Worship Of “The Virgin Mary”

BUFF SCOTT, JR.
Author - Columnist - Reformer

Do Catholics Worship Mary?

Opening Statement

Do Roman Catholics and their ecclesiastics worship Mary? Their solid stance is, “No, we do not worship Mary!” However, the evidence is overwhelmingly against them. But before the evidence is presented, I’d like to cut at the root of this dispute.

The “early bird that got the worm” is the truth that not once does the apostle Peter, who is alleged to be the first pope, even mention Mary in any of his biblical letters. Nor is there any record in any of the other letters, such as Acts of the Apostles, that Peter ever referred to Mary. Not only did he not mention her, directly or indirectly, but zero nothing is said by any apostle about the need to venerate or worship her. This fact speaks volumes against the Catholic’s view of Mary.

Why? Why did Peter fail to mention the “Virgin Mary”? Surely if all popes worshipped Mary and leaned on her for salvation, and they have, as the evidence will show, and if Peter was the first pope, why does he not praise and adore Mary in the same vein as other popes? The question demands an answer.

But here is another matter all Catholics should seriously consider. The wise men who were led by God’s star to see the child Jesus “bowed down and worshipped Him” (Matthew 2:10-12). If God intended that Mary be venerated, why didn’t the wise men bow down and worship them instead of only Him? Why was Mary not bowed down to? Even the Catholic Bible has the wise men bowing down to Jesus only. Either the biblical testimony is wrong and the Catholic Hierarchy is right or the Catholic Hierarchy is wrong and the biblical evidence is right. It cannot be both ways.

Additionally, nowhere in scripture are we able to find one example of Mary, or even an image of Mary, being bowed down to and/or venerated. This cultic practice was invented centuries later by the Roman Catholic Hierarchy, not by God. It is of the earth, not of heaven.

The Late Pope John Paul II Worshipped Mary
& Relied On Her For Salvation

If the pope is the role model and instructor and guide for Catholics, and he is, and if they are striving to follow in his footsteps, and they are, they give the same level of reverence to Mary as their “Supreme Pontiff.” It is a documented fact that the late Pope John Paul II relied more on Mary for salvation than on Jesus.

Pope John Paul made more than 40 pilgrimages to her shrines at Lourdes and Fatima. He wrote in his Apostolic Letter of Oct. 16, 2002, the following words:

“I entrust this Apostolic Letter to the loving hands of the Virgin Mary, prostrating myself in spirit before her image in the splendid Shrine built for her by Blessed Bartolo Longo, the apostle of the Rosary.”

He continued:

“O Blessed Rosary of Mary, sweet chain which unites us to God... tower of salvation against the assaults of Hell, safe port in our universal shipwreck, we will never abandon you. You will be our comfort in the hour of death; yours our final kiss as life ebbs away. And the last word from our lips will be your sweet name, O Queen of the Rosary of Pompei, O dearest Mother, O Refuge of Sinners, O Sovereign Consoler of the Afflicted….”

Salvation In Mary & The Rosary!
Embroidered inside all of Pope John Paul’s robes was the phrase, “Totus tuus sum Maria,” which means, “Mary, I am all yours.” The Catholic Rosary concludes:

“HAIL, HOLY QUEEN, Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope! To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve; to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us, and after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary!”

It is of interest when we ponder Roman Catholicism’s popular “15 Promises of Mary.” Among them we find:

“The soul which recommends itself to me [Mary] by the recitation of the Rosary, shall not perish...I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary. Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall…at the moment of death…participate in the merits of the Saints in Paradise.”

It is obvious, then, that not only did the late pope worship Mary and place his eternal security in her, but it is equally obvious that “the faithful” follow in his footsteps. When Catholics turn from faith in Jesus Christ alone for salvation to trusting Mary and the Rosary, as did Pope John Paul II, they place their eternal salvation in jeopardy, for Jesus Himself declared, "No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6).

