Prayers to saints..angels?

[mlz]

I’m confused about something and wondering if some of you could explain.

I totally understand praying to Saints, but I’m confused why we pray to Heavenly angels. And why is St. Michael, SAINT Michael if he’s an heavenly angel? To be a Saint the the Catholic Church I thought this was a person who fit under a certain criteria?? (the process of being Blessed and so forth) Could someone explain?

Thank you,
mlz

 

[PJD1987]

From the Catholic Encyclopedia:

St. Thomas teaches (III:8:4) that the angels, though not redeemed, enter the communion of saints because they come under Christ’s power and receive of His gratia capitis.

From Summa Theologica by St. Thomas Aquinas, which the CE paraphrases:

Article 4. Whether Christ is the Head of the angels?

Objection 1. It would seem that Christ as man is not the head of the angels. For the head and members are of one nature. But Christ as man is not of the same nature with the angels, but only with men, since, as is written (Hebrews 2:16): “For nowhere doth He take hold of the angels, but of the seed of Abraham He taketh hold.” Therefore Christ as man is not the head of the angels.

Objection 2. Further, Christ is the head of such as belong to the Church, which is His Body, as is written (Ephesians 1:23). But the angels do not belong to the Church. For the Church is the congregation of the faithful: and in the angels there is no faith, for they do not “walk by faith” but “by sight,” otherwise they would be “absent from the Lord,” as the Apostle argues (2 Corinthians 5:6-7). Therefore Christ as man is not head of the angels.

Objection 3. Further, Augustine says (Tract. xix; xxiii in Joan.), that as “the Word” which “was in the beginning with the Father” quickens souls, so the “Word made flesh” quickens bodies, which angels lack. But the Word made flesh is Christ as man. Therefore Christ as man does not give life to angels, and hence as man He is not the head of the angels.

On the contrary, The Apostle says (Colossians 2:10), “Who is the head of all Principality and Power,” and the same reason holds good with the other orders of angels. Therefore Christ is the Head of the angels.

I answer that, As was said above (1, ad 2), where there is one body we must allow that there is one head. Now a multitude ordained to one end, with distinct acts and duties, may be metaphorically called one body. But it is manifest that both men and angels are ordained to one end, which is the glory of the Divine fruition. Hence the mystical body of the Church consists not only of men but of angels. Now of all this multitude Christ is the Head, since He is nearer God, and shares His gifts more fully, not only than man, but even than angels; and of His influence not only men but even angels partake, since it is written (Ephesians 1:20-22): that God the Father set “Him,” namely Christ, “on His right hand in the heavenly places, above all Principality and Power and Virtue and Dominion and every name that is named not only in this world, but also in that which is to come. And He hath subjected all things under His feet.” Therefore Christ is not only the Head of men, but of angels. Hence we read (Matthew 4:11) that “angels came and ministered to Him.” (Continued)

 

[PJD1987]

Reply to Objection 1. Christ’s influence over men is chiefly with regard to their souls; wherein men agree with angels in generic nature, though not in specific nature. By reason of this agreement Christ can be said to be the Head of the angels, although the agreement falls short as regards the body.

Reply to Objection 2. The Church, on earth, is the congregation of the faithful; but, in heaven, it is the congregation of comprehensors. Now Christ was not merely a wayfarer, but a comprehensor. And therefore He is the Head not merely of the faithful, but of comprehensors, as having grace and glory most fully.

Reply to Objection 3. Augustine here uses the similitude of cause and effect, i.e. inasmuch as corporeal things act on bodies, and spiritual things on spiritual things. Nevertheless, the humanity of Christ, by virtue of the spiritual nature, i.e. the Divine, can cause something not only in the spirits of men, but also in the spirits of angels, on account of its most close conjunction with God, i.e. by personal union.

Summa isn’t exactly brief or easily readable/understandable, but…mit is a thorough treating of the subject. We stand on the shoulders of giants such as St. Thomas Aquinas.

