Wanting to know more

[LilyM]

JSmitty2005:

Praying to the saints is done by simply asking them to pray for you. So, yes, it is usually accompanied by a prayer to God for the same request but this is not necessary. For example, say I have lost my keys. I would pray, “Oh, Lord, help me find my keys before I have a conniption,” and then immediately follow that up with a prayer to St. Anthony, “St. Anthony, pray that I may find my lost keys.” Haha. That’s a dumb example, but you get the picture.

Yes.

Funny, I don’t normally feel the need to do both … I simply say ‘St Anthony, you’re patron of lost objects, please help me find my keys …’

I see it as being like my workplace, you don’t need to go right to the MD for every single thing (not unless the MD is a control freak anyway)

 

[havemercy]

I’m certainly praying for you and your family. May God grant you peace.

 

[Mike_D30]

Lorarose:

Catholic don’t “have” to pray to the saints…it isn’t required.

It is similar to asking your friends to pray for you, only these friends are already in heaven.
There is no formula for asking your friends to pray for you, and there is also no formula for asking our friends in heaven to pray for us.

You will come across standard prayers that have been composed - but it is not required to adhere to a strict form.
If you prefer to have an informal “discussion” with a saint, that is fine too.

We see standard composed prayers to God too…we use them, but we also “talk” to God in a conversation.
There is no set rule or ratio as to which you should use and when.

It comes down to what works for you - what are you comfortable with?

I agree with Lararose, praying to Saints for intercesson isn’t necesarry. The only Saint I ask to pray for me is Mary for intercession. But mostly I pray directly to God. I am personnally big on a lot of the set prayers, especially the Our Father, Hail Mary, Apostles Creed, Confetitor, the Rosary, Divine Mercy Chaplet all the basics. But I also will have conversations with God more informally too. If I’m confused about my faith I ask God to show me the way, if I’m having problems at work, I ask God to help me with my insight to overcome a problem. But in the morning and evening I have my routines that work for me.

Really there’s no standard that you have to pray a set way, and to Saints. But as Christians we believe that death does not end us, so asking those Christians that were examplary that went before us for their prayers can’t hurt any.

 

[LittleDeb]

sw_myers:

Hey, thanks for all the answers. I appreciate them all. I have been reading up on catholic beliefs and have gained a basic understanding of them. I do have a question on prayer to the saints though…(I bet you hear that often) Its not in regards to the ‘theological’(don’t know if that is the right word) aspect of it…but I guess it is how often do you pray to the saints…and how often do you pray to god? or better phrased… How does one even pray to the saints? And if I pray to the saints to intercede…do I, in the next breath, pray to God for the same request. I guess I’m just curious how it is applied…Can you say one prays(venerates) to the saints as much as prayer to God?

my protestant background has taught me that prayer is conversation with God…like a best friend. Is that the same with catholicism?

These may sound like dumb questions… but thanks for being patient with me.

Not dumb at all. It actually is a good perspective on this question.

Praying to the saints. Well let’s say you could carry around every friend you have who has ever prayed for you. At a moment’s notice you could ask any one of them or all of them to pray for you. Wouldn’t that be wonderful? Let’s further say that you knew each and every one of these friends is truly with God and that you know their prayers are heard by Him. Wouldn’t you want to let them know everything you need and ask them to pray for you all the time? Even though you would not cease praying to God, wouldn’t you still want to ask others to pray for you too? It is no different than that. Since were are all alive with God, mortal death does not mean we cease to exist. Physical death does not end the connection to others who have gone before us.

A conversation with God is a good starting point. We can have conversations with anyone. The relationship with God is even deeper than that. It might be too early to talk about, but you will soon be wanting to understand the real definitions of the word worship. You might get hungry to know that a relationship with God is so intimate that you will invite Him into every aspect of your life, even your bedroom. You may start to want to fully participate in the scriptural words, “pray without ceasing.” It isn’t a metaphor. Conversations are a very good start, but conversations do end. The worship and adoration you can explore in the Cathoilc Church are unending and completely fulfilling.

PS. I didn’t used to pray to saints unless totally desperate. I would finally give up and ask St. Anthony to intercede to help me find lost things. Now I just ask him at the beginning and it goes so much quicker.

