Praying to Saints and Angels Debunked

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It's another issue of idolatry by Roman Catholics that they are not only involved in Mary worship (or Mariolatry) but also to certain "saints" that are by the way, mostly canonized by the Pope to be prayed to and some also include angels, mostly fallen angels. Who does the Pope think he is to declare who can be prayed to or not? Also, it can be crazy seeing how Catholics know Baptists are Bible armed, Bible learned and Bible bred... they decide to appeal to the Bible to try and defend this practice. But as usual, our ministry is ready to debunk praying to saints. We could care less to who it is being prayed to- whether it be Mary, George Washington, Moses, Bob Hughes or your grandma... it's all idolatry! It's another reason why it's very hard to soul win Roman Catholics to Jesus. Only by God's grace can their eyes be opened to the truth despite all these distractions.

This practice is absurd. Here's how the praying for the saints and angels can go with some examples of canonized saints aside from praying the Catholic "Mary":

Note: Most of these "saints" are not really saints but unsaved individuals who died without Christ. Also the Catholic Church has gone too far to call Peter the Rock when he is not. Jesus is the Rock (1 Corinthians 10:4).

  • In the case of missing objects, pray to St. Anthony of Padua
  • In the case of examinations, pray to St. Christopher of Cupertino
  • In the case of disease, pray to St. Apollonia
  • In the case of travel, pray to St. Claire
  • For protection against the Devil, pray to Michael the Archangel
  • The list can go on and Jesus is frequently put behind the background...

Sadly Jesus is very left behind, to who takes our prayers to the Father by Him "- either praying to Him or His Father, prayers always pass through Jesus first before the Father. We would also like to see how Revelation 5:8-14 is being misinterpreted by Catholic apologists. Well here's what it says:

Note: Underlined in the verses are the phrases which are used by Catholic apologists to defend their stand. The authors are not here to debate with them as persons but to simply show them the flaw of their argument. Plus, there will be no inter-blog debates because we are only here to share the truth.

"And when He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, having each one a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy art Thou to take the book, and to break its seals; for Thou wast slain, and didst purchase for God with Thy blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. And Thou hast made them be a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will reign upon the earth. And I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders, and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing." And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever. And the four living creatures kept saying, "Amen." And the elders fell down and worshiped,"

At first glance, the statement "prayers of the saints" seem that the prayers were directed to the saints. However, a little further analysis says "of the saints" and NOT "to the saints". The Bible, every believer is a saint by the grace of God, even if they may have backslid or not being wholehearted but they are still saints nonetheless. Every saint addressed in the Bible is living and they were NOT canonized by Peter. This again cuts down the argument because the prayers were of the saints and not to the saints to God.

Here's where it is wrong and why it is idolatry:

#1- Prayer is addressed to God alone

Nowhere in the Bible is a prayer addressed to any saint in particular whether in the Old Testament and the New Testament. To pray to a saint means that a saint must share the glory of God but God stated in Isaiah 42:8 that He will not share His glory with another neither His praise to graven images. Colossians 2:18 says that worshiping of angels is deception. In Revelation 19:10 the angel (presumably Gabriel) told John to worship God alone. Prayer and worship are inseparable. Christians pray for each other but only to God, not to saints. Christians are mediators for one another but NOT the Mediator between God and man. 1 Timothy 2:5 is clear, even in the Catholic Bible!

#2- The saints of Heaven cannot hear the prayers of the faithful or at once and they cannot grant any request.

Even if they are in Heaven, they DO NOT become God much less share His attributes of being omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. That means they cannot hear the prayers of everyone at the same time. Plus, the dead saints and the living saints pray to God together, not the living saints pray to the dead saints!

#3- It's usually involved with the use of graven images.

While Catholics as usual try to reason out that they do not worship the image but the one portrayed, evidence suggests otherwise. Again Isaiah 42:8 comes to mind when it says God will not also share His glory with any graven image. Jeremiah 10:3-5 calls graven images vain tradition and confusion. This is another reason why the Catholic catechism removes the 2nd commandment and splits the tenth into two commandments which however, in the Catholic Bible, the 2nd commandment about NOT making ANY graven image for worship is still there.