I need help with praying to Saints

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JRKH said:
Thank you. I know that she is at peace with Our Lord.

Peace
James
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My condolences as well. I know how it is to lose someone you love and to have the certainty that they died in peace. My own mother passed away this June and I made sure to pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet for her before she died so that her passing would be a holy one.

God bless
 
TempleofTheSoul said:
My condolences as well. I know how it is to lose someone you love and to have the certainty that they died in peace. My own mother passed away this June and I made sure to pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet for her before she died so that her passing would be a holy one.

God bless
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Interestingly (and I don’t want to hijack the thread)…I had attended noon mass for All Saints day and after mass I knelt before the tabernacle and asked the Lord to go ahead and take her. He did - and it was at just about that moment for I had just gotten in my car to go home when the aide called and said she had suddenly gotten very quiet.

I miss her…but she is still with me…

Peace
James
 
I just got blasted out of my chair and slammed into the wall. There’s a dent in the shape of my back in the plaster.

Nice link though.
 
SecretaryMonday said:
You have my prayers and sympathies as well, JRKH.
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Thank you.

Something else - to the OP - - I think that when we have someone close pass away it sort of helps us to understand prayer to the saints.
As I said earlier, I talk to my DW everyday because I am sure she is in heaven and - well I’m just use to talking to her - - and I sense her “talking” to me.
Because there is this deeply personal connection there, it is much easier to say - “Yea, I understand” when it comes to praying to other saints.

Peace
James
 
Stop reading non-Catholic materials. When they become a danger to your soul and peace of mind, then they become an occasion of sin. Read instead solid Catholic material.
 
mandy2 said:
So I have grown a tremendous love for Jesus, the Church, and all they have to offer. But I am constantly struggling with praying to Saints. I have had conversations with non-Catholics and I am always quick to defend why we pray to saints. I understand it in my head completely but i cannot get myself to sit there and pray to a saint. Even Mary :confused: I try, it just feels odd. And I’ve read things from non-Catholic Christians saying how we emphasise Mary too much and Jesus just takes the back seat. And i have mixed feelings about it. Because it does puzzle me that they seem to be against Mary, yet at the same time sometimes I do feel like Mary is emphasised more than Jesus. Don’t get me wrong, I respect her so much. I just need some help and encouragement to better understand why we pray to Saints and some clarity that God does wants us to go to them.
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mandy2,

Not long ago I was engaged in a discussion about this issue over on the CARM website. If you’re interested in a lengthy presentation/defense covering most of the issues you can read my posts. My forum name over there is no-option and you can get most everything needed in three consecutive posts that I wrote to someone called mphuber starting here:

forums.carm.org/vbb/showthread.php?161369-Mary-s-place-in-Scripture&p=4798157#post4798157

God bless
 
Mandy…I hope the following helps. A saint is a living, breathing Christian. Some one who has accepted Christ as their Lord & Savior not someone who is dead as there is nothing a dead person can do for the living. If that is you, if you have accepted Christ then you, Mandy, are a saint. A saint is someone who is set apart for the Lord & His kingdom. The saints are the body of Christ, the Christians, the church. You should be praying to Christ for His help. The bible tells us that the Lord’s compassions are renewed every morning…Lamentations 3:22-23. The book of Nehemiah chap 8 v 9 tells us that the Joy of the Lord is our strength. Some scripture references for saints are: Acts 9:13; Acts 9:32; Philippians 4:21; Romans 16:2; Ephesians 4:12; Ephesians 5:3; 1st Cor 1:2. Thes are all versus from my Catholic bible I have printed back in 1953.
 
