Coming from a Portuguese family my parents have always been devoted to Our Lady of Fatima. On my journey back to God I began to question what seemed like the worshiping of Mary. I have no doubt that those children saw an apparition of a lady and that 80,000 people were made to see the sun defy physics.
The local priest in the town of Fatima at the time suggested that this was an apparition from Satan and that has me thinking maybe it is. She asks us to pray the rosary which is over 90% hail Mary's as she is supposed to intercede our prayers and pass them on to God. The Bible clearly tells us that Jesus is the only mediator between us and God.
Then I learn about these Marian dogmas that the church has introduced over the years and find little or no evidence of them in the scriptures. Understand that I'm not suggesting that Mary is evil but that the apparition wasn't of Mary but of a woman projected by Satan. His objective is to draw prayers and attention away from God to him. "Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light" 2 Corinthians 11:13
So I find myself with two options. One is to pray directly to God, the other is to ask Mary to intercede in our prayer so that she can pass it on to God which will take much longer. If I decide to still pray to Mary there is a chance that I am being deceived and am in fact praying to the devil. The risk is too great, it's a much safer option to keep my prayers focused on God.
Some Catholics get offended at my thoughts and attack me. But can anyone understand my logic. I can pray to Mary which will take longer to reach God and has the risk of being false or I can pray to God directly without any risk. I fear for the salvation of my parents that they are not being deceived by turning their prayers away from God.
What do people think? How can we be sure the apparition wasn't a deception of Satan?
Can anyone explain how praying to Mary is more beneficial than praying to God?
The local priest in the town of Fatima at the time suggested that this was an apparition from Satan and that has me thinking maybe it is. She asks us to pray the rosary which is over 90% hail Mary's as she is supposed to intercede our prayers and pass them on to God. The Bible clearly tells us that Jesus is the only mediator between us and God.
Then I learn about these Marian dogmas that the church has introduced over the years and find little or no evidence of them in the scriptures. Understand that I'm not suggesting that Mary is evil but that the apparition wasn't of Mary but of a woman projected by Satan. His objective is to draw prayers and attention away from God to him. "Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light" 2 Corinthians 11:13
So I find myself with two options. One is to pray directly to God, the other is to ask Mary to intercede in our prayer so that she can pass it on to God which will take much longer. If I decide to still pray to Mary there is a chance that I am being deceived and am in fact praying to the devil. The risk is too great, it's a much safer option to keep my prayers focused on God.
Some Catholics get offended at my thoughts and attack me. But can anyone understand my logic. I can pray to Mary which will take longer to reach God and has the risk of being false or I can pray to God directly without any risk. I fear for the salvation of my parents that they are not being deceived by turning their prayers away from God.
What do people think? How can we be sure the apparition wasn't a deception of Satan?
Can anyone explain how praying to Mary is more beneficial than praying to God?