Why do you Pray to Dead People?

It’s one of the topics that seems to be the most misunderstood – and sometimes among the most deliberately and maliciously twisted – about our Catholic faith: our close relationship to the saints.

There are an amazing number of wonderful resources that we can use to explain intercessory prayers to the saints to our interested Protestant friends. All of them, from the Bible to the Catechism of the Catholic Church and various scholarly works explain very well that Catholics do not put saints – regular men and women who lived exemplary lives and whom we believe are now enjoying eternity in heaven – on anywhere near the same level as God. There are beautiful and pointed explanations of why having a picture of a saint in your home is not worshipping an idol any more than having a picture of your dearly departed great grandmother is worshipping a false god.

One of the “problems” that I at least have come across when I try to share these explanations with my non-Catholic friends is simply that they are not Catholic. That’s not meant to be disparaging; it’s meant only to say that we don’t share the same vocabulary. That means their eyes glaze over and their minds shut us out when we break out the Catechism and try to articulate the difference between Latria and Dulia. If we want to explain saints to folks who don’t share an intimate knowledge of Catholic doctrine – and who have no desire to acquire that knowledge as part of a casual conversation – we need to explain it in terms that are easily understandable. We need to find some common linguistic ground.

We need to explain it the way I taught my son: We don’t pray to the saints, we pray through the saints. When you say that, and when you explain that we ask a particular saint for prayers much like our Protestant brothers and sisters ask friends to pray for them when they are going through a difficult time, it cuts through the prejudiced stereotypes and starts to resonate.

At the heart of it is another Catholic belief that most Protestants share: the idea that we are all connected as part of the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12). Where Catholics differ from some others – and what throws them for such a loop – is that we don’t believe that close connection with God and with each other ends at death. How can it, if you truly believe in eternal life? The nature of our relationships with each other certainly may evolve after death, but we believe they don’t cease. If we are supposed to love our neighbor as ourselves, how can we assume we then forget about them once we step through the proverbial Pearly Gates? The beautiful story of St. Theresa of Lisieux vowing to spend her heaven doing good upon earth reinforces the concept that we are remain connected throughout eternity.

Of course, no matter how you choose to explain intercessory prayers to the saints, be aware that there are some folks who simply won’t try to understand. So what’s a Catholic to do when you’re pulled into a conversation like that? Pray for wisdom, have a thorough understanding of your faith, and then try to explain it in common terms. Even then, be aware that you may not be able to change some people’s perceptions, but you can pray for them. (See what I did there? Hopefully one day, they will, too.)