Question 1

Why do Catholics pray to Saints?

Accepted Answer

Is it biblical to ask the saints in heaven to pray for us? Catholics say yes, since we are all part of the communion of saints. As the word suggests, the communion of saints refers to the bond of unity among all believers, both living and dead, who are committed followers of Christ. In Christ, we are made part of God’s family (1 Tim 3:15), children of God (1 John 3:1), joint heirs with Christ (Rom 8:17), and partakers of the divine nature (2 Pet 1:4). This family communion of saints is known to Catholics as the Mystical Body of Christ. We are joined in a supernatural union as members of Christ’s own body, and thus as members of one another. Each of us participates in the divine life of Christ Himself.

INTERCESSORY PRAYER
What we have said about the communion of saints gives us the biblical reasons why Catholics ask the saints to intercede for them:
(1) All Christians are members of Christ’s body and one another (Rom 12:5 and many others).
(2) Jesus has only one body (Eph 4:4; Col 3:15).
(3) Death cannot separate Christians from Christ or from one another (Rom 8:35-39).
(4) Christians are bound in mutual love (Rom 12:10; 1 Thess 5:11; Gal 6:2).

We are members of Christ’s one body, united in His divine life even beyond the grave, and concerned for each other’s salvation and growth in God’s family. In that union, we call for help and support from our older brothers and sisters who have already won their crown of glory. Just as in our human families we naturally turn to our siblings for aid and example, how much more should we turn to our supernatural family for help and inspiration.

Question 2

1 Timothy 2:5-6 says, “For there is only one God and there is only one mediator between God and mankind, himself a man Christ Jesus.......” Does this not mean that there is no need for the intercession of the Saints? Are Catholics going against Scripture by asking Mary and other Saints to intercede for us?

Accepted Answer

The Catholic Church believes that Jesus is the only mediator between God and man. But that does not exclude the mediation of others. In fact, the immediate context of 1 Timothy 2 shows the need for Christians to pray for others, exactly as Catholicism teaches. Let us look at the immediately preceding verses of 1 Tim. 2:1-5: “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men…This is good, and it is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior….For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus”. So, in the immediate context Paul urges people to pray for others. So obviously this text does not mean people should not intercede for others. When we pray to Saints, we are only asking them to pray for us.

The intercession of the saints whether in heaven or earth does not rule out Christ’s universal mediation.  Their mediation is not a replacement of Christ’s redemption.  It could not be, because they themselves have been saved by God in Christ. There is, however, a secondary mediation, by which the faithful may obtain spiritual and material favours and graces. Their influence before God does not affect the fact that we believe that every one of us has been redeemed by Christ. The truth that Jesus Christ is the only mediator does not exclude secondary mediators who are always subordinate to and dependent on the one mediation of Jesus Christ.

We have many examples of intercession in the Bible. In Genesis 18:22-23 we read of Abraham’s intercession for the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah. In Genesis 19:21 the Bible speaks of the angel of the Lord who accepts Lot’s intercession for the town of Zoar. Moses interceded many times for his people as they journeyed to the promised land (Num 21:7; Deut 9:16-20, 25-29).  Many other passages talk of intercession by people on behalf of others.  Christ himself commands us to pray for each other especially for those who do wrong to us. This is nothing else but intercessory prayer.  St. Paul says “pray for us” in Colossians 4:2-4 and again in 2 Thes 3:1, and many other places. Also Acts 7:59; Rom 15:30-31; Eph 6:18-19; Jas 5:16 etc.

If we have the help of the saints on earth interceding for us, similarly the saints in heaven too are praying for us.  Their mediation too brings down spiritual and material blessings on us.  If it is pleasing to God that we ask living believers, the “saints on earth”, who can still ruin their lives through sin, to pray for us, surely it is more pleasing to God that we ask the “saints in heaven”, those who have ended their life in sanctity, and who cannot now sin, to pray for us.  In the Old and New Testaments we have evidence of “saints in heaven” interceding for those on earth.  The Jews believed in the intercession of the holy men who had departed from this life: “Then the Lord said to me, ‘Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my heart would not turn toward this people’ (Jer. 15:1). Also see 2 Mac 15:11-16.  The New Testament too reveals that the “saints in heaven” do play an intercessory role before God. In Lk. 16:19-31 Jesus presents Abraham, a “saint in heaven”, being asked to perform an intercessory role. And in Rev 5:8; 8:3-4 we have angels before God offering incense.  Since incense stands for prayer, the prayers of the “saints on earth” were going up to God through the hand of this angel who is acting as an intercessor.

