Are Saints Obligated to Pray for Us?

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Inquiringperson

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If I ask a saint in heaven to pray for me, must that saint pray for me?
 
I do not believe that you can stop that Saint from praying for you. We will not tire in heaven. We won’t suffer bad moods. There is no sin of sloth in heaven - no sin at all. Our wills will be perfected, and we will be outside of time. Prayerful will not be a quality of our identity in heaven, it will be the substance of our identity.
 
po18guy said:
I do not believe that you can stop that Saint from praying for you. We will not tire in heaven. We won’t suffer bad moods. There is no sin of sloth in heaven - no sin at all. Our wills will be perfected, and we will be outside of time. Prayerful will not be a quality of our identity in heaven, it will be the substance of our identity.
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I think the OP is asking if he asks a particular saint to pray for him must that saint pray for him or can the saint refuse.
 
thistle said:
I think the OP is asking if he asks a particular saint to pray for him must that saint pray for him or can the saint refuse.
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Yes. I understood this. I do not think that a Saint would even contemplate any such refusal. In fact, they might not be able to. I believe that the Saint would desire very strongly to offer prayer on behalf of all who petition. Since the Saints are like angels in heaven, always contemplating the face of the Father, such an earthly concept as refusal to bear a prayer to the Father strikes me as impossible. We know that all prayers are heard, but that not all are answered according to our preference, or in a way that we perceive or understand at the time. Yet, we must be careful that we seek to conform our wills to that of God, and to pray for that which would be pleasing to Him.
 
Saints wish to intercede for us. That is why they are saints.
 
What does the Church say on this topic ?

Wouldn’t Mary be obligated ?
 
po18guy said:
Yes. I understood this. I do not think that a Saint would even contemplate any such refusal. In fact, they might not be able to. I believe that the Saint would desire very strongly to offer prayer on behalf of all who petition. Since the Saints are like angels in heaven, always contemplating the face of the Father, such an earthly concept as refusal to bear a prayer to the Father strikes me as impossible. We know that all prayers are heard, but that not all are answered according to our preference, or in a way that we perceive or understand at the time. Yet, we must be careful that we seek to conform our wills to that of God, and to pray for that which would be pleasing to Him.
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I agree with what you have said and personally cannot think why a saint would not pray for someone when requested. The OP’s question is whether a saint is obligated to pray for the person making the request. My understanding is that although there is no sin there limited freewill still exists in Heaven for humans who have made it there.
 
When I read the title I immediately began thinking…"What is meant by “obligated”…what does “obligated” mean…
Checking on-line dictionaries…I found variations of this:
To bind, compel, or constrain by a social, legal, or moral tie

So - Obligated seems to carry an external element of “force” which I do not find to be applicable to the Heavenly realm.

Based on this I must say that no - Saints are not “Obligated” to pray for us because they are not bound, they are not compelled, they are not constrained in any way.
Rather - they pray for us because it is in their nature to do so. Being perfectly conformed to God and God’s Love it is their joy and their pleasure to do all they can to help us.

Just my 2-cents worth

Peace
James
 
Inquiringperson said:
If I ask a saint in heaven to pray for me, must that saint pray for me?
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No, I do not think a saint, or anyone else, is “obligated” to pray for anyone. To some extent, it depends on the subject matter of the prayer.

Let’s take what, at one time, must have been a rather common example:

It is during the Second World War. Someone in Munich is praying to St. Boniface (the patron saint of Germany) that Germany win the war. A person of German descent, who lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is also praying to St. Boniface, that the United States and her Allies win the war.

Is St. Boniface required to pray for both of these people? For either of them? If so, how does he choose?
 
The will of God prevails. In great contests, each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be, and one must be wrong. God cannot be for and against the same thing at the same time. … I am almost ready to say this is probably true – that God wills this contest, and wills that it shall not end yet – By his mere quiet power, on the minds of the now contestants, He could have either saved or destroyed the Union without a human contest – Yet the contest began – And having begun He could give the final victory to either side any day – Yet the contest proceeds.

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)
16th President of the United States
 
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