As a former Protestant, we were not aloud to “pray” to the Saints. This logic was explained by the first commandment of the Law of Moses in Exodus 20:2 and Deuteronomy 5:6 “You shall have no other Gods before me”.
As a Catholic convert, I would like to explain that we do not “pray” to the Saints and refer to them as “gods”. We ask the Saints to intercede for us (pray for us) just as Protestants ask other Protestants to pray for them.
Catholics also distinguish between 3 forms of reverance : Latria, Dulia and Hyperdulia.
Latria means adoration, a reverence that is directed only to the Holy Trinity. It carries an emphasis on the internal form of worship.
Dulia means veneration, is the act of honouring a saint, a person who has been identified as having a high degree of sanctity or holiness.
Hyperdulia is a level of veneration higher than Dulia, but less than Latria, properly given to the Virgin Mary only.
With these defined, the Catholic Church maintains the highest level of worship and reverence reserved for God alone.
Unfortunately, Protestant theology usually denies that any real distinction between veneration and worship can be made. It claims that the practice of veneration distracts the Christian soul from the worship of God.
As Thomas Aquinas explained: “Reverence is due to God on account of His Excellence, which is communicated to certain creatures not in equal measure, but according to a measure of proportion; and so the reverence which we pay to God, and which belongs to Latria, differs from the reverence which we pay to certain excellent creatures; this belongs to Dulia, and we shall speak of it further on “
Now that I have explained the differences between Latria, Dulia and Hyperdulia, let me continue with common Protestant arguments against praying to the Saints.
PRAYING TO THE SAINTS WHO CAN’T HEAR US?
I would like to mention that scripture actually indicates that those in heaven are aware of the prayers of those on earth and offer them to God.
In Revelation 5:8, John depicts the saints in heaven offering our prayers to God under the form of “golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.”
Revelation 5:8 “and when he took it, the four living creatures prostrated themselves before him and with them the twenty-four elders; each one of them was holding a harp and had a golden bowl full of incense which are the prayers of the saints.”
DO CATHOLICS COMMIT NECROMANCY WHEN PRAYING TO THE SAINTS?
Another argument that my former Protestant family has is that praying to Saints is like praying to the “dead” and thus Catholics commit the sin of necromancy.
The difference here lies in the fact that Catholics don’t believe the Saints are dead. According to Catholics, the Saints are very much alive in heaven and closer to Jesus than anyone on earth ever could be.
For instance, scripture shows us that Moses and Elijah appear with Christ to the disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration after they died and communicate with Jesus (Matt. 17:3).
There is a difference between holding a creepy seance to communicate with the dead or playing with ouija board and asking a Saint (who lived an incredibly holy life while on Earth) to pray for you to Jesus whom he was close to for his entire earthly existence.
ARE SAINTS MEDIATORS TO GOD?
“For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:5).
Catholics do not treat Saints as mediators to God. We understand that Christ is unique mediator between man and God. Again, when Protestants pray and intercede for other Protestants, they don’t treat their brothers and sisters as mediators to God, simply people that pray for them.
That role as mediator is not compromised in the least by the fact that others intercede for us, on earth or in heaven.
Personally, I think it is an honour as a Catholic to be able to ask a Saint over a sinner to pray for me to Lord Jesus Christ! And now that I know, that I can ask every Saint in Heaven to pray for me, how much more rich and deep my faith has become! Glory be to God.
YOU SHOULD ONLY PRAY TO JESUS ARGUMENT
Yes. And we do. Again, we do not pray to the Saints, we ask them to pray for us (just like Protestants ask others to pray for them). We do not worship the Saints, we venerate them. All denominations of Christianity are focused on Jesus Christ as the mold of their Christian walk. The slight differences in theology make room for miss-understanding and miss-information, but both Catholics and Protestants pray to Jesus and recognize Him as the only one worth of the highest form of worship and reverence. The Saints are simply our brothers & sisters in Heaven that can intercede for us. For Christ’s church is not only comprised of the Church on Earth, but also of the one in Heaven.
May the Lord bless you and unite us once and for all, in our deep longing for Jesus Christ.
Meet the author
Johanna – Hebrew for “God is Gracious”
I’m a former New Ager, Yogi & spiritual nomad turned Christian after a moment of illumination in 2017. I created this website to help you differentiate between light & darkness and to answer questions about spiritual topics from a Catholic Christian worldview. ->Find me on IG @myjourneytojesus