Truth Series - 3 of 6 - We Do Not Pray To Mary

Truth Series - 3 of 6 - We Do Not Pray To Mary

Heavenly Father, you are not a God of confusion, yet in the Body of Christ, there is much murmuring and confusion over certain beliefs. Please give us the grace of clear thinking in union with You, that we are not deprived of the good You have given us. Amen

I want to begin by asking this question: Do you believe that the Bible is the true word of God?

And that is the crux of the issue. The Bible is put in second place after the opinions of men, and church doctrines. I say that because much is ignored and refuted by Protestants non-Denominational and Evangelical churches in the Scriptures.

And I am going to start out by giving you two blatant examples:

Only God forgives sins. (That is the Pharisees famous line) Yet in John 20:23 Jesus exclaims to the apostles, whose so ever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose so ever sins ye retain, they are retained. Or, whoever's sins you forgive, they have forgiven them. Whoever's sins you retain, they have been retained. Now this is just as clear as day, but the presbyters can forgive sins, yet none of the non-traditional churches have presbyters or pastors who hear confessions and absolve sins, as Jesus directed in the Scriptures. That is example number one.

Number 2. Five times in one paragraph from John 6:51-56, Jesus told the crowd that unless you eat My flesh and drink My blood you have no life in you. So, here are the Scripture verses.

Verse 6 :51. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.

The second verse 6: 53. Then Jesus said to them, most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.

6:54, the third example. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.

The fourth example, 6 verse 55. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.

And the fifth example is John 6 :56. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.

It is interesting here that He says it five times because of the five wounds, traditionally, five wounds on His body from the Crucifixion, the crown of thorns, the spear, the nail through both of His feet, the nails in His hands.

So, to complete our understanding: Christians believe in a real spiritual presence of Christ in the wafer and wine. This is common to all mainline denominations except for the Liturgical churches but the Liturgical churches believe that the consecrated host and wine are truly the real physical Body and Blood of Jesus, under the appearance of bread and wine. To substantiate that truth, there are many miracles on record where the consecrated host turned to heart tissue and bled, proving the true presence of Jesus' Body and Blood, which conforms to what is written in the Scriptures, and it is always the same blood type. It is also the same blood type on the Shroud of Turin. And for this reason, Communion is treated with great respect, that is why the churches are ornate, because of the belief of the true presence of the Lord's body in front of the church kept in reserve in the Tabernacle, and of course they never throw leftovers out to the birds. It is not bread; it is His Body.

But do you see? So many people put those churches down and contradict what Scripture says about the true presence of His Body and Blood. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. That is what the Lord said, but because of social norms in the churches, whatever denomination or non-denomination you profess, certain norms are adhered to lest you be ridiculed for disagreeing or accused of idol worship, or even more disgusting, alchemy. There is nothing of alchemy in the trans substantiation of the bread into the Body of Christ, because it is performed by the descent of the Holy Spirit. He is the one who changes the bread and wine to the Body and Blood of Jesus.

This is much more an issue of peer survival than it is faith in the word of God to be without error. For those who do not agree with everything, this is a white martyrdom for adhering to the word of God. If you believe that, you are not really considered a Christian, there is just something wrong with you, and yet it is stated clearly in the Scriptures.

And I am going to skip ahead now to the Rosary that we prayed on July the thirty-first.

Our Lady appeared and offered everyone a white rose. Mother Elisabeth saw that. She began to speak, "Each one of you here are very, very precious, you have chosen to purify yourselves from this world, and the opinions of men in order to follow My son. You are to be pure examples of God's love, and brotherly love, you are to shine in this world. I am commending each of you for choosing the way of purity. Though you have not shed your blood, you have all stood strong in the face of ridicule and opposition. You have chosen the very narrow path, excluding all else, even unto the loss of family and life. I commend you precious ones for choosing to follow the Lamb and refusing to buckle under the opinions of men. Truly you are blessed beyond measure and true children of mine. You have broken free from the constraints of religious spirits which plague The Body of Christ. You have chosen to adhere to the words of the Bible, rather than to your social group. By thus doing you have flung yourselves into the arms of my Son, to be His and His alone.

