Praying to the Holy Angels and Saints

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What if a Catholic decides to prefer only to recognize Angels and Saints
and pray only to God?
For example,
O Lord God,
of Joseph & Mary whom You chose for parents of the Incarnation of
Your Only Begotten Jesus Christ,
and who intercede for us,
have Mercy on us and the whole world.
Amen.
I learned that the Jews during the Festival of The Booths (Tabernacles)
recognize that the Patriarchs pray with them; but they never pray
to them directly.
I’m just more comfortable praying this way. I doubt Paul The Apostle or any of the
early Disciples from Israel would pray directly to anyone but God alone;
even though later on Christians started to do this.
I’ve learned about this over and over, for example the following article.
http://www.aquinasandmore.com/catholic-articles/devotion-to-the-saints/article/201
 
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I think it would be OK to do this, but would be heretical to believe what you were doing is the “correct” way to do it.
 
God is in charge of what He does and allows;
so I only asked for my personal prayer life.
 
When we pray to angels and saints, we’re pretty much asking them to support our cause, rather than asking them to do something of their own power. All of their oomph, their power, their importance— all of it comes from God, and they do nothing that isn’t aligned with God’s will, and they certainly never ask for things contrary to God’s will. Saints and angels aren’t independent of God; they’re his favored, faithful servants.

Do you remember the end of the book of Job?
7 After the Lord had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has. 8 So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. You have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has.” 9 So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite did what the Lord told them; and the Lord accepted Job’s prayer.

10 After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. 11 All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the Lord had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver[a] and a gold ring.
Click to expand...
So, what happened? God was cross with Job’s friends. And what did he say? Did he tell them, “Pray to me, and make sacrifice, and I’ll forgive you?” No. He said, “Get Job to pray for you on your behalf, and I’ll forgive you.” And Job’s prayers on their behalf were the ones which were accepted.

If you’re comfortable doing things a certain way, be comfortable. But that’s one example of God specifically rejecting someone praying on their own behalf— but being more open to the prayers of someone he favors. And since we know the people in heaven are in God’s favor, it’s a no-brainer to petition them to support our prayers.
 
That is why I thank God for The Holy Angels and Saints interceding for us.
I’m certain that along with my friends on earth’s prayers; God heard the intercessions
of The Holy Angels and Saints on my behalf during my life with periods of double mindedness.
God could have left me in that state; but thank God my most fervent prayer
all my life was to be inline with God; to live The Covenant - which is loving God;
so that I can truly love my neighbor as myself.
The Sacrament of Reconciliation is one of the greatest joys of my life;
and helps me see these things more clearly to improve cooperating with His Grace.
Jesus Christ brings such joy; so while I have to live a life of Penance for the
effect of my forgiven sins that effect a lot of people; which involves personal suffering
because of them — at least it is joined with unearned suffering.
And I’m sure my Guardian Angel, along with the intercession of Holy Angels and Saints
help me all of the time. God’s Wonderful self giving provided this Grace for all who
love Him.
 
OK. I see no heresy since I am inline with Church teaching.
 
It could even be a help for leading some into the Church regarding prudential judgement in this Sacred matter. It seems to be one of the greatest obstacles and stumbling blocks for many.
Peace.
 
Having come late to the Catholic church, have to say I have always thought it would be nice to pray to saints. They were human and seem so much more approachable.
 
There is no requirement in canon law, as such, to utter a single “Our Father” or “Hail Mary” on any day of the week in your entire life.

The consensus of the Doctors of the Church is extremely clear that neglecting the Communion of Saints, and especially the Virgin Mary, puts the immortal soul in eternal jeopardy. Mary is never treated as a superfluous supplement within a Bag of Tricks that may or may not be used in a person’s life. One of the surest signs of a person’s eternal security and of them building in virtue is to have a devotion to Mary. One of the seven last sayings of Christ on the Cross includes him giving the Blessed Virgin to us for us to take into our homes. The fundamentals of Mariology in theology were established only shortly after the Trinity became established in the 4th century, so that shows how deeply it goes into the Tradition of the Church. Long before that, Catholics prayed to the saints as well, although it took a long time for things to become etched in stone.
Divine Providence has decided to lavish his graces on Earth through the hands of a humble mortal woman, so if you respect and adore God, then you must also respect and venerate the Blessed Virgin.

Non-Catholic/Orthodox Christians and non-Christians who receive graces from Heaven receive them through the hands of Mary and the saints and the angels, whether knowingly or unknowingly.

