SAINTS: Should We Pray to them?
Should We Pray to the Saints?
by Bro. Leylin Falier-CFD (borrowed with permission)
Hi Guys! Let's talk about Saints here today .
☝️🤓 Here's a strictly detailed thread debunking the claim that ❗"we’re all saints, so there’s no need to venerate saints or ask for their prayers,"❗ using:
✅ Scripture
✅ Early Church History
✅ Logical/Theological Reasoning
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🤔❓ Do Catholics Misunderstand Saints?
- Why venerate saints
- Aren’t we all saints?
- Why ask dead people to pray for you?
✍️🤓 Let’s break it down with facts, not feelings
1. “All believers are saints” – Half-True, Half-Misused
🤓👍 Yes, Scripture calls believers “saints” (Greek: hagios = holy ones).
🤓❗ BUT this refers to those living in sanctifying grace and set apart for God.
☝️🤓 It’s a title of calling, not yet fulfillment.
👨🏫 Scripture Examples:
🤓📖 Romans 1:7 – “To all the beloved of God in Rome, called to be saints.”
🤓 📖 1 Corinthians 1:2 – “Called to be holy…”
🤓❗Notice: “Called to be…” Saintship is a vocation—not an automatic badge.
So:
☝️🤓 “We’re all saints” = We’re all "called" to be saints.
👨🏫 Catholic saints = Those who fulfilled that calling perfectly, now glorified in Heaven.
☝️🤓 The New Testament refers to living Christians as “saints” because of their calling and baptism, but this doesn’t mean all remain holy or will die in God’s friendship.
📖 Hebrews 12:14 – “Strive for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.”
☝️🤓 So being called a "saint" isn’t proof of salvation, but a challenge to pursue holiness.
2. Saints Are Glorified Members of the Body of Christ
☝️🤓 The Church teaches three states of the Church:
1️⃣ Church Militant – us on Earth
2️⃣ Church Suffering – souls in Purgatory
3️⃣ Church Triumphant – saints in Heaven
🤓📖 Ephesians 3:15 – “The whole family in heaven and on earth…”
☝️🤓That’s ONE Church, not broken up by death.
☝️🤓So when we ask saints to pray for us, we’re not “talking to the dead.”
☝️🤓 We’re talking to our living family in Christ.
🤓📖 > “God is not God of the dead, but of the living.” – Matthew 22:32
☝️🤓 The unity of the Church isn’t broken by death. The “Communion of Saints” is part of the Apostles’ Creed, one of the oldest summaries of Christian belief.
👨🏫 Early Christians didn't see Heaven as a separation from us, but as a closer union with God and the rest of the Church.
3. Can Saints Hear Our Prayers?
🤓👍 Yes, because of:
🤓📖 Revelation 5:8 –> “The elders fell before the Lamb, each holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.”
☝️🤓 They are presenting our prayers before God.
They are aware and interceding.
🤓📖 Revelation 8:3-4 confirms this again.
🤔❓Some say: “Only God is omniscient!”
☝️🤓 Correct.
☝️🤓 But saints don’t need to be omniscient, they’re glorified in Christ and participate in God’s divine life.
☝️🤓 Just as angels carry out God’s will and assist us (Hebrews 1:14), so do saints.
4. Intercession is Biblical, Not Idolatry
🤔❗Many Protestants say: > “I only go directly to Jesus!”
☝️🤓 But the Bible says:
🤓📖 1 Timothy 2:1 – “I urge… that petitions, prayers, intercessions… be made for all people.”
☝️🤓 So, we’re encouraged to intercede for each other.
☝️🤓 If your friend can pray for you, why can’t St. Paul?
🤓👍 They’re more alive in Christ than we are.
🤔❓ If intercession is wrong, then Moses, Job, Abraham, and Paul were wrong, since all interceded on behalf of others.
🤓❗Even Jesus intercedes for us (Romans 8:34), and the saints are members of His Body, sharing in that ministry.
5. The Early Church Venerated Saints
🤓👍 Proof:
☝️🤓 Catacombs of Rome (2nd–3rd century) – inscriptions like:
> “Pray for us, Peter and Paul!”
☝️🤓 St. Polycarp’s Martyrdom (155 AD) – the faithful gathered his bones and honored him.
☝️🤓 St. Augustine – wrote about the powerful intercession of the martyrs.
👨🏫 That’s long before Catholicism was ‘corrupted,’ as Protestants often claim.
👨🏫 Archaeological digs in Rome reveal shrines at the tombs of martyrs.
🤔❓ Why?
☝️🤓 Because the faithful believed their prayers were powerful even after death. That’s 100s of years before Church councils and structured canonization.
6. Veneration ≠ Worship
☝️🤓 Let’s be clear on terms:
1️⃣ Latria – worship due to God alone
2️⃣ Dulia – veneration of saints
3️⃣ Hyperdulia – special honor to Mary, because of her unique role
☝️🤓 We don’t worship saints.
☝️🤓 We honor them as heroes of faith and ask for their prayers.
🤔❓ Do you get angry when someone says “please pray for me”?
☝️🤓 Then don’t get angry when a Catholic says “St. Joseph, pray for us.”
☝️🤓 In Hebrew and Greek, worship always includes sacrifice. Catholics offer sacrifice only to God (in the Eucharist).
☝️🤓 Venerating saints involves respect, imitation, and request for help, not offering sacrifice or adoration.
7. Logical Truth, You Follow Saints Too
🤔❓ Who are your “Christian heroes”?
❓ Martin Luther?
❓ Charles Spurgeon?
❓ John MacArthur?
❓ Billy Graham?
☝️🤓 You quote them. Admire them. Learn from them.
🤓✅ Catholics just go one step further:
☝️🤓 We ask our heroes to pray for us.
☝️🤓 Because they’re not dead. They’re with Christ.
👨🏫 Books, conferences, sermons, and quotes from Christian “heroes” show veneration in practice, even if not in name.
☝️🤓 If you share a Bible quote from Charles Spurgeon or John Piper...
🤓❗You’re following a saint’s teaching. The only difference is Catholics ask for their prayers, too.
8. Final Say: We Don’t Ignore Jesus. Saints Lead Us to Him.
👨🏫 Saints are:
☝️🤓 Models of holiness
☝️🤓 Prayer warriors
☝️🤓 Reflections of Christ’s victory
☝️🤓 They are NOT distractions.
❤️🔥 They are family, cheering us on:
📖 “Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses…”– Hebrews 12:1
☝️🤓 We honor them… Because we love Jesus.
☝️🤓 Every authentic saint points beyond themselves to Christ.
☝️🤓 Their lives reveal Christ's grace, not their own power.
☝️🤓 Like stained glass, they shine because of the light of God passing through them.
☝️🤓 St. Paul said, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” – 1 Cor. 11:1
☝️🤓 That’s what Catholic saints do.
✝️✝️✝️
✍️🤓 In summary;
☝️🤓 All are called to be saints; canonized saints fulfilled it.
☝️🤓 Saints in Heaven can intercede for us—biblically and spiritually.
☝️🤓 Veneration is ancient, not idolatry.
☝️🤓 Asking for saintly intercession is not different from asking your mom to pray for you.
🙅To reject the saints is to forget the fullness of the Body of Christ.
♥️ We’re not alone in the fight.
✝️🕊️ St. Joseph, St. John Baptist De La Salle, St. Therese, St. Padre Pio, and all you saints of Heaven…Pray for us.
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