What Catholics believe · Foundations

Mary and the Saints

What the Church really teaches about Mary and the saints, from the four Marian dogmas to apparitions, canonization and relics. Clear answers to the questions friends and family actually ask.

Who it is for: Anyone who has wondered, or been asked, whether Catholics worship Mary, and wants a clear, honest and biblical answer.

10 lessons. Each lesson below has a summary, the Catechism paragraphs it cites and a sample question. The full lessons are in the Saints Light app, open free for 14 days.

The Virgin in Prayer, a painting by Sassoferrato
The Virgin in Prayer, Sassoferrato, 1640-1650

The lessons

  1. Do Catholics Worship Mary?

    Catholics adore God alone and honor Mary as the greatest of creatures, because God himself honored her first.

  2. How Can Mary Be the Mother of God?

    Mary is Mother of God because the child she bore is one person, the eternal Son of God made man.

  3. Ever Virgin: And What About Jesus' Brothers?

    Mary remained a virgin all her life, and the 'brothers of Jesus' in the Gospels were close relatives, not her children.

  4. The Immaculate Conception

    From the first moment of her life Mary was preserved from original sin by the grace of her Son, so she was saved by Christ in the most perfect way.

  5. The Assumption: Body and Soul into Heaven

    At the end of her earthly life Mary was taken body and soul into heaven, the first to share fully in her Son's resurrection and a sign of what he promises us.

  6. Mary in Scripture: New Eve and Ark of the Covenant

    Scripture presents Mary as the new Eve, whose obedience undid Eve's disobedience, and as the new Ark who carried God himself.

  7. The Communion of Saints: Why Ask Them to Pray for Us?

    All of Christ's people, living and dead, are one family, so we can ask the saints in heaven to pray for us just as we ask friends on earth.

  8. How Does Someone Become a Saint?

    The Church recognizes saints through a careful investigation of their lives and miracles, but God makes saints, and he calls every one of us to be one.

  9. Guadalupe, Lourdes and Fatima: What Approval Means

    Approved apparitions like Guadalupe, Lourdes and Fatima are private revelations that Catholics may believe, but are not required to believe, and their messages point us back to Christ.

  10. Patron Saints, Relics and Living with the Saints

    Choose a patron saint as a friend, model and intercessor, and honor relics as reminders of saints through whom God works, never as charms or objects of worship.

Read Mary and the Saints in full

All 10 lessons of this course are in the Saints Light app, with Scripture, three questions each and your progress kept on your phone.

Every course is open free for your first 14 days. After that, one payment of $14.99 unlocks every course. There is no subscription.

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