If Saints cannot hear our prayers, and God hates it when we pray to them, why are the prayers answered?

Question

Forgive my always using Saint Bernadette, but she is my favorite Saint:

People go to Lourdes and pray to Saint Bernadette and do something with the spring she found- some of them are healed. One of the girls in my RCIA class: her aunt went there, was at the spring, and before her flight back to the states landed her pain stopped. She went to the doctors the next day and she was healed- I forget exactly what was wrong, but she had a very hard time walking (I can ask next class).

So if God doesn't want us to pray to saints, and they cannot help us, please explain then how they do.

Answer 1

And yet how many of the same people who say, "Mary and the saints are really demons in disguise!" stand up on Sunday and say the Apostles Creed:

"I believe in the Communion of saints, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting."

The definition of a saint (with a small S) is anyone who has accepted Christ as his Lord and Savior. Some of those saints are still in the body, and some have gone to Heaven to be with God. . .but they are all still part of the Communion of saints.

So if I can ask my sister or my friend (two living saints) to pray for me, I can certainly ask St. Anthony or St. Bernadette or St. Therese (all saints who are with the Lord.) They are alive as far as God is concerned. . .we have Christ's word on that:

Luke 20:38 For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him.

So don't let the nay-sayers and the Catholic bashers keep you from asking St. Bernadette for her prayers. She and all the saints, cannonized or known only to God, are very much alive and part of the same communion that we are.

Answer 2

I am not sure where you heard God doesn't want us to pray to saints, but I do believe you have received false information. Saints intercede for us. When we pray to them, they help answer our prayers. They pray on our behalf in heaven, and help answer our prayers, if it is God's plans. If God has a certain plan for us and it is meant to be a certain way according to his wishes, what you are praying for cannot be. Look at it as being a parent. When a child asks for a bowl of ice cream before dinner, most parents would say no. I look at God having the big picture and He knows what is best for us even when we don't agree. Just like when it comes to kids. Saints are there to give an extra boost, so to speak, to help get our requests answered if it will help us with God's big picture. My favorite Saint is St. Therese, the little flower, if I have something I really need, (one time my husband was out of work for eight months) I said a novena to St. Therese, when and if your prayers are to be answered, you will receive flowers from someone or somehow within a day or two. This is her way of letting you know your prayers will be answered.

Answer 3

Certainly it is correct to pray to God as in the "Our Father". And your Catholic friend is also correct. Look upon the "dead" as saying the "Our Father" for you to God. Why are you limiting their ability to pray for you in heaven? I cannot be sure there is anything in the Bible that says the dead can hear our prayers, but you do not need the Bible to tell you every little detail concerning the truth. Praying for the living and dead is reflected in the doctrine of "Community of Saints" which includes those in purgatory, heaven and earth.

Answer 4

St. Bernadette is my Confirmation Saint name so I do understand your love for her.

Non-Catholics do not understand....
A lot of times they mock us and put our beliefs down.
Pray for them, they need guidance from the Holy Spirit.
Loving one another is so difficult when others don't understand or believe what we do...
This is a huge mission in life to accomplish to be "Christ like".
I know we are hated by so many...that's okay. Still love and embrace those who do not believe and hate. That is what Jesus wants us to do...


I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
who was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
born of the Virgin Mary.
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into hell.
On the third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand
of God the Father Almighty.
From thence he shall come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Amen.

We are a family in the Catholic Church.

God Bless and thank you for this question. I may have answered it differently but this is where my heart is..

Answer 5

You can put pidgeons in a cage with different contraptions of levers, buttons, or nothing. Then you decide random intervals at which to feed the pidgeons. Over time the pidgeons will develop superstitious behavior. Some may turn periodically, others may push the level and button repeatedly, other do different rituals believing that the random event is not random but somehow under their control.

No man cometh unto the father but by me.

Answer 6

Saints DO hear our prayers.

We are always with each other, even after death.

Answer 7

First of all it is disingenuous to state that the practice of praying for each other has no biblical foundation, we are instructed in Scripture to have a prayer life for others as it is part of God’s commandment to love one another.

(2Co 5:8 DRB) But we are confident and have a good will to be absent rather from the body and to be present with the Lord.

The Catholic Church does not teach that it is absolutely necessary for one to ask for the intercession of saints for salvation. The Church does teach that prayer to God is necessary for salvation for all believers. For a Catholic it would be wrong to ignore the liturgical worship offered to God at feast days for the saints and the prayers asking for their intercession.

The Communion of Saints is a dogma of the ancient Church and is recorded in the apostles Creed. It simply states that the faithful because of their relationship with Christ are alive even after the death of their flesh and worship with us. To us the Church is made up of the Church militant who represents all those believers living out their hope in the flesh.

(Phi 2:12 DRB) Wherefore, my dearly beloved, (as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only but much more now in my absence) with fear and trembling work out your salvation.

