Ee-7. PRAYING THE ROSARY BIBLICAL?

Is praying the Rosary BIBLICAL? The word “Rosary” is not found in the Bible, nor is there any evidence of either Jesus nor the Apostles of Jesus teaching us as Christians to pray using repetitious prayers by keeping count of those many repeated prayers on beads found anywhere in the word of God. But rather there is some very clear teaching of Jesus showing us NOT to pray after this manner of praying.

So then, let us begin this study in God's word by closely examining the manner of prayer that Jesus taught his disciples, when they asked Jesus, himself, in person, as to HOW they should pray.

Please read Luke 11:1-13 first and then we will compare these words of Jesus with the account of the gospel of Matthew.

Luke 11:1-13.

“And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, TEACH us to PRAY, as John also taught his disciples. (In other words, a SPECIFIC request is being asked by the disciples of Jesus himself as to HOW we are to pray. Please pay close attention to the manner or the example that Jesus himself gave us as to HOW we are to pray and to WHOM we are to direct our prayers. Now I fully realize that this is NOT the ONLY passage of Scripture in the Bible and we will shortly get to those verses further on in this study of God’s word, his WHOLE word as to what his word of TRUTH actually teaches us concerning the QUESTION being asked by the title of this in-depth study)

2. And he (Jesus himself) said unto them, When you pray, say, Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, as in heaven, so on earth.

3. Give us day by day our daily bread.

4. And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. (Then Jesus gives us something to COMPARE with our asking our heavenly Father for something to be like asking a FRIEND for something who we KNOW will not say NO to us. But NOT just because he is our friend, but rather more so because we do NOT GIVE UP until we RECEIVE what we are asking for KNOWING that our friend has what we need.)

5. And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a FRIEND, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; (We do not have to be afraid of coming DIRECTLY to Almighty God our Father in prayer. We can talk directly to God just as we talk to our best friend)

6. For a friend of mine on his journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him?

7. And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give you.

8. I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, YET because of his IMPORTUNITY he will rise and give him as many as he needs. (In other words, because of the persistence and NOT giving up in this man's asking of his friend to give him what he needs, that friend will indeed give him as much as he needs. To say this another way, pray with FAITH that does NOT WAVER!)

9. And I say unto you, Ask, and (KNOW in your heart THAT) it SHALL be given you; seek, (Or EXPECT to receive) and you SHALL find; knock, and it SHALL be opened unto you.

10. For every one that asks receives; and he that seeks finds; and to him that knocks it shall be opened. (In other words, Jesus is teaching us to have FAITH in our prayers that we ask of our heavenly Father. And do not be afraid to ask Him for what we need. Then Jesus goes on to give us another example of praying to Almighty God, our heavenly Father, in comparison to our asking of our earthly father who is a good father will NOT give his children something bad when they ask him for something they need)

11. If a son shall ask for bread from any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? (Or will that good earthly father give his children a STONE when they ask for BREAD to eat. NO! Absolutely NOT! A GOOD father will do his best to give you the bread) Or if he asks a fish, will he, instead of a fish, give him a serpent?

12. Or if he shall ask for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? (Again, the answer is ALWAYS NO! A good father will never give us something BAD!)

13. If you then, being evil, know how to give GOOD gifts unto your children: how much MORE shall your heavenly Father GIVE the Holy Spirit to them that ASK Him?”

The above passage of Scripture can be interpreted as praying for, seeking, and knocking at the door of the Father for salvation, for healing, to provide for a need, or ANYTHING that is God’s Will. In other words, there are three parts to praying. We start with conversing with God, our heavenly Father who is in heaven. Satan is ALSO called the “father” of lies and the “god” of this world. So SPECIFICALLY direct your prayers to our Father who is in HEAVEN. Then we begin seeking Almighty God our heavenly Father more and more with all of our heart. Then we keep knocking at the door of Almighty God the Father until we receive the answer to our prayer. Remain persistent in FAITH and you SHALL receive the answer to your prayer if it is according to God’s Will.

So then, part of seeking God is reading and studying His word to know and understand His WILL. We seek out other Christians to teach us the Scriptures. And we keep knocking on the door or searching for the TRUTH until we find it in the Scriptures. The same thing applies when praying for others to be saved. We should actively be seeking ways to minister to others. And if they reject the gospel we should keep knocking at the door of heaven, so to speak, and NOT give up in ministering to them. Too many times Christians either pray then wait WONDERING if God heard them or they minister ONLY and rarely ever pray for who they are ministering to.

So then, Jesus is teaching us HOW to pray and to WHOM we are to direct our prayers in answer to a DIRECT SPECIFIC request made by his disciples. And the ANSWER that Jesus gave to us in this particular passage of scripture is that we are to direct our prayers TO ALMIGHTY GOD the FATHER. To this TRUTH there can be absolutely NO QUESTION or DOUBT!

Let us read the first two verses in Luke chapter 11 again to erase any DOUBT that you may have and again we will get to those verses used by the Catholic church to try and support their teaching to pray the saints in heaven to ask them of their prayers and intercessions for those on the earth, but first I want you to see what the CLEAR, PLAIN and SIMPLE words of Jesus himself SPECIFICALLY POINT BLANK STRAIGHT FORWARD teaches us as to HOW and to WHOM we are to pray leaving absolutely NO DOUBT. Here is Luke 11:1,2 again and then we will go to the gospel of Matthew and compare these words of Jesus.

Luke 11:1,2.

2. And he (Jesus himself) said unto them, When you pray, say, Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, as in heaven, so on earth.”

So again, we see that a SPECIFIC request is asked DIRECTLY of Jesus to TEACH us to PRAY and then Jesus himself SPECIFICALLY answers this direct question by saying “OUR FATHER which is IN HEAVEN...” whereby CLEARLY and PLAINLY teaching us that we as Christians are to direct our prayer to Almighty God the Father and NOT to the Virgin Mary or to ANY of the SAINTS in heaven. We are never instructed anywhere in the entire Bible to direct our prayers to the Virgin Mary. We are never instructed to pray to the SAINTS in heaven. In fact, we are not even instructed to pray TO the Son of God. But rather, we are instructed in the Bible to pray directly TO the Father in the NAME OF Jesus.

Please read John 14:13,14,

“And whatsoever you shall ask in my NAME, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

14. If you shall ask anything in my NAME, I will do it.”

Now let us take a close look at these words of Jesus in Matthew 6:8-13, where Jesus teaches us to pray after this MANNER or pattern your prayers in a like MANNER of this EXAMPLE that I give to you.

Matthew 6:8-13.

“Be NOT you, therefore, LIKE unto THEM: for your Father knows what things you have need of before you ask him. (So Jesus is CLEARLY teaching us NOT to pray AFTER the MANNER of THEM, which we will look at shortly to see what Jesus is talking about in the previous verses. But first I want you to clearly see and understand what MANNER or example that Jesus himself gave us to FOLLOW when we PRAY. Now, this particular study is to determine what the word of TRUTH teaches us as to WHOM we should direct our prayers. So then, we will focus mainly on WHO Jesus teaches us that we are to direct our prayers)

9. AFTER THIS MANNER, THEREFORE, (Or for this very reason) you pray: Our Father who is IN heaven, Hallowed be your NAME. (Jesus himself very specifically teaches us to direct our prayers to Almighty God the Father Again, you will NOT find anywhere in the Bible that we are to pray to anyone except to Almighty God the FATHER. But we ARE to pray to the Father in the NAME OF Jesus. For you see, the Father GAVE His own name “Yahweh” to His Son, Jesus AFTER the cross and resurrection. Please read the two part study called D-23. WHAT is the NEW NAME of Jesus? Part 1)

10. Your kingdom come. Your Will be done on earth, AS it is IN heaven.

11. Give us this day our daily bread.

12. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. (Meaning that we are to come DIRECTLY to Almighty God to ask for forgiveness. Therefore, there is no longer the need to go to a priest, like in the Old Testament, who goes to God FOR us. Jesus ALONE is our high priest. And when we pray directly to Almighty God the Father IN the NAME of Jesus then Jesus makes intercession for us)

13. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For yours is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.”

