Catholics: If you claim that the Virgin and the Saints are NOT deities??

Question

Why do you then pray to them?

Why do you then build them churches?

Do you pray to plain humans? Or do you view them as deities?

Stanbo, you're not in the least answering the question.

Churchmusicgirl: Not true.

I've heard countless times people asking this or that saint or the virgin to grant them a miracle.

They do so fervently. And they keep images of these saints and cross themselves before these graven images.

Answer 1

Do Catholics worship the saints? To worship someone is to acknowledge that the one who is worshiped is divine, is God. Sometimes we can confuse cultural gestures of reverence for gestures of worship. In doing so, we often judge not as God does, by what is in the heart, but rather by appearances (see Jn 8:15, Is 11:3).
Catholics hold saints in esteem because they are such wonderful images or mirrors of Christ. Paul several times exhorts his readers to be imitators of him: "Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ" (1 Cor 11:1, also Phil 3:17, 1 Cor 4:16).
Mary is the first saint, and holds high honor today, as she did in the early Church. Over the course of history, devotion to Mary has taken many forms, and even has been confused with worship. Church teaching has consistently placed Mary in the company of the saints, however.
Devotion to the saints comes back to the theology of image: Christ is God's image, the saints are Christ's image. We honor them because we desire to imitate them. We pray to them the same as we call upon earthly friends to do a favor for us. This too, is scriptural. In Acts we read of Peter and John going up to the Temple for prayer and encountering a beggar. Peter says to him, "I have neither silver nor gold, but what I do have I give you: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean, rise and walk" (Acts 3:6). Peter makes it clear that he has the power of Christ in his possession.
To be sure, it is Jesus who heals, but Peter holds the right to extend that power. The same can be said of Paul. In Acts 19:11-12 we read, "So extraordinary were the mighty deeds God accomplished at the hands of Paul that when face cloths or aprons that touched his skin were applied to the sick, their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them." These texts are the basis of the Catholic practice of asking saints to help us, of honoring (not worshiping) the bodies and relics of saints.

God bless,
Stanbo

Ok. We don't pray to them, we ask them to pray for us.

We do not build them churches, churches are for worshipping God alone.

We do not pray to humans, nor do we view anyone other than God in the Trinity as deity.

God bless,
Stanbo

Answer 2

As I have often said, we Catholics are lazy with our speech. We say we pray to saints, but we're actually asking them to pray WITH us to God.

Think of it this way. Have you ever been in a situation where you wished you could ask your deceased mother/father/grandparent/sibling what they would do? Have you ever gone to a grave stone and talked "to" that person? For Catholics, it's much the same thing.

As for the churches, they are all built for God. We name them after saints or whatnot as sort of a theme for the community, but really, it usually means little to those who attend that church.

Answer 3

They are not deities in themselves but, they are members of the Body of Christ and as such they may intercede for us. Why does this bother other Christians that we know our brothers and sisters in Christ are alive? We do not pray to dead people and it is clear that all of Heaven is aware of us on Earth or how could it be that all Heaven rejoices over the conversion of one sinner? I think it is pride that tells people their prayers here on Earth are much more powerful than the ones who have proved their faithfulness in Heaven.

Answer 4

will my answer or any answer change your mind?

Mary and the Saints are known to have interceded with their own prayers to God for their congregations.
The church has the records of miracles from the people who have asked for help.
Naming a church is a respectful and proper gesture,, just as the presidential libraries or hospital etc.
all prayers have a similar content
Mary mother of god PRAY FOR US.
Good luck !
PS: Now I see your additional comments
I knew your only provoking so you can deny and redute any answer.
I wonder what your profile will tell us..

Answer 5

You are way wrong. Praying to a saint is merely asking them to pray for a specific request we have. It is no different that me asking you to pray for my mom because she has heart problems. Would you refuse to pray for her? I hope not if you call yourself a Christian! We follow the example of those who asked Bathsheba to take their requests to King Solomon. He granted any request she brought to him simply because she was his mother and if it was important to her, it was important to him. THAT is why we ask Mary specificlaly, and the sainst in general, to present our petitions to the Lord. We worship GOD ALONE. Anyone who says Catholics worship saints or makes gods out of them is either ignorant of the Catholic faith or just wants to lie to make others believe the lie.

We believe those who are in Heaven are more alive than we are- AND they stand in the presence of God! So if you don't believe the saints' petitions on our behalf have any merit before God, don't ask THIS poor sinner to pray for you!

Oh- we don't build churches TO saints. We build churches TO GOD. We name them for different saints- heroes of our faith who have ' run the race with perseverance' and set a beautiful example for us on how to live a holy life.

ANY FRIEND OF GOD'S IS A FRIEND OF MINE!