catholic people were supose to pray to GOD in the JESUS name not some made up saints?

Question

read your bible where did the catholics dream up these people from .where in the gospels does it tell us to pray to saints?

AND YOUR SAINT LUCY HAS NO EYES AND HOLDS A DISH WITH EYEBALLS ON IT THAT SOUNDS KIND OF SICK.

http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/stl01007.jpg
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Answer 1

The Catholic way of worship tends to ignore that we are all saints according to direct wording in the bible itself, even theirs!

I do not know when or why they dreampt up a system of electing and proclaiming saints. Jesus said if we believe we are saints, we are friends, we are servants, etc.

The bible also tells us not to try and contact the dead, this would be no different than praying to them, as praying is our means of contact with God.

Answer 2

Before Jesus Christ died for our sins and opened the gates of heaven there were no saints in heaven. Therefore there are no Old Testament writings that would mention them.

Very few of the new Christians died before most of the New Testament was written. Therefore there is little in the Bible about asking saints to pray for us.

However the last book of the Bible does talk about the saints in heaven praying.

Revelation 5:8: Each of the elders held a harp and gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of the holy ones.

Revelation 8:3-4: He was given a great quantity of incense to offer, along with the prayers of all the holy ones, on the gold altar that was before the throne. The smoke of the incense along with the prayers of the holy ones went up before God from the hand of the angel.

The Holy Spirit guided the early Church in many things not explained in the Bible including how does the Body of Christ (believers) on Earth relate to the Body of Christ (saints) in heaven. We are still one Body.

Catholics share the belief in the Communion of Saints with many other Christians, including the Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, Episcopal, and Methodist Churches.

The Communion of Saints is the belief where all saints are intimately related in the Body of Christ, a family. When you die and go to heaven, you do not leave this family.

Everyone in heaven or on their way to heaven are saints, you, me, my deceased grandmother, Mary the mother of Jesus, and Mother Teresa.

As part of this family, you may ask your family and friends here on earth to pray for you. Or, you may also ask the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Andrew, or your deceased grandmother in heaven to pray for you.

Prayer to saints in heaven is simple communication, not worship.

With love in Christ.

Answer 3

I'm constantly amazed at the ignorance of Protestants regarding the Catholic faith and the history of their own churches.

Catholics do not pray to saints. They do two things -- they pray directly to God, and they ask the saints to pray for them.

Before you get all huffy about how Protestants only pray to God -- every Protestant I have ever met admits that they have asked friends and family to pray for them. So don't give me any crap about how you ONLY pray to God. For someone who believes in Heaven -- there is no difference between asking the living to pray for him or asking someone in Heaven to pray for him.

As for that Bible -- read up on where it came from. It was a Catholic invention. It was written by Catholics, for Catholics and it was Catholics (at the 4th century Council of Rome) who decided that it was inspired by God. Protestants decided (on their own) to exclude several books from the Bible. Why is it that they believe the Catholics were right to say that most of the books were inspired by God, but think that the same people made mistakes in declaring that the other books are inspired? It doesn't make sense.

Answer 4

Learn to distinguish between prayer and worship.

Prayer is talking to people in heaven. Worship is that which is for God alone.

Praying to the saints is in keeping with what Jesus taught you, "Where two are gathered in my name..." What if you're alone? You remember a saint who's example in life has been a particularly good role model for you, and thus you have a personal friendly bond with such saint. You pray to them, which is no different than picking up your phone and calling your friend across town, and say, "Hey, all Glory and Honor I give to God, would you share with me giving that Glory and honor and be with me, as Jesus told us, where two or more are gathered in my name?"

If you were accused of a heinous crime and the judge was staring down at you, but you knew that you and the judge had a mutual friend, would you not ask that friend to talk to the judge? Surely, the honor due a judge is given only to the judge, but you'd still want that friend interceeding on your behalf.

That's all prayer to the saints is. It's not worship. It's not giving them glory or honor that is due to God. It's just asking a friend for help, because we believe they've been there and done that.

Answer 5

I never heard of Saint Lucy. But you're right about praying to Saints. Saint Blaze if you're choking on a fish bone, Saint Francis if your cat gets lost, Saint Joseph if you want to sell your house, etc. There's statues of them that you pray to. In the Bible it says there should'nt be on earth that which is in heaven. God is real, everything else is man made.

Answer 6

Oy veh, why don't you go to Mass and see how much you really disagree with. Just once. Promise we won't try to convert you. Just attempt to gain an understanding before getting upset.

Saint Lucy had her eyes plucked out and was martyred for the faith. You do believe there were martyrs, don't you?

Answer 7

We don't pray to the saints like we do to God and Jesus. We ask them to intercede on our behalf, like asking your brother to talk to your father. The saints are holy people who have not only been blessed by God, but have shown the capacity to do miracles.

Why are you so concerned about what we do?

Answer 8

the saints within the Rcc are like the hero's of today. they are everyday average poeple who did extraordinary things with their lives in the name of God and in the fight for Christianity.

from the Catholic Book of Saints:
Lucy's name means "light", with the same root as "lucid" which means "clear, radiant, understandable." Unfortunately for us, Lucy's history does not match her name. Shrouded in the darkness of time, all we really know for certain is that this brave woman who lived in Syracuse lost her life in the persecution of Christians in the early fourth century. Her veneration spread to Rome so that by the sixth century the whole Church recognized her courage in defense of the faith.

Because people wanted to shed light on Lucy's bravery, legends grew up. The one that is passed down to us tells the story of a young Christian woman who had vowed her life to the service of Christ. Her mother tried to arrange a marriage for her with a pagan. Lucy apparently knew that her mother would not be convinced by a young girl's vow so she devised a plan to convince her mother that Christ was a much more powerful partner for life. Through prayers at the tomb of Saint Agatha, her mother's long illness was cured miraculously. The grateful mother was now ready to listen to Lucy's desire to give her money to the poor and commit her life to God.

Unfortunately, legend has it, the rejected bridegroom did not see the same light and he betrayed Lucy to the governor as a Christian. This governor tried to send her into prostitution but the guards who came to take her way found her stiff and heavy as a mountain. Finally she was killed. As much as the facts of Lucy's specific case are unknown, we know that many Christians suffered incredible torture and a painful death for their faith during Diocletian's reign. Lucy may not have been burned or had a sword thrust through her throat but many Christians did and we can be sure her faith withstood tests we can barely imagine.

Lucy's name is probably also connected to statues of Lucy holding a dish with two eyes on it. This refers to another legend in which Lucy's eyes were put out by Diocletian as part of his torture. The legend concludes with God restoring Lucy's eyes.

Lucy's name also played a large part in naming Lucy as a patron saint of the blind and those with eye-trouble.

Whatever the fact to the legends surrounding Lucy, the truth is that her courage to stand up and be counted a Christian in spite of torture and death is the light that should lead us on our own journeys through life.

Answer 9

revelations : 'and bowl was filled with the prayers of the holy ones'

not the gospel, but it still proves the point.

its no different then asking someone else to pray for me, or saying please pray for my sick aunt.

Answer 10

all christians should pray to Jesus or through Jesus all christians who know Jesus are saints