How do you pray to a saint?

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athenaluvsdoves

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I have been seriously thinking about doing this but I have never done it and I’m not sure how.
Do you say a prayer that’s already written to the particular saint or can you say your own prayer?
Do you kneel?
How do you keep prayers to the saints from taking time away from your prayers directly to God?
How do you know which saint to pray to?
I would really appreciate your help.Thank you.🙂
 
Since God wants us to pray for each other and ask each other for prayers, when we ask saints to pray for us, it by no means takes time away from God…it actually pleases Him! 🙂

To pray to a saint you can either say a traditional prayer like the one to St. Michael to protect us from the devil. That prayer directly addresses the angel.

Or you can say a different kind of traditional prayer that is more focused on God: like this one to St. Clare asks God to hear her prayers for us.

Or you can make up your own. You can kneel or not. If you are interested in specific saints who could best empathize with your prayers, you can search for the patron of a certain need. Try this website.

Here are a lot of different prayers from EWTN’s website. 🙂
 
Thanks so much for your help MarcoPolo.I’ll look at those sites.I also had another concern that always comes up.Why don’t we see evidence of the Jewish people praying to the patriarchs like Moses, Abraham,Isaac, the prophets?I think about that sometimes and it kind of stops me from praying to the saints. Could you please help me with this concern? Thanks.
 
Growing in love includes growing in love for the Saints, who are our brothers and sisters, just like saints with a small “s” are (those living Christians around us). The Holy Spirit will give us love and devotion for particular Saints, especially Virgin Mary of course, the Mother of all Christians. The Saints that the Holy Spirit has given me a great love and devotion for are Virgin Mary, St. Therese the Little Flower, St. Louis de Montfort, St. Joseph, St. Jude, St. Catherine of Siena, and lots more. Getting to know and love the Saints is part of our walk with Christ, since we will be together with them in Heaven later. The Holy Spirit is our first love, getting to know Him and His Voice and what He wants from us at all times. Next comes Virgin Mary and then the Saints. God Bless you in your pursuit. Remember that if you go too far in loving the Saints it is not a big sin… 🙂 The Holy Spirit will guide and keep your love pure. You can never love God, Virgin Mary, or the Saints enough…
 
athenaluvsdoves said:
Why don’t we see evidence of the Jewish people praying to the patriarchs like Moses, Abraham,Isaac, the prophets?
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I’m guessing we don’t see too much because heaven opened up after the Resurrection. But here are some examples of note from Scripture.

We are encouraged to pray for each other Rm 15:30. The prayers of the righteous are very powerful (Jm 5:16) and it is a good thing to ask them to pray for you, per Paul’s previous example. The Body of Christ is not divided just because someone goes to heaven. 🙂

Christ speaking with Elijah and Moses (Mt 17:3)

Paul specifically says that heaven knows him fully, and our knowledge will not be complete until we reach heaven:*** 1 Cor 13:12** At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present I know partially;** then I shall know fully, as I am fully known. ** * You see Paul admitting his knowledge is dim. But “then” he will understand fully after he sees “face to face.” This is a reference to the beatific vision of seeing God face to face (Rev 22:4, et al) in heaven. Here his knowledge is limited. In heaven he will understand as [he] is fully understood. Anyone already in heaven is fully aware of those on earth fully, just as Paul says he is at the time he wrote. Couple that with our oneness in the Body of Christ and Paul asking others to pray for us.

Also:
Acts 9:36-37, 40 In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha…she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room…Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up.🙂

Revelation 5:8 of the elders in heaven offering the prayers of the saints. Somebody must not have been “praying directly to God” !!! What are these guys doing passing on prayers of someone else!

There are also 2 examples from the Psalms Ps 148:1-2, Ps 103:20-21 of asking the angels to pray with them.

And there is also the incident in Zechariah 1:11-16 of the people asking the angel to intercede for them and the angel goes to God and God answers!

Dan. 4:13,23; 8:23 – we also see that the angels in heaven are also called “saints.” The same Hebrew word “qaddiysh” (holy one) is applied to both humans and angels in heaven. Hence, there are angel saints in heaven and human saints in heaven and on earth. Loving beings (whether angels or saints) are concerned for other beings, and prayer is the spiritual way of expressing that love

Even someone from hell can cry out in some way to Abraham (Lk 16:19-31)
 
Thank you 316 for your encouraging words. I really seem to be drawn to Padre Pio.

Also,thank you again MarcoPolo for your Bible references to help me understand this better.I’m going to look them up and study it more.

Thanks for all your help!🙂
 
Hi Athena… there are many ways in which one can pray to a saint. Many people prefer to pray, using a “chaplet”; A favorite of mine, is the Chaplet to St. Therese. It consists of 24 “Glory Be to the Father…”, one for each year of St. Therese’ life (she died, at age 24).