I want to COMPARE some Scripture with Scripture to show you that if we ONLY look at certain verses then one could INCORRECTLY INTERPRET the account given in Luke to mean that we are to take this MANNER or this EXAMPLE of how to pray and to WHOM we are to DIRECT our prayer, as Jesus meaning that we are to recite this prayer WORD for WORD or it will not work. This so-called Our Father prayer was never meant to be recited word for word as a ritual type repeated prayer, but rather Jesus was teaching this prayer as an EXAMPLE or pattern for us to follow.

Now, this is NOT to say that it is WRONG to pray the so-called Our Father prayer saying it word for word, but if this example of prayer is taught ONLY in this way then the great message and lesson that Jesus is giving us will not clearly be seen or understood. We will talk more on this later, but for now, let us back up a few verses here in Matthew chapter 6 and see what Jesus meant when he said in verse 8.

Matthew 6:8.

“Be NOT you, therefore, LIKE unto THEM...”

So then, WHO is the pronoun “THEM” referring to and WHAT are THEY doing that we as Christians are specifically told by Jesus himself NOT to do or be like? Please read Matthew 6:1-7 where Jesus is saying do NOT be LIKE THEM and DO things and PRAY after the MANNER in which they PRAY.

Matthew 6:1-7.

“Take HEED that you do NOT your alms before men, to be seen of them: OTHERWISE you have NO reward of YOUR Father which is in heaven. (In other words, praying to be SEEN by others to see how spiritual you are profits you nothing with God. And giving offerings of money to be SEEN of others brings you no reward in Heaven)

2. Therefore (Or for this very reason) when YOU do your alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, (Or do not blow your own horn so to speak making it known that you are giving to the poor) as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. (Meaning that they will NOT receive ANY reward from Almighty God for their good works of giving to the poor, because they sought to be patted on the back, to be seen by men, to be famous and have the glory, and to receive praise from men)

3. But when YOU do alms, let not your left hand know what your right hand does:

4. That your alms (And your prayers) may be in secret: and YOUR Father which sees in secret Himself SHALL reward you openly.

5. And when YOU pray, you shall NOT be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. (Meaning that whatever praises they receive from MEN shall be ALL that they receive because they are praying in VAIN. So do NOT be like them when you pray, because if you are, then your Father in heaven will NOT answer your prayers)

6. But YOU, when YOU pray, enter into your closet, and when you have shut your door, pray TO YOUR Father which is in secret; and YOUR Father which sees in secret SHALL reward you openly.

7. But when YOU pray (Speaking to us as Christians who OBEY the words and teaching of Jesus that when WE PRAY, we are to), USE NOT VAIN REPETITIONS, as the heathen do: for they THINK that they shall be HEARD for their much speaking.”

Now, do you truly believe with all your heart that they will be heard because they repeatedly pray the same prayer over and over, when Jesus said they will NOT be heard? They only THINK they shall be heard. So then, do you who pray the Rosary still THINK that your repetitive prayers to the Virgin Mary will grab the ear of your heavenly Father, when Jesus himself SPECIFICALLY teaches us to direct our prayers to the Father in the NAME of Jesus?

Now it is verse 7 here that brings into QUESTION the teaching of the Catholic Church that teaches Catholics to pray REPEATED memorized prayers on a string of beads called the ROSARY where MOST of those REPETITIVE prayers are directed to the Virgin MARY in heaven. And only a few of the prayers are directed to Almighty God the Father in heaven. The main point that I want you to see is that Catholics are DISOBEYING the teachings of Jesus by their praying the ROSARY.

Did not Jesus himself CLEARLY and PLAINLY teach us as Christians NOT to USE REPETITIVE prayers when we pray? And did not Jesus himself CLEARLY and PLAINLY teach us that we, as Christians, are to DIRECT our prayers TO our heavenly Father?

Then WHY does the Catholic Church DISOBEY these CLEAR, PLAIN, and SIMPLE words of Jesus himself? Do they not LOVE Jesus? Jesus said IF you LOVE me, then you will KEEP my WORDS. Please read John 14:23,24, which teaches us that those who do not OBEY the WORDS is the same as saying that they do NOT LOVE Jesus.

John 14:23,24.

“Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man LOVES me, he will KEEP my WORDS: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

24. He that loves me NOT keeps NOT my sayings: and the word which you hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.”

In other words, Catholics may SAY that they love Jesus, but they are SHOWING that they do NOT truly love Jesus because they do NOT KEEP his words. So I am imploring you to ask yourself the question of whether or not you truly LOVE Jesus. Do you truly LOVE Jesus? Then SHOW him that you truly LOVE him and KEEP HIS WORDS over what the words of what your particular denomination teaches you. STOP praying the Rosary. STOP directing your prayers to the Virgin Mary. REPENT of disobeying the words of Jesus.

Again, if you TRULY LOVE Jesus and your church is teaching you to pray the ROSARY using REPETITIVE memorized prayers saying these same prayers over and over, then STOP praying in this MANNER that the HEATHEN do and start KEEPING the WORDS of Jesus by directing the prayers of your OWN heart to your heavenly Father.

Now SOME of you may argue and say that saying the CATHOLIC Rosary is NOT a PAGAN practice, because the prayers are not being said TO Mary as a god, but rather, they are petitions ASKING Mary to pray FOR us sinners.

Before we take a closer look at this argument I want you to please read Ephesians 4:17,18 from the Bible in Basic English with Apocrypha, which is an approved Bible in the Catholic Church.

Ephesians 4:17,18 from the Bible in Basic English with Apocrypha.

“So I'm telling you this, and I INSIST on it IN the Lord: you shouldn't live your life LIKE the Gentiles anymore. They base their lives on pointless THINKING,

18. And they are in the dark in their REASONING. They are disconnected from God's life because of their ignorance and their closed hearts.”

Please keep in mind that Paul is speaking to Gentiles. That means HEATHENS or PAGANS that have believed in the name of Jesus, but who are still PRACTICING their OLD PAGAN pointless ways of THINKING. In other words, the TRUTH of the matter is that PAGANS did indeed become Christians even in the New Testament church well before Constantine. These pagans or Gentiles, who became Christians, were holding on to some of their OLD pagan pointless thinking.

Remember what Jesus said about the HEATHEN or the PAGANS concerning their REPETITIVE praying, that they THINK that they will be HEARD for their many repetitive prayers? But Jesus REBUKED their pointless ways.

Matthew 6:8 first and then back to verse 1.

“8. Be NOT you, therefore, LIKE unto THEM...” or “1. OTHERWISE you have NO reward of YOUR Father which is in heaven.”

But some Catholics have CLOSED their hearts to argue and say that they are NOT following PAGAN practices because they believe that the Catholic Rosary did NOT come from a Pagan false god. But rather, the Catholic Rosary was given to the Catholic Church by Mary herself in a vision. In other words, Catholics reason that because the rosary was given to them by Mary herself, then praying the Catholic Rosary cannot be a pagan practice.

