A friend was walking in the Italian-Catholic neighborhood of Boston's North End. He wrote that he passed by an impromptu shrine. He took a photo of it. I read the statement on the bottom of the shrine, which was dedicated to and all about Mary, and it sounded like a creed to me. It was also blasphemy. I decided to look it up.
Why blasphemy? The word of God does not say to "all to Mary" nor does it say to get to Jesus by going through Mary. James 4:7 says submit yourselves to God. Exodus 20:5 says not to bow down to another [besides the one true God]. Ephesians 5:23-24 says Christ is the head of the church and the church submits to Him.
The most successful false teachings are almost the truth. False teachings are like a Peanut M&M. There is an attractive, bright candy coating. There is a layer of velvety chocolate. But buried deep inside is a nut. Picture that nut as the false teaching. False teaching is layer upon layer of goodness with a hidden poison pill buried deep inside.
So often, attention is given to religions that seem like they so far away from Christianity, like atheism and Islam. But all false religions are spiritually the same, because they originate from the same source. However, some false religions seem almost true, because they claim Jesus, they use scriptures so well, and they have a seeming logic to them. But these are the most dangerous of all. For example, int eh Garden of Eden, satan disguised as a serpent didn't approach the woman by saying, "God is wrong! Don't listen to Him!" He approached the women by asking questions, insinuating, and blending half truths with lies.
When I searched for "all to Jesus through Mary" I found the following. It is brilliant in its false logic, evilly deadly in its blending of half-truths and full-on lies, you would see if you read the piece in its entirety. It is a Catholic piece written by a Catholic-educated man named Jayson Brunelle, and one of his many books that he has written is titled "The Blessed Mother’s Plan to Save Humanity." This essay about how Mary is Co-Redemptrix with Jesus appeared in the Homiletical and Pastoral Review last year.
To Jesus, Through Mary, In the Spirit of St. Joseph: The Wheat, the Rose, and the Lily
"St. Louis de Montfort and St. Maximillian Kolbe, … have consistently taught that the most appropriate response on our part to Mary’s role as spiritual mother is filial entrustment, or “total consecration” to her. This perfect devotion of total consecration to Jesus through Mary is truly the most sanctifying of all devotions ."
That was the sub-hed, or the article summary. Let's take a moment to look at the word 'consecration" and what it means. It is a word that has a concept that's wide-ranging, but Easton's Bible Dictionary explains the basic meaning--
"The devoting or setting apart of anything to the worship or service of God. The race of Abraham and the tribe of Levi were thus consecrated (Exodus 13:2, 12, 15; Numbers 3:12). The Hebrews devoted their fields and cattle, and sometimes the spoils of war, to the Lord (Leviticus 27:28, 29). According to the Mosaic law the first-born both of man and beast were consecrated to God. In the New Testament, Christians are regarded as consecrated to the Lord (1 Peter 2:9).
When something is set apart for holy use, whether a priest of the Old Testament, cattle, or a New Testament modern believer, it means set apart for the Lord's use, in worship and devotion to Him. To continue with the article "To Jesus through Mary",
So very few persons, pious Catholic Christians included, realize the tremendous role of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the sanctification of souls. Being spiritual mother of the Mystical Body, she, along with the Holy Spirit, has the tasks of forming Christ in souls, and nourishing her children with the milk of divine grace.
In that passage, the author is putting a sinner, Mary, in equal position with the Holy Spirit, whose ministry it is to point to Christ in souls. (1 Corinthians 2:14). Yes, Mary was a sinner like you and me, in need of a savior. She said as much in Luke 1:27. She is a servant of God, certainly not equal with God, and said so in Luke 1:48. The One who upholds the universe by the word of His power does not make a sinner co-equal in His work! (Hebrews 1:3)
Mary does not dispense divine grace. Only our Trinitarian God does that. As Charles Spurgeon said, "It is the chief office of the Holy Spirit to glorify Christ." Yet Catholics are taught that Mary sanctifies souls, is our 'spiritual mother', and delivers divine grace.
When you speak of these things to a Catholic, they will deny they worship Mary, claiming that 'venerating' her is only giving her respect, but this lesson taught by a Catholic theologian destroys that stance in just a few sentences.
Remember, Catholics are not Christians, any more than Muslims are Christians or Atheists are Christians. Their spiritual father is the devil, (John 8:44), while all who believe the true Gospel has a spiritual Father in Jesus.
In this next passage, the author explains how Mary is the Church's "Spiritual Mother":
Mary, in giving birth to Christ the Head, also gave birth to the body connected to that Head, which is the Church. Thus, Mary, in giving birth to the source of all grace, can rightly be called “Spiritual Mother” of all who benefit from that grace.
