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Index to All Eight Articles on Mary
Also See Mariology of the popes on Wikipedia.
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Emphasis Mine in All Bible Verses
Foreword
Catholicism insists that Mary (and the saints) are venerated, not worshipped.
Worship vs. Veneration
Two words that are are legitimately interchangeable
Actions Speak Louder Than Words
Deeds rather than speech shows what they really think and feel.
Mankind's Deep Seated Need For A 'Mother Figure'.
The Rosary
prayer to Mary outnumbers prayer to the Father 10 to two.
Ad Caeli Reginam
Was a 1954 papal encyclical by Pope Pius XII that proclaimed the Queenship of Mary,
Pope John Paul II
Chose as his motto on his coat of arms the Latin phrase, 'Totus Tuus' ('completely yours'),
from the prayer of dedication to the Virgin Mary of St. Louis de Montfort
Pope Benedict XVI
"Benedict XVI placed the world in Mary's hands during his one-day visit to the shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary in Pompeii, near Naples.
Various Popes and "Our Lady of Charity" of El Cobre, Cuba
In 1998 Pope John Paul II crowned this doll-sized statue of Mary as the patroness and "Queen of Cuba"
Our Lady of the Pillar
Her sun-like crown is made of 2,836 diamonds cut triangularly, 2725 roses, 145 pearls, 74 emeralds, 62 rubies and 46 sapphires.
Ubi Primum
Was a papal encyclical issued by Pope Pius IX. Its primary purpose was to consult the Catholic episcopate worldwide regarding the formal definition of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary as an official dogma of the Catholic Church.
Foreword
The condemnation of idolatry, usually defined as worship of any cult, idea, or object is found throughout the Bible and is in fact singled out in the Bible as the most abominable of sins. But in spite of the fact that the fiercely uncompromising prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel etc. left no doubt as to the fate of those who indulged in idolatry the nation frequently lapsed into pagan worship.
See Idol Worship - Images of gods or Demons in Disguise?
Catholicism insists that Mary (and the saints) are venerated, not worshipped. In an article entitled What Catholics Believe About Mary dynamiccatholic.com says the following,
The simple answer is no, Catholics don't worship Mary. We pray to Mary, but not in the same way we pray to God - and not to worship her as a god.
Think of it in this way: If you got sick and asked a friend to pray for you, they probably would. Our relationship with Mary operates under this same principle. We believe that Mary (and the saints) are dead to this world, but we also believe they live on with God for eternity in the next world.
And we believe that their prayers are just as powerful now that they are in heaven - even more powerful - than they were when they were here on earth. We are essentially saying to them, "We have problems down here. You know what it's like, because you've been here. Please, pray for us!" [01]
Worship vs. Veneration
However, the words ‘worship’’ and ‘venerate’ are legitimately interchange there being no clearly defined difference between them. Webster’s Dictionary defines the two words as
Worship: "to honor or show reverence for as a divine being or supernatural power: to regard with great or extravagant respect, honor, or devotion".
Veneration: The highest degree of respect and reverence; respect mingled with some degree of awe; a feeling or sentiment excited by the dignity and superiority of a person, or by the sacredness of his character...
In other words, there is AT BEST
a very thin, virtually non existent line between the two.
However, semantics aside...
Actions Speak Louder Than Words
ie. What a person does is more important than what they say. Deeds rather than speech shows what they really think and feel. 
In this case what Catholics - from the pope down to the man on the street - do is what is truly indicative of the fact that they actually worship Mary regardless of what they may believe they are doing.
The second of the Ten Commandments reads,
You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, (Exodus 20:4 -5 BSB)
Yet, the Pope bows in front of a painting of Mary. Thousands of pilgrims walk in a procession following a statue of Our Lady of Fatima singing songs in her honor. Similarly, an uncountable people take part in the annual Our Lady of Guadalupe procession - a major Catholic tradition that commemorates the 1531 apparitions of the Virgin Mary to the Aztec peasant St. Juan Diego at Tepeyac in Mexico City. See Apparitions of The Virgin Mary
In direct violation of Exodus 20:4 -5, wherever you look in the Catholic world you see millions of images, statues and representations of Mary - in churches, cathedrals, homes, offices, wallets, and on small family altars.
