Is Mary a Mediator?

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."

• Mary, the most faithful mediatrix of salvation.

• She has been made the ladder to paradise, the gate to heaven, the most true mediatrix between God and human beings.

• No creature has since received any grace from God except through the hands of Mary.

• 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?