Now I do not deny that those Catholics in the past saw a vision or an apparition. But the Bible teaches us that we are to TRY the spirits to see whether or not these spirits are truly of God or if they are evil spirits manifesting themselves as good spirits.

Please read 2 Corinthians 11:13-15, which teaches us that Satan can TRANSFORM himself to appear in the form as an angel of LIGHT or a good angel, which means that the apparition that these Catholics saw was NOT Mary herself at all, but rather what these people actually saw was Satan or an evil spirit disguising himself as Mary.

2 Corinthians 11:13-15.

“For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.

14. And no marvel; for Satan himself is TRANSFORMED into an angel of light. (Or do not marvel or doubt that Satan himself can transform himself to APPEARED as IF he is a good angel. In other words, those so-called visions of the Virgin Mary were visions of Satan himself manifesting himself as the Virgin Mary. For you see, NO vision that comes from God would teach his people to make an IMAGE of one of His creations and have them pray to her. And on every Catholic Rosary there is an IMAGE of the Virgin Mary that Catholic hold and pray a prayer to the Virgin Mary)

15. Therefore, it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.”

So do not marvel or doubt that these supposed apparitions of Mary were actually apparitions of Satan who was appearing in the FORM of Mary in order to DECEIVE whosoever would believe him. You see, at this point in time, there were many Catholics who already prayed to and venerated Mary. So it was no real difficulty for Satan to deceive them into believing that Mary appeared to them. Please keep in mind that Mary mostly appeared to small children and not mature adult believers who knew the word of God, to TEST the spirits to see whether or not they are of God.

Please read 1 John 4:1-3.

“Beloved, BELIEVE NOT EVERY SPIRIT, but TRY the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

2. Hereby know you the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:

3. And every spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God: (Or every spirit that does not confess that the ANOINTING has come in the flesh of Jesus is NOT of God) and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof you have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.”

In other words, if you have a vision of Mary or an angel or even Jesus himself that appears to you, then the Bible teaches us that we are NOT to just simply believe and accept that the vision is from God UNTIL we TRY that spirit by asking him the question, “Did the ANOINTING come in the flesh of Jesus?” Then if the spirit says yes you can be sure that it is of God. However, if the spirit says NO, the anointing did NOT come in the flesh of Jesus, then that spirit is NOT of God.

Now it is kind of doubtful that these small children TRIED the spirit that appeared to them in the FORM of Mary to see whether or not this apparition was of God or not. But we can still see if these apparitions of Mary are of God by closely examining what this spirit or apparition in the form of Mary said or did in vision. We will examine these visions further on in this study. But for now, I want you to see that if you place more trust in the TRADITIONS of the Catholic Church than you do in the very word of Almighty God, then you are hardening your heart to the truth.

Can you not see my dear brothers and sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ who are in the Catholic Church, that your HEART is CLOSED to hear the TRUTH of the WHOLE word of Almighty God, by trusting in the TRADITIONS of the Catholic Church, more so than you trust the very word of TRUTH itself, the Holy Bible?

The TRUTH of the matter is that Pagan religions use prayer beads long before Christianity ever came to be and even during the founding of the Christian church, by our Lord Jesus Christ, there were pagans still yet using prayer beads to count and keep track of their many repetitive memorized prayers that they repeated over and over in VAIN. Jesus used their EXAMPLE of praying and taught us, as Christians, NOT to pray in this MANNER as the HEATHENS do because if you do, then your prayers will NOT be heard by your heavenly Father. Your prayers on the rosary are in VAIN POINTLESS prayers that the very words of Almighty God INSISTS that we as Christians should NOT pray as the Gentiles pray.

Now, this is another whole study in and of itself, so I will just briefly touch on how these pagan practices of using prayer beads came into the Catholic Church. Most resources that I myself came across, use the year 1090 AD as the first mention of the rosary being introduced to the Catholic Church by Peter the Hermit, who was most noted for his involvement with the crusades. However, some Catholic writers deny any connection with Peter the Hermit to the rosary and insist that the rosary did not come into the Catholic Church UNTIL 1206 AD when Mary appeared to St Dominic in an apparition and Mary herself gave him the instructions to preach the rosary.

Now I am not going to argue the exact date or who exactly gets the credit for introducing the rosary into the Catholic Church, because the point that I want you to see is that the rosary was NOT introduced into the Catholic Church UNTIL the late 11th century to the early 12th century. Therefore, proving by Catholic history itself, that this pagan practice of using prayer beads to keep track of the many repetitive prayers that are offered by Catholics to the Virgin Mary in order to petition her prayers to intercede for sinners, was NOT a practice of the early Christian church. The praying of the rosary was not in the Catholic Church until over 1000 year after the church that Jesus built began.

Jesus never taught his disciples to pray to his mother Mary and neither did his Apostles ever teach the church any such MANNER of praying. The TRUTH of the matter is that pagans did indeed use prayer beads and when Constantine made Catholicism the state religion. And it was then that many pagan practices began to take stronger root into the church of Jesus Christ to eventually be made dogma by the Catholic Church.

Now some Catholics try to argue that the Catholic Church did not mix any pagan practices within the Catholic Church, but their very own Catholic writers blatantly come straight out and say that they do NOT DENY that many pagan practices were mixed with Christianity within the history of the Catholic church. Here is what the Catholic Church ITSELF says in the Twentieth Century Encyclopedia of Catholicism, which says the following:

“The missionary history of the [Catholic] Church clearly shows her ADAPTABILITY to all races, all continents, and all nations. In her liturgy and her art, in her tradition and the forming of her doctrine, naturally enough she includes Jewish elements, but also elements that are of pagan origin. In certain respects, she has copied her organization from that of the Roman Empire, has preserved and made fruitful the philosophical intuitions of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, borrowed from both Barbarians and the Byzantine Roman Empire—but always remains herself, thoroughly digesting all elements drawn from external sources...In her laws, her ceremonies, her festivals and her devotions, she makes use of local customs after purifying them and "baptizing" them.”

So then, CLEARLY seeing that the Catholic Church itself openly admits that she has MIXED elements of pagan ORIGIN into the forming of her doctrines, then it should be very easy for you to see these origins of pagan practices within the Catholic church as you compare the “Catholic” Rosary of BEADS to the pagan prayer BEADS that are used to keep track of the many number of REPEATED prayers.

The pagan religions long used strings of beads to keep track of the many repetitive prayers that they prayed over and over well before Christianity ever came into existence. And this pagan practice of using prayer BEADS was being used at the time of the founding of the church all the way through the entire history of the church, even to this very day, this practice of using prayer beads among the heathen pagans is still being used. And did not Jesus himself say for us as Christians NOT to pray in the MANNER of the way that the HEATHENS pray, using VAIN REPETITION of prayers?

Please read Matthew 6:1-7 where Jesus is saying be NOT LIKE the pagans or the HEATHENS and PRAY after the MANNER in which the pagans PRAY using prayer beads to keep track of their many repetitive prayers.

Matthew 6:1-7.

“Take HEED that you do NOT your alms before men, to be SEEN of them: OTHERWISE you have NO reward of YOUR Father which is in heaven. (In other words, praying to be SEEN by others to see how spiritual you are profits you nothing with God. And giving offerings of money to be SEEN of others brings you no reward in Heaven)

2. Therefore, (Or for this very reason) when YOU do your alms, do not sound a trumpet before you (Or do not blow your own horn so to speak making it known that you are giving to the poor), as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. (Meaning that they will NOT receive ANY reward from Almighty God for their good works of giving to the poor, because they sought to be patted on the back, to be seen by men and have the glory and praise from men.)

