Have you ever prayed the rosary? Do you know the rosary? How often do you pray the rosary??
As someone who grew up practicing Catholicism, I was familiarized with praying the rosary. I prayed this when I was in desperate times or, just when I need to pray more earnestly. Basically, the go-to prayer in times of need! Sounds perfect to me!! Or so I thought…
Yet, sometimes I would also wonder why doesn’t God answer my prayers? Why do Catholics pray the Rosary in the first place, while some other Christian denominations do not? The Rosary is a form of prayer in the Catholic tradition where you asked in the name of Mary, the mother of Jesus. From this, we might think that Mary must have played a huge role in the work that Jesus, the son of God, carried out.
Who is Mary and what is her role in the bible?
Studying in a catholic school, I would need more than my 10 fingers to count all the “Mary’s” in various places. Literally, there are multiple title names given to mother Mary. (Even in the bible, just in one verse, John 19:25, there are three Mary’s mentioned).
Besides that point, looking into the scripture might help see the identity or even what the bible says about Mary.
Starting in the first chapter of Luke verses 26-38, we can see that Mary was someone who found favor in God’s eyes, and according to the angel that appeared before her, she was to bear the Son of God –Jesus. Mary is someone who is blessed and a virgin, rightfully so being the mother of Jesus, a man who is pure and without sin. And believe it or not, Mary has other children too besides Jesus (Mark 6:3). But other than these, there is no other major event of Mary mentioned in the bible that helped Jesus in his ministry.
In Catholic traditions, Mary is honored because she is the mother of Jesus, and it is believed that she is holier than other biblical figures (besides God and Jesus) because she bore Jesus. According to catholiccompany.com, Catholicism proclaims that “after the course of her earthly life, Mary was assumed body and soul into heaven by the power of God” and believes that, “Mary’s soul was perfectly sinless gives [them] confidence that she went directly to God”. However, these are all church teachings and traditions passed down, and something that the bible does not confirm.
Mary is also depicted in various art pieces produced in the past, with one of the most notable ones being the Melun Diptych, which was painted by French painter Jean Fouquet in the mid-15th century. To know more about the Melun Diptych, read our article, Discover the Secrets of The Melun Diptych, A Painting by Jean Fouquet.
When it comes to praying the rosary, should we really be praying in the name of Mary?
According to catholic.com, the rosary is prayed to offer devotion to Mary by asking her to pray for us, and for her to send our prayers to her son, Jesus. However, in the bible, Jesus tells us to pray in his name (John 15:7,16), The bible does not mention to pray to Mary, nor did it mention about her assumption –like her body and soul going up to heaven.
These may be shocking, confusing, or nothing to some but, this was completely new to me when I first found out about it. All my teen life I thought Jesus was the only son of Mary or that the bible tells a story of her ascending into heaven. Finding it by now rather than never is still better and just made me realized that there is a lot more I do not know about the bible.
I am not saying that we should disregard Mary. She is still the mother of Jesus, and that she gained favor in God’s eyes among many other Israelites women back then. Although, we should be those who know what words we are praying to God rather than speaking the memorized prayers we do not know fully yet the meanings are about, or if it is even according to the bible. What we do know is that we should pray in the name of Jesus.