 1:4; Col 1:3)\u2014in short, if the saints can pray for us, why can\u2019t we ask the saints to intercede for us? St. Paul recommends himself to the prayers of his disciples: \u201cBrethren, pray for us\u201d (1 Th 5:25). St. James exhorts us to pray one for another: \u201cPray one for another, that you may be healed\u201d (Jas 5:16). So we can do the same.<\/p>\n

No one denies that Jesus Christ is our only mediator of justice, and that he by his merits has obtained our reconciliation with God. But, on the other hand, it is impious to assert that God is not pleased to grant graces at the intercession of his saints, and more especially of Mary his mother, whom Jesus desires so muchto see loved and honored by all.<\/p>\n

Who can pretend that the honor bestowed on a mother doesn\u2019t redound to the honor of the son? For this reason St. Bernard says, \u201cWe must not imagine that we obscure the glory of the Son by the great praise we lavish on the mother; for the more she is honored, the greater is the glory of her Son.\u201d \u2014St. Alphonsus Liguori, The Glories of Mary<\/em><\/p>\n

IN GOD\u2019S PRESENCE, CONSIDER . . .<\/strong><\/p>\n

Has anyone ever tried to convince me not to ask Mary or the other saints to pray for me? How might St. Alphonsus\u2019 insights help me respond convincingly?<\/p>\n

CLOSING PRAYER<\/strong><\/p>\n

From the \u201cLitany of the Saints\u201d: All you holy, righteous, and chosen ones of God, pray for us!<\/em><\/p>\n

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