Explaining Saints- A qwestion

[Qwikness]

Help me with this and tell me if I’m on the right track, please.
I was trying to explain being Catholic to my Protestant friends. As you know their big problem is the Saints and Mary. Well, they understand that we don’t “worship” them but they still don’t understand why we pray to them to pray for us. So I came up with an explanation, but it may be wrong. Its probably wrong, but it may be right. I don’t know, that’s why I’m asking.

Here goes. Saints are like angels. They lived here on Earth, died, and went to Heaven. They are with God in Heaven. They are now Angels. When one dies and goes to Heaven, one becomes an Angel, essentially a Saint. So it’s like asking for your Guardian Angel to protect you. (most protestants believe in Guardian Angels and most ask the Angels to come to them in time of need. Except they don’t have a name for their Angel. Like Saint Michael) I have explained it like this and they say “Oh” and you can see the light come on. So is this right? Can I say this any more. I hope so because I like it. Thanks.

 

[LDavidH]

My perspective is simple - we ask each other to pray for us. Other Christian denominations even do it in church too. What is the difference between asking a Saint to pray for us or a friend to pray for us?

 

[Church_Militant]

The Communion of Saints (Link to Free MP3 Bible study) and the notes are here.

 

[dylanschrader]

Human beings don’t become angels when they die; they stay human beings.

There is a parallel between the intercession of the angels and the intercession of the saints, though.

Just as we can pray for one another on earth, after death, those who are closer to Christ than we can be in this life can pray for us. It’s not like our prayers are “less efficient” or “delayed” somehow by going through an intermediary. God loves mediation! He wants to get as many people as possible involved in praying for one another to him. He wants us to love one another, and one of the best ways that we can love another is by praying for one another. The saints in Heaven have perfect love, now, because they are in Heaven. How could they not pray for those on earth?

 

[Qwikness]

My perspective is simple - we ask each other to pray for us. Other Christian denominations even do it in church too. What is the difference between asking a Saint to pray for us or a friend to pray for us?

Yeah, I’ve heard that one. The problem when explaining it that way is Protestants don’t buy it. The “difference” is Evangelicals think people die and stay dead forever until the Rapture. So therein lies the problem: you can’t pray to a dead guy because they’re not going to hear you from the grave. Also some Protestants think people die, goto heaven and then there is just a vacuum there, where angels fly around, they can look down on earth from behind a cloud but God is to important to talk to. The departed would need an audience with Him. They think God is on his throne and is the only one that can hear prayers.

So if human don’t become angel but parallel with them then that may work. What got me confused was the Angels like Gabriel and Michael and all were also called “Saint”

Thanks Y’all. Any other comments?

 

[puzzleannie]

.

Here goes. Saints are like angels. They lived here on Earth, died, and went to Heaven. They are with God in Heaven. They are now Angels. When one dies and goes to Heaven, one becomes an Angel, essentially a Saint. s.

wrong.
angels are pure spirits, created as pure spirits, and were created before humans were created. Some of the angels fell as the result of the sin of pride, the biblical accounts are in the book of Daniel and in Revelation. The remaining angels serve, praise and glorify God continually. Angel is their “job title” or office, it means messenger. Angels are and were from the time of their creation spirits. They were never human, they sometimes assume human form in carrying out their office as messenger to humans (see the book of Tobit about Rafael) but do not have bodies. Every human has a guardian angel assigned to them (this also is biblical). Angels have an angelic, not human, not divine, nature.

Saints are human beings who were born, lived lives of heroic virtue, died in a state of grace and are now in heaven. They are still part of the Church, specifically the Church triumphant ad as residents of heaven behold the face of God – beatific vision – and can intercede with God on behalf of the Church militant–that is, those of us still here on earth–and the Church suffering–those souls who are in purgatory working out the temporal punishment for their sins in hope of heaven. Humans have a human nature, and retain that nature for all eternity even after death, whether they end up in heaven or in hell.

 

[stbruno]

In our creed we say that we believe in the communion of saints. They are as much of the body of Christ as when they walked the earth. In fact their perspective is no longer flawed as when they lived. So it is good to have a prayer partner who already is in heaven to intercede on our behalf and our prayers.

 

[Qwikness]

Saints are human beings who were born, lived lives of heroic virtue, died in a state of grace and are now in heaven. They are still part of the Church, specifically the Church triumphant ad as residents of heaven behold the face of God – beatific vision – and can intercede with God on behalf of the Church militant–that is, those of us still here on earth–and the Church suffering–those souls who are in purgatory working out the temporal punishment for their sins in hope of heaven.

Thank you. One more thing. Are those departed in purgatory eventually going to become “Saints”?

 

[Verita]

(most protestants believe in Guardian Angels and most ask the Angels to come to them in time of need. Except they don’t have a name for their Angel.

As a former protestant, I just wanted to point out that they don’t actually pray or ask their Angels to come to them, they pray to God to send their Angels to them. At least, I have never, ever heard of a protestant making the request directly to the Angel. Requests are always made through God.

 

[dylanschrader]

Thank you. One more thing. Are those departed in purgatory eventually going to become “Saints”?

Yes. Everyone in Purgatory will eventually be in Heaven. A saint is just someone in Heaven. Some of the saints (a very small number comparatively, probably) are officially recognized by the Church as saints and are listed in the Roman Martyrology, but anyone in Heaven is a saint.