A reader asks:
Where does the Bible say that one may ask the Virgin?
Where does the Bible say that the Virgin was given power to grant prayers?
Where does the Bible say that we should ask the saints? I know something of the Bible, and so far I have read that Jesus said we should ask him. Who said that the saints would have power over the earth to answer prayers? It does not even say that the saints are gods; and if they are not, how do they intercede before God? To be able to do that, it seems to me they would have to be everywhere in the world at the same time; they would be omnipresent like God, right? And all-powerful…
Answer
Dear Protestant brother. In a biblical and simple way, we answer this in a question-and-answer format. Here you will find an answer based on what the Word of God says. It will help you and all those who have this doubt or concern to find the truth of Sacred Scripture.
Does the Bible forbid asking for the intercession of the saints and of the Virgin?
No. In Sacred Scripture there is no passage that says it is forbidden to ask for their intercession. The denial they make has no scriptural foundation; that is why they do not give biblical quotations where it says that, because there are none. Let us not forget what the Word says about those who do this:
“Woe to anyone who adds anything to this book. God will bring upon him all the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes anything away from this book,
God will take away his share in the Tree of life” Rev 22:18-19
On what do fundamentalist sects base themselves to say that it is wrong to ask the saints?
It is a bad interpretation of the Bible. Above all, of the biblical passage where it says that there is one mediator between God and men (1 Tim 2:4-5).
There it is speaking of a “mediator” of salvation. In this sense, only Jesus Christ gives us salvation. We Catholics do not believe that the saints save us, but only that they intercede for us.
The Bible was not made by Protestants but by the Catholic Church. In the years 393 and 397 there were meetings of bishops in Hippo and Carthage. There they defined which books the Bible should have and fixed the biblical canon. That is why separated brethren easily interpret it in their own way.
“Know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation” 2 Pet 1:20
Are there other passages that they interpret badly?
Yes. There are other biblical quotations that they interpret very badly. For example, when Jesus said that we should ask (Lk 11:9; Jn 16:24), there are separated brethren who jump to something else and say that we should ask only him, even though Jesus Christ never said that.
If I say to a person, ask me for whatever you want, I am not saying that they should not ask anyone else for anything. This is something very simple that many Protestants fail to understand because they want to pull phrases out of the Bible and make them agree with their own interpretations. The Bible must be accepted as it is, not as what they want to understand.
Mary, while she was passing through this world, did she intercede for people?
Yes. Mary, as a person full of love, in the face of a need, went to Jesus interceding for the people who were celebrating a wedding. All the Bibles in the world say it very clearly:
«On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples.
And when the wine failed, because the wine of the wedding had run out, his mother said to Jesus: «They have no wine.»
Jesus answered her: «What have I to do with you, woman? My hour has not yet come.» His mother said to the servants: «Do whatever he tells you.»
Now there were six stone jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding two or three measures. Jesus said to them: «Fill the jars with water.» And they filled them to the brim. … The steward said: «Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the inferior wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.»
This, in Cana of Galilee, was the beginning of Jesus’ signs. He manifested his glory, and his disciples believed in him». Jn 2:1-11
Mary not only interceded; thanks to her intercession, Jesus Christ brought forward the hour of manifesting that he was the Messiah.
By rejecting the intercession of the Virgin, Protestants either do not know this biblical passage or they are against the Word because they follow their traditions.
Did the apostles intercede while they were alive?
Of course they did, and many times:
“Peter and John were going up to the Temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.
There was a man lame from birth, whom people carried and laid every day at the gate of the Temple called Beautiful, to ask alms of those entering the Temple. Seeing Peter and John about to go into the Temple, he asked them for alms.
Peter looked intently at him, together with John, and said: «Look at us.» He looked at them fixedly, expecting to receive something from them. Peter said to him: «I have no silver or gold; but what I have, I give you: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, rise and walk.»
And taking him by the right hand, he raised him up. Immediately his feet and ankles were made strong, and leaping up he stood and began to walk. He entered the Temple with them, walking, leaping, and praising God”. Acts 3:1-8
Peter and John prayed for him (interceded) before Jesus Christ, and he was healed.
“There sat a man crippled in his feet, lame from birth, who had never walked. He listened to Paul speaking.
