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The honor paid to angels and saints is entirely different from the supreme
honor due to God alone, and is indeed paid to them only as His servants and
friends. "By honoring the Saints and by invoking their intercession…the
glory of God is very much increased, in proportion as the hope of men is
thus more excited and confirmed, and they are encouraged to the imitation of
the Saints" (Cat. of the Council of Trent,
pt. III, c. ii, q.)
We can address our prayers directly to God, and He can hear us without any
intervention. Nevertheless, this does not prevent us from asking the help of
those who may be more pleasing to Him than we are. It is not because our
faith and trust in Him are weak; nor because His goodness and mercy to us
are less; rather is it because we are encouraged by His precepts to approach
Him at times through His servants. As pointed out by St. Thomas, we invoke
the angels and saints in quite different language from that addressed to
God.
"We ask God to have mercy upon us and God to grant us whatever we require;
whereas we ask the saints to pray for us, i.e. to join their petitions with
ours. Nothing should be asked of the saints but their prayer for us, the
question is not about the words, but the sense of the words. For as far as
the words go, it is lawful to say: 'St. Peter, 'save and pity me by praying
for me'; 'help me to be granted this or that by thy prayers and merits.'
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume VIII
Copyright © 1910 by Robert Appleton Company
Online Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. Knight
Nihil Obstat, October 1, 1910. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor
Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York |