3. But when YOU do alms, let not your left hand know what your right hand does:

4. That your alms (And your prayers) may be in secret: and YOUR Father which sees in secret himself SHALL reward you openly.

6. But YOU, when YOU pray, enter into your closet, and when you have shut your door, pray TO YOUR Father who is in secret; and YOUR Father which sees in secret SHALL reward you openly.

Now again, it is verse 7 here that brings into QUESTION the teaching of the Catholic Church that teaches Catholics to pray REPEATED memorized prayers on a string of beads called the ROSARY where MOST of those REPETITIVE prayers are direct to MARY in heaven. And only a few of the prayers are directed to the Father in heaven. Please read the study Ee-6. Is PRAYING TO MARY BIBLICAL? In that study you will find that the “Hail Mary” did NOT come into EXISTENCE until the 11th century, and it was not until the 16th century that it became an official Catholic prayer in the form that it is known today. But for now, we will take a look at the apparitions of Mary that are related to the Rosary.

According to the following Catholic website, it is a “Catholic” historical FACT that the Catholic prayer the “Hail Mary” did not come into existence as a prayer UNTIL the eleventh century. Here is what the Catholic Church itself teaches.

“...it is a historical FACT that the Hail Mary did NOT EXIST at ALL until the eleventh century, and even then only a part of it was used as a prayer.”

Now, these are the very words of the Roman Catholic Church itself, which goes on to say the following about the ORIGIN of the “Hail Mary” prayer to Mary as it is known today, which I have condensed.

“Its ORIGIN was as follows: The monastic orders were accustomed to recite lengthy offices each day; and on certain feasts, especially those of the Blessed Virgin, these services were supplemented by the "Little Office" of Mary. In this, the words of the Archangel and of St. Elizabeth were used repeatedly in the form of vesicles and responses. Gradually it became a pious practice, not only for the monks but for the laity, to use these sentences as a prayer. In the year 1196 the Bishop of Paris ordered his clergy to teach these words to their flocks, and within a short time, the prayer became well known throughout the Catholic world.

A little later the holy name of Jesus was added, probably by Pope Urban IV, and the last part, "Holy Mary, Mother of God," etc., was introduced about the year 1500, as it was felt that this beautiful expression of devotion to our Mother would be more complete if it included a petition to obtain her powerful intercession.”

Another Catholic source says that the “Hail Mary” GRADUALLY developed from the 6th century to the 11th century although NO early church writings were offered as supporting such a claim. But even using the quotes from early “Catholic” writers during this time frame or even earlier would not prove that this Catholic prayer is a sound Biblical prayer. For you see, many church TRADITIONS contradict and go AGAINST what the Bible itself teaches. So for the Catholic Church to argue that their church tradition is EQUAL to the Scripture is a LIE from Satan.

This other Catholic website goes on to give some dates and names as to when this Catholic prayer began to become more developed through the centuries until it's present form as it is today.

So then, most Catholic sources agree that the Hail Mary gradually developed from the sixth century to the 16th century, when the present wording was adopted as general liturgical usage. Some say it was Pope Urban IV (1261-64) who added the word “Jesus” to the angelic salutation.

Again, most all of the Catholic sources agree that the “Hail Mary” prayer did NOT become a popular prayer or widely ACCEPTED prayer before the 11th century when the practice began ONLY as the reciting of the twofold salutation as being a part of the prayers of some monastic communities. In other words, the LAST part of the “Hail Mary” as it is known today was NOT part of this now accepted prayer, which again did NOT become widely accepted UNTIL over a 1000 years after the founding of the Christian church. That is to say, the LAST phrase, “pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death, Amen”, was NOT a part of this earlier version of this salutation of Mary that again did NOT become widely accepted until the 11th century.

This Catholic source goes on to say that St. Peter Damian (1007-1072), a Camaldolese monk, who later became a cardinal and then Doctor of the Church, called it the angelic, or evangelical, prayer and recommended it.

Then in the synod of 1198, Bishop Odo of Siliac required the clergy to see that the faithful recited not only the Our Father and the Creed, but also the Hail Mary. Shortly after that, councils of many other countries made similar prescriptions, and the prayer became so popular that it was regarded almost as an appendix to the Our Father.

And it was not until 1427 that St. Bernard of Siena preached a sermon that included “Ave Maria, Sancta Maria, mater Dei, ora pro nobis.” (“Hail Mary, Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us.”)

This Catholic source goes on to say that present form of the “Hail Mary”, as it is known today, was introduced into the canonical hours of the breviary by three orders: the Mercedarians in 1514, the Camaldolese in 1515 and the Franciscans in 1525. It was finally fixed in the reformed Breviary of Pope Pius V in 1568.

So then, it was NOT UNTIL the year 1568 AD that the Catholic prayer the “Hail Mary” became established as the OFFICIAL prayer to Mary that Catholics know today. These Catholic historical FACTS alone should be enough to see that this Catholic prayer is NOT a sound Biblical prayer, and most certainly was NOT a prayer that was prayed by Christians in the New Testament church nor the early church.

And then when you combine the historical FACTS with the SOUND BIBLICAL evidence that we learned in the study Ee-5. Is PRAYING to the SAINTS in Heaven Biblical? So then, there should be absolutely no doubt that this Catholic prayer, the “Hail Mary,” is NOT a sound Biblical prayer and therefore it should be rejected and considered as praying like the heathens pray, which Jesus himself condemned. Again, this is just my own personal opinion, but factual teaching that is based upon a lot of sound, solid evidence and NOT upon “Well this is what the Catholic Church teaches so I have to believe it”.

I mean LISTEN to what some Catholics are saying. YES, I know that you are taught as a Catholic NOT to QUESTION what you are taught because I myself was once raised in the Catholic Church. But THINK this through for YOURSELF. Can you not see my dear brothers and sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ who are in the Catholic Church, that it is the Catholic Church ITSELF, which says that it is a HISTORICAL FACT that this prayer to Mary developed GRADUALLY for many centuries and that it was not officially established UNTIL 1518, which is over 1,500 years AFTER the founding of Christianity. This proves beyond any shadow of a doubt that praying to Mary for any reason whatsoever was NOT taught in the early church.

So then, since praying to Mary, who is no less than 90 % of praying the ROSARY, did NOT come from the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles, then from WHERE did it come from?

To most Protestants the answer is obvious. The Bible teaches us in 2 Corinthians 4:3,4 that the eyes of understanding of those who are lost are BLINDED by the god of this world who we know is Satan. Now I am not saying that Catholics are lost in that they are not saved or that they do not truly believe in Jesus, but rather the term “lost” here is to be viewed as not understanding the truth of God's word.

2 Corinthians 4:3,4.

“But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:

4. In whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of them which BELIEVE NOT, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”

Please understand dear child of God that all I am doing is presenting you with ALL the evidence so that YOU can consider it carefully and prayerfully and then make your OWN decision of how you YOURSELF choose to BELIEVE, without the ONE-SIDED BIAS pressure of the Catholic Church. So all I ask is that you consider the WHOLE matter before you draw your final conclusion. Proverbs 18:12,13 teaches us that it is folly and shame to a person who judges a matter BEFORE he or she hears the whole matter.

Proverbs 18:12,13.

“Before destruction the heart of man is haughty (Or full of pride), and before honor is humility.

13. He that answers a matter BEFORE he hears it, it is folly and shame unto him.”

We have already taken a look at SOME of the Biblical evidence that clearly shows that praying the rosary is NOT a sound Biblical teaching.

And we have already taken a look at some of the “Catholic” historical evidence that clearly shows us that the “Catholic” rosary with the “Hail Mary” prayer to Mary did NOT even come into EXISTENCE until the 11th century, which proves beyond any shadow of a doubt that neither the rosary nor the “Hail Mary” was NOT taught by either Jesus or his Apostles in the early church.