Paul looked intently at him and, seeing that he had faith to be healed, said in a loud voice: «Stand upright on your feet.» And he sprang up and began to walk”. Acts 14:8-10
Paul prayed for the lame man; he did not send him to ask Jesus directly. The result of Paul’s intercession was the healing of the lame man.
So when people came to them, they never responded with the absurdity that people should not ask them. They never thought or acted that way. For them, as we have already seen in the Bible, interceding for others was normal.
Do Protestants not practice intercession?
Yes. In reality, all Protestants who say that one should not ask the saints do practice it and contradict themselves. It is very common among them for the pastor to offer a prayer of healing and for people to ask their pastor to pray for them. If the pastor prays for them, then he is a mediator and intercessor. If they did not believe in that and were consistent with what they say, then he should tell his people that he cannot pray for them, that they should shut themselves alone in a room and ask Jesus Christ directly.
In reality, any separated brother who asks for someone in his family is also interceding for that person.
Does the Word of God say that we can all be intercessors?
Yes. According to the Apostle Saint Paul, we must all be intercessors:
“Live praying and making supplication. Pray at all times as the Spirit inspires you. Keep watch together and persevere in your prayers without ever becoming discouraged. Pray for one another, interceding on behalf of all the saints” Eph 6:18
The Word of God teaches us that we must always pray. If here on earth we must always pray, interceding for one another, then all the more will it be so in heaven. This is the case of the saints, who continue loving, but now in fullness:
“Love never passes away. Prophecies will disappear. Tongues will cease. Knowledge will disappear, but not love. 1 Cor 13:8
Are the saints gods and all-powerful?
No. We have never thought or taught that. That is an idea that Protestants spread falsely. Many of them left the Catholic Church without knowing the Bible and remain there without knowing the Bible. They are simply intercessors with the Power of God:
Let us never forget what the Bible says about the intercession of the saints:
“The prayer of the righteous has great power” Jas 5:16
How can they hear us if they are not omnipresent and cannot be in all places at the same time?
Very simple. Saint Paul says:
“I am hard pressed between the two: on the one hand, I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is certainly far better” Phil 1:23
If you read carefully, Saint Paul was convinced that if he died (departed), he would be WITH JESUS. If Jesus, as God, is everywhere, then the saints will be with him. That is why they can hear our prayers.
Just as the rays of the Sun are felt everywhere the sun is, without being the Sun, so the saints, without being God as Jesus is, can reach us like the rays of the sun. If you doubt it, then when you die you can ask Saint Paul why he dared to say that he would be with Jesus. Unless you say that Jesus cannot be everywhere, which would be even worse.
I believe you are very mistaken in measuring the greatness of God’s love and mercy by human categories. Rom 8:35-38
Do Protestants say that the apostles and Mary are now dead and that therefore we should not ask them?
False. God is not a God of the dead but of the living. The Bible teaches this clearly:
“I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. God is not a God of the dead, but of the living” Mt 22:32
“I am hard pressed between the two: on the one hand, I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is certainly far better” Phil 1:23
“… Elijah and Moses appeared to them, and they were talking with Jesus.” Mk 9:1-4
Any non-Catholic brother can verify this in his own Bible.
If the Bible does not forbid asking for the intercession of the saints, then what is the main basis on which Protestants reject this?
Their main basis is their “traditions of men.” Over the years, many Protestants have beliefs contrary to the Word of God because they follow their traditions. They must be respected, but at the same time helped to find the full truth of the Bible. Many of them are people who love God but do not know what the Bible teaches, because they only learned what their pastor taught them.
Does Jesus Christ hear the intercession that the saints make for us?
Of course. If Jesus Christ heard and answered the prayer of the thief for a moment of faith when he was on the cross (Lk 23:42), all the more will he hear his mother (Lk 2:16), who perfectly did the will of God and said: “behold the handmaid of the Lord. Let it be done to me according to your Word” Lk 1:38
If for one minute of faith he heard and answered the thief, what will Jesus not do for his friends the saints, who had a life of faith and obedience?
“And whatever you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it”. Jn 14:13-14
They asked him here and Jesus answered them; they ask him there and he will likewise answer them. Intercessors according to the Word of God.
May God continue to bless you abundantly and enlighten you toward Him.
Author: Martín Zavala M.P.D.
Source: Defiendetufe.org
