Please don't misunderstand, I am not trying to find flaw within the Catholic religion, but can you please help me understand why you pray to Saints? How do you justify it when the Bible does not align on this practice? Just trying to understand a little more...
2007-10-17 04:08:29 · 31 answers · asked by julesl68 5 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Unfortunately, no one has explained this to me yet. Specifics, people, not just opinions please. Thank you!!
2007-10-17 04:13:06 · update #1
Graciela, now THAT is what I'm talking about! Thanks for taking the time...
2007-10-17 04:21:48 · update #2
Maybe it's just me, but I think there is a difference between a statue of Mary and a random statue that has no Biblical history, so comparing true Biblical figures against non-Biblical figures is not really comparing apples to apples.
2007-10-17 04:24:51 · update #3
Hahaha! Anardari (sp?), I appreciate (with much amusement) your spin on things!
2007-10-17 04:28:10 · update #4
TeBone03, thank you for taking the time also. Lots of good information and helpful insight.
2007-10-17 04:41:30 · update #5
Why not? The fundamentalists will say "they're not there with Jesus in heaven yet," but ignore them. Fundamentalists are not saved Christians, but teach a false gospel of works. They will say about Mary that it is against the bible for us to pray to her, and that we idolize her, but that kind if ignorance doesn't even need commenting on.
You ask your friends to pray for you, right? Why not ask a friend who is "up there" right next to Jesus to pray for you?
2007-10-17 04:10:22 · answer #1 · answered by Acorn 7 · 12⤊ 5⤋
Catholics do not ask the Saints to take us to God the Father. We do not ask the Saints to forgive our Sins. We do not ask the Saints to save us from damnation. We do ask them to pray for us. Why do we do so? The simplest answer is because we can!
By some fundamentalists' logic, no one should pray to God, but only to Jesus.
Catholics believe that Saints do not cease being members of the Body of Christ, but are more alive than any of us on Earth. Paul wrote that not even death could separate us from the love of God.
Not only are Saints members of the Body of Christ, they are our spiritual siblings in the Lord. Do you ever pray for members of your immediate family?
In the Gospel of Matthew, saints were resurrected from the tomb, and walked among the living. (Matthew 27: 51-53: "And behold, the veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth quaked, rocks were split, tombs were opened, and the bodies of many saints who had fallen asleep were raised."
God is the God of the living, not of the dead. Saints are alive, and they can pray for us, with greater efficacy than us sinners on earth.
2007-10-17 12:25:39 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
We do not pray to saints as a way to God or for a path to salvation in any way. That is a misconception constantly hurled at us.
Salvation is through Jesus and Jesus alone. Prayers to saints are requests for intercession - help. We ask them for prayers the same as we ask family and friends for prayers. Same difference. It's that simple.
God bless.
2007-10-20 06:43:06 · answer #3 · answered by Danny H 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
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, Mother Teresa and Pope John Paul II.
As part of this family, you may ask your family and friends living here on earth to pray for you. Or, you may also ask the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Andrew, or your deceased grandmother living in heaven to pray for you.
Prayer to saints in heaven is simple communication, not worship.
Asking others to pray for you whether your loved ones on Earth or your loved ones in heaven is always optional.
For more information, see the Catechism of the Catholic Church, section 946 and following: http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt1sect2chpt3art9p5.htm#946
With love in Christ.
2007-10-17 17:14:25 · answer #4 · answered by imacatholic2 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Why do Protestants pray to their pastors, and give "prayer requests" to their favorite televangelist? and even asks prayers from their friends and relatives? Why do they use pastors as a go between them and God? When the scripture plainly says that Jesus Christ is the only mediator. One verse among among many: I Timothy 2: 5For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; 6Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
2016-05-23 04:02:38 · answer #5 · answered by vonda 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Praying to Saints originally started out about 50-100 years after Jesus died on the cross....there was an ascetic movement in the followers of Jesus and these people would live pretty much like John the Baptist - go out into the desert, live in a cave, eat barely anything, pray constantly, etc....
Well there are many stories of people going out to visit these "wise" people who lived this way - even state dignitaries and leaders.
Once these people died and "went to heaven" they became even more revered to the followers and some began to have feasts at their grave sites to remember them and also began to pray to them for help. It was believed that these ascetics had some special gifts to be intermediaries between the living and Jesus and God.
Later on, when the stories were actually written about these people, they were dubbed saints...thus starting the tradition of praying to a saint as help to get to God.
There are MANY traditions that the apostles followed that are not in the Bible - they are still followed by the Catholics as part of the belief that as long as it comes from apostolic succession, it is a valid and proven tradition that is Holy- which scholars believe were the first organized group of Jesus followers (once the Council of Nicaea happened - then Christianity was officially considered an institution, a mere 300+ years after Jesus died...)
2007-10-17 04:19:01 · answer #6 · answered by SisterSue 6 · 6⤊ 3⤋
They pray to saints because the Catholics believe when a saint dies he or she is in Heaven and so they think a saint is a mediator just as Jesus is a mediator between people and God. That is all there is to it. It is just a way to try to get your prayer answered with help from a saint.
2007-10-17 04:23:13 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 3⤋
+PAX
Have you ever asked a friend to pray for you or your family? Has a friend ever prayed for you? Have you ever been on a prayer list or put someone on a prayer list?
It's the same exact thing. The friend (St. whoever) is praying for us....just as your friends pray for you and you pray for others.
Simple.
In Charity,
j
2007-10-17 16:14:37 · answer #8 · answered by teresa_benedicta_of_the_cross 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The historic Christian practice of asking our departed brothers and sisters in Christ—the saints—for their intercession has come under attack in the last few hundred years. Though the practice dates to the earliest days of Christianity and is shared by Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, the other Eastern Christians, and even some Anglicans—meaning that all-told it is shared by more than three quarters of the Christians on earth—it still comes under heavy attack from many within the Protestant movement that started in the sixteenth century.
If you want scripture referrences, go to this link:
http://www.catholic.com/library/Praying_to_the_Saints.asp
2007-10-17 04:18:48 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 3⤋
it also says to respect another religion
i am christiain, i dont understand anything about catholics but i understand they are different religions based on love and understanding and the bible says alot of things that can be misunderstood. if you need information ask someone like a teacher at church or talk with a parent,
2007-10-17 04:15:23 · answer #10 · answered by redhotgermangrl 3 · 5⤊ 2⤋
You'll get all sorts of reasons but not a single one will be in the Bible. Interestingly enough they refer to Mary as the Queen of Heaven. In Ezekiel one of the reasons God destroyed the temple was because they had set up an Idol in the temple and called her "The Queen of Heaven". They prayed to her and worshipped her. I'm not even Christian and I know they're practices are contrary to the Bible. At least with the idiot faith healers they put on a show. Catholics tout a piece a bread with Jesus in the butter and call it a miracle.
Those practices of Saint worshipping and prayer and statues goes back to Rome and Emperor Constantine. He made Christianity the official religion of Rome. Problem was most were pagans and he got a little slack with allowing them to keep their statues and "gods" and quaintly turned them into Christians statues and Christian saints. Mary included.
2007-10-17 04:17:31 · answer #11 · answered by Bug Fuggy 5 · 1⤊ 6⤋