So with that being said let us now take a look at the apparitions of Mary and then come back and focus on the apparitions of Mary that pertain to the rosary.

SECTION TWO

The very first recorded apparition of Mary is called by the Catholic Church as “Our Lady of Guadalupe”, where Mary is said to have appeared in 1531 five different times, four times to Juan Diego and 1 time to heal his uncle. The following description of this first apparition of Mary is taken from a Catholic website:

“1st Apparition: At dawn on December 9, 1531, Juan Diego, an Indian convert, was going to Tlatelolco to attend catechism class and hear the Mass. As he was passing Tepeyac Hill, he saw a brilliant light on the summit and heard the strains of celestial music. Filled with wonder, he stopped. Then he heard a feminine voice asking him to ascend. When he reached the top he saw the Blessed Virgin Mary standing in the midst of a glorious light, in heavenly splendor. The beauty of her youthful countenance and her look of loving kindness filled Juan Diego with unspeakable happiness as he listened to the words which she spoke to him in his native language. She told him she was the perfect and eternal Virgin Mary, Mother of the true God, and made known to him her desire that a shrine be built there where she could demonstrate her love, her compassion and her protection. "For I am your merciful Mother", she said, "to you and to all mankind who love me and trust in me and invoke my help. Therefore, go to the dwelling of the Bishop in Mexico City and say that the Virgin Mary sent you to make known to him her great desire."”

“2nd Apparition: The Bishop was reluctant to believe Juan Diego's story. Juan returned to Tepeyac Hill where he found the Blessed Virgin waiting for him, and told her of his failure. She bade him return to the Bishop the next day and repeat her wishes.”

“3rd Apparition: The Bishop then requested that the Lady give him a sign. Juan reported that evening and she promised to grant his petition on the following morning. But Juan was prevented from coming because of a sudden and severe illness of his uncle, Juan Bernardino.”

“4th Apparition: Two days later, on December 12, as he was going to the Church at Tlatelolco in order to bring a priest to his dying uncle, Juan Diego was stopped by the Lady, who had come down from Tepeyac Hill to meet him on the road. She listened quietly to Juan's excuse for not having kept his appointment with her the day before. When he had finished speaking she said, "It is well, littlest and dearest of my sons, but now listen to me. Do not let anything afflict you and be not afraid of illness or pain. Am I not here, who is your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Are you not in the crossing of my arms? Is there anything else you need? Do not fear for your uncle for he is not going to die. Be assured... he is already well."

Having heard these words, Juan Diego rejoiced and asked for the sign he was to take to the Bishop. He was told to climb to the top of the hill where she had spoken to him on three previous occasions. She said he would find many flowers blooming there which he was to cut and bring to her. Juan Diego did as he was told though he knew no flowers had ever bloomed before on the stony summit. He discovered a marvelous garden of dew-fresh blossoms which he cut as she had asked. Placing them in his rough cloak, or tilma, he brought the flowers to the Lady who rearranged them and told him to take them to the Bishop; that this was the sign to persuade him to carry out her wishes.

When Juan Diego, radiantly happy, stood before Bishop Fray Juan de Zumarraga and told him of the fourth encounter with the Lady, he opened his tilma to show the Bishop the sign; the flowers cascaded to the floor - but to the astonishment of the Bishop and Juan Diego, there appeared upon the coarse fabric of the Indian's mantle a marvelously wrought, exquisitely colored portrait (IMAGE) of the Blessed Virgin, just as Juan Diego had previously described her.”

“5th Apparition: Earlier that same day, December 12, she had also appeared to Juan's uncle, Juan Bernardino, and restored him to health as she had told Juan Diego. Juan Diego was at that time fifty-seven years old; his uncle was sixty-eight. Both had been among the first of the natives to be baptized into the true faith several years before.”

I emphasized some things in this apparition of Mary that do not agree with the word of God. The first thing that most every Christian knows as being against God's word is the making of IMAGES before God. Now, this is not making pictures used as works of art, but rather it is the making of any kind of IMAGE that is revered, venerated, adored or given devotion to like the IMAGES of Mary.

The second thing in this apparition is Mary's desire to have a SHRINE built to honor and remember HER. It has always been Satan's desire for mankind to bow before him. Mary said that she would be merciful to all of mankind who put their TRUST in HER and INVOKED HER for help. Nowhere in God's word are we taught to put our trust in anyone but Almighty God himself and his Son Jesus whom the one true and only Almighty God chose as the ONLY one with whom God would share his glory. The Bible teaches us to pray to God and not to Mary or any other saint to ask them for help or even to ask them for their prayers of intercession. However, the spirit of these apparitions focuses on trusting in Mary and in seeking her help rather than going straight to Almighty God the Father as Jesus taught us in God's word.

Also, knowing that it is Satan who OPPRESSES mankind with sickness and disease I find it very suspicious when the Bishop asked for a SIGN first before he would consent to build a shrine to the Virgin Mary and then Juan Diego's uncle suddenly became deathly sick and then was supposedly healed by Mary. Now, I do not doubt that Juan Diego's uncle was not healed, but rather I am saying that he was NOT healed by Mary. In other words, seeing that it was Satan who oppressed Juan Diego's uncle with this deathly sickness. So then, to me, it was Satan and NOT Mary who was responsible for the healing of this man, so that Satan could DECEIVE the people into believing in Mary as their protector.

What I am trying to get you to see here is that this apparition was NOT of Mary herself, but rather, this was an apparition of an evil spirit that manifested itself in the form or the appearance of Mary to deceive the people.

Now if you are hearing this for this first time you may be doubting what I am saying, but if you hear me out, to hear the WHOLE matter, then I will show you from the other apparitions of Mary that absolutely NO vision from the one true God would ever say or request such things as this evil spirit, disguising himself as Mary, has said and requested. With that being said, let us move on to the next apparition of Mary where we will see a gradual acceptance of things that directly oppose God's word. Remember that here in this first apparition; this spirit leaves her IMAGE on the garment of Juan Diego.

But in the second apparition of Mary in 1830 the spirit gets a little bolder and gives very specific instructions of an IMAGE of Mary that is to be struck on a “medal” where Mary would give a blessing of protection to those who wore this medal, with the IMAGE of her, around their neck. Here is the account of this second apparition of Mary by a Catholic website:

“November 27, 1830 is a momentous day in the history of the world. It was on this date that the Mother of God, Our Mother gave to the world the Miraculous Medal. As usual on that day, which was a Saturday, the sisters gathered in the chapel for their evening prayers. Catherine was listening to the scriptural reading kneeling in the chapel when she heard again that sound of silk on silk of Our Lady's gown and then the Virgin appeared.

Most Catholics are not aware that the visions of the Miraculous Medal actually consist of three phases, three different IMAGES. We are used to the image of Our Lady with her hands outstretched which is depicted on the front side of the Miraculous Medal that we wear. We are also familiar with the image which composes the reverse side of the Medal, the M on the cross with the twelve stars and the two hearts. What Catherine saw first, however, has become known as the Virgin of the Globe.

This is the image of Our Lady standing on the globe of the world with a golden globe with a cross embedded in it in Her hands. She has Her eyes toward heaven and is offering the globe in Her hands to God. Our Lady's hands were fitted with rings which were full of light that shone down as rays on the globe that she was standing on. Catherine heard a voice: "The ball which you see represents the whole world, especially France, and each person in particular. These rays symbolize the graces I shed upon those who ask for them. The gems from which rays do not fall are the graces for which souls forget to ask." She spread her hands out wide and the rays continued to fall on the globe below. An oval frame formed around our mother and the words in gold, " O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee", formed within the frame.