It sounds logical, doesn't it. We understand the biology of conception, gestation, birth, and nurturing. Jesus used those analogies many times and Paul & Peter both spoke of spiritual nourishment as milk. Yet, it falls apart when we remember that first and foremost, the virgin birth was a supernatural event unlike any other in history ever before or since. And secondly, it denies the Holy Spirit's role in forming the Church, which occurred at Pentecost, by His indwelling of the believers there (Acts 2:4) who had been appointed to believe since before the foundation of the world. (cf Acts 13:48). Mary had nothing to do with it. She was a vessel being used by God (Luke 1:38).
Continuing with the article, we come to the next section, which the author has titled:
Mary, Mediatrix of all Grace
To understand the logic of total consecration to Jesus through Mary, we must first grasp Mary’s role as Mediatrix of all graces. This is the Church’s doctrine that every grace that comes to us from God comes through the willed intercession of Mary. But this role of Mary as Mediatrix of all grace is really the completion of her role as Spiritual Mother, and follows from her unique cooperation in the redemption of humanity with Christ on Calvary. ... But Mary most fully became our mother at the foot of the cross where she, in a completely singular way, participated in the redemption of humanity with Christ. That is why some theologians are wont to ascribe to Mary the title Co-Redemptrix. De Montfort said: "the more a soul is consecrated to Mary, the more it is consecrated to Jesus"
I hope your discernment and knowledge of the Word allowed you to understand that what is being taught in that Catholic Doctrine above, is that Mary is really God, or is above God. If "every grace that comes to us through God" is through Mary's will, then it is God who is taking the subservient role. In this Catholic doctrine Her will trumps His. But it is not so! It is Christ who pours out graces. (Acts 2:33). Further, this doctrine teaches that Mary is the Intercessor, not Jesus. (Romans 8:34, Hebrews 7:25).
So in just a few short sentences, or in one essay if you read it at the link, we see that Catholics are taught that Mary has a role that trumps all three roles of our Trinitarian God. As dispenser of grace and mother of the church she edges out the Holy Spirit. As intercessor she bumps out Jesus. And as giver of all graces via her own will through God she takes over His role there as well. This is why Catholicism is false. They have another god: Mary.
I bring these things up so you can be prepared when speaking with a Catholic person. I did a rudimentary and very clumsy job of apologetics here, but I hope it gave you food for thought. The creed adorning the Marian shrine in Boston's North End is emblazoned with lights and candles, but is in fact bringing a doctrine of darkness. Here is part of the author's conclusion:
Having established the irrefutable validity of Mary’s role as Mediatrix of all graces, we can now understand the reason for entrusting ourselves to her, which is the essence of Marian consecration.
O, how satan loves to take our eyes off the true Rock, the only Bread, the source of the Living Water, Jesus Christ! We do NOT consecrate ourselves to a sinner named Mary whom God used as a biological vessel. We give ourselves wholly and totally to Jesus, the only worthy one in the universe.
Our church has a mission team heading to Peru next month to witness to the lost, many of them Catholics, and these doctrines saturate the Peruvian hearts and poison their minds away from the beauty and clarity of the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. Please, pray for missionaries in the Catholic regions. Pray for the Light of grace from our true God to be delivered to hearts and minds wrongly focused on Mary, so they may be lifted from the bondage of sin and darkness under which they are laboring.
Mary's Magnificat was a hymn of praise and joy. Here as Charles Spurgeon explains Mary's joy at the news of the coming of the Lord, not as Mother of God, but as a sinner graciously saved, in his sermon delivered on Christmas Day 1864 , on this text, "And Mary said, My soul does magnify the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.” Luke 1:46, 47"
"I must close by observing that while her song was all this, yet how very humble it was, and how full of gratitude. The Papist calls her, “Mother of God,” but she never whispers such a thing in her song. No, it is “God my Savior,” just such words as the sinner who is speaking to you might use, and such expressions as you sinners who are hearing me can use, too. She needs a Savior, she feels it; her soul rejoices because there is a Savior for her. She does not talk as though she could commend herself to Him, but she hopes to stand accepted in the Beloved. Let us, then, take care that our familiarity has always blended with it the lowliest prostration of spirit when we remember that He is God Over All, blessed forever, and we are nothing but dust and ashes; He fills all things, and we are less than nothing and vanity ."