See Images in Worship
As mentioned above dynamiccatholic says Catholics ..."pray to Mary, but not in the same way we pray to God".
I'm afraid I do not see any difference because people pray to Mary to save them, to intercede for them, to protect them, to to thank her etc. etc. which is pretty much how they pray to the Father or Jesus.
Besides which I have no idea what you would call the fact that people also kneel before and kiss her image, her statues, her pictures etc. anything other than worship.
Mankind's Deep Seated Need For A 'Mother Figure'.
What has never been taken into consideration is the fact that because motherhood is a universal reality mankind seems to have a deep seated need for the 'Eternal Feminine'.
The worship of mother goddesses has come down from early prehistoric fertility cults to sophisticated organized religions and remains a significant part of modern pagan beliefs.
The pull toward a mother figure is a deeply felt worldwide impulse that has kindled the veneration of female sacred images for thousands of years. It is likely a regression into the experience of total dependence, safety, and nourishment provided by the biological mother.
Re-connecting with a female deity seems to allow adults to psychologically reengage with primary comfort. Thus virtually every culture features primary female deities - mother goddesses who embody the concepts of motherhood and fertility. Catholicism is no different.
The Rosary
You could scour the Bible for the next two years but you will not find a single person who prayed to a 'saint', an angel or anyone other than God Himself. Yet, each of the five decades of the Rosary is a specific unit of Catholic prayer consisting of one Our Father, ten Hail Marys, and just one Glory Be. In other words, there are five times as many prayers to Mary as there are to the Father.
The first part of the each Hail Mary is a quotation from Luke 1:28,
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus
And coming in, he (Gabriel) said to her, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” (Luke 1:28 NASB)
However, the second half says
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
"Hail, Holy Queen"
The "Hail, Holy Queen" said after the completion of the five decades of the rosary is as follows,
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 us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.
Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
The Bible never once described Mary as a queen in fact, she called herself the Lord's servant
And Mary said, "Behold, the Lord's bond-servant; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. (Luke 1:38 NASB)
A Coronation?
Above the altar in a sumptuous cathedral in Pisa Italy is a statue of Jesus, Mary, and God - God and Jesus are on either side of Mary holding a golden crown over her head which looks suspiciously like a coronation - which is the act or ceremony of crowning a king, queen, or other sovereign.
See Praying to Saints
Ad Caeli Reginam
Ad Caeli Reginam is a 1954 papal encyclical by Pope Pius XII that proclaimed the Queenship of Mary, established a universal feast day for her, and taught that she holds royal dignity and power as the Mother of Jesus Christ.
NOTE: At least three of the men quoted in the papal encyclical
Ad Caeli Reginam had their facts completely skewed. HERE
Here is what some of it says (All Emphasis Added)
10. So it is that St. Ephrem, burning with poetic inspiration, represents her as speaking in this way: "Let Heaven sustain me in its embrace, because I am honored above it. For heaven was not Thy mother, but Thou hast made it Thy throne. How much more honorable and venerable than the throne of a king is her mother."
And in another place he thus prays to her: ". . . Majestic and Heavenly Maid, Lady, Queen, protect and keep me under your wing lest Satan the sower of destruction glory over me, lest my wicked foe be victorious against me."
16. The Blessed Virgin, sitting at the right hand of God to pray for us is hailed by another writer of that same era in these words, "the Queen of mortal man, the most holy Mother of God."
27. Ardent voices from the East sing out: "O Mother of God, today thou art carried into heaven on the chariots of the cherubim, the seraphim wait upon thee and the ranks of the heavenly army bow before thee."
31. To these and others should be added the Litany of Loreto which daily invites Christian folk to call upon Mary as Queen. Likewise, for many centuries past Christians have been accustomed to meditate upon the ruling power of Mary which embraces heaven and earth, when they consider the fifth glorious mystery of the rosary which can be called the mystical crown of the heavenly Queen. [02]
Point 16 above says the Blessed Virgin sits at the right hand of God.
Silly me! I was under the impression that Jesus sits at the right hand of God.
I guess both Luke and Paul had mother and Son confused.
