WHAT IS IDOLATRY?

✝️Statues of Mary and the Saints? 

Is it idolatry?

 “You Shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is the water under the earth; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God….” 

(Ex 20:3-5).

Many Protestant Christians will accuse Catholic Christians of making idols and quote the above text. What they fail to do is understand the above text in its context. Throughout the history of God’s people, there is always a tendency to fall away from the worship of the One, True God and adopt the pagan practice of worshipping false idols. 

In modern times those idols are: money, sex, status, etc. When the Jews were under the bondage of the Egyptians there was a temptation to worship the animal like gods of the Egyptians. Many of the Egyptian gods were made in the images of jackals, birds and other animals. In the above text God is making an direct condemnation of this practice when he says do not make a graven image of anything in heaven, the earth, under the earth and in the water.

God is not condemning the making of all images, just images that one would worship as a false god. Just 5 chapters later in Exodus 25: 17-22 God actually commands Moses to make graven images of two cherub (angels) to be part of the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant.

“And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work shall you make them, on the two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub on the one end, and on cherub on the other end; of one piece with the mercy seat shall you make the cherubim on its two ends. The cherubim shall spread out its wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim.” 

Is God contradicting himself ? 

No, God condemns the practice of making false idols to be worshiped as gods as in the case of the golden calf, not images that are used to aid in the worship of God as in the case of the cherub on the Ark of the Covenant. In Exodus 32:1 the people said to Aaron “Up, make us gods, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” The above text is what God is condemning in Exodus 20, making images or statues and proclaiming them to be gods. Another good reference to God commanding man to make graven images is in Numbers 24:8-9 with the bronze serpent.

“And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and every one who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” So Moses made a bronze serpent, and set it on a pole; and if a serpent bit any man, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.”

 God is working his life saving grace through a graven image. Our God is a God of materials; always working his grace through things and people he has created (prophets, priest, angels, water, mud, a bronze snake, Moses’ staff, wine, bread, oil, etc). Twice here we have shown from scripture that God commanded the creation of graven images. If a graven image is made with the intentions to worship as a false god, then this is idolatry, but if the image is made to aid in the worship of God and not be worshiped itself as in the case of the Cherub and the Bronze serpent it is actually beneficial to the Christian people.

Our Lady of Guadalupe , December 12

 

𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 12, 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐋𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐮𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐩𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚🇺🇲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐜𝐨🇲🇽

The Story of Our Lady of Guadalupe

The feast in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe goes back to the 16th century. Chronicles of that period tell us the story.

A poor Indian named Cuauhtlatohuac was baptized and given the name Juan Diego. He was a 57-year-old widower, and lived in a small village near Mexico City. On Saturday morning December 9, 1531, he was on his way to a nearby barrio to attend Mass in honor of Our Lady.

Juan was walking by a hill called Tepeyac when he heard beautiful music like the warbling of birds. A radiant cloud appeared, and within it stood an Indian maiden dressed like an Aztec princess. The lady spoke to him in his own language and sent him to the bishop of Mexico, a Franciscan named Juan de Zumarraga. The bishop was to build a chapel in the place where the lady appeared.

Eventually the bishop told Juan to have the lady give him a sign. About this same time Juan’s uncle became seriously ill. This led poor Juan to try to avoid the lady. Nevertheless the lady found Juan, assured him that his uncle would recover, and provided roses for Juan to carry to the bishop in his cape or tilma.

On December 12, when Juan Diego opened his tilma in the bishop’s presence, the roses fell to the ground, and the bishop sank to his knees. On the tilma where the roses had been appeared an image of Mary exactly as she had appeared at the hill of Tepeyac.

Source: Franciscan Media

Prayer to Our Lady of Guadalupe

Holy Virgin of Guadalupe, Queen of the Angels and Mother of the Americas,

We fly to you today as your beloved children.

We ask you to intercede for us with your Son, as you did at the wedding in Cana.

Pray for us, loving Mother,

and gain for our nation and world,

and for all our families and loved ones,

the protection of your holy angels,

that we may be spared the worst of this illness.

For those already afflicted,

we ask you to obtain the grace of healing and deliverance.

Hear the cries of those who are vulnerable and fearful,

wipe away their tears and help them to trust.

In this time of trial and testing,

teach all of us in the Church to love one another and to be patient and kind.

Help us to bring the peace of Jesus to our land and to our hearts.

We come to you with confidence,

knowing that you truly are our compassionate Mother,

health of the sick and cause of our joy.

Shelter us under the mantle of your protection,

keep us in the embrace of your arms,

help us always to know the love of your Son, Jesus. Amen

Source: Vatican News

Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

 Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception

December 8

"Ave Maria Purisima, sin pecado concebida!"

(Hail Purest Mary, conceived without sin!)