If Jesus spoke the truth, and He did, there is zero security and salvation in Mary and the Rosary. In the pope’s “Prayer For The Marian Year,” he prayed:

“Sustain us, O Virgin Mary, on our journey of faith and obtain for us the grace of eternal salvation.”

Need I continue? There is ample evidence that Catholics in general worship Mary. It is a sad day in human history when any person, whether Protestant or Catholic, places his/her allegiance and salvation in anyone except the Son of God.

Even More Clear Evidence
But if the evidence above is insufficient to establish that popes and their disciples do indeed worship Mary and rely more on her than on Jesus, I hereby dispense more.

The Glories of Mary by Alphonsus de Liguori explicitly mentions Marian worship in the fifth stanza of the hymn “Mary, Virgin of Virgins” (page 589).

“Queen thou art, whom all things worship,
Earth and hell, and heaven above;
But thy heart o'erflows with goodness,
Just and sinners feel thy love.”

Frank Hutto, one of my readers, commented on the above hymn. “The statement about her being worshipped is unmistakably clear. Since Liguori’s book bears both the nihil obstat and the imprimatur (Latin for ‘Let it be printed’), it must contain nothing objectionable to the Roman Catholic Church’s Teaching Magisterium. Besides, Liguori not only bears the title of ‘saint,’ but also was designated a doctor [outstanding teacher] by Pope Pious IX in 1871.”

Jesus Blessed Other Women
The thing that rubs the bone with me is that Jesus had a unique relationship with numerous people during his time on planet Earth, including many women, yet none of them have been set apart by the papacy as “holy vessels” to be venerated or worshipped. Jesus had an exceptionally close relationship with Lazarus and his sister Mary. After she anointed Him with costly perfume, He told the Twelve, “Wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her” (Matt. 26:10-13).

Then there was a different woman who, on a another occasion, wet His feet with her tears, wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured an alabaster jar of perfume on them (Luke 7:36-50). Jesus turned to Peter, in the format of a rebuke, and said:

“Do you see this woman? When I came into your house, you did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet....Jesus said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you; go in peace.’ ”

Now tell me why the papacy has not “sanctified” this woman and instructed “the faithful” to venerate or worship her? True, she was not Jesus’ earthly mother. Nor was Lazarus’ sister. Yet look what praise—what acclaim—Jesus awards them. Should we not construct an image, a statue—an idol—of them and bow down and worship them, as Catholics do the statue (idol) of Jesus’ mother?

If I might be so bold as to claim that it is futile for our Catholic friends and their clergy to deny they worship Mary. The evidence—the documentation, the confirmation, the testimony—is stacked against them.

You Of The Catholic Persuasion
The Lord warned old Israel against worshipping “man-made gods of wood and stone [statues, images, idols], which cannot see or hear or eat or smell” (Deut. 4:28). And when the devil offered Jesus “all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor...if you will bow down and worship me,” Jesus replied, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only’ ” (Matthew 4:10).

“Bow down and worship me”? Isn’t this what our Catholic friends do when they stoop in the presence of a statue of Mary—or some other idol? Are they not aware that God requires them to worship and serve Him only? And I announce from the roof tops: Away with all religious statues, images, and idols that are bowed down to and worshipped! Ground them to powder and cast them upon the water! Let it then become “unholy water!”

When Moses came down from the Mountain of God and saw his people had made an idol in the form of a golden calf and were bowing down and worshipping it, he “took the calf they had made and burned it in the fire; then he ground it to powder, scattered it upon the water and made the Israelites drink it” (Exodus 32:19-20). Take heed, you who have built images, statues, and idols and bow down to them—whether Catholics or Protestants. The Lord will some day demand an answer for your idolatrous actions.

Closing Remarks
Lest it be said that I have a personal vendetta against Catholics, let me clarify by saying that I have many friends who are of the Catholic persuasion. Most of them are sincere, just as most Protestants are candid and forthright. My main thrusts of contention are the sectarian systems that have enslaved Catholics and Protestants alike. These religious orders and factions that have brainwashed and subjugated so many must be disarmed and ejected before there can be any semblance of what Jesus founded. May that day soon arrive.

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