How would I ask A Saint for intercession?

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How would I ask A Saint for intercession would I pray to them or just ask
for example if I ask the Virgin Mary for intercession do I say the Hail Mary or just state my intentions ?
 
John337 said:
How would I ask A Saint for intercession would I pray to them or just ask
for example if I ask the Virgin Mary for intercession do I say the Hail Mary or just state my intentions ?
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This is how I do it…I say… St. Joseph, Pease intercede for me…( recite: 1 Hail Mary, 1 Our Father and 1 Glory be) then I say… St. Joseph thank you for interceding for me. 🙂
 
It really depends on the kind of person you are. I will often be very informal with intercessory prayers - speaking to the saints as I would my friends. Other people will use formalized prayers, and that can be totally fine as well. I find that formal prayer is very powerful when you are able to be attentive to what you are doing, but you need to be careful that you aren’t simply churning out some words blindly like it’s a magic spell.
 
RedFox0456 said:
It really depends on the kind of person you are. I will often be very informal with intercessory prayers - speaking to the saints as I would my friends. Other people will use formalized prayers, and that can be totally fine as well. I find that formal prayer is very powerful when you are able to be attentive to what you are doing, but you need to be careful that you aren’t simply churning out some words blindly like it’s a magic spell.
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I’m not praying for anything bad just wanted to know the correct way to ask for intercession .
 
I didn’t recall saying you were praying for anything bad. I was essentially saying both formal and informal prayer are just fine. Whichever you tend to be more comfortable with.
 
ok so I need to ask Archangel Raphael for something do I just say Raphael I need for you to intercede and 1 Our Father 1 Hail Mary and 1 Glory Be?
 
You don’t need to put in the extra prayers. You can just ask him to intercede for you. If your heart is so moved you can indeed say the Our Father, Hail Mary, etc. but it is by no means a requirement.
 
John337 said:
ok so I need to ask Archangel Raphael for something do I just say Raphael I need for you to intercede and 1 Our Father 1 Hail Mary and 1 Glory Be?
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Yes, prayers are sorely needed in Heaven now.
 
RedFox0456 said:
You don’t need to put in the extra prayers. You can just ask him to intercede for you. If your heart is so moved you can indeed say the Our Father, Hail Mary, etc. but it is by no means a requirement.
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So all I would say is St. Raphael help me with what it is that I’m asking for?
Please forgive me I am just trying to understand how all this goes.
 
I ask the same way I’d ask anyone to pray for me: St. x, y, or z, please pray for me. If it is a saint I pray to regularly (such as St. Pauline) I talk with her about my struggles.
 
Bonnie said:
I ask the same way I’d ask anyone to pray for me: St. x, y, or z, please pray for me. If it is a saint I pray to regularly (such as St. Pauline) I talk with her about my struggles.
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Ok thank you.
 
John337 said:
So all I would say is St. Raphael help me with what it is that I’m asking for?
Please forgive me I am just trying to understand how all this goes.
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St Raphael is a very powerful friend! Sometimes I go directly to him, “St. Raphael, please intercede on my behalf . . . ,” other times I reference him "Heavenly Father, through the intercession of St. Raphael, please hear my prayer and in your tender mercy . . . . "

And many many times I say – “Thank you, my friend!”
 
Yes, you could pray to St. Raphael, or to any other Saint and even to God, in any way in which you choose. You can use any words and you can be as formal or informal as you wish.

But in the Catholic tradition, we have a very long history of pre-written prayers. Those prayers not only teach us theology and how to pray, but they can also be a special way in which to lift our minds to God, and to dispose ourselves to the graces we seek.

I would therefore recommend at least trying to be a bit more formal, and not to limit yourself simply to spontaneous prayers. Yes, we can speak to the Saints and to God as if they are our friends, but they’re also a bit more than just invisible pals. Especially in the case of God, we do need to approach Him with at least some sense of His majesty.
 
John337 said:
How would I ask A Saint for intercession would I pray to them or just ask
for example if I ask the Virgin Mary for intercession do I say the Hail Mary or just state my intentions ?
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I just state something simple.

For my intention of XYZ
St Raphael pray for us.

Mary.
 
RedFox0456 said:
It really depends on the kind of person you are. I will often be very informal with intercessory prayers - speaking to the saints as I would my friends. Other people will use formalized prayers, and that can be totally fine as well. I find that formal prayer is very powerful when you are able to be attentive to what you are doing, but you need to be careful that you aren’t simply churning out some words blindly like it’s a magic spell.
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Well, if you still mean the words you are praying, than it’s okay to be distracted. It can be very hard at times to focus on praying–especially for longer prayers that you’ve prayed many times before. For less formals prayers though, focus tends to not be such an issue. I use both kinds. Prayer is more about meaning and spiritual movements than the actual words themselves. (I know not everyone can feel their spiritual movements and I can’t always feel mine, but the spirit is not a static thing and feelings are not the point.)
 
I am in the habit of being extremely personal in my prayers. If I’m talking to Mary or anybody else I just pour my entire heart & mind on them. In more spontaneous moments of temptation or distress, I notice I tend to fallback on formal prayers (St Bernard’s “The Memorare” in particular) because they are automatic and do not require expression on my part. I think the strength of formal prayers are in their automaticity: you can flee to them instantly and without thinking.

Saints hear prayers via the power of God, so intercessory prayer requires no more “form” than any other prayer. You merely intend to direct your thoughts towards them and it will be heard. God knows the prayer before you pray it.

Saints make Twitter look bad when it comes to communicating with each other. St Alphonsus Liguori, the Zealous Doctor, explains that when you pray for intercession from our Queen, she brings forth the entire court of Heaven to pray with her. Likewise, when you pray to a certain saint for intercession, that saint will plea the case before the entire court, and the entire court of Heaven, along with Mary, will pray for you. So although your prayer may originally be directed to one, it ultimately causes an inferno chain reaction of charity & compassion to burst forth across the entire heavenly landscape. Confessors are good at keeping secrets, but saints are absolutely terrible at it. 😛
 
There are prayers that are specific to Saints (you’ll usually find them on the back of a prayer card). When I pray to St. Jude, I sometimes recite “his prayer” and sometimes I just talk to him about what’s in my heart and what I’m asking his help with.
 
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