"This is one of the biggest bones of contention in the Body of Christ. It is a serious dividing force between believers. You have been called to repair this breach and restore the ruined homesteads of the first century. (That is Isaiah 58:12) You will encounter this problem everywhere, therefore it is important for you to have a good answer that cannot be refuted. Is it about the perfection of truth, or the protection of conformity to denominational doctrines? Those who want to live only by the truth are seeking after perfection and will continue in this way faithfully, no matter what the cost. This is a long hard row to hoe beloved, keep plowing, keep plowing. The Lord is with you as He was with me. This is no small task He has appointed you to."

The Jesus began to speak to me, "You are hearing Me through My mother dear one. I would like people to understand that she was the intermediary My Father used to bring me into this world, and she is also the intermediary that will assist in bringing you out of the world with its many errors to Me, the gate of the sheepfold. The way is long and fraught with many deceptions and traps. Many have been lied to, there is nothing more effective than using a truth and putting a twist I n it to confuse people, then it becomes a lie, a half- truth. Choosing her as an intercessor has been perverted and handed to the Christian community as idol worship. People don't pray to statues of her, they use the statues as sacramental to help them concentrate on her presence, which of course is in the spirit world, is in Heaven and part of the Great Cloud of Witnesses.

"Do you accuse your friends of idol worship when they call you to ask for prayer? Certainly not. This is absurd. But those who have not gone deeper in their understanding of the Bible, but have leaned on the opinions of others, never get to the truth, rather they listen to those who are most popular and conformed to the doctrine of their church or social group. To see and believe something radically different in the Scriptures, would endanger their standing, their survival in the church and with their peer group. What they don't realize is when they see it, and understand it, then deliberately condemn it, they have lost their standing with Me. It is amazing what one will do to continue to be prosperous and accepted in this world.

"This is the work of the enemy who has sown tares in My field. But it is possible to overcome him with the truth, presented simply, without rancor, and this is what I wish to do. This is so important to Me, Clare. So important. You know the truth and my heart longs for them to also know it. They have been very cleverly lied to and ones that are uninformed have used the Marian doctrine to turn people off, without studying her role from the Scriptures. There is a Religious Spirit that seeks to divide the Body, even as there was in My day, with the Pharisees, when I forgave the paralytic, and they have been quite successful by ignoring My mother's role, even though I laid it out clearly for them in the Scriptures.

"Why, you say? Satan in his lethal pride cannot stand the fact that he was so easily conquered by a woman. He hates her to the rotten core of his being. Not only that, but her prayers are powerful and have won many souls graces out of season, such as the wine in Cana. This is why.

"But I say to you, "My sheep know my voice and another they will not follow." You recognized My voice in this vessel when you first heard the teachings but now you are confronted with a vastly differing opinion about My mother's role, and you do not know who or what to believe. May I suggest that you go deeper into the Scriptures? I am offering you the friendship of My very own mother, who brought Me into this world, whose heart is united with Mine fully, for all mankind to be saved, and who prays continually for that to happen. She guides many in the world on the straight and narrow path, because I have given her the graces, she needs to do it. Can you find one error in her teachings? Show it to Me. I want to see it. If not, consider that you have been deprived of the most powerful intercessor and mother in the whole world, because Satan has succeeded in dividing My Church.

"I am not suggesting you worship her, no, worship is Mine alone, I am suggesting that you treat her as a dear friend and ask her to pray for you, and listen to her messages, and authentic appearances and miracles from around the world. She speaks for Me, and her messages are timely.

"My dear ones, you are missing out on great graces I have offered to you. You have turned to internet Bible teachers when I have put one in front of you who is competent in your life, one who you once recognized My voice through. You were running so well, who confused you? Please return to the living waters I have offered you through this vessel, you have lost much and stand to lose more. My love is watching over you and guarding you as the apple of My eye, but please remember this, you will obtain great miracles in a time of extreme danger when you ask for My mother's intercession. I will hear her prayer".

And here I want to add, do not pray to Mary.

Let me begin by saying that this resistance to Mary's role is mostly an issue of misunderstanding and language. In Webster's dictionary there are two distinctly different meanings to the word, pray: definition number one, to make a request in a humble manner, to ask. This is what we mean when we say we pray to Mary...it is not really prayer, it is requesting her intercession with great respect for her the dignity of her person and office, as it is written in the Scriptures, as the mother of the Christ. All men shall call her blessed.

Pray: definition number two, to address God with adoration, confession, supplication, and thanksgiving. For me that means an intimate conversation with God, especially Jesus, where I communicate my love, worship, awe and devotion to Him, and I also pray to Him.

