Why its important to pray to the Saints of the Church

[Iesu Christo]

PRAYERS TO SAINTS:
FOR HEAVENLY HELP FROM
GOD'S MOST GRACIOUS ADVOCATES




Some people ask “why say prayers to saints? Shouldn’t all our prayers be to God?” Praying to the saints is praying to God, in a fundamental way. We're praying to those who can ask God to help us in our various needs in accordance with His will.

When you ask someone to pray for you are you worshiping that person? Of course not! It’s the same when we ask the saints to pray for us! In our prayers to saints we ask them to “put in a good word” for us with God in Heaven. They are not the focus of our worship, God is.

In this regard, it is worth noting that many compilations of prayers to saints also include prayers by them as well, to our Lord. The important thing to remember is that all these prayers have the same Divine destination, for our salvation.

The authors of the Vatican II document Lumen Gentium (“light of the nations”) noted that it was important that we “suppliantly invoke" the saints and "have recourse to their prayers, their power and help in obtaining benefits from God through His Son, Jesus Christ, who is our Redeemer and Saviour."

For example, in one well known prayer to St. Joseph we ask him to
“assist me by your powerful intercession and obtain for me from your
divine Son all spiritual blessings through Jesus Christ, Our Lord.”

In the saints we have as advocates members of what is called the Church triumphant (those already in heaven.) We on earth are part of the Church militant.

In addition, with the Church suffering (those in purgatory) we all make up what is known as the Communion of Saints, part of one glorious mystical body of Christ in His Church. We are truly all in this together!

Note that the saints had their weaknesses and struggles just we do. But they also had a tremendous devotion to God. They became canonized (that is to say, officially recognized) as Catholic Saints after their deaths. This was usually done after a lengthy review of both the holiness of their lives and miracles associated with them.

What is comforting is that with the saints we have so many members of our Church in heaven to look out for us! Do you ever feel some days like you need all the help you can get? You can ask one of many patron saints for their assistance. They’ve been “put in charge” of various causes, occupations, (and even countries!), though popular traditions or by the Church. These saints are considered our protectors as well as our intercessors.




St. Patrick is the patron Saint of Ireland, for example, and people get their throats blessed on the feast day of St. Blase. (Just as a reminder, a feast day in the Catholic Church is a day to give special honor, that is to say recognition, to God, saints, doctrines, or sacred events.)

Many saints are patrons of more than one occupation or cause, such as St. Joseph, who, besides being a Universal Patron of the Church is also considered a patron saint of fathers, carpenters, and social justice. St. Therese of Lisieux, the "Little Flower," is patron saint not only of florists but also of missions as well.

The Blessed Virgin Mary is also considered a patron saint and has been given quite a few names as one, including many for places she has appeared (as in Our Lady of Fatima, Our Lady of Lourdes, and Our Lady
of Guadalupe).

Many prayers to saints take these “patrons” into account. For example, people pray to St. Anthony for lost items; to St. Jude (or perhaps St. Rita) for lost causes; to St. Gerard for motherhood; to St. Peregine for Cancer victims; and to St. Dymphna for those with mental or nervous disorders, or epilepsy. For many years the prayer to St. Michael the Archangel was included at the end of Mass for his help in defeating Satan.

Keep in mind that God also calls on us to be saints. If this seems like too tall an order, remember that, with God’s help we can live our lives reflecting His love and goodness, letting Him work through us, just like the saints!

As we read in the wonderful prayer of St. Francis “Lord make me an instrument of your peace…grant that I may not so much seek to be loved as to love.” Just ask for God's help in prayer. Remember, He’s an important part of your prayers to saints as well.

Reference

http://www.ourcatholicprayers.com/prayers-to-saints.html  

[real eyes realize]

I think it's a crime to write so much and fail to distinguish how God intercesses for us: one of the most important intercessors given to us is the one he sent to dwell inside each one of his living children:

Quote:

Romans 8:15-16, 26-27 (NIV)

15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.[f] And by him we cry, “Abba,[g] Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.
     [...]
26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

Footnotes:
f. Romans 8:2 The Greek is singular; some manuscripts me
g. Romans 8:3 In contexts like this, the Greek word for flesh (sarx) refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit; also in verses 4-13.

The Holy Spirit.

Not to mention, our messiah as well:

Quote:

Romans 8:34 (NIV)

34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.

Jesus is non-stop "putting in a good word" for us. What you posted, and how it was written, makes it seem like these two don't exist when it comes to intercession. I know he calls us to pray for each other (that I don't negate). What I find to be an issue is the level of reliance we put on other human beings over the Holy Spirit and our Messiah, as if the Father is incapable of hearing us through the Holy Spirit and incapable of hearing the intercessions of our High Priest in Heaven (Jesus).

Devil Never Cry Sparda

Just ask for God's help in prayer. Remember, He’s an important part of your prayers to saints as well.

This is a frightening contradiction. Invoking God to get a message to the saints? If God is needed to get your prayer to the saints in the first place, why do the saints need to receive the prayer at all? God heard it already. question I don't point this out to sound pompous or contentious; contradictions are a serious issue.

edit: also, we don't pray in order to get our friends to pray for us. We just ask them. No scripts. Just, "hey I'm having trouble let's pray together" and as we both pray, both being in-dwelled by the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit hears and carries the message.  

[Chewie2590]

Is There Another Christ?  

[iArchduke Franz Ferdinand]

I've only prayed to Jesus. But it is okay to pray to virgin Mary or the saints if you want to.