Praying to the Saints

When Catholics say that they pray to the saints, many people equate the word "pray" with the act of worship that is reserved for God alone. But that is not at all what we are meaning. When Catholics say that they pray to the saints, we are using the word "pray" in its most basic meaning, which is "to ask a request of."  In other words, we are asking the saints in heaven to pray for us concerning some issue or problem that we may be having, just like we would ask our spouse or friend to pray for us here on earth.

You see, Catholics don't see ourselves as being separated from those who are in heaven. In Hebrews 12:1, the writer of Hebrews writes:  "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 and persevere in running the race that lies before us."  The Greek word that the writer uses for "witnesses" here is the same word that the Romans used to refer to spectators at a sporting event. So the picture that he is trying to paint for us is that while we are here on this earth running our race of faith that lies before us, the saints in heaven are surrounding us, and cheering us on. They celebrate with us when we do good, and they cry with us when we fall. And we can turn to them and ask them to pray for us. Since they have already finished their race of faith, and are now in heaven, they know how to pray for us with compassion, and in accordance to God's will. It is a wonderful thing to be able to turn to them for their prayers.