Catherine once again heard the voice: "Have a Medal struck after this model. All who wear it will receive great graces; they should wear it around the neck. Graces will abound for persons who wear it with confidence."

The scene then changed and Catherine saw what was to become the reverse side of the miraculous medal: a large M on a bar with the Cross above surrounded by twelve stars and the hearts of Jesus and Mary below. St. Catherine did not just receive these visions once but several times.”

In other words, this spirit, appearing in the form of Mary, is saying to make an IMAGE of Mary with the words, “O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee” inscribed on the front of this medal made in the IMAGE of Mary.

Now the reason Catherine saw this same apparition three times is that she was NOT believed by those who had the authority to make such a medal and proof was needed before they would believe and make the IMAGE of Mary. If you remember Juan Diego was NOT believed at first until this spirit brought forth some kind of proof. The proof that the priest received was THOUGHTS of FEAR plaguing his mind until he GAVE IN and handed the medal struck by an engraver. Here is how the account goes as stated on a Catholic website:

“A tug-of-war between Sister Laboure and her confessor was to begin in full from this point on. It has been recounted from the testimony of other sisters resident in the rue du Bac that the exchanges between Sister Laboure and Fr. Aladel in the confessional would often become so loud that the other sisters would have to withdraw a distance from the confessional in order to not overhear what was being said.

Father Aladel did not doubt Catherine's sincerity but at the same time he did not put much stock in the so-called visions of a novice. The battle between the two would rage on until Fr. Aladel finally submitted and the first Miraculous Medal was struck in 1832. The final word on the matter was to come from the mouth of the Mother of God Herself. Our Lady complained to Catherine regarding the delay in the striking and distribution of the Medal. Catherine recounts, " But my good Mother, you see that he will not believe me." Our Lady's reply was frightfully to the point, " Never mind, he is My servant, and would FEAR to displease Me." It was these words, reported BY Catherine TO Fr. Aladel in confession, which worked upon his MIND and his will until he finally gave in.

Obviously, Our Lady was reminding Fr. Aladel of his ever mindful desire to never offend His Mother and She knew that these words would strike a chord deep within his most devoted heart, echoing his sentiments exactly. It was thus that he came to realize that Our Lady was indeed appearing to this novice!”

So just ask yourself the question of how does Satan tempt people to disobey God? The answer is that Satan speaks to our MINDS to DECEIVE us. What I want you to see is that Satan is the god of this world that oppresses mankind with sickness and can very easy lift his oppression of sickness in order to DECEIVE people to believe that a miracle of God has just taken place, when in truth it was Satan all along DECEIVING the people so that he could get them to pray to Mary in order to divert their prayers to God. Then this spirit left an IMAGE of her on Juan Diego's garment so that Catholics would get used to seeing an IMAGE of Mary.

Then this spirit appeared in the form of Mary again nearly 300 years later and had an IMAGE Mary actually made on a medal for Catholics to wear around their necks. Only this time this spirit used FEAR of possibly offending Mary if an IMAGE of her was NOT made. This spirit also planted another seed before his next apparition by saying the words, " O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee" in order to get Catholics used to the thought of Mary being conceived without sin.

Now four years before the apparition of Mary known as the “Immaculate Conception” the Pope made it an official dogma that Mary was immaculately conceived without sin, only after this doctrine was opposed by two previous Popes.

The apparition of Mary called by the Catholic Church as “The Immaculate Conception” is where it is said that Mary appeared to a young girl at a grotto in Lourdes, France in 1858 only four years after the Pope made it an official dogma that Mary was immaculately conceived without the stain of original sin and remained sinless her whole life. The truth of the matter is that we ALL are conceived without the guilt or stain of the original sin of Adam, so just like Satan did in the garden of Eden he mixes a little truth in with his lie in order to DECEIVE. Please read the study F-14. The FALSE DOCTRINE of ORIGINAL SIN! That study exposes to errors of interpretation made by the leaders of the Catholic Church who put forth this false teaching that all of mankind INHERITED the guilt of Adam's ORIGINAL sin, but for now let us take a look at the open admission of the Catholic Church that plainly states and WARNS that some of the apparitions of Mary are of SATAN, the devil and are NOT actual appearances of Mary herself. Here is the stand of the Catholic Church itself:

“The Catholic Church takes Marian apparitions very seriously! It is only great care and study that any particular apparition is found to be "worthy of belief."”

Depending upon which Catholic website you visit this list of “APPROVED APPARITIONS OF MARY” vary in number from 7 to 13, usually settling upon 9, but it seems unanimous by those in authority in the Catholic Church to NOT APPROVE the apparition of Mary at Medjugorje. The Catholic Church itself puts out this WARNING:

“'The Evil One is the father of lies and can use the apparently miraculous to deceive.'

No matter what you may see in your diocese's newspaper and otherwise orthodox Catholic websites and media outlets, the apparitions at Medjugorje have not been approved -- quite the opposite! While some truly wonderful Catholics have had nice experiences there and may have even experienced something at least preternatural and which may have seemed miraculous, great and scandalous controversy surrounds the whole Medjugorje phenomenon, including allegations of profit-mongering, money-laundering, out and out lying and hoaxes, and even that some of the messages attributed to the Virgin were heretical, for example, her saying that "all religions are equally pleasing to God." A 1985 statement made by the bishops' conference of Yugoslavia asserts that there is "no evidence whatsoever of supernatural phenomena at Medjugorje" and that the visions are the "fruit of fabrications, fraud, and disobedience to the Church."”

Now since that Catholic Church openly admits that Satan, the EVIL one, can and DOES indeed DECEIVE mankind by FALSE APPARITIONS of Mary and FALSE miracles being accredited to Mary, then they have to ask yourself the question of WHY did the Roman Catholic Church approve ANY of the apparitions of Mary to be genuine? In other words, these so-called miracles were REAL only in the SENSE that people are actually HEALED, but they are considered to be FALSE miracles in the sense that these people were NOT healed by Almighty God the Father, but rather it was and is Satan, the evil one who simply lifts his hand off of those that he oppresses with sickness and disease in order to DECEIVE the people into believing that they were healed because of their prayers and devotions to Mary, so then since the Catholic Church openly admits to this fact, then HOW can the Catholic Church be absolutely sure that ANY of the apparitions of Mary can be trusted? I mean if you cannot accurately judge an apparition of Mary BY the fact that people were healed, then HOW does the Catholic Church know that the rest of these apparitions of Mary are actually of her and NOT of an evil spirit posing as her?

With that being said let us move on to the third so-called approved apparition of Mary called by the Catholic Church as “The Lady of Fatima”, where it is said that Mary appeared to three small children in 1917 several times. Here are some highlights of this account given on a Catholic website:

“During World War I Pope Benedict XV made repeated but forlorn pleas for peace, and finally, in May 1917, made a direct appeal to Mary to intercede for peace in the world. The response was Mary's first appearance at Fatima just over a week later. At this time Fatima was just a small village about seventy miles north of Lisbon; the three children to whom she appeared were Lucia dos Santos, aged ten, and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto, brother and sister, aged eight and seven respectively.”

Here in the account of the first appearance where Mary tells them to pray the ROSARY, which we have already seen in this study of God's word to be REPETITIVE praying like the heathen that Jesus condemned telling us, as Christians, NOT to pray in such a manner as the heathens pray using VAIN REPETITION because they THINK that they shall be heard for their many repeated prayers.

