Why do we have holy cards?

[kristanl]

Why do we have Holy Cards for Saints?
I have always wondered why we have explicit prayers were are supposed to say to Saints. I understand what novenas are meant to do. I have always wondered if our prayers to set up in a way, so that we are asking them to pray for us and nothing else?

Thanks for your help!!

 

[CWBetts]

Why do we have Holy Cards for Saints?
I have always wondered why we have explicit prayers were are supposed to say to Saints. I understand what novenas are meant to do. I have always wondered if our prayers to set up in a way, so that we are asking them to pray for us and nothing else?

Thanks for your help!!

Many times on holy cards, the prayer is something written by the saint.

 

[dconklin]

Holy cards are a good way for us to remember the saint, what they did and that they are to serve as our inspiration and as our intermediaries.

 

[kristanl]

Ok thanks! I see what you mean, but we are not required to have the saints pray for us through those cards though correct? You could still pray in another way.

 

[Cluny]

Why do we have holy cards?

Because they are much more fitting to put in your Bible or prayer book as markers than ratty scraps of paper with assorted doodles on them.

 

[ConservativeOne]

I believe you’ve already been given the answer - but prayer cards are handy to have/carry with us and for passing on to others who are interested in a particular saint. Not to mention, consider keeping an envelope near your bed table, bureau or counter - wherever - and on the Saint’s Feast Day - take out the image, say the prayer on back, and then leave that image out for the day in honor of the saint == (or in the case of the Blessed Mother an image of her particular title - i.e. Our Lady of Mount Carmel; Our Lady Assumed into Heaven, Our Lady of Czestohowa (sp?) etc.)

 

[ac_claire]

Ok thanks! I see what you mean, but we are not required to have the saints pray for us through those cards though correct? You could still pray in another way.

Absolutely. The holy cards are not actually “holy” even though that’s what they’re called. They’re just little pictures of saints with prayers on the back. Very handy for use in prayer, and also I use them as bookmarks in my Bible and other Christian or devotional books, or even in my Liturgy of the Hours prayerbook when I run out of ribbons.

 

[Cluny]

<< or even in my Liturgy of the Hours prayerbook when I run out of ribbons.>>

No matter how many ribbons a liturgical book has, you ALWAYS need a few holy cards, a couple of slips of paper, and a well-placed finger.

 

[Aramis]

They serve much the same purpose as icons for the East:

a visual and tangible reminder of the saint, their message, and the meaning of their life &/or death. A tool for remembrance and teaching.

Likewise, memorial cards for funerals remind us to pray for the deceased.

My cantor’s songbook has a collection of memorial cards and holy cards, some western, some eastern. A reminder that, when I cantor, I unite myself with the church, both on earth, in heaven, and also in purgatory. Said collection is in sports-card-protct 9-card sheet. (It’s a page protector with 9 small pockets.)