(Phi 2:13 DRB) For it is God who worketh in you, both to will and to accomplish, according to his good will.

It consists of the Church Suffering who are those who are temporarily in need of further purgation from sin so that they may enjoy the presence of God.

(2Ma 12:46 DRB) It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins.

Lastly, the Communion of the Saints consists of those who have won the race:

(Phi 3:14 DRB) I press towards the mark, to the prize of the supernal vocation of God in Christ Jesus.

Their immortal souls are in heaven in God’s presence:

(Rev 5:8 DRB) And when he had opened the book, the four living creatures and the four and twenty ancients fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.

The universal stream connecting all of God’s creation is His love, which we take on in our baptism into our journey towards sanctification. This is not an emotional but a desire placed in us by the Spirit of God that endures as a desire for those other than ourselves and this love extends even to our enemies. This is truly a love that comes only from God and is a foreign concept and nonsense to those who have not received God’s salvific grace. This desire within our souls does not end with the death of our flesh but continues into eternity where the saints through their intercession in prayer encourage us in our race and assist us to endure unto our union with God.

I think that some people of faith, who do not understand the Communion of Saints, somehow believe that asking saints to pray for us is detracting from our love or our trust in God. In truth it is impossible, if we truly love as God commands and has given us the grace to understand, not to pray to those whom we love and in turn we expect them to return that same love to us by praying for us and presenting our prayers to God.

In Christ
Fr. Joseph

Answer 8

Because the person they are really praying to is a deceiver, and has them believing God is answering their prayers, when it is really him. Satan

Answer 9

Just to confuse you, if you pray to my dead cat she will answer your prayers...go ahead... her name is Pussah.

Answer 10

Dear sister,
You have asked a question which many people do no want to understand ...
Please Consider the miracle from the Bible, Although you may be knowing it, Please read it again.

Bible John 11
1Now a certain [man] was sick, [named] Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.  ........14Then said Jesus to them plainly, Lazarus is dead.  ................ 19And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.  ......  21Then said Martha to Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.  22But I know that even now, whatever thou wilt ask of God, God will give [it] thee.  .............33When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping who came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled;  34And said, Where have ye laid him? They say to him, Lord, come and see.  35Jesus wept.  36Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him!  37And some of them said, Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died?  38Jesus therefore again groaning in himself, cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it.  39Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith to him, Lord, by this time his body is offensive: for he hath been [dead] four days.  40Jesus saith to her, Said I not to thee, that if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?  41Then they took away the stone [from the place] where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up [his] eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me:  42And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people who stand by, I said [it], that they may believe that thou hast sent me.  43And when he had thus spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.  44And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave-clothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith to them, Loose him, and let him go.  45Then many of the Jews who came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on him.  

In the above portion of the Bible, the following verses mean....

But I know that even now, whatever thou wilt ask of God, God will give [it] thee. .............

(Jesus Christ pbh himself asked God & taught us to ask God...directly)


Why was "Jesus groaning in himself "
(He was pleading with God..... To raise Lazerus to life.....
Jesus christ pbh taught us to plead with God..... directly)

"Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me"
"but because of the people who stand by, I said [it], that they may believe that thou hast sent me."
(Jesus Christ pbh thanked "The Lord"..... Also because of the people should believe that God has send him ... The God who is capable of doing everything)

Now sister consider this........ Jesus christ pbh being alive could not do the above miracle by himself....... He also was dependent on God..... So is a dead saint better that a LIVE JESUS CHRIST pbh .......

Just think......

John 12
26If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will [my] Father honor.

(Above Jesus Christ told us to follow him....telling that he is the way....)

The following verse is also an EYEOPENER.

Mathew 7
 21Not every one who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  22Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? and in your name cast out devils? and in your name done many Miracles ?  23Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you evildoers!’

(Above it is clearly stated that you will be able to perform MIRACLES but still on the day of judgement when you will plead with Jesus Christ to save you , he will tell you to get away ... when you need him the most...)


The last prophet Muhammad s.a.w. also said the following.

Bhukhari Sharif 427
(Sayings & doings of the last Prophet Muhammad s.a.w)

Narrated Aisha and Abdullah bin Abbas

When the last moment of the life of Allah's Apostle came he started putting his 'Khamisa' on his face and when he felt hot and short of breath he took it off his face and said, "May Allah curse the Jews and Christians for they built the places of worship at the graves of their Prophets." The Prophet was warning (Muslims) of what those had done.

It is a test from god... he forbids us to do wrong things and checks if we are obeying him or not....

Now a person when he was alive could only understand 3/4 languages when he was alive ,and when approached by a person with a foreign tongue would not understand anything,,,, Suprisingly after death understands all the world languages ..... The power of knowing what is in whose heart .... who is asking what in his heart only belongs to God almighty,,, How come this knowledge is being shared by the saint who has died.....