Question: Who told you that Roman Catholics believe that Mary
and the Saints are mediators to God? As Roman Catholics, we believe that
Jesus Christ is the only mediator to God. Just curious to know how you
came up with that.
Answer: Here are a few excerpts from the book "The Glories
of Mary" written by St. Alphonsus Liguori. All quotations are taken
from the chapter entitled "Mary Our Mediatrix."
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Mary, the most faithful mediatrix of salvation.
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She has been made the ladder to paradise, the gate to heaven, the
most true mediatrix between God and human beings.
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No creature has since received any grace from God except through
the hands of Mary.
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Are we then going to scruple to ask her to save us when (as St.
Germanus says) no one is saved except through her?
Moreover, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 969,
affirms that Mary is a mediatrix:
Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this saving office but by
her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal
salvation.... Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church
under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix.
In contrast, the Bible declares that there is one mediator:
For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man
Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all (1 Timothy 2:5,6).
Catholic apologists invent all sort of excuses to explain how Mary
could be a mediator when the Bible clearly teaches that Jesus is the
only mediator. Mary, they say, is a mediator because she prays for us,
just as we pray for one another.
Apart from the fact that the Bible does not mention anything about
Mary and the saints in heaven praying for us, our intercessions does not
make us as mediators of salvation. Jesus is mediator because he gave
himself on the cross as a ransom, paying the price for the liberty
of his people. He reconciles man with God because He took away sin.
We may certainly pray for one another, but ultimately your salvation
or damnation depends on your personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
"He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that
believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth
on him" (John 3:36). All the prayers of all the saints in heaven
and earth, and all the curses of all the lost and all the demons in
hell, cannot secure or threaten your salvation if you are resting by
faith on Christ Jesus.
Contrary to the fanciful human imaginations, the Bible teaches that
Jesus is the mediator of the new coventant (Hebrews 12:24); He is the
door to salvation (John 10:9); and all God's grace and kindness are
given "through Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:7); no-one is saved
through Mary; all are saved who call on the name of the Lord (Romans
10:13).
Dear friend, since you believe that Jesus is the only mediator, and
that Mary is not, what are you going to do now? Would you remain in the
Catholic Church that places a host of "mediators" along with
Christ, or join an Evangelical church where people really believe in
Christ as the one and only mediator?