Gendron on ‘The Fascination and Veneration of Another Mary’

The following was in Mike Gendron’s newsletter today:

The Fascination and Veneration of Another Mary

As millions of people travel to Lourdes, France in search of divine healing, some evangelical missionaries are warning that many are revering the Virgin Mary more than the Lord Jesus Christ. One Catholic said: “Mary takes Jesus’ place on the cross. People come from far and wide to bring honor to her, to ask her for healing, to pray to her.” Many of the pilgrims bring their statues of Mary, rosaries, and holy water.

Every year over 6 million people – Catholics and people of other faiths – visit Lourdes where they believe Mary appeared in 1858 on several occasions. The Vatican has declared the location a holy site for worshipers, with many believing that a cave with a natural spring, where Mary is said to have appeared, has healing properties. Each year, 350,000 people bathe in the spring, while over 7,000 have asked the Vatican to confirm their healings as a miracle. People come from all walks of life to visit the grotto. Buddhists and Hindus, Catholics and superstitious people are there. The wealthy and poor, young and old, black and white, western and eastern are there. They all walk together – unified in their hope and expectation of healing. Read entire article.

Mike’s Comment: Not only do Catholics embrace another Jesus, they believe another gospel, and venerate another Mary. Their fascination with apparitions claiming to be Mary may be part of Satan’s last days’ deception. We know from God’s Word that “the coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders” (2 Thess. 2:9). As the Day of the Lord approaches, we should not be surprised if apparitions continue to increase. Satan’s ultimate goal is to rebuild the religious tower of Babel, so he can receive the worship he has always craved.

And, yes, Mike Gendron is right that various Protestants are becoming more accepting of Marianism.

All who claim Christianity need to realize that there are many falsehoods and dangers associated with Marianism.

Consider also something else that Mike Gendron had in his September 2018 newsletter:

The Divine Attributes of the “Catholic Mary”

Mariolatry is defined as “excessive veneration or worship of Mary, the mother of Jesus.” The word literally means “Mary-worship.” Catholics insist they only venerate Mary and stop short of giving her divine worship. Yet, the chart above shows how the Roman Catholic Church has created “another Mary” who is a blasphemous distortion of Mary revealed in Scripture. She has been given many of the divine attributes of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Think the claim of “excessive veneration” of ‘Mary’ is exaggerated?

Consider the following from the apparition known as the ‘Lady of Fatima’ on July 13, 1917:

…the souls of poor sinners…To save them God wants to establish throughout the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If people will do what I tell you, many souls will be saved …( Flynn, Ted & Flynn, Maureen, p. 136).

Now believers of the Bible should be shocked by the above as there is nothing in the Bible that hints that the above could possibly be true. People are saved only through Jesus (Acts 4:12). “Nor is there salvation in any other” (Acts 4:12; 16:30-31), including “the Lady of Fatima” or “Mary.” God did not change His plan of salvation to go through Mary!

Notice what Bishop Kennedy of the Celtic Orthodox Church wrote:

The great deceiver of Fatima promises salvation to those who embrace devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary… We can be very certain that God did not send Mary to earth to change God’s eternal plan of salvation. It is just this kind of deceit that leads to other false statements about Mary; Mediatrix of all graces etc. The devil’s deceit is felt far and wide within the Church as is evidenced in the number of well meaning but deceived souls proclaiming Mary is Mediatrix of all graces. How would have such a statement sounded to the Apostles? This salvation we enjoy is from God in Christ; “The man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as ransom for all”. (1 Timothy 2:1, 3-6 NAB)… We should STOP THE DEVIL in his tracks and proclaim the vision of Fatima to be a fraud, a work of the devil and an abomination to God, Mary and to the Church. (Kennedy BJ, Bishop. The Fatima Affair. HOLY TRINITY CELTIC ORTHODOX CHURCH / MONASTERY. Toledo, Ohio. http:// www.celticorthodoxchurch.com/fatima.html viewed 05/17/12)

Sadly, on October 13, 2013, Pope Francis consecrated the world to this so-called immaculate heart of Mary (see Francis consecrated world to the ‘immaculate heart’ of an alleged ‘Fatima’ statue).

