FOLKS ARE ENCOURAGED to pray to God through Mary as mediator. One false teacher said, “Praying to the saints is praying to God, in a fundamental way. We’re praying to those who can ask God to help us in our various needs in accordance with His will.” This false doctrine has many sidekicks, i.e., people pray to St. Anthony for lost items; to St. Jude (or perhaps St. Rita) for lost causes; to St. Gerard for motherhood; to St. Peregrine for Cancer victims; and to St. Dymphna for those with mental or nervous disorders, or epilepsy. For many years, the prayer to St. Michael the Archangel was included at the end of Mass for his help in defeating Satan.

This is not new, some have tried to make more use of Mary than God ever intended. On one occasion as Jesus taught, a woman cried out to Him saying, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed.” Jesus quickly replied by saying: “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” [Lk. 11:27-28]. Mary was not and is not deserving of worship in any way. She is not deity. She was a humble servant of God [Lk. 1:38], as we all ought to be. Only God is deserving of worship [Acts 10:25-26; Rev. 19:10, 22:9]! Neither is she our mediator. Only Christ serves in this role, and He is our only arbiter between us and God [Job 9:33; Heb 8:6; 9:15; 1Tim. 2:5-6; 1Jo 2:1].

While she served a very important role, she is unable to add to our prayers today. To elevate her or to glorify her in some divine way is error. We can approach God’s throne through prayer but only if we’re IN CHRIST [Heb 4:16]. Let’s learn from our True Mediator, he ended this false doctrine.