#CCC 2113

[ffcrazy15]

Just saw some fucking fascist nonsense under the “Catholic” tag (as in they literally tagged it with “fascism”) and I would just like to take this moment to remind everyone that you cannot be a fascist and a good Catholic at the same time.

Reject fascism, friends. They are not our allies, not even if you’re a trad. Our tradition is not a dead one, but a living and life-giving one. Fascism is nothing more than the hollowed-out, rotting carcass of a “tradition” that is long dead and should be left in the grave where it belongs.

[milatherese]

Do Catholics Worship Mary?

(click here for video; start at 0:50)

Catholics don’t worship Mary (and anyone who does so is committing a sin). Worship is reserved for God alone (CCC 2112-2113). We also do not condone worship given to anyone else but God (Matthew 4:10, Luke 4:8, 1 Timothy 1:17). Worshipping Mary is a sin against the First Commandment “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me” (Exodus 20:1-3).

Though there was a heresy in the 300s and 400s that promoted worship of Mary (Collyridians), the Catholic Church wrote extensively against this reiterating that worship is for God alone. (This article and this article elaborate further on this heresy.) We adore God, but honor Mary.

In the Church, there are three theological terms we use to describe the kind of respect (veneration) we give to God and the saints: latria, dulia, and hyperdulia.

latria (Gk. “worship”): the highest level of veneration given to God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) alone, adoration (Exodus 20:1-5)

dulia (Gk. “slave”): a lower level of veneration given to the saints (Luke 1:48)

hyperdulia (Gk. “above slave”): a level of veneration greater than dulia (but less than latria) that is given to Mary because she is exalted above all other saints (Romans 13:7)

(This encyclopedia entry goes more in depth on “worship” and this other entry expands on dulia. This article explains the etymological roots of latria and dulia.)

Given the above definitions, we only worship God. Worship and prayer are not identical. Worship involves adoration for God alone. Below is an excerpt from St. Thomas Aquinas’s Summa Theologiae (II-II.85.1c) on worship:

Natural reason tells man that he is subject to a higher being, on account of the defects which he perceives in himself, and in which he needs help and direction from someone above him: and whatever this superior being may be, it is known to all under the name of God. Now just as in natural things the lower are naturally subject to the higher, so too it is a dictate of natural reason in accordance with man's natural inclination that he should tender submission and honor, according to his mode, to that which is above man. Now the mode befitting to man is that he should employ sensible signs in order to signify anything, because he derives his knowledge from sensibles. Hence it is a dictate of natural reason that man should use certain sensibles, by offering them to God in sign of the subjection and honor due to Him, like those who make certain offerings to their lord in recognition of his authority. Now this is what we mean by a sacrifice, and consequently the offering of sacrifice is of the natural law.

Aquinas goes into this more in depth later on in his work but worship can be summarized as such:

The act of worship thus contains four things:

A recognition and an advertency of the created intellect to the supreme excellence of God on the one side, and a corresponding recognition of the unworthiness of the creature, on the other

A practical avowal that it is just and proper to offer to God reverence and proofs of our homage, because His majesty is so supremely exalted and His excellence so perfect, and because the creature is in such a state of lowliness and of dependence on Him

Assent and consent, and a perfectly voluntary submission of our will, by reason of the infinite excellence of God and of His most sublime perfections, to remain in our subjection to Him, and in our dependence on Him

A testimony and a sign by which we give to understand that we submit ourselves of our own free will to God, and are willing to depend on Him in all circumstances and for all things.

The external act of adoration consists in bending the knee, prostrations on the ground, or even acts purely internal and mental, but expressing the genuine act of adoration from a creature to his Creator.

(Source, excerpt lightly edited for structure)

In contrast, prayer involves petition and conversation. Prayer is defined as “an act of the virtue of religion which consists in asking proper gifts or graces from God.” When we pray, we recognize we need God and ask God for assistance. Thus, when we pray to Mary, we are asking her to intercede on our behalf, to ask God for help on our behalf.

(Fun fact: The word “prithee”, often used by Shakespeare, is actually an alteration of “[I] pray thee” and is used to ask for something.)

in case ya missed it, here’s my first post on Marian Myths & More