Help Aleteia continue its mission by making a tax-deductible donation. In this way, Aleteia's future will be yours as well.
*Your donation is tax deductible!
Mark Wahlberg is more than happy to share his deep faith in a bid to inspire others. And in conjunction with the app Hallow, the Father Stu actor has been encouraging his fans on social media to “stay prayed up.”
Wahlberg’s latest post shows him kneeling in front of a statue of the Virgin Mary, deep in prayer. As he ends his prayers he turns to the camera and repeats his advice to “stay prayed up.”
While the video is lovely to see, as it encourages others to turn to prayer, many of the comments that followed the post were very inspiring.
Receiving an education
Some people questioned the need to pray to Mary, however, and some queried why anyone would actually pray to an inanimate object. For example, oreoandcupidsommy shared: “Why pray to a statue? They don’t hear anything. Pray to Jesus. That’s all you need. 🙏”
And this is where Catholics came out in force to teach others about the faith, and the need to seek Mary’s intercession. As hondaboi_ pointed out:
Nobody is praying to a statue. And btw these aren’t idols. Real true idols don’t serve any purpose and have no meaning to them. These statues represent our image of the mother of God.”
Another comment gave a further explanation stating: “Catholics pray to Mary for intercession. Kind of like when you ask a family member or friend to pray for you. That’s the same goes for saints. However we revere her because she is the Holy Mother of Christ.”
But perhaps one of the most impactful responses was someone who simply wrote out the Hail Mary.
Although Wahlberg’s post was inspiring in a number of ways, it also highlighted the fact that the role of the Virgin Mary in our prayer life is still misunderstood by many. The post then became an educational opportunity!
And today we celebrate...