Praying to God and the role of Mary

There are many questions about what the saints who are in heaven know about earthly events, and also about the validity of praying to them to ask for their intercession.

First, in this blog posting, let me start by clearing up some misperceptions about the Virgin Mary. She is not God and she does not possess the quality of “all knowing” that only God, God alone, possesses. Mary is pure, full of grace, the “Mother of God” through virtue of being the mother of Jesus, but this does not mean that she is God or possesses all of God’s knowledge and ability. No one does except God.

Prayer to Mary to ask her for intercession is very effective up to a point. Most people who pray to Mary for help in their intentions for God have put themselves in a mindset that is pleasing to God and conducive to receiving grace. By virtue of acknowledging the purity and grace of Mary and her shining example for all, petitioners to Mary are tuning themselves more to God’s will. The more one is in tune and obedient to God’s will, the more grace and granting of intentions can be fulfilled.

However, there are people who think Mary can be “used.” And I must warn you that God is alert and knows all. Intentions that are cynically or manipulatively directed toward Mary are, of course, crystal clear in their duplicity in God’s sight. Mary does not need to “know” that someone praying for her help is being manipulative: God Knows. God does not grant all that Mary asks for exactly this reason.

Remember that in the apparition at Fatima the children asked Mary for many cures and information about local people. Mary informed them quite clearly that many times the sick will not be cured and even let the children know that the two youngest of them will not have long lives. Now I’m not saying the children interceded with Mary with anything but the purest of presentation and intention. But I am citing this fact to show that not all that is asked of Mary is granted because all grace, intention, miracles and works come from GOD and God alone, with His perfect knowledge and will. So at Fatima there were thousands of witnesses to how Mary intercedes for humanity and their remission from sin, pleading with them to obey and love God, but how not all prayers and cures will be granted by God no matter how sincerely Mary is asked.

How much more so is the case if Mary is manipulated by those who pray to her for help and who figure they are short cutting to God, or able to take advantage of her good and blessed nature. To the contrary, God has perfect sight and knowledge of the hidden intentions of every person, and he never allows Mary, or any of the saints or angels, to be used.

So Mary, in heaven, does not concern herself and never has concerned herself with perfect knowledge of all that exists and all that humans do because no one has that role and ability but God himself. Mary continues to be what she was on earth during the time of Jesus, which is to be the Mother of the Church (“Mater Ecclesiae”). The Litany of Mary lists her many qualities, but her qualities are not the same as being God. Only God is God. Only God has perfect knowledge, eternal intent and willful action. To use another of Mary’s titles she is Mother of good counsel (“Mater boni consilii”) but she is not the source of God’s power and perfect knowledge. She advises and intercedes as a loving mother to all humans who love God, and she is a Seat of wisdom (“Sedes sapientiae”) but she is not the living, eternal and total wisdom that is God, or God that is expressed as the Holy Spirit.

In the traditional Mass on May 31 celebrating Our Lady Virgin and Queen, the Lesson is from the Book of Ecclesiasticus 24: 5, 7, 9-11, 30, 31:

I came out of the mouth of the Most High, the firstborn before all creatures; I dwelt in the highest places, and my throne is in a pillar of a cloud. I have stood in all the earth and in every people, and in every nation I have had the chief rule; and by my power I have trodden under my feet the hearts of all, the high and low. He that hearkeneth to me shall not be confounded: and they that work by me shall not sin; they that explain me shall have life everlasting.

It is clear that Mary is created and graced by God, but she is not God (“I came out of the mouth of the Most High”). It is clear that Mary is there for everyone, of all peoples of the earth (“I have stood in all the earth and in every people, and in every nation I have had the chief rule”) but she is not God. It is clear that her rule is that of the heart, but she is not the wielder of the power of God (“and by my power I have trodden under my feet the hearts of all, the high and low”). It is clear that she is the counselor, but is not the possessor of God’s knowledge (“He that hearkeneth to me shall not be confounded”). This is, incidentally, another reference to Mary’s role as refuter of heretics. It is clear that Mary is the inspiration against sin, but is not God, who is the one who judges and prohibits sin (“and they that work by me shall not sin”). It is clear that those who have faith in her virginal maternity of Jesus therefore believe in the teachings of Jesus about obtaining the kingdom of God, but she is not granting the kingdom of God (“they that explain me shall have life everlasting”). If one explains Mary then one is explaining Jesus as sent by God through Mary’s body, and therefore understands, believes, witnesses to and is justified in their Christianity for achieving the kingdom of God and life everlasting.

From that same Mass is this Offertory:

That Mary springs from royal stock shines out: with most devout mind and spirit do we beg the help of her prayers. (Alleluia).

Again, one is not praying to Mary so much as one is asking for her to pray to God on one’s behalf, and to correctly do so is to be of “most devout mind and spirit.”

When one prays to Mary for intercession, remember that only God is the recipient of prayer and worship. By praying to Mary one is showing the Mother of the Church respect and love and understanding that she has a special place in God’s heart. Humble understanding and piety of Mary’s human perfection as accomplished BY GOD tends to put one in a state of communion with God that will lead to graces and good things. This is why sincere prayer for Mary’s intercession tends to have good results because this understanding helps people to pray for graces that are in harmony with God’s will, and thus more likely to be granted. It is not because people are short cutting prayer to God alone, and it is not because Mary has the powers and ability of God, as she does not. That is the difference between veneration and worship. The more that people understand “the great things that God has done for Mary” (paraphrasing the Magnificat) the more people understand that God is the only bestower of the answer to prayer intentions.