In the Constitution Ineffabilis Deus of 8 December, 1854, Pius IX pronounced and defined that the Blessed Virgin Mary "in the first instance of her conception, by a singular privilege and grace granted by God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the human race, was preserved exempt from all stain of original sin."

"The Blessed Virgin Mary..."

The subject of this immunity from original sin is the person of Mary at the moment of the creation of her soul and its infusion into her body.

"...in the first instance of her conception..."

The term conception does not mean the active or generative conception by her parents. Her body was formed in the womb of the mother, and the father had the usual share in its formation. The question does not concern the immaculateness of the generative activity of her parents. Neither does it concern the passive conception absolutely and simply (conceptio seminis carnis, inchoata), which, according to the order of nature, precedes the infusion of the rational soul. The person is truly conceived when the soul is created and infused into the body. Mary was preserved exempt from all stain of original sin at the first moment of her animation, and sanctifying grace was given to her before sin could have taken effect in her soul.

"...was preserved exempt from all stain of original sin..."

The formal active essence of original sin was not removed from her soul, as it is removed from others by baptism; it was excluded, it never was in her soul. Simultaneously with the exclusion of sin. The state of original sanctity, innocence, and justice, as opposed to original sin, was conferred upon her, by which gift every stain and fault, all depraved emotions, passions, and debilities, essentially pertaining to original sin, were excluded. But she was not made exempt from the temporal penalties of Adam — from sorrow, bodily infirmities, and death.

"...by a singular privilege and grace granted by God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the human race."

The immunity from original sin was given to Mary by a singular exemption from a universal law through the same merits of Christ, by which other men are cleansed from sin by baptism. Mary needed the redeeming Saviour to obtain this exemption, and to be delivered from the universal necessity and debt (debitum) of being subject to original sin. The person of Mary, in consequence of her origin from Adam, should have been subject to sin, but, being the new Eve who was to be the mother of the new Adam, she was, by the eternal counsel of God and by the merits of Christ, withdrawn from the general law of original sin. Her redemption was the very masterpiece of Christ's redeeming wisdom. He is a greater redeemer who pays the debt that it may not be incurred than he who pays after it has fallen on the debtor.

(Immaculate Conception, Catholic Encyclopedia, newadvent.org)

Such is the meaning of the term "Immaculate Conception."

REFLECTION:

We are not like Mary who was conceived without original sin. But we are all like Mary who is loved by God so much. This love of God made us all sharers in the Kingdom of God. This celebration is all about LOVE. Mary’s Immaculate Conception was not only about the LOVE of God for her but also about the LOVE of God for US! Because, it is in the Immaculate Conception of Mary where the Hope of Salvation of humankind was realized. Behold the woman who was prepared to be pure from the beginning to bear Christ, to bear God. 

This celebration calls all of us to remember the moment where our original was cleansed, our baptism. When we were baptized, we received Christ. Now, like Mary, we are called to bring Christ to anyone who needs Him. We are not only baptized and cleansed just for ourselves but, for us to become a living witnesses of God’s love to our neighbors.

PRAYER:

Father, you prepared the Virgin Mary to be the worthy mother of your Son. You let her share beforehand in the salvation Christ would bring by His death, and kept her sinless from the first moment of her conception. Help us by her prayers to live in your presence without sin. Amen.

HAIL MARY 

FULL OF GRACE 

THE LORD IS WITH YOU 

BLESSED ARE YOU AMONG WOMEN AND BLESSED IS THE FRUIT OF YOUR WOMB JESUS. 

HOLY MARY, MOTHER OF GOD, PRAY FOR US SINNERS NOW AND AT THE HOUR OF OUR DEATH.

AMEN

Prayer To The Immaculate Conception

 

O God, who by the Immaculate Conception

of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 

did prepare a worthy dwelling place for Your Son, 

we beseech You that, as by the foreseen death of this, Your Son, You did preserve Her from all stain, 

so too You would permit us, purified through Her intercession, to come unto You. 

Through the same Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, 

God, world without end. Amen 🙏 

Catholic Prayers: Say this Consecration Prayer to the Immaculate Hea...

Catholic Prayers: Say this Consecration Prayer to the Immaculate Hea...: CONSECRATION TO THE IMMACULATE HEART. By Saint Padre Pio O MARY, Virgin most powerful and Mother of mercy, Queen of heaven and Refuge...

Catholic Prayers: Ask for 3 special graces through this powerful pra...

Catholic Prayers: Ask for 3 special graces through this powerful pra...: PRAYER OF THE THREE HAIL MARY I Oh, Immaculate Mary, Virgin most Powerful, I beseech you, through that immense Power which you have r...