“On 13 May 1917, the three children took their flocks out to pasture in the small area known as the Cova da Iria. After lunch and the rosary, they suddenly saw a bright flash of something like lightning, followed quickly by another flash in the clear blue sky.

They looked up to see in Lucia's words, "a lady, clothed in white, brighter than the sun, radiating a light more clear and intense than a crystal cup filled with sparkling water, lit by burning sunlight." The children stood there amazed, bathed in the light that surrounded the apparition, as the Lady smiled and said: "Do not be afraid, I will not harm you." Lucia, as the oldest, asked her where she came from.

The Lady pointed to the sky and said: "I come from heaven." Lucia then asked her what she wanted: "I have come to ask you to come here for six months on the 13th day of the month, at this same hour. Later I shall say who I am and what I desire. And I shall return here yet a seventh time."

Lucia then asked if they would go to heaven and she was told yes, she and Jacinta would go to heaven, but Francisco would need to say many rosaries first. The Lady then said: "Are you willing to offer yourselves to God and bear all the sufferings He wills to send you, as an act of reparation for the conversion of sinners?" Lucia as spokesman for all three readily agreed: "Then you are going to have much to suffer, but the grace of God will be your comfort."

Lucia recounted that at the same moment as she said these words the Lady opened her hands and streamed a "light" on the children which allowed them to see themselves in God. The Lady finished with a request: "Say the Rosary every day, to bring peace to the world and the end of the war." With that she began to rise into the air, moving towards the east until she disappeared.

The children got together and tried to think of ways they could make sacrifices, as the Lady had asked, resolving to go without lunch and to pray the full rosary. Francisco and Jacinta received more support from their parents than Lucia, but the attitude of the local inhabitants was skeptical and even derisory; the children had much to suffer, just as the Lady had told them.

On June 13, 1917 about fifty people turned up at the Cova da Iria, as the three children assembled near the holmoak tree where the Lady had appeared. The children then saw a flash of light followed immediately by the apparition of Mary, as she spoke to Lucia: "I want you to come on the 13th of next month, to pray the Rosary every day, and to learn to read. Later, I will tell you what I want."

Lucia asked Mary to take them to heaven and was reassured in this way: "I will take Jacinta and Francisco shortly; but you will stay here for some time to come. Jesus wants to use you to make Me known and loved. He wishes to establish the devotion to My Immaculate Heart throughout the world. I promise salvation to whoever embraces it; these souls will be dear to God, like flowers put by Me to adorn his throne." This last sentence is found in a letter written in 1927 by Sr. Lucia to her confessor. Lucia was sad at the first part of this reply, saying: "Am I to stay here alone?" Mary replied: "No, my daughter. Are you suffering a great deal? Don't lose heart. I will never forsake you. My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the WAY that will lead you to God."

One of the witnesses to this apparition, Maria Carreira, described how Lucia then cried out and pointed as Mary departed. She herself heard a noise like, "a rocket, a long way off," and looked to see a small cloud a few inches over the tree, rise, and move slowly towards the east until it disappeared. The crowd of pilgrims then returned to Fatima where they reported the amazing things they had seen, thus ensuring that there were between two and three thousand people present for the July apparition.

On 13 July the three children assembled at the Cova and again they saw the indescribably beautiful Lady over the holmoak. Lucia asked what she wanted, and Mary replied: "I want you to come here on the 13th of next month, to continue to pray the Rosary every day in honour of Our Lady of the Rosary, in order to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war, because ONLY she can help you."

Lucia then asked her who she was and for a miracle so everyone would believe: "Continue to come here every month. In October, I will tell you who I am and what I want, and I will perform a miracle for all to see and believe."

Lucia made some requests for sick people, to which Mary replied that she would cure some but not others, and that all must say the rosary to obtain such graces, before continuing: "Sacrifice yourselves for sinners, and say many times, especially when you make some sacrifice: O Jesus, it is for love of You, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary."

The proclamation of a public miracle caused the most intense speculation throughout Portugal, and the journalist Avelino de Almeida, published a satirical article on the whole business in the anti-religious newspaper O Seculo. People from other parts of the country descended, in their tens of thousands, on the Cova, despite the terrible storm that lashed the mountain country around Fatima, on the eve of the 13th. Many pilgrims went barefooted, reciting the rosary as they went, all crowding into the area around the Cova, as by midmorning the weather again turned bad and heavy rain began to fall.

The children reached the holmoak around noon, and then saw the flash of light as Mary appeared before them. For the last time, Lucia asked what she wanted: "I want to tell you that a chapel is to be built here in MY honour. I am the Lady of the Rosary. Continue always to pray the Rosary every day. The war is going to end, and the soldiers will soon return to their homes.”

Again, Lucia made her requests, being informed that people must amend their lives, and ask forgiveness of their sins, if they wanted healings or conversions. She reported too that Mary grew very sad and said: "Do not offend the Lord our God any more, because He is already so much offended." Then rising into the air and opening her hands towards the sun, growing more brilliant as she did, she disappeared, being replaced by various visions seen only by the children.

The Miracle of the Sun

At the same time the vast crowd saw a true miracle. The black clouds parted, and the sun became visible, looking like a dull gray DISC that could be looked at directly quite easily. In O Seculo Avelino de Almeida would adopt a very different tone from his earlier satirical article on Fatima:

"...one could see the immense multitude turn towards the sun, which appeared free from clouds and at its zenith. It looked like a plaque of dull silver and it was possible to look at it without the least discomfort. It might have been an eclipse which was taking place. But at that moment a great shout went up and one could hear the spectators nearest at hand shouting: "A miracle! A miracle!" Before the astonished eyes of the crowd, whose aspect was Biblical as they stood bareheaded, eagerly searching the sky, the sun trembled, made sudden incredible movements outside all cosmic laws - the sun "danced" according to the typical expression of the people. ...

"People then began to ask each other what they had seen. The great majority admitted to having seen the trembling and dancing of the sun; others affirmed that they saw the face of the Blessed Virgin; others, again, swore that the sun whirled on itself like a giant Catherine wheel and that it LOWERED itself to the earth as if to burn it with its rays. Some said they saw it change colours successively. ..."

Other witnesses too, such as Maria Carreira, testified to the terrifying nature of the solar miracle: "It turned everything different colours, yellow, blue, white, and it shook and trembled; it seemed like a wheel of fire which was going to fall on the people. They cried out: 'We shall all be killed, we shall all be killed!' ... At last, the sun stopped moving and we all breathed a sigh of relief. We were still alive and the miracle which the children had foretold had taken place."

Other people witnessed the solar miracle from a distance thus ruling out the possibility of any type of collective hallucination. A final intriguing, and important point was that the heat of the sun, as it descended on the people, also had the effect of drying their clothes and the ground, so that they went from being completely soaked to being dry in about ten minutes.

The deaths of Francisco and Jacinta

An influenza epidemic swept Europe in autumn of 1918, just as the War was finishing, and both Jacinta and Francisco fell ill. Francisco recovered somewhat and there were hopes that he might become well, but he realized that he was destined to die young, as Our Lady had foretold, and his condition worsened again. He offered up all his sufferings as a way of consoling God for the sinfulness and ingratitude of mankind, becoming so weak that eventually he could not even pray. He received his first Communion, and on the next day, 4 April 1919, he died.

Jacinta too was confined to her bed during the long winter months, and although she recovered was struck down with bronchial pneumonia, while also developing a painful abscess in her chest. She was moved to the hospital in Ourem in July 1919, where she underwent the painful treatment prescribed for her, but without much effect, returning home in August with an open wound in her side. It was decided that another attempt should be made to treat her, and so in January 1920 she was taken to Lisbon, where she was diagnosed as having purulent pleurisy and diseased ribs.

