Educational Question about Angels

[PolarExpress975]

I have a question about the Bible. If the Bible forbids praying to angels and etc then how does it make it right for us to pray to archangel Michael and etc? I grew up as a Catholic but never really understood this.

 

[Fauken]

We don’t pray to angels like they’re God. We pray to them like we do the other Saints.

 

[Dorothy]

Here is a site you may like to explore; it has a lot of information about the angels.

https://opusangelorum.org/catechesis/catechesis-dw.htm

 

[Todd_Easton]

If the Bible forbids praying to angels …

The Bible forbids worshiping angels but it does not forbid praying to angels. In fact, there are even a couple prayers to angels in the Psalms:

Bless the Lord, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, hearkening to the voice of his word! (Psalm 103:20)

Praise him, all his angels, praise him, all his host! (Psalm 148:2)

In Catholic Bibles, in Daniel, there is also a similar prayer to angels, as well as a prayer to saints:

Angels of the Lord, bless the Lord, praise and exalt him above all forever. (Daniel 3:58)

Spirits and souls of the just, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all forever. (Daniel 3:86)

 

[PolarExpress975]

Oh ok, I must have gotten confuses between worshipping and praying.

 

[Rational1]

The way I think of it is Catholics use pray = ask or make a request while the way the word is used in the US by Protestants or Evangelical Christians is to pray means to speak to God only and worship.

 

[ProdglArchitect]

That’s very common, especially if you’ve grown up as a Protestant, or in Protestant-dominated areas.

To Catholics, a prayer is a request. We pray to the saints to ask they they pray for us to God, or join us in our prayers to God, much like how I might ask you to pray for me.

Worship is for God only, and is distinctly different from simple prayer.

 

[CelticWarlord]

I must have gotten confuses between worshipping and praying.

This is very common so don’t feel bad. I view prayer as conversation. Since I’m permitted to talk with anyone I choose, I see no problem with expanding that into the heavenly realms. So if I were trying to explain this sort of thing to my non-Catholic Christian friends I wouldn’t say I “pray to” but rather just say, I talk to my angel, my grandfather, Mother Mary, or a deceased friend.