The following was written over two decades ago by a member of the Eastern Orthodox Church and is warning people that false apparitions claiming to be Mary will lead to people accepting Antichrist:

“Mother goddesses” known in the ancient world were not just confined to the Near East and Mediterranean but are universal. The Kogi Indians, among whom we lived in Columbia, worship a spirit called Nabuba, the “Ancient Mother.” When Roman Catholics missionaries attempted to evangelize the Kogi int he last century, they used a not-uncommon strategy for drawing pagan peoples into Rome’s fold: rather than explaining the differences between the pagan mysthology and Christian truth, they found “equivalences,” Christ, under this syncretistic view, corresponds to the Kogi Sejukukui (a trickster god who faked his own death by hiding in a cave), while Nabuba is said to be the Virgin Mary. This confusion has led the Kogis to call their pagan temples “cansamaria,” a corruption of “casa de Maria” (house of Mary).

Given these Roman Catholic “evangelistic methods” of more than a century ago, it is it any wonder that contemporary “apparitions” of Mary are invariably accompanied by ecumenistic messages promoting the idea that all religions are equally valid and Orthodox Christianity is but one “path” among many? A recent issue of Orthodox Tradition (1966) contains the account of Matushka (wife of a Russian Orthodox priest) Katherine Swanson’s trip to Medjugorje, Croatia, to investigate the most famous of the recent cases of apparitions of Mary in the Roman Catholic world. In it she recounts a telling episode:

Our guide took our group for an audience with the “seers.” During this audience, a pilgrim asked one of the children the following questions: “Does the Virgin say that the Catholic Church is the true church?” The response given by the child provides clear evidence of the ecumenical content and religious relativism which, oddly enough, increasingly mark the “revelations” at Medjugorje: “Our Blessed Mother says that all religions are equally pleasing to God.“

The Life magazine article, then, is yet another contribution to this line of thought. Given the idea that all paths are equally valid, then all “Marys” are equally valid, too. The author describes several of the Marys of our times: Miearculous Mary (such as at Medjugorje), Mediator Mary (Who, as the author quotes Fr. Andrew Greeley saying, lets people into Heaven through the “back door”), (Editors notes: the Orthodox Church of course never taught about the “back door”, and of course one only prays that this is a matter of a figure of speech, but let us not dwell on the “back door”, but the gates of Paradise, the Kingdom of our God). Mediator Mary of the feminists, and Mother Mary. This last one, Mother Mary, is the role which the author considers the most appealing to non-Catholics: “The emotional need for her is so irresistible to a troubled world that people without an obvious link to the Virgin are being drawn to her. It is known that Muslins revere Mary as a pure and holy saint…Interdenominational Marian prayer groups are springing up throughout the world. Many Protestants, even some who still reject notions of a supernatural Virgin, miss Mary.”

To which Mary are Muslims and Protestants being drawn? The Protestant Reformation rejected the distorted view of Mary which had developed in the West since the Schism of 1054, and which would ultimately result in the Roman Church’s proclamation of their dogma of the Immaculate Conception. But Protestantism did not just reject the Western view of Mary; it ignored Her altogether, in effect denying Her role in the Incarnation and, consequently, the part She plays in our salvation. As Rome began to see her more and more as a “goddess,” a fourth Hypostasis of the Trinity, as it were, the Protestants reacted by down playing Her position and refusing to honor Her at all, this in spite of the Gospel words:“All Generations Shall Call Me Blessed.”

Today, as heterodox Christians become more and more ecumenist and work toward creating a “One World Church,” the search has begun for a Mary of universal recognition, one who will appeal not only to those who bear the name Christian, but apparently to Muslims and others as well, just as attempts are likewise being made to identify the “new Christ” with the Muslim concept of their coming Mahdi and with the Messiah still awaited by the Jews. This, of course, will be no Christ at all but the antichrist.

(Jackson P. ORTHODOX LIFE., No. I, 1997., Brotherhood of Saint Job of Pochaev at Holy Trinity Monastery, Jordanville, N.Y. pp. 18-22. http://fr-d-serfes.org/orthodox/theotokos.htm viewed 05/11/09)

Now, both the Catholics of Rome and those in the Continuing Church of God agree that Mary was not originally adored.

