Question:
Answer:
At 56:10ff. of his Great Debate VII with Catholic apologist Patrick Madrid on the veneration of saints and images, Protestant apologist James White says, “Into your hands I commit my spirit. Deliver me from my sins, the devils and the wrath of Jesus.” White then says to his audience, “You know which prayer I’m referring to.”
While White conveys that these words are from a commonly known Catholic prayer, we’re not aware of any such prayer. “Into your hands I commit my spirit” are one of Jesus’ seven words from the Cross, in this case a prayer to his heavenly Father (Luke 23:46).
“Deliver me from my sins and the devil” sounds like the words of the Lord’s Prayer, which Jesus gave us to pray to our heavenly Father (Matthew 6:9-13): “Forgives our trespasses . . . and deliver us from evil.”
Popular Marian prayers like the “Hail Mary,” “Memorare” and “Hail, Holy Queen/Salve Regina” all ask the Blessed Mother’s intercession with her divine Son Jesus, but they don’t say what White says. In any event, the Catholic Church clearly teaches that Mary is a creature and thus, though exalted above all angels and saints, has an intercessory role in the drama of salvation—and thus one subordinate to her divine Son.