Do Catholics "Worship" Saints?

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Arch_Angel

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Recently as I was watching a program on the Catholic Channel I heard one of the priests mention that we “worship” the saints. I’m sure that the priest meant venerate the saints but I find it odd to use “worship” as it can be very misleading. We worship Jesus, God alone and we should be very careful of how we use this word in my opinion.

Any thoughts, comments?
 
Over the centuries “worship” has been used in a variety of contexts, some having nothing at all to do with deities or religions.

Whether a Catholic “worships” or “venerates” a saint, what he is doing is glorifying God for the work He did through the saint, anyway. Beyond that, the saints are part of our Church. We may speak to them and pray with them. The saints pray along with us, and we’re all praying to the same guy.
 
If I recall properly, the English word “worship” comes from the two English words “worth” and “ship” meaning, to give “worth” to something. So, technically speaking, if we give “worth” to anything, we are “worshiping” it. The Church uses the Latin terms, though, so there’s not nearly the confusion as with English. The “worship” that we owe only to God is called “latria.” The honor we give to the Saints is called “dulia.” And the special honor we give to Mary is called “hyperdulia.”
 
Arch_Angel said:
Recently as I was watching a program on the Catholic Channel I heard one of the priests mention that we “worship” the saints. I’m sure that the priest meant venerate the saints but I find it odd to use “worship” as it can be very misleading. We worship Jesus, God alone and we should be very careful of how we use this word in my opinion.

Any thoughts, comments?
Click to expand...
What a strange irony that the English language while having more words than almost any other also lacks the precision of other languages such as Latin and Greek.

Worship:
newadvent.org/cathen/15710a.htm

Dulia & Hyperdulia:
newadvent.org/cathen/05188b.htm

Latria:
newadvent.org/cathen/09036a.htm
 
WOW thank you everyone for your responses and clarification, its very enlightening! Peace be with you all!
🙂
 
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