When we were on the journey into the Catholic Church, the Church’s teaching on the Saints opened entirely new horizons for us. But when the Bible clearly teaches that ‘there is one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus’ (1 Timothy 2:5), how can Catholics justify praying to saints?
Do you ask your friends to pray for you? And when you do, do you worry that this somehow contradicts the scriptural teaching that Jesus is the “sole Mediator between God and man”? And if you don’t worry, why not?
Clearly, the reason you don’t worry is that while you believe Jesus Christ is our Redeemer and our “way” to the Father, you also believe that those who have been made members of his mystical body, share in his mediatorial work. While you believe that Jesus is our faithful high priest who has brought us to God, you also believe that in him we have become a kingdom of priests. This is why we Christians in his name bring the message of reconciliation. This is why we serve. This is also why we pray for others in the name of Jesus.
And this is why we ask the saints in heaven to intercede for us.
Hear Our Stories
Here are a collection of testimonies from converts for whom the saints played an important role in their conversions.
“What did I find in the Catholic Church? Sheer beauty!”
Deacon George Butterfield
Browse Resources
There are many, many great resources available for learning about the saints. Here are some of our favorites.
Recommended Videos
Recommended Books
Ignatius Of Antioch & Polycarp Of Smyrna
by Dr. Kenneth J. Howell
Ignatius of Antioch and Polycarp of Smyrna were two of the greatest leaders of Christianity in the first half of the second century. Their combined writings provide a unique window on the faith, life, and practice of the early Christians. Careful reading of these writings demonstrates the unique place that the early Fathers of the Church hold in establishing the foundations of historic Christianity. Their relevance for contemporary ecumenical discussions is beyond dispute.
Four Witnesses
by Rod Bennett
What was the early Church like? Contrary to popular belief, Rod Bennett shows there is a reliable way to know. Four ancient Christian writers–four witnesses to early Christianity –left us an extensive body of documentation on this vital subject, and this book brings their fascinating testimony to life for modern believers. With all the power and drama of a gripping novel, this book is a journey of discovery of ancient and beautiful truths through the lives of four great saints of the early Church–Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, Justin Martyr, and Irenaeus of Lyons.
The Apostasy that Wasn’t: The Extraordinary Story of the Unbreakable Early Church
by Rod Bennett
Rod Bennett follows up his bestseller Four Witnesses with an account of the historical events that led him out of his own belief in apostasy theory and into the Catholic Church. The theory goes like this: Just a few centuries after Christ s death, around the time the Roman Empire converted to Christianity, the true Faith suffered a catastrophic falling-away. The simple truths of the gospel became so obscured by worldliness and pagan idolatry kicking off the Dark Ages of Catholicism that Christianity required a complete reboot. Rod narrates the drama of the early Church s fight to preserve Christian orthodoxy intact even as powerful forces try to smash it to pieces.
Angels and Saints: A Biblical Guide to Friendship with God’s Holy Ones
by Scott Hahn
Once again Dr. Hahn provides us with an easy-to-read, engaging, thoroughly biblical study of angels and saints. If you’ve wondered “What exactly does Scripture teach on these subjects?” you will be in for a feast.
Fire Within: St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, and the Gospel of Prayer
by Fr. Thomas Dubay
Fr. Thomas Dubay spends a number of months every year giving conferences and retreats to religious, particularly to contemplative Carmelites. This book is the fruit of many years of his study and experience in spiritual direction, and in it he synthesizes the teachings on prayer of the two great doctors of the Church on prayer – St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Avila – and the teaching of Sacred Scripture.
Any Friend of God is a Friend of Mine
by Patrick Madrid
What’s this thing Catholics have with asking Mary and the saints in heaven to pray for them? Using Scripture and the early Church fathers, in this book well-known apologist Patrick Madrid gives the simplest and clearest explanation you will find anywhere of the Catholic teaching on the Communion of Saints.
Recommended Websites
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