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Question: Why do Catholics pray to Jesus through Mary and through the saints?? They should pray directly to Jesus. Answer: Well, again I think in this question there is implied a statement, that Catholics pray to Jesus through Mary, pray to Jesus through the saints. I don't think that that is correct. The correct thing to do is to pray to God the Father through Jesus and in the Holy Spirit. As a community especially, we are the unity of the Spirit in prayer. And the Holy Spirit lifts us up, makes us one with Jesus and Jesus presents us then to His Father as His own brothers and sisters. We are in Christ Jesus through the Holy Spirit and in this way we go to the Father. From my point of view, I don't think we pray through Mary to Jesus, we don't pray through the saints. I prefer to say that we pray with Mary and with the saints because we Catholics especially, are very conscious of the truth of the communion of saints. There is a bond of love linking us to the saints in heaven, and the dead who have gone before us are not really absent from us. They are one with us through faith and we are bound to them by a chain, a golden chain of love. And that is why we pray with them. In our Holy Eucharist everyday, we say regularly, "Therefore with the saints and the angels, we cry out with one voice, Holy, Holy, Holy". So the worship which we offer on earth is one with the worship of the saints led by the Blessed Virgin Mary offered to God in heaven. So I think it is more accurate to say that we pray with Mary, we pray with the saints, rather than that we pray through them. So when we pray through our Blessed Lady or to the saints, what we are really asking them to do is to pray for us. After all, I can ask my friends on earth to pray for me for some special intentions and to add their prayers to mine. So why can't I ask saints in heaven and the Blessed Virgin Mary also to add their prayers to mine and thus to fortify my prayers in the sight of God and make them as it were, more powerful before him?? So this is my answer then to that question: that, ultimately we do not pray through the saints. In fact, I think it is inaccurate to say that we pray through the saints. It is better to think that we pray with the saints and we join our prayers to theirs. Thus we approach God through Jesus in the Holy Spirit with Mary and with the saints. (Source: "Questions People often Ask", a booklet dealing with some questions people often ask about our Catholic faith. The answers are provided by Fr. Sean Kelleher C.Ss.R., a well known biblical scholar and writer, based on the questions put by Fr. Paul Pang C.Ss.R.) | Back to Main Page | |