Hope this was helpful and not boring lol

God bless,
Paul

 

[InspiritCarol]

I’m confused about something and wondering if some of you could explain.

Hey, mlz! These are *good *questions.

I totally understand praying to Saints,

Wow. You’re better than me. I’m a cradle Catholic and I didn’t “get” this until just recently. lol

but I’m confused why we pray to Heavenly angels.

Maybe it would help if you explained how you’re so comfortable with praying to saints. You see, because it amounts to much the same thing (in a way).
-Both are provided to us by God to help us
-Both pray to God (some angels unceasingly)
-Both are in God’s presence and so have … well … supercharged kind of prayer
There’s more… but do you kind of see?

And why is St. Michael, SAINT Michael if he’s an heavenly angel?

Too funny - I’ve wonderend this too. I think it’s because “Saint” is a designation of one who is in God’s presence. (Someone please correct me if I’m off base here).

To be a Saint the the Catholic Church I thought this was a person who fit under a certain criteria?? (the process of being Blessed and so forth) Could someone explain?

Thank you,
mlz

You are correct; but that’s how we’re able to logically assess that one is in God’s presence (heaven). If they can demonstrate God’s grace through miracles then it follows that they are most certainly in heaven and therefore a “Saint”. It follows therefore that any angel that is not a fallen angel exists in heaven and therefore may have the designation “Saint”.

**** I’m not an expert in these matters *** Just thought I could help in a quick way.

 

[PazzoGrande]

I’m confused about something and wondering if some of you could explain.

I totally understand praying to Saints, but I’m confused why we pray to Heavenly angels. And why is St. Michael, SAINT Michael if he’s an heavenly angel? To be a Saint the the Catholic Church I thought this was a person who fit under a certain criteria?? (the process of being Blessed and so forth) Could someone explain?

Thank you,
mlz

For starters, those certain criteria has only been around for the last millennium. The saints we have from further back in history were usually by public acclamation (the person was holy by reputation, and a lot of people began saying so after the person died, so the Bishop or Pope would agree that person could be called “saint”).

Ancient saints like Mary, her parents, the Apostles, Saint Joseph, even favourites like Saint Bernard, Saint Benedict and Saint Augustine became known as saints that way.

Next, we refer to him as Saint Michael because he’s one of the few heavenly angels whose name we actually know. Same with Gabriel and Raphael. If we knew the rest, we’d probably call them saints too (although the Church frowns on us trying to figure out their names; I can answer more about this if you want).

Like other saints, we can look to Saint Michael for intercession when we need help. The true story that was the basis for one of those exorcist movies had priests praying over a possessed boy over a months and it wasn’t going anywhere. Someone put in a statue of Saint Michael and it helped vanquish the demon; the boy later recounted his vision of Saint Michael battling it out with the demon that was possessing him.

 

[Te_Deum]

This is why we pray ‘HOLY Michael the Archangel’ !

 

[Brendan]

All the denizens of Heaven are Saints. That includes angles and all the blessed men and women.

The process of Canonization to which you refer is the commom method by which the Church determines of a particular man or woman is in Heaven and able to intercede on our behalf.

For the holy angelss, such as St. Michael, St. Gabriel, each of our Guardian Angles etc…; they are already known to reside in Heaven, and therefore the Canonization process is not required (or even appropriate)

 

[TimothyH]

All the denizens of Heaven are Saints. That includes angles and all the blessed men and women.

The process of Canonization to which you refer is the commom method by which the Church determines of a particular man or woman is in Heaven and able to intercede on our behalf.

For the holy angelss, such as St. Michael, St. Gabriel, each of our Guardian Angles etc…; they are already known to reside in Heaven, and therefore the Canonization process is not required (or even appropriate)

Your avatar is great.

And you make an important point. Everyone in heave is a saint.

We honor St. Michael, St. Gabriel, and St. Raphael with a feast on Sept 29 because their names are known to us. There are many unknown.

-Tim-

 

[Marie5890]

“saint” comes from the Latin “sanctus” which means “holy”

So Saint Michael etc, mean Holy Michael.