ALL GENERATIONS SHALL CALL HER BLESSED…AND PRAY TO HER

By: Admin Chris

Every time the intercession of saints is discussed, the favorite saint to be mentioned by the non-
Catholics and anti-Catholics is Mary. They often ask, “why do you worship Mary, why do you
praise her, why do you pray to her, why do you elevate her too much?” I’ve done some articles
regarding the issue of intercession and invocation, but I often apply it generally to all saints and
angels. This time, I will center this post more on Mary to give the non-Catholics and the anti-
Catholics some fan service.

Luke 1:48
48 for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden.
For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed;

Today, we will focus mainly on what Mary said in Luke 1:48. She said that all generations will
call her blessed. This is important because the words “all generations” imply that the Church will
exist for all generations. With regards to how we should call Mary blessed, this is what Albert
Barnes, an American theologian, said.

Barnes’ Notes:
“Call me blessed - Pronounce me highly favored or happy in being the mother of the
Messiah. It is therefore right to consider her as highly favored or happy; but this
certainly does not warrant us to worship her or to pray to her. [1]”

Obviously, I reject that worshipping is the same thing with praying. I noticed that even if all
generations shall call her blessed, it doesn’t mean that we have to pray to her according to him.
However, I think that his understanding is wrong here. I know that some Christians rejected the
idea of using history or the early Church Fathers to prove our case, but this is perfectly fine in
this scenario since we will be looking at how the generations called her blessed, and as part of
that generation, we should do the same.

RYLANDS PAPYRUS 470

Mother of God, [listen to] my petitions; do not disregard us in adversity, but rescue
us from danger (c. A.D. 300).

ST. METHODIUS OF PHILIPPI

Hail to you forever, you Virgin Mother of God, our unceasing joy, for to you do I
again return. You are the beginning of our feast; you are its middle and end; the
pearl of great price that belongs to the kingdom; the fat of every victim, the living
 altar of the bread of life. Hail, you treasure of the love of God. Hail, you fount of the
Son’s love for man. . . . You gleamed with the insupportable fires of a most fervent
charity, bringing forth in the end what was conceived of you . . . making manifest
the mystery hidden and unspeakable, the invisible Son of the Father—the Prince of
Peace, who in a marvelous manner showed himself as less than all littleness (A.D.
300).

ST. ATHANASIUS
"It becomes you to be mindful of us, as you stand near Him Who granted you all
graces, for you are the Mother of God and our Queen. Help us for the sake of the
King, the Lord God Master Who was born of you. For this reason you are called
'full of Grace'..." (A.D. 373).

ST. AUGUSTINE
"Blessed Virgin Mary, who can worthily repay you with praise and thanksgiving for
having rescued a fallen world by your generous consent? ...accept then such poor
thanks as we have to offer, unequal though they be to your merits. Receive our
gratitude and obtain by your prayers the pardon of our sins. Take our prayers into
the sanctuary of heaven and enable them to bring about our peace with God...Holy
Mary, help the miserable, strengthen the discouraged, comfort the sorrowful, pray
for your people, plead for the clergy, intercede for all women consecrated to God.
May all who venerate you, feel now your help and protection. ...Make it your
continual care to pray for the people of God, for you were blessed by God and were
made worthy to bear the Redeemer of the world, who lives and reigns for ever (A.D.
430).

These are just some of the prayers to Mary that we can find where the Church, all throughout the
years, was praying to her and praising her. So, this leaves us 2 options.

Option 1: Accept the fact that we should pray to Mary and be part of that generation of
Christians who were praising her for her blessedness and holiness.

Option 2: Reject the prayers of the Church fathers to Mary, and reject what Mary said in Luke
1:48 by claiming that the Christians for all generations did not understand how to properly call
her blessed.

P.S.: I hope you do not choose option 2 because lately, I had an experience of talking to someone
who said that Mary was wrong in Luke 1:48.

Link:
[1] https://biblehub.com/commentaries/barnes/luke/1.htm

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