Do Catholics Worship The Saints?

[Dismas]

We Christians, Protestant and Catholic alike, ask one another to pray for us in our times of need.

Why? Well first, the purpose of our existence of flesh, even in Eden, is that we may learn to love as God loves us through our mutual frailty. This is what love and charity are all about. This is why Catholics believe that while Faith justifies us and saves us, Faith without [i]agape[/i] Love (often called Charity), that is a sacrificial love that asks for no return, is dead Faith.

Second, when things are going badly, quite often we turn from our trust in God, and begin to worry about the problems we face in our earthly exile. We ask others to pray for us, that their prayers may bolster us spiritually, as they call upon God to pour forth further graces upon us.

Third, we ask others to pray for us, and we pray for others that we may more constantly and consistently pray to God.

Lastly, wretched sinners like myself often have trouble keeping our minds upon God. When we lose focus on God, we are headed for trouble. I ask others to pray for me because the Lord knows quite well that there are times when I'm sure not praying. It is therefore my sincere hope that in those times of foolishness, that the graces from those interceding for me will carry me past my temptations and near occasions for sin. I hope that I may safely return to Him then, with renewed effort to be a faithful adopted son.

These are all well and good, and so I believe I have addressed the rhetorical argument against the prayers to the saints. Now, let's hit the theological arguments.

First, some Protestants believe that either the soul sleeps between death and the Final Judgment (psychopannychism) or that the soul dies until the Final Judgment (thnetopsychism). Were this true, then praying to saints would be wholly in vain. Thankfully, Catholicism believes otherwise, as do a number of Protestant groups. As such, when we die, we are perfected in Christ in heaven, and share a powerful intimacy with Him. That being so, should our brothers and sisters still struggling on Earth call out to us in heaven, would we not plead to Christ as we did on Earth?

The second, and far more common, theological argument against the prayers to saints regards communication. It is simple to ask your brother to pray for you in the flesh, as you both have ears and mouths to communicate. Those who have died in Christ, however, do not have fleshy ears to hear with, and lacking flesh, are not readily seen. And as such, it is hard to believe they may hear us. This is not a problem to the well formed Catholic, however, as we have the Eucharist. When we eat the flesh and drink the blood of our Lord Jesus, we assimilate Him within us, and pray that in that assimilation, that we may be assimilated in His spirit. As we share ourselves with Him and Him with us, we really do become one Body. We are one, and so such thoughts of communication problems dissolve. We pray to the saints in Christ and through Christ. That is why, even an ugly church can bring me beauty and peace, because in the Eucharist, I am never alone.

[pippo buono]

[quote name='ckozlowski' post='1390097' date='Sep 21 2007, 05:36 PM']pippo, could you tell me what you told your friend??

i need to understand this concept.

thanks[/quote]

i would love to. What about it concerns you?

You might want to read Dismas' post first, he explains a great deal on the topic.

[dairygirl4u2c]

[quote name='LouisvilleFan' post='1390285' date='Sep 21 2007, 08:55 PM']And mine wasn't? [/quote]

it was a louiseable response

[Laudate_Dominum]

[quote name='dairygirl4u2c' post='1391082' date='Sep 22 2007, 09:24 PM']it was a louiseable response[/quote]

[Apotheoun]

Some of the information in the thread below may be helpful:

[url="http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/index.php?showtopic=26534&st=0"]Jesus vs. Mary and the saints: Distractions?[/url]