Finally we say Jesus Christ is the only Saviour and Mediator.  As far as remission of sins and salvation are concerned, our only Saviour is Christ, for he is the sacrifice that takes away our sins not only ours but those of the whole world (1 Jn 2:2); for he alone is “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” (Jn 1:29).  He is also our only Mediator.  But his mediation is inclusive, not exclusive. The mediation of the saints whether in heaven or on earth does not compromise the unique mediation of Jesus Christ.  Those who pray to God do it “in and through Jesus Christ” and without the unique mediation of Jesus Christ the saints in heaven and on earth have no worth or value.

Also, we must not have a non-Christian view of death, because death has not broken our communion with the departed. The faithful on earth are not in communion with the bodies of the saints buried in peace, but with their souls.  Through baptism we become member of the mystical Body of Christ whose head is Jesus Christ.  We form one communion of saints. So the saints can intercede for the living.

Question 3

Why do Catholics venerate/honour  Blessed Virgin Mary?

Accepted Answer

Catholics honour Mary because God honoured her above all creatures by bestowing upon her the highest dignity. Both the Angel and Elizabeth called her “blessed among women” (Lk 1:28, 42).  Mary prophesied that henceforth all generations would call her blessed (Lk 1:48). In order to fulfill the Scripture we are not supposed just to venerate Our Lady, but also to congratulate her, that is to proclaim her happy, either by saying or singing as Elizabeth did, “Blessed are you, Mary”. Mary was uniquely blessed because she was entrusted with the honor of carrying God-in-human-form, Jesus Christ, in her womb. She alone was chosen for the highest honor in the history of the world. Catholics understand that if she is special enough for God to honor her, then she is certainly special enough for humankind to honor her too.

We honour Mary because of her great privileges: In God’s plan of salvation Mary had a unique role to play – that is, a role given to no other woman.  She was chosen to be the mother of Jesus, the incarnate word of God and our Saviour. She was conceived without sin (the Immaculate Conception) and she also conceived Jesus without human intervention. She became the mother of Jesus who is God. Jesus honoured her by being with her for thirty years and then showed his love to her on the Cross when he left her to the care of John. (Jn 19:25 and following).  We honour her because Jesus honoured her by obeying her words. He performed his first sign at her request, by changing water into wine (Jn 2:1-12).  Above all we honour her because she is the model of Christian believers.   Mary was totally open to God and to his word in her life (Lk1:38).

It will be absurd to claim that Mary finished her role as soon as she gave birth to Jesus. In fact Jesus from the cross declares to Mary that, from that crucial moment on, she would have a new role to play to look after her sons and daughters “Seeing his mother and the disciple he loved standing near her, Jesus said to his mother: ‘Woman, this is your son!’ Then to the disciple he said ‘This is your mother.’  And from that moment the disciple made a place for her in his home” (Jn 19:26-27)

Mary is the masterpiece of God’s creation.  Is the artist jealous of the praise given to his masterpiece? The praise given to Mary goes to God.  By honouring Mary we are honouring God.

Question 4

Perpetual Virginity of Mary: Was Mary virgin forever or did Mary had other children besides Jesus and therefore she cannot be “forever a virgin” as Catholics call her.

Accepted Answer

Three difficulties have been brought up against the continued virginity of Mary:
a) Some say this because in St Luke’s gospel 2:7, it is written “and she gave birth to her first–born son”.  Doesn’t that mean that Jesus was the first of several more? Mary must have had a second or third child.

