Praying to saints is a contentious topic among the different christian denominations, but I do not think it should be. It is true that we can always go to God for help, and I agree that we should. It seems to me, and maybe for other Catholics as well, that the saints are just another way to go to God for help. I do not think we (Catholics) “pray to” saints but “pray through” them. I think this is done for a couple reasons, but one reason stands out to me personally. One of my best friends, he is actually the person that brought me back to the faith, was going through a tough time in his life. As we were talking he said something along the lines of, “What does He (Jesus) know of suffering, He is God with the perfect family.” While it is true that Jesus is God, and his family was perfect, I think the point he was getting at is it can be difficult to see yourself, or connect with someone you see as vastly different than you. The argument that can be leveled at this idea, “you are lacking in your faith then,” I think is a fair one, but should we not attempt to recover our faith by any moral means possible? The saints are easier for some to connect with, just look at the beginning of Saint Anselms prayers to any of the saints. Saint Anselm always begins with how terrible of a sinner he is, and I will speak for myself here, makes him more relatable to me, who is also a terrible sinner.
The difference between “praying to” and “praying through” is a small but important distinction. One of my favorite prayers, the Hail Mary, has the verse “Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.” Notice that it does not say, “forgive us our sins,” only God can forgive sins, but we can ask Mary, who is the closest to God to pray for us on our behalf. Similarly in Saint Anselm’s prayer to Saint Paul, he says, “I seek someone who will pray for me,” he continues a few lines later with, “that you, Lord, may spare, and you, Paul, may intercede (Saint Anselm, 146 & 147).” He never asks Saint Paul to have mercy on him but to pray for Saint Anselm in overcoming his affliction of sinfulness. Just as we ask Saint Mary to pray for us due to her closeness with God, we can ask other saints, who by definition are in full communion with Him to pray for us as well.
Asking saints to pray for you has no true difference than asking your mom, your friend, or Mr. Smith to keep you in their prayers. We are just asking these people to ask God for His help on our behalf. This reminds me of the monasteries we have talked about previously in our discussions. The analogy was made that these monasteries are fortifications against the demons of the world, and the monks are spiritual warriors on our behalf, going out and doing hardcore spiritual warfare. Well to use a similar example the saints are sort of like a prayer factory on our behalf, they are asking for God’s grace and mercy to be bestowed upon us at a much higher rate. The fact that the saints’ bodies are no longer among the living should not be an important point to christians. We believe in everlasting life, we believe that those in heaven are still in communion with those who have been baptised. They are still members of our spiritual family, so really there is no difference between asking Saint Michael to pray for me and asking any of the people reading this.
The saints also serve as role models for those here on earth. I am going to assume that all christians share the same ultimate goal, to know and love God. Well who, besides Christ, is better to look up to than the saints, who they themselves were imitating Christ in their lives. It always leads back to Him. By looking up to and following in the footsteps of those that came before us and achieved the goal that we all share, we are striving to join in that heavenly community that they already successfully have. We can recognize God’s hope through Saint Teresa of Calcutta, His charity through Saint Maximillian Kolbe, and His faith through Saint Joseph. These saints did not possess these virtues on their own but only through God. They are people to be looked up to because like the angels they mirror Him. The saints are part of God’s prescence in the world, and as christians we should be striving to do the same thing. One of the passages that we read yesterday was the martyrdom of St. Stephen Protomartyr, as he was being stoned he did the following, “And falling on his knees, he cried with a loud voice, saying: Lord, lay not this sin to their charge (Acts 8:59).” Echoing the words of Christ on the Cross, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do (Luke 23:34).”
-- L. O'Connor Jelenik
I think your friend is rather missing the point about the crucifixion: Jesus may have had a good family life, but it all ended rather abruptly! That said, it is interesting that your friend draws the line between Jesus and us by insisting that Jesus is God so he must not have any understanding of our suffering. Would the saints not fall into the same category? "What do they know/care? They are in heaven now after winning the lottery." As it were. So, for example, Stephen may have been stoned to death, but he died seeing the Majesty, right?! Or, Mary, who had the perfect life until she saw her Son executed in front of her eyes, but she gets to be in heaven now, so it's all good, right?! Isn't it interesting how it is hard for us to feel like someone (even Jesus) has sympathy for us if he or she has already died? (I'm riffing here, wondering.) Believing that the saints can pray for us (or that we can pray through them) is an exercise in humility—allowing that we have problems ordinary enough for grace to heal. Anselm seems to me to be working through his prayers on something of this level: constantly trying to recognize himself as a sinner in relationship with the saints. "Why shouldn't I just get to pray directly to God?" sounds more and more like pride talking!
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