Here is something from The Catholic Encyclopedia that confirms that:

Devotion to Our Blessed Lady in its ultimate analysis must be regarded as a practical application of the doctrine of the Communion of Saints. Seeing that this doctrine is not contained, at least explicitly in the earlier forms of the Apostles’ Creed, there is perhaps no ground for surprise if we do not meet with any clear traces of the cultus of the Blessed Virgin in the first Christian centuries. The earliest unmistakable examples of the “worship” — we use the word of course in the relative sense — of the saints is connected with the veneration paid to the martyrs who gave their lives for the Faith…Further, it is quite likely that the mention of the Blessed Virgin in the intercessions of the diptychs of the liturgy goes back to the days before the Council of Nicaea, but we have no definite evidence upon the point, and the same must be said of any form of direct invocation, even for purposes of private devotion (Herbert Thurston. Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XV. Published 1912. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Nihil Obstat, October 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York).

So, certain Catholic scholars admit that there is NO clear early evidence of Marian adoration by any real Christian.

How did Marian veneration happen?

Well, there were a combination of events and factors that led to what the Church of Rome now has related to ‘Mary.’

The first major one seems to have been that the apostate Simon Magus, who the Apostle Peter denounced in Acts 8:18-23 (see also Simon Magus, What Did He Teach?), encouraged adoration of a woman.

Compromises with pagan goddess worship were also involved.

In the late fourth century, the Catholic Bishop Epiphanius warned that some were worshipping Mary and were causing ”excess awe of the saint” (Epiphanius. Section VII, pp. 618-629)–he thus seemed to clearly condemn what is now referred to by Catholics as veneration of Mary.

And in the fifth century, another Bishop complained that “If Mary is called the Mother of God, she will be made into a goddess…” (Chapman, John. “Nestorius and Nestorianism.” The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 10. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 4 Aug. 2011 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10755a.htm>).

While we in the Continuing Church of God do teach that Mary was the mother of Jesus and that Jesus is now God, since Mary cannot grant divinity and Jesus emptied Himself of His divinity when He came in the flesh (Philippians 2:7) and did not retain it until after His resurrection (cf. John 20:28), we do not use the expression “Mother of God” to describe Mary.

Scholar Jesse Hurlbut observed:

About 405 A.D. images of saints and martyrs began to appear in the churches, adored, worshiped. The adoration of the Virgin Mary was substituted for the worship of Venus and Diana (Hurlbut, JL. The Story of the Christian Church. Zondervan, 1967, p.62).

Therefore it should be clear that Marian worship/veneration was not originally part of the Catholic faith, but was a later innovation that even some with ties to that faith denounced. Bowing down before images of Mary is a form of idolatry, thus much Marian veneration is essentially the same as Marian worship.

It is clear that early professors of Christ did not practice anything close to modern “veneration of Mary.” Islamic influence also was a factor in one or more ‘Marian doctrines.’

Furthermore, since the Bible shows that Eve was the mother of all humans (Genesis 3:20), we do not accept that Mary could properly have that title. However, the fact that Mary was blessed is biblically sanctioned, but so were others in the Bible.

It should be understood that while Catholics tend to claim that they only venerate Mary, but not worship her as they would God. The reality is that they worship her like they worship God.

Notice also the following writing by the “Venerable” Maria de Agreda of the 17th century:

Both the angelic spirits and the blessed souls, while rendering their adoration to the Lord with fear and worshipful reverence, rendered a like homage in its proportion to His Most Blessed Mother. The saints who were there in their bodies prostrated themselves and gave bodily signs of their worship. All these demonstrations at the Coronation of the Empress of Heaven redounded wonderfully to Her glory, to the new joy and jubilee of the saints and to the pleasure of the Most Blessed Trinity. (Venerable Mary of Agreda. Mystical City of God, Volume 4. As cited in The Fatima Crusader, 110, Autumn 2014, p. 20)

Mary of Agreda furthermore wrote:

In regard to the other rewards and crowns corresponding to Her peerless works and virtues, nothing that can be said could give any idea, and therefore I refer it to the Beatific Vision, where each one shall perceive them in proportion as his doings and his devotion shall have merited.

The Transition of Our Queen happened on the thirteenth of August, while Her Resurrection, Assumption and Coronation happened on Sunday the fifteenth, on the day in which it is celebrated in the Church. Her Sacred Body remained in the sepulchre thirty-six hours, just as the body of Her Divine Son; for Her Transition and Her Resurrection took place in the same hours of the day. (Venerable Mary of Agreda. Mystical City of God, Volume 4. As cited in The Fatima Crusader, 110, Autumn 2014, p. 20)

It may be important to realize that the ancient Romans had a 3 day festival for the goddess Diana. The first day was the 13th of August. On the third day, August 15, they celebrated Diana’s assumption into heaven as the queen of heaven. This is the same day of the Catholic feast of the assumption of Mary. Some do not consider this to be coincidental (Green CMC. Roman religion and the cult of Diana at Aricia, Volume 0, Issues 521-85150. Cambridge University Press, 2007, p. 62). For more details about the August 15 holiday for Mary, please see Origin of the Marian Dogmas.

