I was shocked by what I found.
In Jeremiah, several times throughout the book, God, through Jeremiah, is exhorting the people of Israel to stop worshipping idols, and to not worship or pour out libations to the queen of heaven. Jeremiah warns of the consequences of idolatry and worshiping anything or anyone other than the God.
Scripture clearly teaches that there is no mediator other than the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Timothy 2:5 “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus”) – which means we are not to pray to anyone other than Him.
The clear teaching of the Catholic Church is that it is good and proper to pray to Mary, and on top of that, the Catholic Church clearly calls her the queen of heaven?!?
Link to the Official Vatican web page
ENCYCLICAL (a letter to be circulated through the Catholic Church) OF POPE PIUS XII ON PROCLAIMING THE QUEENSHIP OF MARY TO THE VENERABLE BRETHREN ….
From the earliest ages of the catholic church a Christian people, whether in time of triumph or more especially in time of crisis, has addressed prayers of petition and hymns of praise and veneration to the Queen of Heaven….
What is even more amazing is that the Catholic Bible actually includes similar references (in Jeremiah) to the dangers of worshipping the “queen of heaven”! Any “good” Catholic, by definition, must worship (that is what praise and veneration is) and idolize the queen of heaven.
I would encourage any Catholic reading this to please spend a few minutes studying this – for yourself – in God’s Word (even the Catholic translation would be acceptable for looking at these verses) and study the references in Jeremiah to the queen of heaven – read the verses before and after to get a feeling for what is happening and the dangers of what the Israelites were doing by their idolatry, and the judgment that was soon coming upon them. I’ll include the verses below for those that would like quick and easy references…
In this first reference Jeremiah was encouraged to not even pray for their repentance because God was so angry with them:
Jeremiah 7:16-20
16 Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee. 17 Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 18 The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger. 19 Do they provoke me to anger? saith the LORD: do they not provoke themselves to the confusion of their own faces? 20 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, mine anger and my fury shall be poured out upon this place, upon man, and upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched.
This is a longer reference, and includes a response from the people after being rebuked by Jeremiah for worshipping the queen of heaven. Their response was that they would continue, despite the fact that God’s Word was clearly telling them to stop. God, once again, said that He would destroy them as a result of their not turning from their idolatry.
It’s interesting to note that, in Scripture, prayer is pictured as incense (Rev 5:8; Rev 8:3; Rev 8:4), and these idolatrous Israelites were burning incense to the queen of heaven – and refused to stop! On top of that, the reason they wanted to continue praying to the queen of heaven is that they believed she was answering prayers – something which is claimed by the Catholic Church, but is contrary to Scripture.
Jeremiah 44:15-22If you have your Bible out, I would encourage you to keep reading and studying past verse 22 in the above section (in your Bible) as the judgment continues, with yet another reference to the “queen of heaven” in verse 25.
15 Then all the men which knew that their wives had burned incense unto other gods, and all the women that stood by, a great multitude, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying, 16 As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the LORD, we will not hearken unto thee. 17 But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil. 18 But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine. 19 And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink offerings unto her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings unto her, without our men?
20 Then Jeremiah said unto all the people, to the men, and to the women, and to all the people which had given him that answer, saying, 21 The incense that ye burned in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, ye, and your fathers, your kings, and your princes, and the people of the land, did not the LORD remember them, and came it not into his mind? 22 So that the LORD could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which ye have committed; therefore is your land a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without an inhabitant, as at this day.
I knew the Catholic Church idolized Mary as the queen of heaven, and I knew it was contrary to the clear teachings of Scripture, but I was absolutely struck yesterday evening and this morning with the amazing clarity of God’s Word on the subject, and the incredible parallels between burning incense and offering prayers...
May none of us simply follow the teachings of man or a religious system, but may each of us be in the Word on a daily basis, following after the Lord Jesus Christ and learning of Him!
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