The cult of the saints: must it be done or is it prohibited by the Bible?

Q. I have heard that Catholics break the First Commandment because we worship the saints. I know that's not true but I don't know how to explain it. You can help me?

A. This is a good question and something that is very commonly misunderstood. I would be happy to explain.

You're absolutely right, we don't worship the saints. Worship is something due only to God. By worshiping God we do some things.

First of all, we recognize that God is God and only He. The First Commandment states: "I am the Lord your God, you will have no other gods besides me". Worship requires that we recognize that there is only one God.

Second, we recognize that, as the only God, he is our creator and the only source of our salvation. In other words, if you want to find true happiness and fulfillment and want to go to Heaven, there is only one way. Jesus, who is God, is the only one who saves us from sin and his worship recognizes this fact. Furthermore, adoration is a way of opening our lives to its saving power. By worshiping God we allow it in our lives so that it can save us.

Third, true worship also helps us see the goodness of God and helps us love him as we should. So worship is a type of love that we give to God alone.

But what about the saints? What is their role and what kind of "relationship" should we have with them?

Remember, anyone who died and went to Heaven is considered a saint. The saints are all those who are now before the throne of God, face to face, in a state of perfect happiness. Some of these men and women, who are in heaven, are called canonized saints. This means that after many prayers and many studies on their lives on earth, the Catholic Church claims to be, in effect, in Paradise. This brings us to the question of what our relationship should be with them.

Since the saints are in heaven, seeing God face to face, we, as Catholics, believe we can play two primary roles in our lives.

First, the lives that have lived here on earth give us a great example of how to live. Thus the saints are declared saints, by the Catholic Church, in part so that we will be able to study their lives and be inspired to live the same lives of virtues that they did. But we believe they also take on a second role. Since I am in Heaven, seeing God face to face, we believe that the saints can pray for us in a very special way.

Just because I'm in Heaven doesn't mean they stop worrying about us here on earth. On the contrary, since they are in Heaven, they still worry about us. Their love for us has now become perfect. Therefore, they want to love us and pray for us even more than when they were on earth.

So imagine the power of their prayers!

Here is a very holy person, who sees God face to face, asking God to enter our life and fill us with his grace. It's a bit like asking your mother, father or good friend to pray for you. Sure, we have to pray for ourselves too, but it certainly doesn't hurt to receive all the prayers we can. That's why we ask the saints to pray for us.

Their prayers help us and God chooses to let their prayers be a reason why he pours even more grace on us than if we pray alone.

I hope this helps. I suggest you choose a favorite saint and ask that saint daily to pray for you. I am willing to bet that you will notice a difference in your life if you do.