God exalted Him to His right hand as Prince and Savior, in order to grant repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. (Acts 5:31 BSB)
But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked intently into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. (Acts 7:55 BSB)
Who is there to condemn us? For Christ Jesus, who died, and more than that was raised to life, is at the right hand of God - and He is interceding for us. (Romans 8:34 BSB)
Pope John Paul II
On May 13, 1981 (May 13 being the Catholic feast day of Our Lady of Fátima), a 23-year-old Turkish gunman shot Pope John Paul II in St. Peter's Square in Vatican City.
As the ambulance carried him to the hospital the Pope neither called on Jesus nor God, instead he reportedly kept praying, "Mary, my mother! Mary, my mother!”
One year later on May 13, 1982, the Pope made a pilgrimage to Fatima to thank Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal for saving his life and to consecrate the entire human race to her. He also placed a bullet fragment from the attack in the crown of the statue.
St. John Paul credited his miraculous survival to Our Lady of Fatima, to whom he had an ardent devotion. He later said he felt it was a "mother's hand that guided the bullet’s path." While in recovery, the pope requested that the Fatima archives be brought to him for examination. [03]
However his devotion to Mary goes much further back in time. When on September 28, 1958, he was consecrated a bishop, he chose as his motto on his coat of arms the Latin phrase, 'Totus Tuus' ('completely yours') from the prayer of dedication to the Virgin Mary of St. Louis de Montfort. [04]
(Louis de Montfort was a 17th - 18th century French Catholic priest and missionary best known for his intense devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, his popularization of the Rosary, and his influential writings on total Marian consecration. He authored True Devotion to Mary, which outlines the path of total consecration to Jesus through the hands of Mary. )
The words 'Totus Tuus' are an abbreviation of "Tuus totus ego sum, et omnia mea tua sunt" ("I am all yours, and all that I have is yours").
He kept it as his papal motto when he was elected as Pope John Paul II in 1978 and in his first Urbi et Orbi radio address on October 16, 1978 he said " . . . at this time of grave anxiety for us, we cannot fail to turn our attention with filial devotion to the Virgin Mary, who always lives and works as Mother in the mystery of Christ and of the Church, repeating the sweet words "Totus Tuus" which [in 1980] we inscribed in our heart and on our coat of arms at the time of our Epscopal Ordination . . . ” [05]
Pope Benedict XVI
addressed his message to Christians and all men and women of goodwill at the end of his first Mass with Cardinals in the Sistine Chapel: His final words were (Emphasis Added)
Like Peter, I too renew to Him my unconditional promise of faithfulness. He alone I intend to serve as I dedicate myself totally to the service of His Church.
"In support of this promise, I invoke the maternal intercession of Mary Most Holy, in whose hands I place the present and the future of my person and of the Church. May the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and all the saints, also intercede.” (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 20/4/2005, righe 77, parole 1.120) [06]
This quote below is a supplication addressed to the Virgin Mary, originally written by the Italian lawyer and founder of the Shrine of the Rosary - "Blessed Bartolo Longo". Pope Benedict XVI repeated these exact words during his visit to the Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary of Pompei in October 2008. (Emphasis Added)
"Benedict XVI placed the world in Mary's hands during his one-day visit to the shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary in Pompeii, near Naples. The Pope's leading of the Supplication of the Blessed Virgin of the Rosary, a prayer written by Blessed Bartolo Longo (1841-1926) was one of the high points of this 12th pastoral trip in Italy.
'We implore you to have pity today on the nations that have gone astray, on all Europe, on the whole world, that they might repent and return to your heart,’ the text of the prayer reads. With the words of Bartolo, the Pontiff turned to Mary, saying:
'If you will not help us because we are ungrateful and unworthy children of your protection, we will not know to whom to turn.’
In a gesture of filial love, the Pope then offered the Madonna a golden rose.” zenit.org 19 Oct 2008
(So did three other popes - Paul, Francis, and Leo).
The leader of over a billion Catholics supposedly placed the fate of the world in the hands of a dead person, prostrated himself to an image of her, prayed to it, and told it that if it didn't help us, we would not know whom to turn to. [07]
Various Popes and "Our Lady of Charity" of El Cobre, Cuba
El Cobre in the eastern province of Santiago de Cuba is the site of a basilica where people go to worship an icon of the Virgin of La Caridad (Charity) - Cuba's patron saint. The statue, the most venerated and idolized in all of Cuba, is known as La Virgen de la Caridad (The Virgin of Charity at Cobre). Three fishermen are said to have found the icon floating on a board at sea in the year 1606
Pope Pius XI granted a Canonical Coronation for the image on 20 December 1936 which was carried out by the archbishop of Santiago de Cuba.