So, to be clear, in the first example we are asking for intercession from the Mother of Jesus. She in turn may reveal some faults we need to correct in our love of God and neighbor, before she petitions Him, or she may just ask a favor of Him. To be sure, Mary is extremely proprietary, and if she sees an attitude of heart in us that she knows will offend her Son, she will inspire us to make changes and repent, before asking Him for anything.

I am learning that most people, especially Bible believing Fundamentalists and Evangelicals believe that those who "pray" to Mary, make her a replacement for God, or believe that they cannot go to God directly so they go to Mary. That is a huge misunderstanding. For instance, here at the Refuge, we spend four to five hours with Jesus, Holy Spirit, Father God, and the Scriptures, first thing in the morning. Then in the evening after dinner we spend forty-five minutes praying a family Rosary and especially discussing world events and asking her intercession for the world and perhaps for some personal issues.

But the truth is, that we humbly request that SHE prays for US. Dear Christians, Mary was faithful with her duties on Earth, so the Lord has given her greater duties in Heaven that concern the WHOLE family of God, the very Body of Christ. Jesus often taught with metaphors. The very night at the Passover supper He stooped to wash the disciple's feet. Did He do that because they did not follow the custom of washing their own feet when they came into dinner? Of course not. He was illustrating to them that they should stoop to wash one another's feet in true humility, serving, not lording it over one another, or quarreling over who was more important.

In the very same spirit, when Jesus said to her, as He was dying, "Behold your son." and to John, "Behold your mother." He was declaring her role in the church. Remember Scripture says there were many brothers and sisters in Jesus' family, obviously He was talking about more than just providing housing for her. He was in essence saying, "You, John are representative of My disciples, my church, because you are the only apostle present at My death, therefore, behold, I am assigning her the mission of mothering My newly born church, and you the mission of respecting her as My very own mother in her role."

A mother does not supplant the role of the father of the family, she supports the role of the father and instructs her children. And that is precisely what the Blessed Mother has done throughout the centuries in her appearances, which were mandated by God to inform the Body. She even prophesied that Rome would lose the faith, as well as the end of the first world war, and why it was allowed by God, and why a more terrible war would come after it because of growing immorality. What we do is to request of Mary that she pray for us.

Not only did she prophesy, but God performed signs, wonders, and miracles to attest to the validity of her appearances. But the greatest miracles of all were the repentance and return to the church of thousands of souls, along with healing miracles, not to mention the miraculous spring that appeared out of nowhere in the rock cove at Lourdes. At Fatima, the very day she said she would appear, the weather was turbulent with torrential rains and muddy roads. The very moment she appeared to the visionaries, it stopped raining, the sun came out and everyone and everything in the crowd was perfectly dry including the roads in less than a minute's time.

When people kneel to ask for her prayers, it is much like a peasant would kneel before a king and ask a favor. And yes, we do venerate her as "blessed among women," but worship? No. Worship is reserved for God alone. Guys, Mary is no replacement for God. She is a 'highly favored daughter' of the Most High God, a creature created by His will, one that would carry the Christ in her womb. That is the bottom line about this devotion.

The prayer that is addressed to Mary most commonly is from the Scriptures, and it reads: "Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with you. That is the angelic salutation. Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. And part two is: Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death." This prayer is said slowly, while meditating on the divine mysteries of our Savior's life and the miracles that accompanied them. In this way it is ALL about Jesus and what He did. In no way is it about Mary.

Now, when you get to the Glorious Mysteries which talk about the end of Mary's life, people could misconstrue her crowning as some kind of event making her equal to God. No way, all the mysteries that Mary is directly involved in from Jesus' life, are an illustration of what a believer in Christ can expect if he or she is faithful to the end. Even in Scriptures, talks about us receiving a crown for our faithfulness.

She raised Jesus to adulthood and even taught Him many things as a child which she learned having been raised in the temple. (which is first century tradition) She made the ultimate sacrifice in cooperating with His death for sinners, she died having fulfilled her mission, she was laid to rest in her tomb and Jesus Raptured her, giving her the same reward, we will all have if we are faithful. In addition to this, she obtained a glorified body and a crown. These are all, every single one, the fulfillment of the promises made to every faithful Christian when they come to Heaven. Mary was the first and most faithful Christian.