Why do Catholics pray to the dead?

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While Lutherans do not, generally, practice invocation of the saints, it isn’t because they are dead. They are alive in Christ, and pray for us, The Church Militant, unceasingly.

Jon
Hi Jon

Thanks for your comment. It changed my views!
 
I always we asked them to pray for us not pray to them. As part of my daily community obedience prayer we end with:

May our blessed Lady pray for us.
May Saint Francis pray for us.
May Saint Clare pray for us.
May all the saints of the Third Order pray for us.
May the holy angels watch over us and befriend us.
May our Lord Jesus give us his blessing and his peace. Amen

👍
 
We need to be clear. There are 23 churches, not rites. Within the 22 Eastern churches, there are only five families of rites: Alexandrian, Antiochene/West Syriac, Byzantine, Chaldean/East Syriac and Armenian).

There is nothing scandalous about this: the Catholic Church is actually a federation of 23 self-governing churches, technically called churches sui iuiris. The faithful are members of churches, not rites.

ewtn.com/expert/answers/catholic_rites_and_churches.htm/QUOTE

A Rite is not a Church, it is a variation of ceremony permitted by Church law. God Bless, Memaw
 
I always we asked them to pray for us not pray to them. As part of my daily community obedience prayer we end with:

May our blessed Lady pray for us.
May Saint Francis pray for us.
May Saint Clare pray for us.
May all the saints of the Third Order pray for us.
May the holy angels watch over us and befriend us.
May our Lord Jesus give us his blessing and his peace. Amen

👍
I’m a Lutheran, and I could pray this.

Jon
 
=BlueKnight;13152016]I believe Martin Luther did not believe in purgatory so he took the book of Maccabees out of the Protestant bible because in it it is clearly depicted that the Jews prayed for their dead.
Please see post #21 in this thread. Neither Luther nor Lutherans prohibit prayer for the dead. Lutheran funeral services often include them.

Jon
 
A Rite is not a Church, it is a variation of ceremony permitted by Church law. God Bless, Memaw
And that’s exactly what we’re talking about. There’s no such thing as the Ukrainian Catholic Rite, it’s the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. This particular church uses the Byzantine Rite. The same is true of the Melkites: there is no Melkite Catholic Rite, only the Melkite Catholic Church, which also uses the Byzantine Rite. So does the Russian Catholic Church and the Greek Catholic Church. They all use the Byzantine Rite, but are distinct Churches sui iuris. I belong to the Latin church, and use the Roman Rite (there are multiple rites in use within the one Latin church; the term “Latin Rite” is a misnomer).

There are 24 churches, not 24 rites.
 
Two issues are at hand here. (1) Praying to the dead, (2) praying for the dead. The OP asked about (1).

Before we get into the issues, let us remember that prayer is not necessarily worship. Many Protestants believe that the two are synonymous. Christians worship only the True God, and Catholics are fully Christian in this belief and practice.

Catholic Answers tract: Is Prayer Synonymous with Worship?

(1). We believe, as do all Christians of good will, that the souls of the departed live on in Heaven. Therefore it is not “prayer to the dead” but we pray to people who are very much enjoying eternal life, as we hope to do one day. We do not practice anything forbidden in Sacred Scripture. The prohibition is on two-way communication with the dead, or “necromancy”, and we do not practice this. Any apparitions of supernatural origin come from God without being requested.

Catholic Answers tract: Praying to the Saints

(2) We believe in Purgatory, which has its basis in Scripture, and therefore we believe that prayers for the dead can be efficacious for their release from the painful purification that they undergo before reaching Heaven. But that is a topic for another thread.

Encyclopedia: Prayers for the dead
 
When it is forbidden in the Bible?
I think it’s extremely important to realize that when Catholics say “pray to” that we are not implying that we are ruling out God from the equation all together and relying upon a saint to answer our prayers. We use “pray to” in its archaic meaning of “to request” or “to ask.” So when you hear “prayer to the saints” or “prayer to Mary” it means we are asking or requesting them to pray to God on our behalf. It’s confusing if you do not understand Catholic doctrine. No Catholic prays directly to a saint INSTEAD OF to our Lord, but rather we are invoking them to lift our prayers up to God as they are closer to Him in heaven than we are on earth and they have been purified and perfected by God. Saints are a continuation of the Church on earth and cannot be separated by death.

The practice of intercessory prayer is biblical. Revelations 5:8 makes it clear that those in heaven can hear us and do pray for us.

Read the tracts here on Catholic Answers for a very good explanation:

Christ is a unique mediator between man and God because he is the only person who is both God and man. He is the only bridge between the two, the only God-man. But that role as mediator is not compromised in the least by the fact that others intercede for us. Furthermore, Christ is a unique mediator between God and man because he is the Mediator of the New Covenant (Heb. 9:15, 12:24), just as Moses was the mediator (Greek mesitas) of the Old Covenant (Gal. 3:19–20).

The intercession of fellow Christians—which is what the saints in heaven are—also clearly does not interfere with Christ’s unique mediatorship because in the four verses immediately preceding 1 Timothy 2:5, Paul says that Christians should interceed: “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectful in every way. This is good, and pleasing to God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:1–4). Clearly, then, intercessory prayers offered by Christians on behalf of others is something “good and pleasing to God,” not something infringing on Christ’s role as mediator.

Necromancy is not a Catholic practice and is forbidden. We are not practicing necromancy because the saints are not dead, but more alive than we are.
 
Would it be possible to receive some more answers to this question?
Thanks!
 
We don’t believe in purgatory, however we do believe in prayers for the dead .
hope that helps .
Keep the faith , Starwars 🙂
 
We don’t believe in purgatory, however we do believe in prayers for the dead .
hope that helps .
Keep the faith , Starwars 🙂
What is your understanding of the prayer for the dead? If the are in heaven, they need nothing, if they are in hell, it is too late.
 
What is your understanding of the prayer for the dead? If the are in heaven, they need nothing, if they are in hell, it is too late.
Not sure either of us believe that God is limited to our perception of the passage of time, but Lutherans have never been opposed to prayer for the dead.

Jon
 
Not sure either of us believe that God is limited to our perception of the passage of time, but Lutherans have never been opposed to prayer for the dead.

Jon
Sure sure, but when I meant too late, I didn’t mean in a temporal sense. The people in Hell have made a final decision and will never enter Heaven. So again, if Heaven, no one needs prayers, in Helll, it is no use. So why not be opposed, if the doctrine of Purgatory is not contemplated?
 
Is God constrained to time like we humans are?
As I said in post 62, I meant not temporally but logically. You would agree that after death comes judgement, so the decision ones makes cannot be changed. God made us free, therefore he won’t force us into Heaven. It is not about time. What is the use of such prayer, for the people in Heaven or in Hell then?
 
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