On the 24th of January, 1998, Pope John Paul II crowned this doll-sized statue of Mary as the patroness and "Queen of Cuba" during a papal Mass. A larger crown was put on the head of the statue of Mary and the smaller was placed on the head of the smaller doll of the infant Jesus. (All Emphasis Added)
Her crown and halo, which measured 20 inches in diameter, was made of platinum
and 18-karat gold, featuring 1,450 diamonds, rubies and emeralds; the platinum
cross in her right hand was formed of diamonds and amethysts, and the crown on the Baby Jesus was made of gold and platinum, richly decorated in diamonds and pearls.
In 1998, John Paul II personally crowned Cuba's patron saint and the Baby Jesus, placing a gold-and-pearl rosary in the saint’s right hand.
In 2012, during the 400th anniversary celebration of the discovery and presence of the Virgin's image in Cuba, Benedict XVI visited El Cobre to pay homage. [08]
When Pope John Paul II crowned the original image as queen and patron saint of Cuba, he said.
"From her shrine,” declared the pope, "the Queen and Mother of all Cubans — regardless of race, political allegiance or ideology — guides and sustains, as in times past, the steps of her sons and daughters toward our heavenly homeland, and she encourages them to live in such a way that in society those authentic moral values may reign which constitute the right spiritual heritage received from your forebears…” [09]
Pope Benedict XVI awarded a Golden Rose in honour of the image and her shrine on 27 March 2012.
Pope Francis enshrined a brass statue given to Pope Benedict XVI by Cuban bishops (in May 2008) within the Gardens of Vatican City in August 2014. On his visit to Cuba in 2015, Pope Francis said:
"She has accompanied the history of the Cuban people, sustaining the hope which preserves people's dignity in the most difficult situations and championing the promotion of all that gives dignity to the human person. The growing devotion to the Virgin is a visible testimony of her presence in the soul of the Cuban people …. I will have occasion to go to El Cobre, as a son and pilgrim.” [10]
Our Lady of the Pillar
 Is reputed to be the first Marian apparition in the history of Christianity
The wooden statue is a relatively simple image 15 inches high, standing on a jasper pillar 5.9 feet tall. But the crown adorning her head is a masterpiece. It was made in 44 days by 33 workmen. The sun-like crown is made of 2,836 diamonds cut triangularly, 2725 roses, 145 pearls, 74 emeralds, 62 rubies and 46 sapphires. The crown of the baby Jesus is identical in shape although not in size.
The Basilica was redesigned and expanded several times during its history. The current structure was completed in the 17th century, includes 11 brightly colored tiled domes, and is the second biggest church in Spain. [11]
The pillar kept in the sanctuary is made of alabaster completely covered with bronze and silver; only in the rear part of the chapel there is an oculus that allows you to touch, kiss and venerate the column in its original form.
See The Many Other Marian Apparitions
Ubi Primum
The following is an excerpt from Ubi Primum (promulgated or formally made public on February 2, 1849) a papal encyclical issued by Pope Pius IX. Its primary purpose was to consult the Catholic episcopate worldwide regarding the formal definition of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary as an official dogma of the Catholic Church. (All Emphasis Added)
In other words the doctrine is nowhere to be found in the Scriptures but was decided on by the Catholic episcopate in the 19th century. (All Emphasis Added)
Note: The episcopate is comprised of over 5,000 bishops serving over 3,000 ecclesiastical jurisdictions, under the supreme authority of the Bishop of Rome (the Pope). This body forms the top tier of the Hierarchy of the Catholic Church.
4. Welcome indeed have such requests been to Us. They have filled Us with joy. From our earliest years nothing has ever been closer to Our heart than devotion-filial, profound, and wholehearted-to the most blessed Virgin Mary. Always have We endeavored to do everything that would redound to the greater glory of the Blessed Virgin, promote her honor, and encourage devotion to her.