Most Powerful Prayer Of Thanksgiving To Jesus and Mary, Our Mother

Prayer to Jesus and Mary For Blessings

O Blessed Virgin Mary, who can worthily give you the just dues of praise and thanksgiving, you who by the wondrous assent of your will rescued a fallen world? What songs of praise can our weak human nature recite in your honor, since it is by your intervention alone that it has found the way to restoration?
Accept, then, such poor thanks as we have to offer here, though they be unequal to your merit; and, receiving our vows, obtain by your prayers the remission of our offenses. Carry our prayers within the sanctuary of the heavenly audience and bring forth the gift of our reconciliation.

Take our offering, grant us our requests, obtain pardon for what we fear, for you are the sole hope of sinners. Holy Mary, help the miserable, strengthen the fainthearted, comfort the sorrowful, pray for your people, plead for the clergy, intercede for all women consecrated to God.

Be ever ready to assist us when we pray and bring back to us the answers to our prayers. Make it your continual care to pray for the people of God, you who, blessed by God, merited to bear the Redeemer of the world who lives and reigns, world without end.
Amen.

O Jesus, Divine Master, I thank and bless Your most merciful Heart for having given us Mary most holy as our Mother, Teacher and Queen. From the cross You placed us all in her hands. You gave her a great heart, much wisdom and immense power.
May all mankind know her, pray to her! May all permit themselves to be led by her to You, the Savior of mankind! I placed myself in her hands, as You placed Yourself. With this Mother I want to live now, in the hour of my death, and for all eternity.

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Messages of Our Lady of Medjugorje Regarding Prayer

One of the main messages of Our Lady in Medjugorje
is the importance of daily prayer, especially the Holy Rosary. On February 25, 1989, Our Lady said: “Little children, do not be afraid. If you pray, Satan cannot injure you, not even a little, because you are God's children and He is watching over you. Pray, and let the Rosary always be in your hands as a sign to Satan that you belong to me."

On July 21, 1982, Our Lady said: “…Through fasting and prayer, one can stop wars one can suspend the laws of nature...” No problem cannot be solved without prayer! Our Lady promised on March 28, 1985: “...In prayer you shall find . . . the way out of every situation that has no exit...”

On March 20, 1986, Our Lady said: “...Today I call you to approach prayer actively... Prayer will be your joy. If you make a start, it won't be boring to you because you will be praying out of joy...”

October 2, 1986, Our Lady said:“...You, dear children, are not able to understand how great the value of prayer is as long as you yourselves do not say: ‘now is the time for prayer, now nothing else is important to me, now not one person is important to me but God.’  Dear children, consecrate yourselves to prayer with a special love so that God will be able to render graces back to you...”

Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary By st. Louis De Montfort

The Immaculate alone has from God the promise of victory over Satan. She seeks souls that will consecrate themselves entirely to her, that will become in her hands forceful instruments for the defeat of Satan and the spread of God's kingdom."

- St. Maximilian Kolbe

What does consecration mean in Catholic?
When something is consecrated it is declared to be sacred or holy. Many Catholics, for example, believe that bread and wine are consecrated, or made sacred during Holy Communion, becoming the body and blood of Christ. ... Something that is consecrated is intensely dedicated to the point of being declared holy.

What is consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary?
Consecration of the world and the human race to the Immaculate Heart meant that non-Christians would also be consecrated. ... Consecrating the world to theImmaculate Heart of Mary means drawing near, through the mother's intercession, to the very fountain of life that sprang from Golgotha.

What does consecration to Mary mean?
Consecration to Mary is consecration to the "perfect means" (Montfort) which Jesus chose to unite himself with us and vice versa. ... We must confide ourselves to the Heart of Mary in view of our consecration to God. We offer ourselves to this divine consecration through Mary, for she points the way to the heart of Jesus.

ACT OF CONSECRATION PRAYER

I, (Name), a faithless sinner - 
renew and ratify today in thy hands, 
O Immaculate Mother, 
the vows of my Baptism; 
I renounce forever Satan, 
his pomps and works; 
and I give myself entirely to Jesus Christ, 
the Incarnate Wisdom, 
to carry my cross after Him 
all the days of my life, 
and to be more faihful to Him 
than I have ever been before.

In the presence of all the heavenly court 
I choose thee this day, 
for my Mother and Mistress. 
I deliver and consecrate to thee, 
as thy slave, my body and soul, 
my goods, both interior and exterior, 
and even the value of all my good actions, 
past, present and future; 
leaving to thee the entire 
and full right of disposing of me, 
and all that belongs to me, without exception, 
according to thy good pleasure, 
for the greater glory of God, 
in time and in eternity.

Amen.

"Happy are the faithful slaves of the Queen of Heaven, for they will enjoy true freedom."

- St. Cecilia to Mother Agnes of Jesus, as quoted by St. Louis de Montfort