Prayer to the saints is an act of one-way communication; it’s not worshipping them or seeking to gain some kind of hidden knowledge by contacting the dead, which are the sins of idolatry and necromancy. When Catholics pray to the saints, we’re seeking their intercession before God on our behalf—and nothing else.

What about the objection that praying to the saints is wrong because we should take our prayers straight to Jesus? Catholics pray primarily to the one true God: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We first pray to the Lord Jesus. We worship and adore him as our Savior. However, that doesn’t mean it’s somehow detrimental to ask the saints or others to pray for us. 

Objective: In this course, students will learn why Catholics pray to saints and what happens when we do pray to saints. Students will learn the meaning of the word "pray," and that asking the saints to pray for us is as normal as one Christian on Earth asking another for prayers. 

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