 

[JSmitty2005]

sw_myers, I love how you approach the Church in such an honest and objective way. You are the perfect example of what G.K. Chesterton said about what happens when men are just to the Church:

“It is impossible to be just to the Catholic Church. The moment men cease to pull against it they feel a tug towards it. The moment they cease to shout it down they begin to listen to it with pleasure. The moment they try to be fair to it they begin to be fond of it…”

 

[BlestOne]

sw_myers:

Hey, thanks for all the answers. I appreciate them all. I have been reading up on catholic beliefs and have gained a basic understanding of them. I do have a question on prayer to the saints though…(I bet you hear that often) Its not in regards to the ‘theological’(don’t know if that is the right word) aspect of it…but I guess it is how often do you pray to the saints…and how often do you pray to god? or better phrased… How does one even pray to the saints? And if I pray to the saints to intercede…do I, in the next breath, pray to God for the same request. I guess I’m just curious how it is applied…Can you say one prays(venerates) to the saints as much as prayer to God?

my protestant background has taught me that prayer is conversation with God…like a best friend. Is that the same with catholicism?

These may sound like dumb questions… but thanks for being patient with me.

SW. Have you ever asked a friend to pray for you? It is the same thing only Catholics divide the Body of Christ into 3 communities:
Church Militant…you and me…all of us on earth.
Church Suffering…Those who have died and are being purified to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven…often called purgatory
Church Triumphant…Those in the presence of our Lord in Heaven.

Almost all Christians have no problem asking a friend to pray for them, we as Catholics believe that those who have entered the Kingdom are part of our church community so it is not only ok to ask them to pray or intercede for us, it is preferable as they are already purified and in Heaven with God.

We do not worship saints, we ask them to intercede for us. Many Protestant churches incorrectly teach that Catholics “worship” Mary our Blessed Mother since we pray to her. We honor her as the mother of our Lord…good enough and pure enough to carry Jesus in her womb. She is particularly honored as the ultimate rolemodel for women and mothers. There are different types of prayer…Worship and Praise, this is for God alone. Intercession, asking for help from those who have gone before us to intercede on our behalf to God.

Does this answer your questions? Please ask if you need any clarification.

 

[sw_myers]

BlestOne:

SW. Have you ever asked a friend to pray for you? It is the same thing only Catholics divide the Body of Christ into 3 communities:
Church Militant…you and me…all of us on earth.
Church Suffering…Those who have died and are being purified to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven…often called purgatory
Church Triumphant…Those in the presence of our Lord in Heaven.

Almost all Christians have no problem asking a friend to pray for them, we as Catholics believe that those who have entered the Kingdom are part of our church community so it is not only ok to ask them to pray or intercede for us, it is preferable as they are already purified and in Heaven with God.

We do not worship saints, we ask them to intercede for us. Many Protestant churches incorrectly teach that Catholics “worship” Mary our Blessed Mother since we pray to her. We honor her as the mother of our Lord…good enough and pure enough to carry Jesus in her womb. She is particularly honored as the ultimate rolemodel for women and mothers. There are different types of prayer…Worship and Praise, this is for God alone. Intercession, asking for help from those who have gone before us to intercede on our behalf to God.

Does this answer your questions? Please ask if you need any clarification.

Yea it makes sense… I know that catholics don’t ‘worship’ saints. I learned it as not praying(which was ascribed as worship) but as veneration. And growing up protestant, It is hard to seperate prayer from worship.

Another question, which could probably be solved just by calling the catholic church here, but I thought i’d ask here as it may be a bit late to call…I have 2 children, 3 years and 10 months. I assume there is a nursery available during Mass? At least the Saturday night and Sunday ones…right?

 

[JSmitty2005]

sw_myers:

Another question, which could probably be solved just by calling the catholic church here, but I thought i’d ask here as it may be a bit late to call…I have 2 children, 3 years and 10 months. I assume there is a nursery available during Mass? At least the Saturday night and Sunday ones…right?

Depends. Our parish used to have one, but they had to do away with it.

 

[MMG]

A good Catholic person you might want to contact that might be close to you is John Michael Poirier. He is a wonderful Catholic musician that performs around the states. I believe he lives between Tulsa and Oklahoma City. He maybe of help or could guide you in the right direction to help you connect with other Catholics. Contact him at michael@prayersongs.com.

 

[beckyann2597]

sw_myers:

Another question, which could probably be solved just by calling the catholic church here, but I thought i’d ask here as it may be a bit late to call…I have 2 children, 3 years and 10 months. I assume there is a nursery available during Mass? At least the Saturday night and Sunday ones…right?

Yes, Please call the church and ask, but it is not as common to have nurseries at Catholic Churches as it is in Protestant Churches. In my experience, you are expected to drop your kids off at the nursery at the protestant churches that we have visited, but the Mass (the Catholic worship service) is a family affair and it is much more common to have your kids with you. I do have a hard time with my two year old, but my 9 year old likes to sit in the front of church to get front row seats whenever possible.