You will notice, when praying a chaplet… that although the chaplet honors a particular saint… the glory is always given to God.

But I really love… (in fact, prefer)… to pray to the saints just as you’d speak to a loved brother or sister. Just talk to them. It’s amazing, the true friendships you will develop in this way.

And just imagine… the “Welcoming Commitee” when you get to Heaven! 🙂 God bless.
 
Thanks Marie Veronica for your encouragement.It’s really a beautiful thought what you said about heaven and the "welcoming committee."The idea of talking to them as a brother/sister is really something that I can relate to.🙂
 
I’m with you on viewing saints as brothers and sisters. . . but, for me, OLDER brothers and sisters. Wiser.🙂

I feel like I “talk” to saints rather than pray to them; I pray to God.
 
I use the prayer to Saint Michael the Archangel a lot, and the different written prayers to the Blessed Mother as well (included). However, I like to talk to them in my own words and treat them as older family members and hope to become good friends with the Saints. I pray to Saint Augustine for help with sexual matters and for help and encouragement. Also, have prayed to (the uncanonized) John Paul II and Fulton J. Sheen for confidence in speaking.
 
athenaluvsdoves said:
Thank you 316 for your encouraging words. I really seem to be drawn to Padre Pio.
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Excellent choice. Perhaps St Padre Pio has chosen YOU for a reason?
Ask for his help and intercession. It does not need to be a formal prayer. It can be as simple as , “Padre Pio, please pray for me in my intentions of ----”.
 
athenaluvsdoves said:
Thanks Marie Veronica for your encouragement.It’s really a beautiful thought what you said about heaven and the "welcoming committee."The idea of talking to them as a brother/sister is really something that I can relate to.🙂
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You are so welcome! 🙂 I can tell you, from my own experience… that the saints have truly become “brothers and sisters” to me, in the absence of my own family. There are quite a few, that I love dearly. And I love reading about new saints. They can be such a comfort… to a lonely soul. God bless you.
 
I’ve been feeling really alone lately in my walk with God so when you said that about talking to the saints helping a lonely soul,Marie V.,it really spoke to me.

And then what jrabs said about Padre Pio choosing me for a reason.I would never have thought of something like that but it made me feel a sense of peace to think that that someone as special as he is could actually know I’m here and care!

Everyone’s comments have encouraged me so much.Thank you!

:bible1:
 
I like Holy Cards.

You might want to get a book called Living with the Saints, (I think) it has a daily reading about a Saint, of course, on their day.

Also, chaplets are nice. To say a prayer to a Saint, follow with three Our Fathers (Or Lord’s prayer as you may know it), three Hail Marys, and three Glory Be’s.

Oh, if you are ready to ask the saints for intercession you ARE on your way HOME! Ha! 😃 I think we are watching your journey right here on CAF! Awesome!

Padre Pio! Love him! You must get a book on him and read it!

👍 I am praying for you!
 
Athena, my favorite saints are St. Padre Pio and St. Anthony because they both take care of me and keep me safe from danger.
I pray to Padre Pio when I feel there is a danger around me.
I pray to St. Anthony who finds lost things or finds new things for me. I just talk to them and use my own words… that is what prayer is to me at times.

I had a vision of St. San Martin de Porres. He didn’t say anything. I just looked at him. I knew he had a message for me regarding my 10yr.old grand-son. I called his mother right away to find out what was wrong and she said she wanted to divorce her husband who is my grand-son’s step father since my son his father had died before he was born. The step father is a great father. He loves my grandson like his own.
I asked to please not to get divorced because of the kids. She agreed to stay with him. “WHEW”.

Another time… a Native American spirit showed up and told me to keep my bottles of medications away from my dog. My dog was a puppy at the time and she was in the habit of chewing anything she would find. She would look to see where I would put things and then go get them and chew them up.

I have had other experiences like that where I have seen Blessed Mother.
 
LaLucia said:
Another time… a Native American spirit showed up and told me to keep my bottles of medications away from my dog. My dog was a puppy at the time and she was in the habit of chewing anything she would find. She would look to see where I would put things and then go get them and chew them up.

I have had other experiences like that where I have seen Blessed Mother.
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I bet it was Blessed Kateri
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kateri_Tekakwitha
 
LaLucia,those are some really amazing experiences you have had!I’ve never had anything like that happen to me before.Did it scare you a little at first?

Thanks DJgang for your suggestions.When you say a chaplet,do you alternative the Our Father,Hail Mary, and Glory Be in each sets of 3 or do you say 3 Our Fathers one after the other, 3 Hail Mary’s, etc.?
There’s a book I saw today about Padre Pio that I think I’m going to order.I really appreciate your prayers!
 
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