But again, consider that Marian veneration and most of the Marian dogmas are not scriptural nor were they part of the original and true Christian faith.

As it turns out, Pope Francis has shown he is highly Marian focused and speaks of his version of Mary regularly (see Pope Francis: Could this Marian Focused Pontiff be Fulfilling Prophecy?).

Mary is not divine.

The world needs the return of Jesus Christ and the establishment of the Kingdom of God. Veneration of Mary and other distractions turn people away from the true Jesus and more towards a faith that is against what Jesus stood for.

For more information, please consider studying the following:

Jesus: The Son of God and Saviour Who was Jesus? Why did He come to earth? What message did He bring? Is there evidence outside the Bible that He existed? Here is a YouTube sermon titled Jesus: Son of God and Saviour.
Should You Observe God’s Holy Days or Demonic Holidays? This is a free pdf booklet explaining what the Bible and history shows about God’s Holy Days and popular holidays.
The Gospel of the Kingdom of God This free online pdf booklet has answers many questions people have about the Gospel of the Kingdom of God and explains why it is the solution to the issues the world is facing. Here are links to three related sermons: The World’s False Gospel, The Gospel of the Kingdom: From the New and Old Testaments, and The Kingdom of God is the Solution.
Catholic Prophecies: Do They Mirror, Highlight, or Contradict Biblical Prophecies? People of all faiths may be surprised to see what various Roman and Orthodox Catholic prophets have been predicting as many of their predictions will be looked to in the 21st century.
Mary, the Mother of Jesus and the Apparitions Do you know much about Mary? Are the apparitions real? What happened at Fatima? What might they mean for the rise of the ecumenical religion of Antichrist? Are Protestants moving towards Mary? How do the Eastern/Greek Orthodox view Mary? How might Mary view her adorers? Here is a link to a YouTube video Marian Apparitions May Fulfill Prophecy.
Do you understand the ramifications of the ‘Lady of Guadalupe’? It is claimed that a female apparition appeared near Mexico City on December 12, 1531. How has it affected the world? What might it suggest about the future?
Pope Francis: Could this Marian Focused Pontiff be Fulfilling Prophecy? Pope Francis has taken many steps to turn people more towards his version of ‘Mary.’ Could this be consistent with biblical and Catholic prophecies? This article documents what has been happening. There is also a video version titled Pope Francis: Could this Marian Focused Pontiff be Fulfilling Prophecy?
Feast of the Immaculate Conception? Did early Christians teach Mary had an immaculate conception and led a sinless life?
Origin of the Marian Dogmas: Where Do Catholic Scholars Say The Four Dogmas of Mary Came From?
Assumption of Mary Did Mary die? Was she taken to heaven on August 15th? What is known? What does the Bible show?
The History of Early Christianity Are you aware that what most people believe is not what truly happened to the true Christian church? Do you know where the early church was based? Do you know what were the doctrines of the early church? Is your faith really based upon the truth or compromise?
Where is the True Christian Church Today? This free online pdf booklet answers that question and includes 18 proofs, clues, and signs to identify the true vs. false Christian church. Plus 7 proofs, clues, and signs to help identify Laodicean churches. A related sermon is also available: Where is the True Christian Church? Here is a link to the booklet in the Spanish language: ¿Dónde está la verdadera Iglesia cristiana de hoy? Here is a link in the German language: WO IST DIE WAHRE CHRISTLICHE KIRCHE HEUTE? Here is a link in the French language: Où est la vraie Église Chrétienne aujourd’hui?
Continuing History of the Church of God This pdf booklet is a historical overview of the true Church of God and some of its main opponents from Acts 2 to the 21st century. Related sermon links include Continuing History of the Church of God: c. 31 to c. 300 A.D. and Continuing History of the Church of God: 4th-16th Centuries and Continuing History of the Church of God: 17th-20th Centuries. The booklet is available in Spanish: Continuación de la Historia de la Iglesia de Dios, German: Kontinuierliche Geschichte der Kirche Gottes, French: L’Histoire Continue de l’Église de Dieu and Ekegusii Omogano Bw’ekanisa Ya Nyasae Egendererete.