Why does it matter which saint to pray to?

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Larowyn

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I don’t understand why saints have specific purposes. Wouldn’t it suffice to pray for the intercessions of the saint of the day or all of the saints rather than look up some saint that is somehow related to whatever one wants to pray for? Couldn’t I just pray to St Zita to help relieve a sore throat and St Blaise to help find my keys?

If I have to pray to a specific saint for something, how often does one pray to St Joan of Arc for the liberation of France, for instance? I don’t mean to not sound serious, but it seems like some saints would just not be getting many prayers.
 
You are welcome to pray to any Saint that you wish to, for anything that you wish to.

Their patronage in particular areas is derived from their lives, their ministry, and their devotions. It certainly makes sense to pray to a Saint for which you have a particular affinity, or a common circumstance. But, one is not obligated to pray to any particular Saint.
 
Of course, you may pray to whomever you like and for whatever reason you wish - there are no rules. However, if a certain saint is the patron of a particular cause (like St. Joseph is the patron saint of the working man, for obvious reasons), then asking for his intercession to help you find the right job to support your family is like taking your broken car to the mechanic rather than to the chiropractor.
 
So then it does matter which saint one prays to for specific things?
 
The way I look at it is like having a number of aunts and uncles that you can ask for advice or help…some things you might feel more comfortable asking Uncle George about and some things Aunt Sarah. 🤷

Anyway, all prayers eventually get to God; the saints are really just helping us out by having God’s ear. 😉

BTW…HSR avitar, very cool. One of my favorite songs is “The Cheat is not dead”. 😃
 
It only “matters” in the sense that some would naturally tend to pray for a saint’s intercession who is the patron of the cause they desire. However, if you have a devotion to a certain saint, you could ask for their intercession regardless of the reason.

The saints are all in God’s presence and interceding for us. You should do whatever makes you feel comfortable. If one saint is known for helping those who suffer deep despair (St. Jude), that is who the desperate turn to naturally. However, it’s not a rule that you must pray to St. Jude if you’re feeling hopeless about something. It’s all a matter of what makes you feel comfortable. If your devotion is to another saint, then there is certainly nothing wrong with that.

Personally, I tend to lean on the Blessed Mother with most of my requests. That doesn’t make it wrong because I’m neglecting the saints. I also have a devotion to St. Pio and I ask his intercession for many things, even if he is not the patron.

I hope my jibber-jabber was helpful. 🙂
 
This is just an afterthought. Prayer is our communication with God. There are never, ever any rules on how we should communicate with God, just as no one can tell you how to communicate with your own parents. You can do it directly or through the intercession of the saints. The saints are there interceding for us. You can take advantage of that, or not. No rules. Prayer is a personal preference.
 
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