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Saints are believed to be divinely connected with God, like a direct line. So we pray to them to ask them to ask God to help us, or pray to God for us, we believe God can do some miracles, through the saints. For a Catholic, the Saints are very much alive and in heaven, and just as you would ask a friend to pray for you, you can ask the saints to pray for you as well. Catholics use the word "pray" in the traditional sense of the word, whereas most protestants use "pray" to be the same thing as worship. Catholics do NOT worship saints.
What else can I help you with?
Do Catholics pray to statues?
No, Catholics do not pray to statues. Catholics pray to God, Jesus, and ask Saints to pray for them.
Can Catholics ask dead people to pray for them or do they have to be saints?
Catholic do not pray to 'dead people' unless they are saints.
Are Catholics required to pray to saints?
Catholics are not required to pray to saints, but it is a common practice in Catholic tradition to seek the intercession of saints for their prayers. This is based on the belief that the saints can intercede on behalf of individuals before God. Ultimately, prayer in the Catholic faith is directed to God, but saints can serve as intercessors.
Why do you pray to saints?
Catholics pray to saints to intercede on their behalf with God. The Reformation leader, Martin Luther, considered this akin to polytheism and therefore banned this practice from his churches, so Protestants do not pray to saints.
Are islamics allowed to worship catholic saints?
umm, first of all Catholics do not worship saints, they ask them to pray for us. And yes, anyone can ask a saint to pray for them, even if they aren't Catholic. However, I don't think Muslims believe in the same type of heaven as we do, so I am not sure how much sense it would make for them to believe in the saints in the first place.
Why can it help christians to ask the saints to pray to almighty god?
Only Catholic Christians pray to saints. Protestants Christians do not. We [Protestants] believe they were disciples/apostles of Jesus, but we don't ask the them to pray for us.
Why are saints important?
Saints are important because they are role models and because they intercede with God for us in heaven. Catholics believe that because saints are in the friendship of God, their prayers for us are heard. Non-Catholics sometimes have a problem with this because they can't understand why people can't just go directly to Jesus. My question to non-Catholics who take that position is how they justify asking their friends here on earth to pray for them, yet don't see that as a problem. The saints live in the presence of God and have proved their love for him before they died, so they have influence with Him.Saints make excellent role models and give us insights into how we should conduct our lives. They are also wonderful intercessors for us before the throne of God. Here on earth we do not know how we should pray but saints are experts at prayer and can help us to obtain the favors we ask of God.
Do Catholics worship their statues?
No, we do not worship statues they are simply to help us think of or remember Mary, Jesus or one of the saints kinda like you would keep a picture of a friend or family member in you wallet or on your wall. The statues are simply a remembrance of them or something to help us think of them. Just to clarify we also don't pray to or worship saints or Mary we intercede through them like you would ask a friend to pray for you when you are in time of need.
How do protestants worship?
Protestants may pray in silence , in groups or outloud. However , they do not like using formula prayers , and they do not pray to Mary or to saints. (The implication above is that people of other faiths - like Catholics - do pray to Mary or to saints. This is not the case and any Catholic who says otherwise is mistaken. Catholics ask Mary or saints for intercession on their behalf, but do not pray TO them. "Holy Mary, Mother of God, PRAY for us sinners..." Catholics only worship and pray TO God our Father and His son Jesus Christ. The best way to explain this to a Protestant is as such: Have you ever asked a family member or loved one to pray for you due to some hardship or difficulty you were going through? Catholics ask Mary to pray for them in much the same way.
What do Catholics do to help the poor?
How do we help the poor? It may be easier to ask where we don't help the poor. The Catholic Church is the worlds largest charitable organization. See this wonderful article on the subject.
Why do Catholics pray to saints when Jesus said the only way to the Father is through Him it never mentions in the Bible to pray to saints?
In reality, we do not so much as pray 'to' the saints as 'through' the saints. We ask them to join us in our prayers to God for a special intention. It is no different than asking a friend to pray for you or your intentions. The saints are part of the Mystical Body of Christ, as we also are if we are in God's favor. Another term is the Communion of Saints. We are one big family divided only by our current state of existence.
Who do Catholics pray to?
When Catholics pray they are always praying to God whether its directly or indirectly. They Pray directly to God, or they pray to His saints, or Mary for their intersession.Catholics pray to the same people that other Christians do, Jesus and God. Additionally Catholics may ask certain individuals such as Mary or the Saints to intercede on their behalf, because those Saints have God's ear so to speak..Catholic AnswerCatholics define prayer or praying as the word as traditionally been understood in English, to politely beseech or ask, as in "Pray, continue to explain..." Protestants use the word "pray" to mean "adoration" or "worship" of God, this is not the Catholic understanding of prayer and when we say that we pray to saints, it is no different than asking a friend to pray for you, we do not mean that we are giving saints the adoration that is due to God alone - this is a misunderstanding with the traditional definitions of the words involved. Thus, Catholics normally pray to God, they also pray to their Guardian Angel, their patron saint, other favorite saints, etc. It has been a common Christian belief, actually going back to when we were all Jews, that God assigns an angel to each of us to guard us through life. This angel, our assigned "Guardian" thus prays for us regularly to God, and we can certainly ask his help when we are in need. Catholics believe that the most powerful intercessor is Our Blessed Lady, as evidenced by her intercession for the wedding couple they ran out of wine. We believe that Our Blessed Lord loves His mother very much and always listens to her pleas. This is based on the Scriptures where the Queen Mother interceded for the people. See 1 Kings 1:17, 2:18. Also see the related question below, on why Catholics pray to Mary.
