As a Catholic, I know there are patron saints for specific causes. If I want to say contact St. Francis, for example, how do I go about it without it sounding like I'm praying to him directly (that honor only goes to the Lord, according to what I studied in Cathecism years ago)? Basically, my question is how do I ask a Saint for intercession regarding my request to the Lord? What's the proper way?
2007-02-13 11:40:24 · 8 answers · asked by StantheMan 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
talk to the saint the same way you would talk to a friend. fro example
dear st francis, i come to you now at this hour of need,so that you may pray with me to our lord god that i may................
you may also use the prayers that a particular saint formulated or was well known for,for example st patrick has his breastplate
christ be before me,christ be beside me...............
you can find the full prayer on the majority of catholic websites and you can also locate the prayers of other saints on these sites(simply type catholic in your search engine if you do not know any sites,your local catholic/christian store will also have them).
remember the saints are there for us when we need them as we are all a part of the body of christ, ask the saints the same way you would ask your friend,mother,father etc to pray for you.
2007-02-13 11:51:42 · answer #1 · answered by fenian1916 5 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Begin your prayer with the sign of the cross, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Then just pray to whomsoever you choose.
Baptized Catholics are members of God's own household, we have the high privilege and the distinct honor of being able to directly address any or all members of the Holy Trinity, or anyone else in heaven, whenever we care to.
While Jesus' redemptive work and mediation makes all this possible, and the power of the Holy Spirit facilitates it, there is no requirement that we channel prayers through any particular member of the Trinity.
God is God.
And as all the saints are also members of God's household, and brothers and sisters of Jesus, just as we are, there's no problem at all in praying to them, for for them, or with them.
THEY know who they are, and so do we. There's no chance we could mistake them for God. So there's no chance we could ever worship them.
Anyone who says otherwise doesn't understand how the mystical body of Christ, or the Communion of Saints really works, and is probably just tryng to stir up trouble.
So, if you want to communicate with St. Francis, ask for him by name, tell him what you need, and see what he might be able to do for you.
Since God is the one who empowers all the the angels and saints, anything that comes of your prayers can only be of God.
2007-02-13 21:44:51 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 1⤋
Kudos for carefulness to only honor the Lord.
Two examples from the bible come to mind of people starting to worship the person who delivered a message. In both cases the messenger said something like, "Don't worship me, I am also a man".
Isn't there a fine line between praying to a saint and worshipping that person?
2007-02-13 21:03:00 · answer #3 · answered by far from perfect but forgiven 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
We are told in Scripture to repent and seek Christ, not "signs and wonders".
The "signs and wonders" that are being done by this group are not substantiated by Scripture.
However, the Scriptures they use do apply to cases of demonic possession and results of God's judgment.
Why does the Catholic Church encourage its members to pray for the dead?
The Scriptures very strictly forbid any attempt to summon the spirits of the dead or to try to engage them in conversation mention in Leviticus 19:31 and 20:6, as well as 1 Samuel 28.
2007-02-13 19:59:54 · answer #4 · answered by House Speaker 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I'm sure it says in the bible that you can only pray to God and maybe Jesus.
Also...
If Jesus is God as part of the trinity, then there is one god that you pray too. If you also pray to saints, then does that mean they have supernatural powers? If so, surely Catholicism is not a monotheistic religion, as each of these saints has god-like powers.
2007-02-13 19:57:35 · answer #5 · answered by The Truth 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Like fenian191 says, person to person.
After my parents died I found myself many times saying, "Mom, Dad, please pray for me today." I knew their faith in God was a real part of their lives and that I could in good faith ask them to pray for me now.
If the thought of praying with a saint to God is troubling, then simply pray and trust that the saints will pray with you.
2007-02-13 19:59:13 · answer #6 · answered by mr.savagendhs 1 · 1⤊ 1⤋
To intercede means to "go between." The very act of asking a saint to intercede is asking them to go to God for you. After all, they are in heaven. You're stuck here.
In the Hail Mary we ask Mary to "pray for us sinners." We are asking her to intercede for us. To take our problems to God.
Say you have a sick pet. You want St. Francis, patron saint of pets, to help your pet get better. You would ask him, "Dear St. Francis, patron saint of pets, please intercede for (insert pet's name here). Ask our sweet Lord to grant him healing and peace." Or just "St. Francis, please pray for (insert pet's name here).
Tomorrow, St. Valentine will be very busy. All those requests for love.
2007-02-13 19:56:38 · answer #7 · answered by Max Marie, OFS 7 · 1⤊ 2⤋
there is none.
which way does not matter.
Jesus Christ is the ONLY intersessor between God and man.
Jesus Christ is God.
how dare you try to expel Jesus Christ from His rightful place as intersessor and replace him with some fallable human.
2007-02-13 19:49:44 · answer #8 · answered by Chef Bob 5 · 3⤊ 4⤋