 

[jimmy]

sw_myers:

Hey, thanks for all the answers. I appreciate them all. I have been reading up on catholic beliefs and have gained a basic understanding of them. I do have a question on prayer to the saints though…(I bet you hear that often) Its not in regards to the ‘theological’(don’t know if that is the right word) aspect of it…but I guess it is how often do you pray to the saints…and how often do you pray to god? or better phrased… How does one even pray to the saints? And if I pray to the saints to intercede…do I, in the next breath, pray to God for the same request. I guess I’m just curious how it is applied…Can you say one prays(venerates) to the saints as much as prayer to God?

my protestant background has taught me that prayer is conversation with God…like a best friend. Is that the same with catholicism?

These may sound like dumb questions… but thanks for being patient with me.

Welcome to the thread. I hope that you recieve all the answers you need.

When we pray to saints it is simultaneously a prayer to God. By praying to saints and asking their intercession I am also praying to God. It is not really the words that matter, it is the heart that God looks at. In prayer you are to lift your heart to God and focus with love. You could use no words in prayer and have a perfect prayer. My point is that even if I address my prayer to Mary for example, I am also praying to God.

You can pray to the saints as often or as little as you like. It is not a necessity. In the liturgy there are two times when the saints are mentioned, in the Confiteor and in the Eucharistic prayer. So there are two prayers that include the saints. The whole liturgy is addressed to God. The Liturgy of The Hours is pretty much all prayer(Using the psalms mostly) to God. So Christian prayer is centered completely around God.

We would agree that prayer is dialogue with God. I don’t know if I would say the prayer is like dialogue between two best friends(even though God is your best friend). I would say it is more father to son dialogue. The most important thing in prayer are humility. All prayer is worship of God.

 

[AquinasXVI]

Hey SW:

Hagiography, the vast collection on the writing and lives of the saints is one of the fun part of studying the faith. Each saint would have their particular virtues that is a reflection of Christ…in a way, like Christ being pure light when looked through the prism will show all the colors…so in each saint we get an idea of how Christ may have been like (outside the gospel accounts)The saints perfected as best they can the virtues and because they lived in history would be great support for what we experience today. They also give us an insight on the amazing possibilities that we can emulate in following Christ.

The more you read about them, the more you feel and know this Communion of Saints that the creed talks about.

in XT.

 

[valient_Lucy]

sw_myers:

I have some general questions about catholicism and was wondering if you could help answer them. First I might tell you a bit about myself.

I’m a 26 year old welder from oklahoma, married and 2 kids. I actually was a licensed minister in the church of the nazarene for a few years(children’s pastor). At some point in time, I resigned because I lost my belief in god…sad but true…I came to believe that there was no god out there and that if anything had to be done, I had to do it myself.

But for the last year or so, I’ve began looking for that something that has been missing in my life. I have begun to accept that I do need god…

Anyways, to make a short story long…I am interested in the catholic faith…I have really no knowledge of it though, it very well may not be what I am searching for…but I will never know unless I try. My wife and I are going to attend the catholic church here in town some time in the near future…but one thing that scares us is that we don’t know the liturgy. Are all churches the same? will this one be different? What if we don’t do something right? How can I find someone to talk to me in my town about the catholic faith(i don’t know any catholics). Thanks for the help.

My advice about going to Mass for the first time is simply this: just go. If you’re afraid to go for a Sunday Mass, go to a weekday Mass, since they’ll be a lot fewer people. Remember, as a non-Catholic, you won’t be allowed to recieve communion, but go and pay careful attention. Watch what the priest does and listen to the words that he says. Pay attention to the congregation too, and what they do and say during Mass. After Mass, you may want to take notes (either written or mental) of any questions you have had about your experience. Once you have your questions, you can come back here and post them on the forums.

 

[Oregon_Artist]

"Yea it makes sense… I know that catholics don’t ‘worship’ saints. I learned it as not praying(which was ascribed as worship) but as veneration. And growing up protestant, It is hard to seperate prayer from worship."

I am a new Catholic and I have had the same problem. I don’t think it is uncommon. I have had to redefine worship for myself. Or rather come to a better understanding of it. I would highly suggest you read about the definition of worship in the Catechism. First is Adoration. Adoration is “to acknowledge him as God, as the Creator and Savior, the Lord and Master of everything that exixts, as infinite and merciful Love.”…“to praise and exalt him and to humble oneself, as Mary did in the Magnificat, confessing with gratitude that he has done great things and holy is his name.”
The second is prayer, and then Sacrifice. In a way this is a living sacrifice offering our lives to him in how we live and what we do.
“By uniting ourselves with His sacrifice we can make our lives a sacrifice to God.” However the “only perfect sacrifice is the one that Christ offered…”
It goes on. And I am not sure that I can explain it all here because it is somewhat complicated. If you get Catachism, I highly suggest you do, read #2095-2103
God Bless