Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Praying to Saints?

So since I've been open about praying the Rosary, I've had quiet a few people express concern that I am "Praying" to saints.

I've mentioned in a previous blog that I am not praying to the saints but asking them to pray for me.

That blog can be found HERE!

Still, I have a lot of friends and family still convinced that I am praying to saints, and therefor, seeing them as gods.

This is FAR from the truth.

I want to make it very clear:

I pray TO God. Every Anglican does. If you pick up any Book of Common prayer, every single prayer is directed to God the father almighty.

so, what's the point of asking saints to pray? Why not always go directly to God?

well, let me ask YOU a question.

Have you ever dealt with something that burdened you? Maybe a particular sin you can't seem to shake?
 Or maybe a health issue?

Or a death in the family?

Sure! We all have. Now let me ask you this:

Have you ever gone to your family, friends, or fellow church members and asked them to pray FOR YOU?

I know almost everyone of my Christian friends do, because I see it on their Facebook statuses daily. You'll even see a prayer request on my wall on occasion.

So why ask them to pray for you if you can just go directly to God?

See the similarities?

Whenever I speak to a saint, I never ask them to deliver me or to cure me. I always ask them to pray for me.

Examples:

"Holy Mary, Mother of God (Again, Mary is the Mother of Christ who IS God. She is not the Mother of the father or the Holy spirit), pray for us sinners now and until the hour of our death."

or
"Saint Zachary, Patron saint of Peace, pray for us." etc.

Any prayer I send up to ask for forgiveness, healing, or strength, goes to God directly.

Another question I get constantly is "Is it Biblical"?

Actually, Yes! There are quiet a few passages in scripture in which it mentions the prayers of the saints in heaven.



  Hebrews 12:1
" Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us[b] and persevere in running the race that lies before us "

Key words there being " Great Cloud of Witnesses". So that tells me, that all the saints that enter heaven (canonized or non) are looking over us.

 Psalm 103: 20-21
"Bless the Lord, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, hearkening to the voice of his word! Bless the Lord, all his hosts, his ministers that do his will!"

Psalms 148
"Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise him in the heights! Praise him, all his angels, praise him, all his host!"

In the book of Revelation, John sees that "the twenty-four elders [the leaders of the people of God in heaven] fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and with golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints" (Rev. 5:8). Thus the saints in heaven offer to God the prayers of the saints on earth.


 Angels do the same thing:

(Rev. 8:3–4).
"An angel came and stood at the altar [in heaven] with a golden censer; and he was given much incense to mingle with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar before the throne; and the
smoke of the incense rose with the prayers of the saints from the hand of the angel before God"

The Rich man in the book of Luke called out to the Father Abraham to intercede on his behalf.

Luke 16:24
"The rich man shouted, 'Father Abraham, have some pity! Send Lazarus over here to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. I am in anguish in these flames.'


So we do have some strong Biblical evidence that the saints pray for us and that the saints on earth asking the saints in Heaven to pray.


The church in heaven is very much alive. The saints that are in heaven are in heaven with God. They have achieved enteral Life. They are just as much apart of the Body of Christ as the church here on earth.
 
More so, even, since they resonate in the same Domain (Heaven) as the God-head (Trinity).

So if I am willing to go to my earthly mother and ask her for prayers when I am dealing with something difficult, why wouldn't I be willing to ask my spiritual Mother Mary for prayers?

 Now does this mean that every single Anglican asks the saints for intercession?

No. We have a lot of people who refuse to participate when we meet in the Archbishop's office on the occasional Sunday of reciting the Rosary.

Is it nessicary to be an Orthodox Christian and to ask the saint to intercede?

Of course not.

Why do it?

Well, besides Biblical evidence, I see it strengthens my relationship with Christ when I communicate with his family members.

Here on earth and those I shall meet in Paradise when that day should come.

It strengthens my prayer life, and there for, my faith. It what works for me and many other, but not everyone has to.

If you choose not to, that's fine.

Just please keep in mind, that those that do, are not worshiping the saints.

Before I go, I do want to leave a great Spoken Word by Father Pontifex, a Roman Catholic priest, who does great justice with this subject.


The Lord be With you.

6 comments:

  1. People who disagree with this practice have preconceived ideas about dead people in general. It beats me why it would be fine to ask a friend to pray for me, but once she dies, it becomes idolatrous to do so. Those who die in the Lord are alive and since we are all in Christ, they are not far from us. Keep up the good work!!

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  2. "Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope! To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears! Turn, then, O most gracious Advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us, and after this, our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary." What about this prayer? There is nothing in it about asking the BVM to pray for you. Rather, the individual runs to the BVM for mercy.

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    1. Hi Jeff,
      To answer your question, I spoke with a wonderful priest named Father Greg from the Antioch Catholic Church. His answer was so good, I couldn't have answered better myself.

      "Mary is like a Saint on steroids. Her will is entirely one with her Divine Son so that, in the words of a Pope or two, she is "omnipotent by grace" in that she effectively wills everything that God wills, not more and no less. At the same time, her activity is always directed toward her Son, which is prayer, or telling us, "Do as He tells you" as she did at the wedding at Cana. So, in her merciful love for us (which she has since, more than any other pure creature, she "partakes of the Divine Nature" which is love: her Son is both Divine and human, so he is not "pure creature". His Deity is not created although His humanity is created), she is commending us, for our good and our salvation, to her son. In a sense, we all participate in each other's salvation in this way, albeit proportionately less effectively."

      Hope this helps!

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  3. No it doesn't! But thank you

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  4. Great post. The spoken word video at the end was awesome.

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