“Firstborn” is actually a legal term meaning that no one was born before.  It does not necessarily mean that someone was born after.   The first one to open the mother’s womb was consecrated to God (Ex 13:2, Num 3:12), even if no second child followed.  Under Mosaic Law, it was the “first-born” son that was to be redeemed (Ex 34:20). Jesus was given the title of ‘first-born’ to show, not only that Mary gave birth to no child before him, but also because it is a title of honour.  In that society, to be first-born conferred special rights and duties. Remember, too, that Christ is the ‘first-born’ of the Father, but he is also the ONLY SON.  So, we cannot say that ‘first-born’ means that there must be others.

b) It is mentioned that “Joseph did not know (i.e. did not have any sexual relations with) her till she brought forth a son” (Mt 1:25). Doesn’t “till” mean that afterwards they lived normally as a man and wife?

The phrase “Joseph did not know Mary until she gave birth to Jesus” is a Semitic way of emphasizing a point.  Mathew uses it to emphasize the virginal conception of Jesus. In the Bible ‘until’ only affirms that an action did not take place up to a certain point of time.  It is talking only about the past and saying nothing about the future. Obviously, the gospel writer wants to show that Jesus’ birth had nothing to do with any physical contact between Mary and Joseph, otherwise Jesus would be an ordinary man.  If the modern sense is forced on the Bible, some ridiculous meanings result.

In Psalm 110:1 we read, “The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool.” Does this mean that Christ will not sit at the right hand of the Father any more after the defeat of his enemies? In 2 Samuel 6:23 it says, “Michal had no children until her death”.  This does not mean that she had children after her death. In Mt 28:20 “(Jesus said to his disciples): And behold, I am with you always until the end of the age.” This does not mean that Jesus the Lord will stop being with us after the end of this world.  We must also be careful about lifting out one verse and trying to prove something with that alone and not taking into account the rest of the Bible or the setting of the verse.

c) Another objection, which is brought against the perpetual virginity of Mary: verses that speak of “brothers and sisters of Jesus” (Mk 3:31, 6:3, Mt 13:55-56). Again, we have to emphasize that the books of the Bible were not written in English.  In a Semitic language, the word ‘brother’ can also mean a cousin or any male relation or even just a member of the same tribe. For example, in Genesis 14:12 & 16 we read, “when Abraham recaptured all the goods, along with his brother Lot….” Yet we know from other passages that Lot was Abraham’s brother’s son – Abraham’s nephew, in fact.  In Gen 29:15, “brother” is again used to mean “nephew.”

The so-called “brothers and sisters” of Jesus are never said anywhere to be sons and daughters of Mary.  Those whom the New Testament calls “brothers of Jesus are James the Less, and Joseph, Jude, and Simon.  But the New Testament even mentions their parents – in Mt 10:3 James is said to be the son of Alphaeus (he is different from James, son of Zebedee and Salome).  Regarding Jude himself, it is said in Jude 1, “From Jude, servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James.”

John the evangelist reports that when Jesus was dying, he turned to Mary and said, “Woman, this is your son”.  Then he turned to disciple and said, “This is your mother.” Surely, if Mary had other children besides Jesus, he would not have entrusted her to his disciple John, who would have been an outsider in comparison with a brother and a sister.
At other times Jesus refers to his apostles and disciples as “brothers”: “Go and find my brothers and tell them…” (John 20:17). You will see the same in Mt 28:10.

In the Acts of the Apostles 1:15: “Peter stood up one day to speak to the brothers.  There were hundred and twenty persons in the congregation.”  Can this really mean that there were 120 people who were sons and daughters of the same man and woman?  There are, of course, other examples in the Acts of the Apostles. In conclusion, we say that Mary is the mother only of Jesus.   He is called “the son of Mary”, not “a son of Mary” – Mk 6:3

Question 5

Mary is called the mother of God.  Is Mary the mother of God the Father?

Accepted Answer

First of all, it is good to realize what we mean by the title “Mother of God”. By this title ‘Mother of God,’ we mean the Mother of Jesus who is God.  This title ‘Mother of God’ is not meant as a mark of honour to Mary but as a safeguard to a right understanding of Jesus i.e. he is one person two natures: divine and human. This title of ‘Mother of God’ was given to Mary in the early Church against those who affirmed that Mary is the mother only of Jesus the man.  The Church in this context responded by clarifying that in Jesus there is only one person, the divine person who takes flesh in the womb of Mary.

