Friday, September 4, 2009

Mother of God

It seems that Martin Luther and John Calvin had some surprisingly Catholic viewpoints. Martin Luther had this to say regarding Mother Mary:

Mary is the Mother of Jesus And the Mother of us all...
If He is ours, we ought to be in his situation; there where he is, we ought also to be and all that he has ought to be ours, and his mother is also our mother.

Our prayers should include the Mother of God....What the Hail Mary says is that all glory should be given to God, using these words: "Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee; blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus Christ. Amen! You see that these words are not concerned with prayer, but purely with giving praise and honor....We can use the Hail Mary as a meditation in which we recite what grace God has given her. Second, we should add a wish that everyone may know and respect her...He who has no faith is advised to refrain from saying the Hail Mary....

Although she was without sin , yet that grace was far too great for her to deserve it in any way. How should a creature deserve to become the Mother of God? ....It is necessary also to keep within bounds and not to make too much of calling her "Queen of Heaven," which is a true-enough name.... M. Luther

Sounds to me as if Martin Luther prayed the Rosary! Next is a comment by John Calvin:

We cannot give praise for the blessing which Christ has given to us without remembering at the same time the glorious privilege which God bestowed on Mary by choosing her to be the mother of his only Son....Now she is called Blessed because, receiving by faith the blessing which is offered to her, she opened the way for God to accomplish his work.

Let us learn to praise the holy Virgin. When we confess with her that we are nothing...and that we owe all to the pure goodness of God, see how we will be disciples of the Virgin Mary?
J. Calvin

5 comments:

  1. Hello Mary -

    Yes - Luther and Calvin would have many Catholic viewpoints. We speak of the Church as "Holy Mother Church." Luther and Calvin seperated from Mother Church, but they still had her DNA. I don't think Luther ever expected a "Lutheran" Church as it is today. I believe you are correct, Luther maintained his devotion to Our Lady, still prayed the rosary.

    Thank you for your wonderful reflection. Keep spreading the word about Mama Mary - she is awesome! Thank God we have her in our life.

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  2. Dear Mary,

    Salutations.

    It could not have been through pagans or Satanists that the Devil set up the Protestant Churches, which would one day lead up to the one world church.

    In Roman Catholic teaching the relationship between Satan and Martin Luther is decribed in terms that are too harsh for a young woman's ears. Their relationship was diabolical, and Martin Luther in the end chose not to do a good Confession, and ask for a perfect act of contrition.

    His wife, a former Nun, after having twelve children went mad when Luther told her they were not going to Heaven.

    There are many of us who pray the Holy Rosary and are hypocrites. It is not that we start out with the intention of becoming hypocrites, we just fall into it. Our prayers are for nothing.

    When we pray the Holy Rosary, we are spiritually walking in the garden of Heaven. Our mother is with us, and our petitions during our prayers are carried by the Holy Angels. Those prayers that are left over from our petitions are used by the Holy Mother as she sees fit. She is the Dispenser of Divine graces.

    When you pray the Rosary, slow down; there is no need to run through the garden of Heaven.

    When you die, you won't even know it. You will be so used to walking and talking with Mary, your soul won't realized your body has expired.

    We don't know the hour in which our death will occur, but we do know when we will die. When all the graces and sins that have been measured for our lives have been met, we die.

    Please say a Rosary for deceased Nuns and the Holy Father.

    I wii say one for you and your lovely family.

    Que Dios te bendiga.

    Santa MarĂ­a de Guadalupe Esperanza nuestra, salva nuestra patria y conserva nuestra Fe.

    pablo

    *

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  3. Very interesting quotes from Martin Luther and John Calvin. It's surprising that once M.L. defected from the Catholic Church, it seemed to have started a spiraling effect of defectors who each claim "to know the truth from scripture."

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  4. Noreen,
    Aren't they?! When I researched these two men I was quite surprised when these quotes popped up. Seems as if they both had a devotion to Our Lady. Yes, it did start a spiraling effect and with each new generation error continued to spread until the end result is the mishmash of faiths we have today and battling among Christians.

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