Accordingly, from the very beginning of Our supreme pontificate We have most fervently directed Our energies and Our thoughts to this matter of such great importance. Nor have We failed, through humble and fervent prayers, to beg almighty God to enlighten Our mind with the light of His grace in order that We might know what We should do in this matter.
Great indeed is Our trust in Mary. The resplendent glory of her merits, far exceeding all the choirs of angels, elevates her to the very steps of the throne of God. Her foot has crushed the head of Satan.
Set up between Christ and His Church, Mary, ever lovable and full of grace, always has delivered the Christian people from their greatest calamities and from the snares and assaults of all their enemies, ever rescuing them from ruin.
5. And likewise in our own day, Mary, with the ever merciful affection so characteristic of her maternal heart, wishes, through her efficacious intercession with God, to deliver her children from the sad and grief-laden troubles, from the tribulations, the anxiety, the difficulties, and the punishments of God's anger which afflict the world because of the sins of men. Wishing to restrain and to dispel the violent hurricane of evils which, as We lament from the bottom of Our heart, are everywhere afflicting the Church, Mary desires to transform Our sadness into joy. The foundation of all Our confidence, as you know well, Venerable Brethren, is found in the Blessed Virgin Mary. For, God has committed to Mary the treasury of all good things, in order that everyone may know that through her are obtained every hope, every grace, and all salvation. For this is His will, that we obtain everything through Mary. [12]
See The Immaculate Conception
If the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception is shown to be false, it negatively affects the doctrine of papal infallibility as Pope Pius IX was allegedly exercising that power when he declared Mary to be conceived without sin.
Also See Does Mary's Foot Crush Satan's Head? In Mary - Queen of Heaven?
Foot Note I
Basilica: A Roman basilica was a large public building used for civil administration, law courts, and commerce. These rectangular halls featured a central nave flanked by colonnades, aisles, and a raised apse.
A Christian basilica is a traditional church design that evolved from Roman civic buildings. It features a rectangular floor plan with a central nave, flanked by columns, side aisles, and a raised semicircular apse containing the altar.
In Catholicism a basilica is an honorific title bestowed by the Pope on a church for its historical, spiritual, or architectural significance. It is the highest permanent ranking a church can receive and grants the building special ecclesiastical privileges, such as the right to display specific papal symbols.
There are only four major basilicas in the world, and all of them are located in Rome:
A Cathedral is a church that serves as the official seat of a bishop, making it the central church of a diocese.
End Notes
[01] What Catholics Believe About Mary. The Dynamic Catholic Institute https://tinyurl.com/y6jjp2eu
[02] Ad Caeli Reginam. Encyclical Of Pope Pius XII
https://www.vatican.va/content/pius-xii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xii_enc_11101954_ad-caeli-reginam.html
[03] St. John Paul II and Our Lady of Fatima. Archdiocese of Philadelphia
https://catholicphilly.com/2017/05/catholic-spirituality/st-john-paul-ii-and-our-lady-of-fatima/
[04] Papal Artifacts .https://tinyurl.com/mry7253c
[05] St. Pope John Paul II Explains His Motto: “Totus Tuus”.
https://queenofallhearts.com/2021/06/25/st-pope-john-paul-ii-explains-his-motto-totus-tuus/
[06] Agenzia Fides - Palazzo “de Propaganda Fide”. https://tinyurl.com/3mzk7az8
[07] Charlie Garrett. Genesis 31:14-30 (Jacob’s Flight) https://superiorword.org/genesis-31-14-30/
[08] Ciro Bianchi Ross. I am La Virgen de la Caridad.
https://oncubanews.com/en/culture/i-am-la-virgen-de-la-caridad/#google_vignette
[09] María Ruiz Scaperlanda. https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=10996
[10] Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre, Cuba/
https://anastpaul.com/2019/09/08/feast-of-our-lady-of-charity-of-el-cobre-cuba-8-september
[11] Why Our Lady of the Pillar is the patroness of Spain and the Americas. Alejandro Bermudez.
https://tinyurl.com/3pz56hz4
[12] Ubi Primum. On the Immaculate Conception. Pope BI. Pius IX - 1849.
https://www.papalencyclicals.net/pius09/p9ubipr2.htm
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