Dennis, God will always be the one to whom we, and our brothers and sister in heaven, the saints and the Saints, address our prayers.
Many of us, including me, address our prayers almost exclusively to God, but just as examples of the kind of way we can view Saints, I’ll just share a couple of prayers I wrote at different time, and then I’ll be quiet and leave the thread. I just hope to make you feel more comfortable about asking the Saints for prayers, and how it might be relevant to approach different ones for their particular experiences, faults, and virtues.
And n doing so I’m not forgetting you, Tamsulosin, our OP.
Apostles, pray for our restoration and faith
Dear Apostles of Jesus, many of us experience crucifixion in our lives and in the lives of dear ones, as you did. Please pray for us and guide us, so that if loss and pain engulfs others’ lives or our own, we will continue to pray and evangelise.
You were His chosen companions. Your hearts were broken and your lives shattered by the terrible betrayal and death of your great hope Jesus. He had preached love and faith; He had preached the Kingdom to which He claimed all persons are called. Defeated and disgraced with no more honour than the vilest criminal, He was tortured, executed and buried.
His words and acts now meant nothing, as all of you—except John—scattered and hid to avoid a similar fate. Disillusioned, you wondered if the last few years were a shameful mistake. Were you betrayed by your discipleship to this condemned man?
Poor men, how could you reconcile the terrible events of this Passover with the Son of God, the Saviour whom you had believed Jesus to be! How could this disgrace, loss, and failure be the end to which He, and possibly yourselves, could be destined!
Peter, you, His appointed one, denied even an acquaintanceship with Him. How great your shock and your disillusionment when the full realisation of your perfidy assailed you!
Only John returned to stand beneath the cross with the grieving women. Beloved John!
Shaking with grief and shock, you stood there, gutted by the unbelievable tragedy unfolding before you. Faith and love supported you, yet did you not experience the same terrible emptiness and loss as your fellow apostles and other disciples?
Dear Apostles, throughout the ages, countless individuals experience in some way the crucifixion of a loved one, or of themselves, and the consequent challenge to hope and faith. They may feel emptiness, or loss of zeal. They may lose all trust in the living, merciful God.
Pray for them, for us, that in such periods we may be faithful, regardless of broken heart and anguish of spirit. Pray that we may be restored to hope, to trust, to prayer, to active service of love in the Kingdom. Intercede for such resurrection in us. Implore the Holy Spirit to come and restore our spirits, making us true apostles of Jesus. Pray that we become evangelists, enabling the Spirit to draw others into the Kingdom of God.
Thank you, Apostles of Jesus, whose weaknesses mirror our weakness, and whose restored faith, zeal, and courage, inspire us. Pray for us who are your sisters and brothers throughout the ages. Share your blessings with us. Pray that we shall receive in fullness those precious gifts of His love that He longs for us to share and distribute.
Obtain that we honour and delight our God with all heart and strength. Then, when at last our souls rise to join yours, we shall enjoy eternity at your side, honouring and loving the great Son of God, whom we once betrayed out of our fear and selfishness or in our disillusionment and distress.
Saint Paul and conversion
Saul of Tarsus, implacable enemy of apostle and Church, who became zealous Christian and writer of biblical epistles, please intercede for radical conversion in all who are presently disinterested or hostile, and in those who hope to welcome the fullness of Christ’s teachings and gifts.
Paul, you showed courage of conviction even before you became a zealous apostle of the Kingdom. Please pray that we will be similarly committed. However, please obtain that we will not support any cause that is not sanctioned by the loving will of God.
God granted you conversion to Christian faith. He chose you as a great apostle of the early Church, and through your writing gave precious insights into religious truth.
You, who turned aside from your treasured convictions to follow Jesus and His commands, please intercede for our courage to undertake radical ongoing conversion. Pray that we also may accept whatever risks or ridicule ensues as we follow and teach the truth.
You taught and exhorted, you endured persecution and personal weakness. You suffered from the error and tepidity of others. You longed for death to unite you with God, but you willed to live in order to serve. Paul, pray that we also shall be true apostles of Christ.
Pray that we are given grace to lead many souls to God and truth.
