At 09:49 AM 6/21/2003 -0400 Jon Gabriel wrote: >> 1) How many times is Mary mentioned in the normal Catholic Mass (which >> Catholics are obligated to attend weekly)? > >Interesting. I have no idea, but I'd like to know the answer and would >appreciate your posting it. While we're at it, what about the number of >mentions/prayers devoted to Mary during Penance, Baptism, Confirmation, >First Communion and the Sacrament of Matrimony?
Since almost all of these are merely Sacraments administered during a Mass, off the top of my head I believe that there is no difference (without digging up the text of each), with the exception of Matrimony, where Mary figures a bit more prominently, simply because of the obvious parallels to marriage from her life. >What about >Assumption/Crowning during the 'Glorious Mysteries' portion of the >Rosary decade? The rosary is not said during Mass. Catholics do, however, believe that Mary has been crowned "Queen of Heaven". (See Robert's discussion of "royal court theology.) Anyhow, in answer to your question, the answer is once, maybe twice. The first instance is during the Creed, where Catholics say "We believe.... that he was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man." The second is during he Penitential Rate, one form of which is "I confess, to almighty God, that I have sinned through my own fault, in my thoughts and in my word, in what I have done, and what I have failed to do. And I ask blessed Mary ever-virgin, all the angels and saints, and you, my brothers and sisters, to pray for me, to the LORD, our God." I don't think that either of these could rightly be termed "worship." >> 2) How many instances of worship of Mary are included in a typical >decade >> of the rosary (the most common Catholic Marian devotion)? > >Anywhere from 3 to 10 repetitions of Hail Mary and, I believe, 1 Hail >Holy Queen. As I mentioned above, there are also several sections of >the decade devoted to Mary. > >The text of Hail Holy Queen: >Hail, holy Queen, Mother of mercy, hail, 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 vale 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 >merciful, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary! Amen. > >(Taken from http://www.webdesk.com/catholic/prayers/hailholyqueen.html) Nitpick: "Hail Holy Queen" isn't part of a "decade" of the rosary - which is usually 10 Hail Mary's, an Our Father, and a "Glory Be." >Are you saying that Mary is not also worshipped or prayed to? >Considering all of the prayers and mentions we're discussing, I'd >definitely disagree with that. There is a huge difference between worship and prayer. Prayer is simply a method of communication. Worship is a type of communication. For example, Catholics believe in life-everlasting after death in heaven. Given that most Christians don't have a problem with asking for others to pray for yourself, or someone else, etc., it follows that Catholics are always somewhat mystified why Christians have such difficulty asking someone in heaven to pray for yourself, or someone else, etc. Anyhow, you will see that there is nothing in the Haily Holy Queen or Hail Mary that constitutes "worship." Rather, both of them simply ask Mary to remember us in her prayers. >> >They profess to adhere to >> >the bible >> >> I have never heard a Catholic profess this, and neither the word nor >the >> conept of the "Bible" never appears in the Catholic Profession of >Faith, >> nor in the Catholic baptismal promises. >> > >Really? So why do you read it and say prayers from it? What purpose >does the Catholic Bible serve and what is its value? Ignoring the Old Testament for a moment, the New Testament is a recording of how individuals in the time immediately following Jesus's Asencion recorded their experience of Faith. As such, it is, I would hope for obvious reasons, extremely valuable to Christians. Given, however, that the Catholic Church predates the Bible by several hundred years, it is not a necessary condition of our religion. Rather, it was the Catholic Church that codified the Bible to be a supplemental resource of vast importance to our faith. >A side question. Why is it that Mary is always seen in a glass window or >something? Why not Jesus? When Jesus comes back, the world as we know it comes to an end - and we wouldn't want that, now would we? ;-) JDG _______________________________________________________ John D. Giorgis - [EMAIL PROTECTED] "The liberty we prize is not America's gift to the world, it is God's gift to humanity." - George W. Bush 1/29/03 _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