1rocky1 said:
Mandy…I hope the following helps. A saint is a living, breathing Christian. Some one who has accepted Christ as their Lord & Savior not someone who is dead as there is nothing a dead person can do for the living. If that is you, if you have accepted Christ then you, Mandy, are a saint. A saint is someone who is set apart for the Lord & His kingdom. The saints are the body of Christ, the Christians, the church. You should be praying to Christ for His help. The bible tells us that the Lord’s compassion are renewed every morning…Lamentations 3:22-23. The book of Nehemiah chap 8 v 9 tells us that the Joy of the Lord is our strength. Some scripture references for saints are: Acts 9:13; Acts 9:32; Philippians 4:21; Romans 16:2; Ephesians 4:12; Ephesians 5:3; 1st Cor 1:2. Thes are all versus from my Catholic bible I have printed back in 1953.
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So much good here…We should indeed be praying to Christ. Amen to that.
Likewise we agree that the dead person can do nothing for the living…
Of course we know, from Christ’s own words, that those who have died believing in Him are not dead (John 11:25-26). We know this because Our Lord and King tells us that our God is the God of the living not of the dead (Mt 22:32)

So - in praying to a saint who is in heaven - we are not praying to the dead.

Peace
James
 
mandy2 said:
So I have grown a tremendous love for Jesus, the Church, and all they have to offer. But I am constantly struggling with praying to Saints. I have had conversations with non-Catholics and I am always quick to defend why we pray to saints. I understand it in my head completely but i cannot get myself to sit there and pray to a saint. Even Mary :confused: I try, it just feels odd. And I’ve read things from non-Catholic Christians saying how we emphasise Mary too much and Jesus just takes the back seat. And i have mixed feelings about it. Because it does puzzle me that they seem to be against Mary, yet at the same time sometimes I do feel like Mary is emphasised more than Jesus. Don’t get me wrong, I respect her so much. I just need some help and encouragement to better understand why we pray to Saints and some clarity that God does wants us to go to them.
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My first suggestion would be to read through this article by Patrick Madrid called, “Any Friend of God’s is a Friend of Mine”, located here - patrickmadrid.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/anyfriendofGod1.pdf

Secondly, I would recommend a great book that recently came out that I am still reading called, “Making Sense of Mary”, by Gary Michuta. This book will help you to really understand Mary’s place in salvation history. It is also written intended for Protestants to understand since it uses terminology they will better understand. And it helps Catholics to understand their own faith better

We can’t love something we don’t know about. This is why studying about Mary and the Saints can give us an appreciation for them.

As well reading testimonials of people can help foster faith. When I first started praying the rosary after many years away I wasn’t sure if this was something I should be doing. I knew in my head that it should be ok, but I needed some assurance. While I was praying the rosary I was thinking that it would sure be nice to be able to go on a road trip the next day to a certain distant city so that I could listen to some Catholic teaching in my car. Well, the next morning I received a call that a machine had broken in that city and I was chosen to go. Thr chances of that happening especially with me thinking about it while praying were pretty slim. That was confirmation to me that I should be praying the rosary. The Lord heard my thoughts even though I didn’t directly ask for it. I kind of said Lord it would be nice if this happened. But he heard me while I was praying the rosary. He didn’t ignore my prayer because I was praying the rosary. Instead he answered it.

Now I enjoy praying the Psalms with the rosary. And often a feel a peace when I pray the Psalms with the rosary. So I encourage you to pray about it and see where God leads you. God bless.
 
With love, God allowed me to fall in love with Saint Michael the Archangel. I followed with reading about this strong archangel. Praying for INTERCESSION to God quickly followed up. With faith, God allowed me to fall in love with Saint Therese of the Child Jesus. I followed with more reading about this amazing saint. Praying for INTERCESSION to God also quickly followed up. With hope, God allowed me to fall in love with the Communion of Saints mentioned in the Apostles Creed. I pray to them for INTERCESSION to God. We love God for He is almighty, all good and all knowing. We love the saints and angels for they protect us for Him - they INTERCEDE to the Lord for us. How wonderful and special this truly is.

One day, we will join our saintly heroes and we will be prayed to to INTERCEDE to the Lord for the person here on earth needing our assistance. It is the best way to feel comfortable about praying to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Michael the Archangel and Good Saint Joseph and all the loving Communion of Saints!
 
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