Praying to the saints what is the best explanation to give to non catholics who ask

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AggieCatholic22

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one of my friends i have made in college who is a non catholic, asks me questions about the faith alot and earlier today asked me why we pray to the saints…and i guess i havent done much reading into it because its been something i have just always understood being a cradle catholic…anyway what is the best explanation to give when asked this question?

Thanks,
Regan
 
I am asked this question a great deal from people who are not Catholic also. I just ask them if we ask people we know here on earth to pray for us, why not increase the power of the prayer by asking a saint who is in heaven to pray for us also. People don’t have a problem asking someone living to pray for them, but cannot understand that asking a saint who has proved worthy of the kingdom of heaven to pray for us might just carry a little more weight:).
 
AggieCatholic22 said:
one of my friends i have made in college who is a non catholic, asks me questions about the faith alot and earlier today asked me why we pray to the saints…and i guess i havent done much reading into it because its been something i have just always understood being a cradle catholic…anyway what is the best explanation to give when asked this question?

Thanks,
Regan
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The Saints are our Brothers and Sisters in Christ. They are alive in Christ.

We ask them to pray for us. Since we can’t “call them on the phone” to ask them to pray for us… we pray to them to ask them to pray for us… we may ask them to ask our petitions to God… we may ask them to join us in Thanking God.

Your friend probably has no issues with asking you to pray for her, and so it is for us asking our Brothers and Sisters in Christ who have gone before us to Eternity to pray for us. They stand before the throne of God and ask for His blessings on us.
 
Ask him why he asks others to pray for him, then say “It’s the exact same thing”
 
AggieCatholic22 said:
one of my friends i have made in college who is a non catholic, asks me questions about the faith alot and earlier today asked me why we pray to the saints…and i guess i havent done much reading into it because its been something i have just always understood being a cradle catholic…anyway what is the best explanation to give when asked this question?

Thanks,
Regan
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I tell people that the reason I pray to the saints is the same reason I pray to the blessed mother, because they are so close to Jesus for them to intercede, to pray for us

that is the simplist answer I give, for them to intercede for us.
 
AggieCatholic22 said:
one of my friends i have made in college who is a non catholic, asks me questions about the faith alot and earlier today asked me why we pray to the saints…and i guess i havent done much reading into it because its been something i have just always understood being a cradle catholic…anyway what is the best explanation to give when asked this question?

Thanks,
Regan
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As others have pointed out, it’s no different to asking our fellow parishioners, friends and family to pray for us.

One important difference though.

Those Saints in Heaven praying for us are purified and no longer sin, they are in the presence of God, therefore their prayers are more efficacious.

Those saints on Earth such as our family and friends are saying prayers which may be diluted and tainted by distractions such as time, work, children, unconfessed sins, tiredness, disinterest, busy schedules etc.
 
It sort of makes Catholics seem like they worship multipel gods.
 
Atheistguy said:
It sort of makes Catholics seem like they worship multipel gods.
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That’s because we have different understandings of the term ‘prayer’. Catholics do not have a narrow definition of prayer.

For Protestants prayer + singing = worshipping God only
For Catholics the Mass = worshipphing God only

For Catholics prayer is primarily a form of communication between those in Heaven and those of us on Earth. We are discussing our trials and tribulations with them as friends.

We reserve the Mass for worshipping God only.

There are also different types of prayers for different occasions. We have Intercessory Prayers, Thanksgiving Prayers, Petition Prayers, Adoration Prayers.
 
Atheistguy said:
It sort of makes Catholics seem like they worship multipel gods.
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We don’t worship multiple God’s, only one, we pray to the saints to intercede for us

but if you believe what your screen name says you are, I am sorry that you don’t believe there is a God, but the fact of the matter is, there is a God and he created you out of infinite love, and God does have a plan for you, and I will keep you in my prayers, that you will feel the love of God, like I did on april 15th 2006

God bless you
 
Then what is the need for the church if you and god right? you tell him you love him no one else has to know…:confused:
 
Atheistguy said:
Then what is the need for the church if you and god right? you tell him you love him no one else has to know…:confused:
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If that were the case we would not ask our family and friends to pray for us. We’d say ‘don’t bother praying for me, I’ll pray to God myself’. The more people you have praying for you the more efficacious the prayer. Why would a Catholic not want those who do not sin anymore and are in the presence of God to pray directly to God for them.

Christians do not exist in a vacuum. We are all a part of the Body of Christ, that includes those in Heaven, those in Purgatory and those here on Earth. We are all grafted onto the one Body of Christ.
 
I agree with what you say if there are not any believers then there is no god…
 
To “pray” means to make a request or to beg.

Catholics believe that saints are alive in Christ and that they are fellow members of the Church, the body of Christ.

Just as we ask those who (hopefully) are alive in Christ here on earth to pray for us to God, so we likewise ask those who are alive in Christ and now behold the face of God to pray for us. I would think that one of the great joys of the saints must be to pray for those of us on earth.

It’s kind of like the last lines from the Confiteor:
I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin,
all the Angels and Saints,
and you, my brothers and sisters,
to pray for me to the Lord our God.
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We don’t just ask that we be preserved from sin. We ask for other things as well.
 
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