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Summary
- Catholics who pray to Mary are asking her to pray for them; the Catechism says, “We can pray with and to her.”
- Catholic teaching gives worship, called latria, to God alone; Mary receives hyperdulia, a higher honor than other saints but not adoration.
- The first half of the Hail Mary comes from Luke 1:28 and 1:42; the second half asks Mary to “pray for us sinners.”
- The Catechism says Mary’s role “in no way obscures or diminishes this unique mediation of Christ,” and in 2025 the Vatican called the title Co-redemptrix “always inappropriate.”
- The Augsburg Confession (1530) and the Westminster Confession (1646) reject calling on saints and keep prayer for God alone.
- Orthodox Christians also pray to Mary and close most services with “Most holy Theotokos, save us!”
- The Vatican counts the Sub tuum praesidium among the earliest forms of devotion to Mary; its papyrus copy has been dated anywhere from the third century to the ninth.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Scripture is quoted from the King James Version: Luke 1:42, 1:43, 1:47, 1:48 and 14:18; John 2:3, 2:5 and 19:26-27; Acts 1:14; 1 Timothy 2:1 and 2:5; James 5:16; Revelation 5:8; Hebrews 12:1. Luke 1:28 and 1:42 are also quoted from the Douay-Rheims Bible.
- Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Appendix A: Common Prayers (Holy See, 2005): the Hail Mary, Memorare, Hail, Holy Queen and Sub tuum praesidium.
- Catechism of the Catholic Church 963-975: Mary, Mother of Christ, Mother of the Church (Holy See).
- Catechism of the Catholic Church 2663-2679: The Way of Prayer (Holy See).
- Catechism of the Catholic Church 946-962: The Communion of Saints (Holy See).
- Catechism of the Catholic Church 484-511: Conceived by the Power of the Holy Spirit and Born of the Virgin Mary (Holy See).
- Catechism of the Catholic Church 456-483: The Son of God Became Man (Holy See).
- Lumen Gentium, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Second Vatican Council, 21 November 1964), chapter 8.
- Mater Populi Fidelis: Doctrinal Note on Some Marian Titles Regarding Mary’s Cooperation in the Work of Salvation (Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, 4 November 2025).
- Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy (Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 2001), no. 23.
- Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae III, question 25, article 5 (New Advent).
- The Augsburg Confession, Article XXI: Of the Worship of the Saints (1530; Triglot Concordia translation, 1921).
- The Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter 21: Of Religious Worship (1646; Orthodox Presbyterian Church text).
- Fr. John Breck, “Most Holy Theotokos, Save Us!” (Orthodox Church in America, 2003).
- Kyprianos M1115: P. Ryl. Gr. III 470, Hymn to Mary (Kyprianos Database of Ancient Ritual Texts, University of Würzburg): datings of the papyrus.
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