Do Catholics Worship Idols?

Mary:

If you’ve heard the Catholic nuns chant the rosary, this is what they say,

“Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of death. Amen.”

Three things to note:

The angel, Gabriel, made a similar statement:

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

Hail in the Greek, is a salutation. However, typically when people hear the word hail, it sounds like an exaltation as in “Hail (Heil) Hitler,” which sounds like they are worshipping, but it’s a greeting.

However, they are asking for Mary to pray for them.

Indeed, as you read the nun’s prayer to Mary, they are exalting her as their Savior because they are going through her asking for prayer for their sins.

“Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of death. Amen”

Third, they call Mary, the “Mother of God.”

Even though Mary is Jesus’s earthly mother, the Bible never calls Mary “the Mother of God,” but rather “his mother.” Saying the phrase “mother of God” places a woman over God. Therefore, it is heresy. However, she does birth a man, conceived of the seed of the Holy Spirit who is the Savior, who is God. This means that God used the womb of a woman He created whom He favored for the purpose of God showing how He is fully able to empathize with us. We know that God’s favor is His grace, which abounds in righteousness. In fact, Mary is the mother of Jesus, but Jesus always calls her woman.

[26] When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, “Woman, behold thy son!” [27] Then saith He to the disciple, “Behold thy mother!” And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home. ~John 19:26-27 KJV

[4] Jesus saith unto her, “Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.” [5] His mother saith unto the servants, “Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it.” ~John 2:4-5 KJV

Two things to note in the above scripture: Jesus clearly indicates a separation between Himself and Mary by saying, “Woman, what have I to do with thee?” Next, Mary clearly gives advice to the servants that “whatsoever Jesus says, do it.” Yet, the Catholic exalts Mary instead of doing as Christ demonstrates and as Mary instructs.

Fourth, this tweet is offering a prayer to Jesus through “the immaculate heart of Mary.”  Again– this is an unfortunate example of a person who thinks that Jesus looks at Mary’s heart. Jesus wants you to cleanse your own heart.

Confession:

Instead of praying directly to the Heavenly Father in Jesus’ name, Catholics are taught to confess to an earthly “Father” who intercedes for them and tells them whether or not they are forgiven.

[26] At that day ye shall ask in My name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you: [27] For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved Me, and have believed that I came out from God. ~John 16:26-27 KJV

This means Jesus does not pray for you, but you say the prayer in His name and the Heavenly Father will hear you. You do not need a priest or Mary.

Now there are people who pray for others in their struggles, but this is not the same situation.

Saints:

Catholics also pick a buried saint who is known for a certain good work and they call upon that saint to obtain favor. The reason this is so terrible is that every prayer should go directly to God. This is the whole point of Christianity — Jesus Christ is our Savior, Mediator, Lord, High Priest, etc. One should never pray to prophets or saints or angels. These are not the one, true God. Never forget, that if a person is living a lie, the devil is more than happy to support that lie to keep that person away from the truth.

But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. ~Galatians 1:8 KJV

[25] And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him . [26] But [Apostle] Peter took him up, saying, “Stand up; I myself also am a man.” ~Acts 10:25-26 KJV

Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, ~Colossians 2:18 KJV

The saints are wonderful in that we talk about the great things they did to encourage one another, but it is God alone who gives grace (favor). Moreover, every Christian is called a saint because we are being sanctified by Jesus Christ as we work out our salvation with fear and trembling. When a saint is perfected, that saint is known as an apostle because they work the works of their Master Jesus Christ.

Some Catholics do have churches where priests preach the authentic Word of God, but if they support chants; praying (kneeling, lighting candles) to saints, angels, or prophets; and you feel you need to enter into a box to ask for forgiveness— this is not the authentic doctrine of Christianity, but rather the doctrines of men.  Cite this article: Please update the Accessed or Retrieved date (September 13, 2015).