Why do Catholics venerate Saints?

Question

How does it fit into the economy of grace? Are blessings received for doing so? It is done in order to please God?

I heard the term "economy of Grace" on EWTN, the priest using it was referring to how grace is received through sacraments, good acts, prayer, etc, and how it is lost through sin, vice, etc.

Is prayer (asking for a Saint's intercession) the same as veneration? Part of veneration?

Answer 1

Saints are people in heaven or on their way to heaven. All Christians dead and alive are saints.

The Catholic Church selects some of the most extraordinary examples, does in-depth research, and canonizes them.

"By canonizing some of the faithful, i.e., by solemnly proclaiming that they practiced heroic virtue and lived in fidelity to God's grace, the Church recognizes the power of the Spirit of holiness within her and sustains the hope of believers by proposing the saints to them as models and intercessors."

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.

Answer 2

Venerating the saints does not bring a person grace; it's not a sacrament.

What pleases God is the Body of Christ (ALL believers) cooperating together for the common good. Since the saints in heaven are LIVING members of the Body of Christ, having already received the gift of Eternal Life that Christ won for us on the Cross, they are still part of the Body of Christ and it pleases God that they should have some active role in the mission of the Body.

I guess you could say that seeking the intercession of a saint is a form of veneration because it shows one's respect for and confidence in the saint.

Veneration of saints is completely optional. No Catholic is required to practice it, and our salvation is not dependent on it in any way, because we believe salvation comes from Christ alone.

Answer 3

I believe it came from the assimilation of early Christianity by the Roman Empire. When the Empire realized that people were converting faster than they could be fed to lions, they decided to adopt it as the religion of Rome, thereby gaining better political stability in their conquered territories.

Then, they started to change the doctrine, to better please everyone, and gain further control. The romans and Greeks were polytheists (you know, all those Greek Gods we learned about in elementary school) and the worship of just one God didn't sit well with many of them, so the veneration and eventual worship of saints was introduced, so they could go back to picking their favorite "god" and worshipping them.

"Catholic" literally means general or universal, and that's exactly what early Christianity was converted into. A universal Church that changed it's doctrine to integrate everyone's beliefs, so no one would feel left out.

Answer 4

Perhaps "honor" is a better word than "venerate." Saints (in the sense of those who have been canonized) are people who have lived lives of extraordinary sanctity. They have demonstrated a great love for God and compassion for His people, which makes them good role models for those of us still on earth.

Since they are now in Heaven and still members of the Communion of Saints, they are also in a position to intercede for us. We can ask them to pray for our needs, just as we would ask a friend or family member to remember us in prayer.

God is always pleased to hear the prayers of His children, so why would He be offended when someone who loved Him so dearly on earth comes to Him in Heaven and asks His help? If anything, I think the plea of a gentle soul like St. Anthony or the prayers of a St. Therese would be especially pleasing to Him. They refused Him nothing while they were on earth, and now He honors their prayers and those of all saints on behalf of those who ask their intercession.

Edit:

Ah, bigotry and hatred are alive and well here in R&S, I see. A Catholic gives you a perfectly good explanation of why we believe what we believe, and you do the thumbs-down routine.

Sad, but not surprising.

Answer 5

No, it's supposed to be amplification. Getting more people praying with you is supposed to get God's attention better. And saints are more available than mortal Christians. The veneration is to let them know you're thinking of them, since you can't send a postcard.

What, you can't have side-conversations in the Lord's presence?

Answer 6

catholic bashing=last acceptable form of bigotry... sad...

let me tell you a story about a woman who believed with all her heart that everyone should be able to die within a sight of a loving face... she and her sisters, Missionaries of Charity picked up the most wretched off the streets of Calcutta, bathed them, dressed them in clean clothes, fed them and allowed them to pass with dignity and in relative peace. NO ONE WAS EVER REFUSED. I have seen her work. She will be named a saint, she was a Catholic, her name is Mother Teresa, yes, I DO venerate her... if it offends you, then you do not have a fraction of the compassion she had... sad...

EDIT:oɯıssɐɯ ǝɹǝılƃısuoɔ ʞoɟ xǝ I LOVE YOUR AVATAR CHOICE, MARLON BRANDO WAS A CATHOLIC...

Answer 7

Veneration is a form of love and admiration for another person. I think it is pleasing to God whenever we love another person.

All blessings ultimatly come from God, but sometimes those blessings come to us through someone else. How many times have you felt blessed because someone you love has done something for you? God may give us the blessings, but another person may be an instrument of that blessing.

Answer 8

Just like the Rev. Chris Billy Bob said-dem Catholics is just devil worshippers-but now take a good ole evangelical like George Bush-he don't worship saints he just sends kids to die for oil...Hallelejah!!!!!.

Answer 9

First of all, the Ten Commandments clearly say you're not supposed to make graven images.....but then...

They'll give you the usual apologetics of "Don't you carry your loved ones' portraits in your wallet?"

However, that doesn't explain why so many Catholics kneel before saints' images or ask them for a miracle or cry out to Saint Jude or Mary.....that's not what I would call a standard behavior regarding family portraits....

Answer 10

Exo 20:4-5 "Thou shallt not make unto thee graven image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven avobe or that is in the earth beneath..."

5 "Thou shall not bow down thyself to them nor serve them..."

Need i say more, venerating saints is idolatry, and god frobade us from doing so from the very begining.