Prayer

[Didi]

Greg_McPherran:

Thank you Didi.
Someone said prayers to the saints are prayers of request. If we can also request directly to God for something then why would we not always pray to God instead of ever praying to the saints?
Greg

This is a good question.

Here’s the way I look at it. God is ready to shower us with His Mercy and His Grace, but He has also given us free will. We can choose to ask for it and depend upon Him, or we can choose to go our own way. The key is – we have to ask for it.

The more we ask, the more He gives. The more people we have praying for us, for the Church, for our priests, all sinners, etc., the more His floodgates of Grace and Mercy open up for us all! We ask the saints in heaven to pray for us just as we ask our family and friends to pray for us on earth. They are still a part of the Body of Christ, still our family, just part of our heavenly family.

For Scriptures and the Church’s teaching on praying to the saints, please see the Catechism of the Catholic Church, sections 2683 and 2684 (too long to post here).

 

[Teresa9]

Dearest Greg

In Revelation to John the bowls of incense symbolise the prayers of the faithful on earth and this is taken to God by the Saints. At Jesus’ Crucifixtion they said …‘Look he is calling upon Elijah’ , so maybe it was accepted then also to pray to those who have died to pray also to the Father for our intentions. I don’t know of any other passage but I am sure if you ask an apologist, they will know !!

If you have not previously prayed to a Saint or to Mary to ask for the help of their prayers also, then it may seem strange to do, I suppose in some way you may feel like you are bypassing God our Father, but what you are doing in reality is asking the departed faithful to add to your prayer and ‘ask’ with you. When you pray to Jesus, He asks Our Father, nothing happens without the will Of Our Father. When you pray to a Saint and ask for their help in an intention, it is exactly like asking someone on earth to say a prayer for your intention. Praying to a Saint is a virtuous and wholesome thing to do and is in itself a decalration of faith in the risen Lord as we then acknowledge that those who have died in the faith have risen in through and by the Lord to Heaven.
God Bless you and much peace and love to you x

 

[Greg_McPherran]

Teresa9:

asking the departed faithful to add to your prayer and ‘ask’ with you.

Didi:

The more people we have praying for us, for the Church, for our priests, all sinners, etc., the more His floodgates of Grace and Mercy open up for us all!

Now, those are good answers! Thank you!

Teresa9:

In Revelation to John the bowls of incense symbolise the prayers of the faithful on earth and this is taken to God by the Saints. At Jesus’ Crucifixtion they said …‘Look he is calling upon Elijah’ , so maybe it was accepted then also to pray to those who have died to pray also to the Father for our intentions.

Thank you.

 

[Greg_McPherran]

Thank you all very much. You have all truly helped me and I am most grateful to my Catholic family.

I also wanted to point out that it occurred to me (perhaps with the help of Mamamull) that my initial post may not have reflected a good attitude toward God and prayer. I ask questions bluntly sometimes and I realize that one must be careful to be reverent of God and sensitive to people.

I should thank God so very kindly for his love, kindness, and goodness. I should always have a good attitude toward prayer.

Thank you all again. You have truly helped me with my prayer and my faith.

Greg