The important role of our 5 senses

 

One thing that many protestants accuse Catholics of, is that we
"pray to statues", because most practicing  Catholics pray standing 
in front of statues; be it statues of Jesus, Mary, Joseph or any of the 
saints.
 
So why do we do that? 

Our 5 senses: seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching — 
help us to orient ourselves in the physical world.
 
We use our eyes to see, our ears to hear, the nose to smell, 
the tongue to taste, and the skin to feel. They are the primary means 
we use to gain new knowledge.
 
Practicing Catholics use the ears to hear the Word of God. 

We know that what we see and take in with our eyes, goes into 
us and affects us, and that is why it is helpful to place oneself in front 
of our perfect Mother: Mother of God and Mother of men; Mary. 

The statues of her shows that she is humble, obedient and  
submitted to God, she is our role model.
 
So often, during the course of a day, we find ourselves standing in front 
of people full of pride and far from God, and as we, from the mere fact 
of living in their presence, we run the risk of becoming 
infected by this deadliest of all sin : pride.
 
 
 



Since we are all so much the opposite of Mary; we are arrogant, disobedient, 
dishonest and always wanting our own way, we need to be reminded 
OFTEN of Mary. 
What better way than to stand in front of a statue of her while praying to 
her or consecrating ourselves to her. 
And numerous are the people dedicated to Mary who has experienced, 
through the sense of smell, a strong scent of roses while praying to her.
 
In her, Catholics have, in addition to God the Father, God the Son; Jesus, 
(our brother and friend) and God the Holy Spirit: a Mother.

Nobody can deny the fundamental importance of a mother in a child's life, 
in his or her formation and education, the role of the mother is primary. 
 
As we, every new day, set out in our new life in Christ,
we leave behind us our old selves and we now live with Christ; 
Son of God and Son of Man, true God and true Man, we truly do need 
Mary, the Mother of God and Our Mother. 
Can a newborn baby or a small child manage on his own? No, he cant!
 
In praying to the saints, whose teaching and individual lives teach us key 
elements of the truth about God, they intercede for us in concrete ways.
 
Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, for example, always emphasized the importance 
of trusting in God, of surrender, letting go of ourselves. 
 



She was not a perfect human being, and that is why she is so relevant and 
helpful, we can identify with her. We can say: what she did, I can do too.
She is also associated with the smell of flowers, and indeed with flowers 
in the physical form, praying novenas to her promises us receiving flowers, 
and again; there are an incredible amount of people who can testify to having 
received flowers, and the granting of their supplication prayers, after having 
prayed to her.







Saint Joseph; whose life was also surrendered to do the will of God; has for
me, up until a few years ago, always been very much in the background, I 
never thought much about him. 
That was a mistake that I have since rectified,because he intercedes for us 
in the most incredible and completely concrete ways, when we invoke him! 
Think about it; he agreed to take Mary, who was  pregnant with a child that 
was not his, as his wife. The scandal and the contempt for that situation, 
by the Jewish society at the time, we can only imagine, because it is not so 
long since it was like that in our western world countries; only a few years ago.

Saint Padre Pio, Saint Anthony, Saint Rita, all the saints we know, teaches us 
things specific to them, about God, and they do intercede for us.
 
Through the dedicated and conscious use of our bodily senses
we acquire and develop higher senses, on higher levels.
  



 
 


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