The Church teaches that Mary “gave birth to the Word of God become flesh by birth” to make it clear that Mary was not the mother of Jesus’ divinity.  Mary did not give birth to God from all eternity or in the beginning of time.  In fact, she was merely a “handmaid” of the Lord.” She was the mother of Jesus who was “God among us.” Since Jesus is true God and true Man, united in the one Person of God’s Word, to deny that Mary is the Mother of God would be to deny either that Jesus is God or that Mary is truly his mother.

Even though the title ‘Mother of God’ is not in Scripture, we do find a basis for this title in the words of Elizabeth where she calls Mary the ‘Mother of my Lord’ (Lk 1:43).  The title ‘Lord’ was given to God in the Old Testament.  In the New Testament Jesus is also called Lord. Mary is the mother of this divine person in his human nature.

Question 6

How can Catholics believe in Mary’s full innocence, that is, the Immaculate Conception? In the Bible, Mary said, “My spirit exults in God my Saviour.”  Does this not mean that Mary was saved from sin?

Accepted Answer

When we say that Mary was immaculately conceived, we mean that Mary was conceived without original sin or its stain—that’s what "immaculate" means: without stain. Mary from the first instant of her existence was in the state of sanctifying grace and was free from the corrupt nature which original sin brings.

God’s salvation which, delivers sinners from their actual faults (Mt 1:21) is powerful enough even to prevent a person committing sin or even being affected by sin.  God’s power is infinite! The grace Mary enjoyed not only has been as “full” or strong or complete, but it has extended over the whole of her life, from conception.  That is, she has been in a state of sanctifying grace from the first moment of her existence that is why she is called “full of grace” (Lk 1:28). Now the Greek word “kecharitomene” is used of a person who has received special favours. Mary, therefore, is a highly privileged virgin: “Blessed are you among women”.

Mary was redeemed by the grace of Christ, but in a special way, by anticipation this is what doctrine of the Immaculate Conception is all about.  Mary herself proclaims gratefully, “For the Almighty has done great things for me; holy is his name.”   Among those great things to which the Blessed Virgin is referring is her preservation from the stain of evil and sin

The Immaculate Conception thus does not remove Mary from the number of the redeemed.  We are not claiming that she was not in need of redemption.  She was as much in need of redemption as anyone else. We claim for her that she was redeemed in a special way by the merits of Jesus.   Rather, she is even more redeemed, most perfectly redeemed.  She is for us an example of what the redemption of Jesus means, total discipleship where there is nothing of Satan’s reign. And all this is not because of her own merits, but because of Christ’s grace, because God chose her to be the mother of his Son.

Question 7

Was Mary assumed into Heaven?

Accepted Answer

This is what the Catholic Church believes: that Mary ever virgin at the end of her earthly life was assumed body and soul into heaven.  It is also necessary to know that assumption is not ascension.  Mary was assumed or taken up into heaven by God. She didn’t do it under her own power.  But Christ ascended into heaven by his own power

Even though there is no direct, explicit reference to the assumption of Mary in the Bible, there is some scriptural support for the concept of bodily assumption. We see both Enoch and Elijah, the righteous persons in the Old Testament were assumed into heaven (Heb. 11:5, 2 Kgs. 2:11). Also in Mt. 27:52-53 we see that after the resurrection of Jesus many righteous people rose from their tombs body and soul: “and the graves were opened and many bodies arose out of them, bodies of holy men gone to their rest: who, after his rising again, left their graves and went into the holy city:” The early resurrection of these saints anticipated the rising of those who die in faith, all of who will be assumed one day to receive their glorified bodies. The above cases in the Old and New Testaments prepare us for the Assumption of Mary, the most righteous person of the human race in God’s plan of salvation.

We find this truth enshrined in the resurrection of Christ and in our own resurrection.  If Christ is the “first fruits” of those who have died (1 Cor 15:20), Mary becomes for us the tangible fruit of Christ’s resurrection.  She becomes the prototype of our own resurrection. In Assumption of Mary, we see our Christian hope, which testifies to the power of Jesus in redeeming us at the time of the resurrection of our body. In the Assumption of Mary, we see what God’s grace does to each of us at the end of our lives. In Mary, the disciple of Jesus, we see the full fruit of Christ’s redemption both at the beginning and at the end of her life.