Will you sing of His tremendous grace, in joy at how He releases sinners from bondage? Pray for those in bondage to Mary to be released, so they also might sing of how their soul magnifies the Lord and their spirit also may rejoice in the Savior.
Why blasphemy? The word of God does not say to "all to Mary" nor does it say to get to Jesus by going through Mary. James 4:7 says submit yourselves to God. Exodus 20:5 says not to bow down to another [besides the one true God]. Ephesians 5:23-24 says Christ is the head of the church and the church submits to Him.
The most successful false teachings are almost the truth. False teachings are like a Peanut M&M. There is an attractive, bright candy coating. There is a layer of velvety chocolate. But buried deep inside is a nut. Picture that nut as the false teaching. False teaching is layer upon layer of goodness with a hidden poison pill buried deep inside.
So often, attention is given to religions that seem like they so far away from Christianity, like atheism and Islam. But all false religions are spiritually the same, because they originate from the same source. However, some false religions seem almost true, because they claim Jesus, they use scriptures so well, and they have a seeming logic to them. But these are the most dangerous of all. For example, int eh Garden of Eden, satan disguised as a serpent didn't approach the woman by saying, "God is wrong! Don't listen to Him!" He approached the women by asking questions, insinuating, and blending half truths with lies.
When I searched for "all to Jesus through Mary" I found the following. It is brilliant in its false logic, evilly deadly in its blending of half-truths and full-on lies, you would see if you read the piece in its entirety. It is a Catholic piece written by a Catholic-educated man named Jayson Brunelle, and one of his many books that he has written is titled "The Blessed Mother’s Plan to Save Humanity." This essay about how Mary is Co-Redemptrix with Jesus appeared in the Homiletical and Pastoral Review last year.
To Jesus, Through Mary, In the Spirit of St. Joseph: The Wheat, the Rose, and the Lily
"St. Louis de Montfort and St. Maximillian Kolbe, … have consistently taught that the most appropriate response on our part to Mary’s role as spiritual mother is filial entrustment, or “total consecration” to her. This perfect devotion of total consecration to Jesus through Mary is truly the most sanctifying of all devotions ."
That was the sub-hed, or the article summary. Let's take a moment to look at the word 'consecration" and what it means. It is a word that has a concept that's wide-ranging, but Easton's Bible Dictionary explains the basic meaning--
"The devoting or setting apart of anything to the worship or service of God. The race of Abraham and the tribe of Levi were thus consecrated (Exodus 13:2, 12, 15; Numbers 3:12). The Hebrews devoted their fields and cattle, and sometimes the spoils of war, to the Lord (Leviticus 27:28, 29). According to the Mosaic law the first-born both of man and beast were consecrated to God. In the New Testament, Christians are regarded as consecrated to the Lord (1 Peter 2:9).
When something is set apart for holy use, whether a priest of the Old Testament, cattle, or a New Testament modern believer, it means set apart for the Lord's use, in worship and devotion to Him. To continue with the article "To Jesus through Mary",
So very few persons, pious Catholic Christians included, realize the tremendous role of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the sanctification of souls. Being spiritual mother of the Mystical Body, she, along with the Holy Spirit, has the tasks of forming Christ in souls, and nourishing her children with the milk of divine grace.
In that passage, the author is putting a sinner, Mary, in equal position with the Holy Spirit, whose ministry it is to point to Christ in souls. (1 Corinthians 2:14). Yes, Mary was a sinner like you and me, in need of a savior. She said as much in Luke 1:27. She is a servant of God, certainly not equal with God, and said so in Luke 1:48. The One who upholds the universe by the word of His power does not make a sinner co-equal in His work! (Hebrews 1:3)
Mary does not dispense divine grace. Only our Trinitarian God does that. As Charles Spurgeon said, "It is the chief office of the Holy Spirit to glorify Christ." Yet Catholics are taught that Mary sanctifies souls, is our 'spiritual mother', and delivers divine grace.
When you speak of these things to a Catholic, they will deny they worship Mary, claiming that 'venerating' her is only giving her respect, but this lesson taught by a Catholic theologian destroys that stance in just a few sentences.
Remember, Catholics are not Christians, any more than Muslims are Christians or Atheists are Christians. Their spiritual father is the devil, (John 8:44), while all who believe the true Gospel has a spiritual Father in Jesus.
In this next passage, the author explains how Mary is the Church's "Spiritual Mother":
Mary, in giving birth to Christ the Head, also gave birth to the body connected to that Head, which is the Church. Thus, Mary, in giving birth to the source of all grace, can rightly be called “Spiritual Mother” of all who benefit from that grace.
