Reddit reviews Hail, Holy Queen

Our Blessed Mother is the Ark of the New Covenant. She was born free from original sin because she was the one who had to carry the incarnation of God in her womb.

Back in Exodus 25:11-21 we see the the ark of the Old Covenant was made of the purest gold for God's Word. Mary is the ark of the New Covenant and is the purest vessel for the Word of God made flesh. Look in 2 Sam. 6:7 and find the Ark is so holy and pure that when Uzzah touched it, the Lord slew him. This shows us that the Ark is undefiled. Mary the Ark of the New Covenant is even more immaculate and undefiled, spared by God from original sin so that she could bear His eternal Word in her womb.

We see in 1 Chron. 13:9-10 another account of Uzzah and the Ark. For God to dwell within Mary the Ark, Mary had to be conceived without sin. For Protestants to argue otherwise would be to say that God would let the finger of Satan touch His Son made flesh. This is incomprehensible.

You can find more scripture to back this up here. I also recommend the book, "Hail, Holy Queen: The Mother of God, in the Word of God by Dr. Scott Hahn. You can download the audiobook version here.


----------

And as for the pope, you are correct in the sense we see from the Gospel of Matthew, that Jesus choose Saint Peter to be the first leader of his church. Saint Peter was the Bishop of Rome, and ever successor of his chair for nearly 2,000 years has lead the Catholic Church. The pope is not perfect, he can make mistakes and is a sinner just like the rest of us. Pope Benedict XVI himself goes to weekly confession. We only believe he is infallible on matters of faith and morals because Jesus promised Saint Peter that the gates of hell, would never prevail against his church. We believe the Holy Spirit has protected the church through the toughest more troubling times. And while we've had horrible popes at times, no pope has ever went against the bible or taught heresy.

Catholics believe in a lot of things because of tradition, because we believe the Church is a living organism and our beliefs are found not only in Sacred Scripture, but also Sacred tradition.

----------

As a gay man, I can imagine life being hard for you. And I know dealing with your relationship with God is probably frustrating and confusing. My advice would be to find a local parish and ask to speak with the priest or deacon. You may be surprised how open they are with you and how helpful they may be to you.

Keep us update on how things are going for you, you're in my prayers my friend.

Great link! I also recommend that people read Scott Hahn's Hail, Holy Queen

I would sincerely ask you read this book, http://www.amazon.com/Hail-Holy-Queen-Scott-Hahn/dp/0385501684, or listen to this excellent podcast, which is free (or both): http://www.salvationhistory.com/audio-resources/hail_holy_queen3

They expound upon the misconceptions of why Mary is often so misunderstood by both Catholics and non-Catholics, and why the Bible itself claims that she is worthy of honor and praise. Please at least listen to the first few of the podcasts so that you understand that the speaker, Scott Hahn, is not proselytizing, but examines Scripture as the primary source of truth.

Here is another short article that demonstrates the many parallels that establish Mary as queen mother of the King, Christ, and as the new Ark of the Covenant: http://www.catholic.com/magazine/articles/mary-the-ark-of-the-new-covenant

I can't vouch personally since I've never read any of his stuff, but a lot of people love Scott Hahn's books. He has one called Hail, Holy Queen about Mary.

I didn't understand it at first, either. I grew up nominally Baptist, but when I started considering the Catholic and Orthodox churches, I had to come to terms with their devotion to Mary. Reading about what the saints and doctors of the Church as well as various Church fathers had to say about her really helped.

If you're interested in learning more about the particulars, Dr. Scott Hahn's book "Hail, Holy Queen" really explains a lot about the veneration of Mary (if you can get past his horrible puns. That man has some sort of awful pun sickness.)