If the Ark of the Covenant in the Old Testament which contained the manna (bread from heaven), the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments (the Word of God), and the staff of Aaron (a symbol of Israel’s high priesthood) was given so much honour, how much more should Mary be kept from corruption, since she is the New Ark—who carried the real bread from heaven, the Word of God, and the High Priest of the New Covenant, Jesus Christ. After all, if Mary is immaculately conceived, then it would follow that she would not suffer corruption in the grave, which is a consequence of sin [Gen. 3:17, 19]. This is what St. Robert Bellarmine says: "Who could believe that the ark of holiness, the dwelling of God, the temple of the Holy Spirit [i.e., Mary], crumbled into dust? I shudder at the very thought that the virginal flesh of which God was conceived and born, which nourished him and carried him should have turned to ashes or been given as food to worms."

Question 8

Did Mother Mary die?

Accepted Answer

We believe that Mary being the mother of Jesus was assumed into heaven body and soul at the end of her life. But the question here is whether she was assumed into heaven before or after her death. Did Mary experience bodily death?

When Pope Pius XII in 1950 defined the dogma of the Assumption of Mary with the words “The immaculate Mother of God, Mary, ever virgin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into the glory of heaven.” ”The wording of the dogmatic teaching by Pius XII leaves the question unanswered. The text simply says: “when the course of her earthly life was finished….” The text does not say whether Mary died or did not die. 
The fact that Pius XII did not define that Our Lady died when he defined her bodily Assumption it has been taken by many to mean that she did not die.

But the death of Mary is taken for granted by many writers both in eastern and western Christianity who speak of her Assumption, the earliest documents, e.g. the apocryphal “Transitus Mariae,” and later the feast  of the Dormition (5th cent.) imply her death.
In the preface of the Mass of the Assumption the Church prays ”Today the virgin Mother of God was taken up into heaven to be the beginning and the pattern of the Church in its perfection, and a sign of hope  and comfort  for your people on their pilgrim way. You would not allow decay to touch her body, for she had given birth to you Son, the Lord of all life, in the glory of the incarnation.” What “decay'' is being referred to in this prayer? The “decay” refers to the corruption of the body that takes place after death. And this decay Mary was not subjected to. And so the tradition both in east and west has leaned towards the belief that she did die prior to her assumption 
 
But some theologians feel that, since death is a consequence of sin, and that Mary was conceived immaculately, born without original sin and she was sinless she would have had not died. To this some feel that, since Jesus himself chose to die, wouldn’t it be fitting for his mother to have shared the same fate? The Mother is not superior to the Son who underwent death”
 
Whether Mary died or not no official pronouncements have been made.  The definition of the Assumption is silent on the question of her death. Pope Pius XII  while giving the dogma of Assumption refrained from saying Mary died before her assumption even though in the document itself Pope Pius XII referred to writings of the early church that she died. The official position of the Church is that we are not sure whether she died or not but rather we focus and believe in the Assumption of Mary into heaven and celebrate this Solemnity with the hope that we too like her will be in heaven with the Lord after our death.

Question 9

Why was 15th August selected to celebrate the feast of Assumption? The dogma on Assumption of Mary into heaven was declared after India's independence on 15th Augusut, 1947?

Accepted Answer

The tradition of Assumption of Mary into heaven was already proclaimed as early as 749 by St. John Damascene. In 1568 Pope Pius V made the feast of the Assumption of Mary into heaven a holy day for the entire Church. In the early church the date of 15th August was celebrated as feast of Mary's dormition or "falling asleep". This feast which originated in the Byzantine Empire probably in the 5th century came into the Western Church but the term dormition was replaced by “Assumption”. 
 
Pope Pius XII defined the dogma of the Assumption of Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven as doctrine of faith in his Encyclical “Munificentissimus Deus” on 1 November 1950, but the belief in the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in heaven and the feast celebrated on 15th August goes back to early church and long before our country’s independence on 15th August 1947.

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