Catholicism why pray to saints

Christ literally becomes part of us and strengthens us on our road to holiness and salvation. What greater personal relationship can one have with Jesus then actually partaking in his Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity?

Just like Catholics who go directly to Jesus but also ask Mary and the Saints to pray for us, Protestants themselves ask for the prays of their: pastors, ministers, elders, family and friends.

All Christians should have an intimate relationship with Jesus but also be united with the other members of the Body of Christ in prayer. Adriana Rodriguez Press Secretary Email.

Twitter: BQDiocesePress. Florian , a patron saint of both Austria and Poland. A third-century Roman military commander in Central Europe, Florian was martyred for refusing to offer a sacrifice to the Roman state gods. Today, he is the patron saint of firefighters as well, because of the special military unit he organized specifically to fight fires. Patron saints are also venerated by those with particular illnesses or concerns.

Peregrine Laziosi , a 14th-century priest who suffered from cancer himself, is the patron saint of cancer patients. Some patron saints are invoked in unusual ways. For example, St. Joseph , honored as the spouse of the Virgin Mary and guardian of the child Jesus, was invoked in prayer for centuries by Catholics for assistance in selling a house or property. The custom may date back the 16th century, when the Spanish nun St. Teresa of Avila and her community prayed to St.

Joseph for assistance in purchasing a house. They may have chosen St. Joseph because he is the patron saint of fathers, families and carpenters. Sometimes a holy medal of St. The reason St. They are not like the rest of the world. It is based on the teaching that all baptized faithful form one body in Christ Rom ; 1 Cor Keeping this in mind, all holy persons are in communion for belonging to the same Body, even the ones who have already died.

For this reason, the communion of saints extends through time and encompasses three different states of the same Body, which is the Church: the Church Militant on earth , the Church Penitent in purgatory and the Church Triumphant in heaven. For this reason, the Church upholds the saints in heaven with unique veneration.

Those of us still on earth form part of the Church Militant and continue to run the race as pilgrims. For this reason, Christians are called to practice penance and mortification on earth, that they may be purified and enter heaven when they pass from this world.

The Church does not pretend to have a list of all the saints in heaven. As far as we know, one of our deceased family members may be enjoying the beatific vision.

What we do know is that those who have run the race and have been victorious are not indifferent to the challenges we currently face. Rather, by forming part of the same Church, they are always attentive to our prayers and, through their powerful intercession, are eager to help us join them in heaven. There is also one mediator between God and the human race, Christ Jesus, himself human, who gave himself as ransom for all.

Scripture is filled with commands from God for us to pray for each other and we never hesitate to do that I hope! When I take your prayers into my heart and offer them to God, you are in my heart — your need or hurt becomes a part of me. By asking each other to pray, we are allowing the Holy Spirit to strengthen the bonds between us. Another reason we ask each other to pray is found in the Gospel of Luke. In Luke look it up! The issue for some appears to be a rather key tenet of Christianity: the resurrection of the dead.

As Catholics, we believe in the resurrection of the dead. We believe that, through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, there are people in heaven that we call saints.

We believe they are alive and active and living in the presence of God in a way that we cannot yet do. Since we believe that, we ask them to pray for us.