Eventually in February she was admitted into hospital, where she underwent another painful operation to remove two ribs; this left her with a large wound in her side that had to be dressed daily, causing her agony. On the evening of 20 February the local priest was called and heard her Confession, but he insisted on waiting till the next day to bring her Communion, despite her protests that she felt worse, and as Mary had told her she died that night alone and far from her family. Her body was returned to Fatima and buried with that of Francisco, until both were later moved to the basilica built at the Cova da Iria.”

If you remember, this spirit said that he would take Francisco and Jacinta to heaven. The Bible says that the THIEF comes not but to steal, kill and destroy. Francisco was getting better, but then remembered the words of this evil spirit and stopped fighting this sickness because he interpreted these words as meaning that he would die at a young age. In my opinion, if God were to take someone to heaven, then they would simply go to sleep and die a peaceful death, so to me this is just more evidence proving that these apparitions of Mary are from Satan, the devil, and NOT from Almighty God the Father.

The so-called miracle of the sun is much like some reports of UFOS in modern times, which many Christians believe are manifestations of the fallen angels. This spirit said that he came from heaven. Satan was Lucifer before he became God's enemy and Lucifer came down from heaven to rule in his throne over the earth. Please read the study Q-8. WHO IS LUCIFER?---IS LUCIFER SATAN? That study will give you a deeper understanding of how Lucifer became Satan the enemy of Almighty God. So again, we see that Satan mixes a little truth with his lies in order to deceive mankind.

One of the main points that I want you to see is that this evil spirit that appeared in the form of Mary wanted HONOR and DEVOTION to be given to him, which would, in turn, steal away devotion that would have been given directly to Almighty God. This evil spirit that appeared in the form of Mary desired to have shrines, chapels and even churches built in HONOR of Mary. But every spirit that is of God will always seek that all glory and honor be given to Almighty God, the Father, and his Son Jesus and that NO honor be given to evil spirits.

This evil spirit also makes a blasphemous statement saying that ONLY she could help, and then later IDENTIFIED itself as being what SHE called the Lady of the Rosary, being the ONLY one who could SAVE and protect them from the war.

This statement leaves absolutely NO DOUBT that this spirit was NOT of God, because Jesus himself was sent by Almighty God and he NEVER exalted himself to receive any glory from men but rather said several times that he could do NOTHING of himself and Jesus gave ALL the glory to his God and Father, the one true and only Almighty God.

This evil spirit appearing as Mary said that she was the WAY that leads to God, when the word of TRUTH, the Holy Bible CLEARLY teaches us that Jesus is the WAY that leads to the Father and NOT some so-called immaculate heart of Mary as the WAY that leads to the Father. In the very words of Jesus himself, Jesus said.

John 14:6.

“I am the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE, and NO MAN can come unto the Father but by ME.”

In other words, these words of this evil spirit appearing in the form of Mary to these three children at Fatima in 1917, speak in DIRECT CONTRADICTION to the very word of Almighty God. Now there have been over 300 apparitions of Mary and only nine of which have been officially approved by the Roman Catholic Church. Most of the rejected and unapproved apparitions of Mary occurred after the year 1900. However, this one at Fatima in 1917 was approved by the Roman Catholic Church. There were also three other debated apparitions after 1900 that many Catholics venerated as being approved as well.

So then, in the light of all the many rejected apparitions of Mary, it should raise a red flag to Catholics to take a closer look at the so-called approved apparitions of Mary in the light of the whole word of Almighty God, which clearly teaches that Satan himself can appear in the form of an angel of LIGHT.

Now, knowing this truth from God's word, think back to the descriptions of these so-called approved apparitions of Mary, where she is said to have appeared in flashes of LIGHT, then how can this evidence be accepted as proof that these apparitions were from God and not from Satan.

Can you not see my dear brothers and sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ who are in the Catholic Church, that the ONLY standard of measurement to judge whether or not these apparitions are from Almighty God is to see if they AGREE with what the word of TRUTH, the Holy Bible, the very word of Almighty God himself clearly teaches us. And if any part of what this apparition says or does CONTRADICTS even one verse in the Bible, then the apparition is NOT from Almighty God, but rather it is a DECEPTION from Satan, the devil.

So in conclusion I feel that I have adequately showed those who are truly seeking the truth more than enough evidence to prove beyond any shadow of a doubt that ALL of the apparitions of Mary are from the ENEMY of Almighty God called Satan and the Devil who has manifested himself as an angel of LIGHT pretending to be Mary in order to deceive Catholics to direct their prayers AWAY from Almighty God, the Father, by having them direct their prayers to Mary.

Again, I am just a messenger of God who is presenting to you all the evidence for you to consider and then leave it up to you to decide for YOURSELF after considering the WHOLE matter. For further study on this subject of >>>Ee-0. What Every CATHOLIC MUST KNOW!<<< please click on the link for a list of studies to show why many of the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church are NOT Biblical.

Thanks for reading, and may God bless you richly as you continue to seek the TRUTH of the WHOLE word of Almighty God. And to me, the truth concerning who Jesus TRULY is, according to the Bible ITSELF, is the Biblical Unitarian view of Jesus. So, for ALL of the studies on the Biblical Unitarian view of Jesus, please click on the subject heading >>>D-0. THE BIBLICAL UNITARIAN VIEW of JESUS!<<<

And for the SUBJECT on the true foundation of the church, please click on the subject heading >>>C-0. THE TRUE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH!<<< This way you can just send ONE link to those who you want to share the TRUE sound Biblical FOUNDATIONAL teachings of the church that Jesus and his Apostles taught in the first century church.

Your brother in our Lord Jesus Christ,

Brother Mark.

My heartfelt prayer is that all Christians RETURN to the TRUE FOUNDATION of the church that is taught by the very Apostles of Jesus in the first century. So let us all come into the UNITY of the faith and return to what Jesus and his Apostles taught us in SIMPLICITY in the New Testament.

To learn more TRUTH, then please return to

AMatterOfTruth.com

VERSES USED TO TEACH THAT JESUS PREEXISTED!

To me, the best way to know the ONE true God in ONE person is to know who Jesus TRULY is according to the WHOLE word of Almighty God. So please read ALL of the studies under the heading >>>N-0. WHO is JESUS ACCORDING to the BIBLE?<<< and you will see that the Bible itself teaches us that Jesus was CREATED by his God and Father. And if you have any questions related to the correct meaning of certain verses of Scripture on this subject of who Jesus is please read all the studies under the two headings >>>U-0. VERSES used for THE TRINITY!<<< and >>>V-0. VERSES used to TEACH that Jesus PRE-EXISTED!<<< These two headings have ALL of the studies that I have on who Jesus truly is according to what the Bible itself teaches us in simplicity. I compiled these three headings to make it easy for my readers to send just one, two, or three links to those you desire to help understand what the Bible itself teaches concerning who Jesus is in the LIGHT of the WHOLE word of Almighty God. If you have any questions, please feel free to write to me.

My contact email is MarkatAMatterOfTruth@Gmail .com.

Thanks again for reading and may God bless you richly as you continue to seek the truth of the whole word of Almighty God.

Your Brother in our Lord Jesus Christ,

Brother Mark.

RETURN to HOMEPAGE at

AMatterOfTruth.com

The end.

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Always be faithful to share, to preach, and to teach the whole gospel of Jesus Christ!

A Matter of Truth

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Ee-7. PRAYING THE ROSARY BIBLICAL?