It sounds logical, doesn't it. We understand the biology of conception, gestation, birth, and nurturing. Jesus used those analogies many times and Paul & Peter both spoke of spiritual nourishment as milk. Yet, it falls apart when we remember that first and foremost, the virgin birth was a supernatural event unlike any other in history ever before or since. And secondly, it denies the Holy Spirit's role in forming the Church, which occurred at Pentecost, by His indwelling of the believers there (Acts 2:4) who had been appointed to believe since before the foundation of the world. (cf Acts 13:48). Mary had nothing to do with it. She was a vessel being used by God (Luke 1:38).
Continuing with the article, we come to the next section, which the author has titled:
Mary, Mediatrix of all Grace
To understand the logic of total consecration to Jesus through Mary, we must first grasp Mary’s role as Mediatrix of all graces. This is the Church’s doctrine that every grace that comes to us from God comes through the willed intercession of Mary. But this role of Mary as Mediatrix of all grace is really the completion of her role as Spiritual Mother, and follows from her unique cooperation in the redemption of humanity with Christ on Calvary. ... But Mary most fully became our mother at the foot of the cross where she, in a completely singular way, participated in the redemption of humanity with Christ. That is why some theologians are wont to ascribe to Mary the title Co-Redemptrix. De Montfort said: "the more a soul is consecrated to Mary, the more it is consecrated to Jesus"
I hope your discernment and knowledge of the Word allowed you to understand that what is being taught in that Catholic Doctrine above, is that Mary is really God, or is above God. If "every grace that comes to us through God" is through Mary's will, then it is God who is taking the subservient role. In this Catholic doctrine Her will trumps His. But it is not so! It is Christ who pours out graces. (Acts 2:33). Further, this doctrine teaches that Mary is the Intercessor, not Jesus. (Romans 8:34, Hebrews 7:25).
So in just a few short sentences, or in one essay if you read it at the link, we see that Catholics are taught that Mary has a role that trumps all three roles of our Trinitarian God. As dispenser of grace and mother of the church she edges out the Holy Spirit. As intercessor she bumps out Jesus. And as giver of all graces via her own will through God she takes over His role there as well. This is why Catholicism is false. They have another god: Mary.
| The Crowning of the Virgin by the Trinity. Velázquez, 1645 |
I bring these things up so you can be prepared when speaking with a Catholic person. I did a rudimentary and very clumsy job of apologetics here, but I hope it gave you food for thought. The creed adorning the Marian shrine in Boston's North End is emblazoned with lights and candles, but is in fact bringing a doctrine of darkness. Here is part of the author's conclusion:
Having established the irrefutable validity of Mary’s role as Mediatrix of all graces, we can now understand the reason for entrusting ourselves to her, which is the essence of Marian consecration.
O, how satan loves to take our eyes off the true Rock, the only Bread, the source of the Living Water, Jesus Christ! We do NOT consecrate ourselves to a sinner named Mary whom God used as a biological vessel. We give ourselves wholly and totally to Jesus, the only worthy one in the universe.
Our church has a mission team heading to Peru next month to witness to the lost, many of them Catholics, and these doctrines saturate the Peruvian hearts and poison their minds away from the beauty and clarity of the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. Please, pray for missionaries in the Catholic regions. Pray for the Light of grace from our true God to be delivered to hearts and minds wrongly focused on Mary, so they may be lifted from the bondage of sin and darkness under which they are laboring.
Mary's Magnificat was a hymn of praise and joy. Here as Charles Spurgeon explains Mary's joy at the news of the coming of the Lord, not as Mother of God, but as a sinner graciously saved, in his sermon delivered on Christmas Day 1864 , on this text, "And Mary said, My soul does magnify the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.” Luke 1:46, 47"
"I must close by observing that while her song was all this, yet how very humble it was, and how full of gratitude. The Papist calls her, “Mother of God,” but she never whispers such a thing in her song. No, it is “God my Savior,” just such words as the sinner who is speaking to you might use, and such expressions as you sinners who are hearing me can use, too. She needs a Savior, she feels it; her soul rejoices because there is a Savior for her. She does not talk as though she could commend herself to Him, but she hopes to stand accepted in the Beloved. Let us, then, take care that our familiarity has always blended with it the lowliest prostration of spirit when we remember that He is God Over All, blessed forever, and we are nothing but dust and ashes; He fills all things, and we are less than nothing and vanity ."
Will you sing of His tremendous grace, in joy at how He releases sinners from bondage? Pray for those in bondage to Mary to be released, so they also might sing of how their soul magnifies the Lord and their spirit also may rejoice in the Savior.
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