Praying to Mary/Saints

[Malia_Belen]

I’m very interested in learning about the Catholic faith. However, the one thing that I’m having a hard time getting passed is Mary and Saint intercession when we already have Jesus.

Could anyone explain to me their take on this matter or how they see it? For those we converted, how do you look at it?

Also any verses in the Bible on this would really help me?

Thanks for reading; I’m pretty sure this question has been on here countless times

 

[FCEGM]

I’m very interested in learning about the Catholic faith. However, the one thing that I’m having a hard time getting passed is Mary and Saint intercession when we already have Jesus.

Could anyone explain to me their take on this matter or how they see it? For those we converted, how do you look at it?

Also any verses in the Bible on this would really help me?

Thanks for reading; I’m pretty sure this question has been on here countless times

Welcome to CAF, Maria.

Here are some articles from the Catholic Answers’ library for starters:

catholic.com/library/Praying_to_the_Saints.asp

catholic.com/library/Saint_Worship.asp

catholic.com/library/Do_Catholics_Worship_Statues.asp

catholic.com/library/Intercession_of_the_Saints.asp

catholic.com/library/Rosary.asp

I hope you find these helpful. Also, if you search at ThisRock (linked at the top of the page), you will find many other excellent articles on the topic.

 

[ConallCernach]

Stephen Colbert described them as God’s customer service representatives. =p

They’re like other Christians, Paul encouraged others to pray for him, and the Church is comprised of three parts:
The Church Militant (us here)
the Church Suffering (those being cleansed of sin in purgatory)
and the Church Triumphant (those in Heaven)

There is communion between these three parts, so all can pray for one another.

Pax

 

[MarcoPolo]

The really, really short answer is that when we “pray” to saints, we are asking them to pray for us, just like Paul or James did:

1 Thessalonians 5:25 Brethren, pray for us.

Romans 15:30 Now I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to** strive together with me in your prayers to God for me**

James 5:16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.So one could ask the same question, why is Paul asking others for intercession when he can go straight to Jesus! When rather, the One Body is built up by our bearing one anothers’ burdens (Gal 6:2) and as stated above, the prayers of the righteous in heaven are very powerful. Catholics believe in praying to those who have passed from earth because we do not believe the Body of Christ is severed just because someone went to heaven.

 

[VociMike]

The underlying structure of the Trinitarian God and of God and us is Family. In the Trinity we have Father and Son, and we are all adopted children of God. It is not just “Jesus ‘n’ me” - that approach goes against the entire Judeo-Christian understanding of our relationship with God.

So, we are all one big family, and those in heaven are now perfectly conformed to God’s will. And what is God’s will with regard to us on earth? That we may be saved and sanctified, of course. And thus that is also the will of all those in heaven, and it should go without saying that they will do all in their power (and the prayers of a righteous man avail much) to help us become saved and sanctified.

So again, it’s all about family. Our family on earth, but also our family in heaven - not just God, but our entire family in heaven. They seek what God seeks, and they are not strangers to us, but loving brothers and sisters. They want to help us. We’d be crazy not to ask them.

 

[1edyson]

I would never Pray or Worship Mary and the Saints! That’s heretical! However I would all day long have them pray for me. Pray and Worship the Saints and Mary, who would do a silly little thing like that?

 

[VociMike]

I would never Pray or Worship Mary and the Saints! That’s heretical! However I would all day long have them pray for me. Pray and Worship the Saints and Mary, who would do a silly little thing like that?

Except that “pray” has long had two distinct meanings, and nobody has the right to insist that we only use the word for one of the meanings and not the other. We use the word “pray” to mean something different regarding the saints than we do regarding God.

 

[1edyson]

Except that “pray” has long had two distinct meanings, and nobody has the right to insist that we only use the word for one of the meanings and not the other. We use the word “pray” to mean something different regarding the saints than we do regarding God.

I fully agree that why i added the qualifier “and worship”. We pray for each other here on earth all the time! I know it, there is always prayer request section on any Christian forum, and if it is good for us as sinner to pray for one another, than how much closer to God do our prayers endure when they’re shared by those Saints in Heaven who are not separated from God by sin.

 

[VociMike]

I fully agree that why i added the qualifier “and worship”. We pray for each other here on earth all the time! I know it, there is always prayer request section on any Christian forum, and if it is good for us as sinner to pray for one another, than how much closer to God do our prayers endure when they’re shared by those Saints in Heaven who are not separated from God by sin.