Should we pray to Mary?

from the old testament

• Elevating Mary to equality with God is wrong. In the ten commandments to Israel God told His people to have no other gods before Him. He alone is to be honored through worship and praise. Including anyone else in that position is idolatry (Exodus 20:3-4).
• Communication with the dead, and any attempts to do so, is strictly forbidden in Scripture. God is also clear that we are never to consult anyone who says they can access the dead, such as mediums, sorcerers, or fortune tellers (Leviticus 20:27, Deuteronomy 18:10-13).
• Saul, Israel's first king, began in the favor of God. However, throughout his reign, he disobeyed God which resulted in God removing His favor from Saul. As Israel faced fierce enemies, Saul tried to ask God for help but received no answer. This led him to commit the dangerous sin of consulting a medium. While God allowed the prophet Samuel, who had died, to be brought up to speak to Saul, Saul's decision to use a medium was strictly against God's laws for His people (1 Samuel 28:1-19).
• God is above any other. He is all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-loving. No other being compares with those qualities and, so, no other being should be sought after in prayer by believers (Psalm 139:1-6).

from the new testament

• In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught His followers how to pray. We are called to pray to God alone (Matthew 6:9-13).
• The Holy Spirit, who comes to dwell within believers upon acceptance in Christ, intercedes on our behalf, especially in times of great distress, when we do not have the right words to pray on our own (Romans 8:26-27).
• No one aside from Jesus, including Mary, can mediate for believers before God. Christ Himself intercedes on our behalf; no one else holds this position in our lives (1 Timothy 2:5, Hebrews 7:25).
• Because we have salvation in Christ through His death on the cross, we can approach God's throne in prayer with full confidence. We do not have to worry about whether God wants to hear from us; we can be assured that He always welcomes the prayers and requests of His children (Philippians 4:6-7; Hebrews 4:16, 10:19-20).
• While we are not to search for mediation from those are no longer alive, we can ask for the prayers of other believers around us. Sharing our requests for prayers from other believers is encouraged in Scripture and modeled by apostles such as Paul (2 Corinthians 1:11, Philippians 1:19, Ephesians 6:19).
• We can include other believers in our prayers, sharing their needs with God along with them. Paul models how he includes other believers in his own prayers throughout his letters to different churches (Ephesians 1:6, 2 Timothy 1:3).
• Some may think that the prayer of someone like Mary is more effective or that God hears it more than He hears ours. James reminds his readers that the prayers of righteous people are effective and powerful. He uses the prophet Elijah as an example of an ordinary human being praying a bold prayer and being answered powerfully by God (James 5:16-18).
• God alone is to be worshipped. No person, no matter how admirable they are or holy they may appear, should ever be placed in equality with God as an object of our adoration and praise. Even angels refuse to be worshipped, acknowledging that God alone is supreme (Acts 10:25-26, 14:13-15; Revelation 19:10, 22:9).

implications for today

There are two views among Catholics as to their interaction with Mary through prayer. Some Roman Catholics, though they deny doing it, actually pray to Mary. Others say they pray with her. Those who pray with her hold that a prayer addressed to Mary is just a way of asking someone in Heaven to pray for people on earth. In their eyes, this is no different from asking someone on earth to pray for someone.  The Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church, second edition, seems clear enough that prayers on earth can indeed be directed to Mary: “When we pray to [Mary], we are adhering with her to the plan of the Father, who sends his Son to save all men. Like the beloved disciple we welcome Jesus’ mother into our homes, for she has become the mother of all the living. We can pray with and to her” (part 4, § 1, ch. 2, art. 2, ¶ 2679, emphasis added). Two main prayers that Catholics pray to Mary are the Memorare and Hail, Holy Queen. Both of these prayers address Mary as one who can hear prayers, answer them in her own authority, and operate miraculously and powerfully from Heaven. To assign such authority to Mary makes her into an idol; God warns against idolatry in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:3-4). We are to worship Him alone. God welcomes our prayers only to Himself. We can approach Him with confidence (Hebrews 4:16), knowing that our all-powerful and loving Father is ready to hear us and give us the guidance and peace that only He can supply (Philippians 4:6-7).