Peace
 
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Hi Shasta Rose,
God Bless you. I used to think the same thing.
They do seem more approachable sometimes.
Jesus Christ is fully Divine and fully human, and is in His Divine Nature
fully Omniscient. The Saints as ‘branches on the vine,’ partake of His Divine Nature.
The Church calls it a mystery on how a Saint can hear thousands millions of prayers at the some time. The Father, The Son, hear prayers of The Holy Spirit with human inexpressible prayers to make up for our lacking, that is for sure.
I honor & venerate the Angels and Saints in my prayers and their Intercession.
And I have made a prudential judgement to rely on their Intercession without
directly talking to them. This does not make me any less of a Catholic than
anyone else. I just happen to prefer the way Peter, Paul, and the rest of the early
Christians did this. And I doubt you will fall prey to having a ‘superstitious’ idea
of The Angels and Saints that some have done. In my personal life I have
encountered those that do. For example, pray a certain prayer for ten days
to a certain Saint for 10 days and it is guaranteed to be answered. This type
of things, while is carried out devoutly with reverence by many with proper
understanding of God’s Acting and Allowing Will; leave others
disillusioned when the outcome they thought should happen doesn’t happen.
~
Psalm 139 reveals a lot about God, how He knows our thoughts, words, and
actions before we carry them out in freewill. In a different venue someone
quite rightly gave a warning to have good thoughts. But isn’t it wonderful;
that in our brokenness; to have better thoughts, words, and actions — that
God knows them before hand? So cooperating with God’s Grace changes
the way we think, and we allow God to guard our thoughts; and which one’s
to desire and welcome. God knows all my prayers before I pray them.
God knows that I rely on His Ruling The Angels and Saints for their Intercession;
to cooperate with the Grace of The Holy Spirit, which gives us this power from Christ.
It is kind of like Queen Bathsheba had to power to intercede to King Solomon.
Normally a person would have to go through the Chief Steward with the Key of David.
But the power was from the king.
“And the smoke of the incense went up before God, with the prayers of the saints, out of the hand of the angel.” - Rev. 8:4 God gives many graces in answering our prayers,
and the intercession of the Holy Spirit Who prays with words we don’t know how we ought to pray. And the intercession of The Holy Angels and Saints cooperate fully
with God’s Grace. And I know my Guardian Angel is every at my side, to light, guard,
rule and guide according to God’s Will. Helps me avoid wrong thinking, whether it be from my own body, the world, or even the nether world.
Jesus Christ, I trust in You, for You said that whatever we ask in Your Name will be fulfilled, of course, in Your ‘time.’
 
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It is okay to do this, except when there are Mass prayers referencing Mary, angels and saints, which occur from time to time (such as the Confiteor). A good Catholic is expected to join in these prayers.

However, though it’s okay to do this outside of Mass, a person who did it would be really missing out on a rich dimension of the faith, which is that we as a community pray for each other and that the community includes those who are deceased and in heaven. It’s like you just turned your back on a whole bunch of your brothers and sisters, when you could be asking them to pray for you or pray with you.
 
Well, I disagree that I am turning my back on them.
I’m fully aware of there presence in the Omniscience, Omnipresence, and Omnipotence
of Father, Son Jesus Christ, and The Holy Spirit.
In a prayer meeting, yesterday, where we prayed The Divine Mercy Chaplet,
I prayed the Hail Mary, cognizant that the Holy Spirit uses God’s Grace filled work
through her to include her intercession. The Church says it is a mystery that
thousands of prayers go to the Angels and Saints; so this is how I am able
to peacefully wrap my mind around this.
I like to pray as follows (which I type, ‘off the cuff’);
Dear Lord God,
Please help me today to grow in sanctity.
Thank You for the intercession of The Holy Angels and Saints;
who truly appeal to You, for our cooperating with Your Grace;
and that we receive certain needs in Your Time.
You, O Lord, are Glorified by Your Grace being received
by them, so I honor and venerate them; and You make them
aware of our needs in how You decide. Much of this
is a mystery to us. Thank you so much for their example,
and the examples of Your Grace through anyone who
truly shows Your Covenant Love for us by sincere Godly concern
for others.
This is through Christ Jesus our Lord, Who Lives and Reigns with You,
and The Holy Spirit, One God, Forever and Ever.
Amen.
 
If you’re “honoring and venerating” the saints and thanking God for their intercession, then that to me is kind of the same as those who ask the saints to pray for them, or light a candle in front of the saint statue, etc. In other words you’re not ignoring the saints.

You may see a qualitative difference, and that’s fine. Whatever you are comfortable with.
So if I say I don’t see a difference, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t one in your perception - it’s just my opinion.
Since this is a private devotion, you can do it how you want, also, so my opinion doesn’t matter.
In any event, I think it’s fine, I just don’t see much of a difference between that and what I myself would do.
 
I understand.
I truly love this prayer from today’s Lauds.
~
Lord,
your martyr Boniface
spread the faith by his teaching
and witnessed to it with his blood.
By the help of his prayers
keep us loyal to our faith
and give us courage to profess it in our lives.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
– Amen.
 
The Saint Collects are great. I try to say the one for the day, every day (there is an indulgence for that so the poor souls benefit).
If no saint in the current Calendar for the day, I’ll look for one on the other national calendars or the Tridentine calendar.
 
It is not mandatory for you to pray to the saints and angels if you choose not to.
 
Thank you. And I do have a deep appreciation & Godly affection for them.
Peace.
 
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