How important is praying to Saints to you?

Jordan R.
Teenage Catholic Apologist

As a Catholic immersed within the faith, praying to the saints is an integral part of my Catholic devotional life. It would be quite impossible for me to go one day without making intercessions unto the saints.

Children praying the Hail Mary,

Growing up in a devout Catholic home, I was taught many of the Church‘s dogmas at a very young age. One of the first Catholic dogmas taught to me, was the invocation of saints, thus I had already begun to practice this teaching at a very young age. I recall being taught the ‘Hail Mary‘ and many other prayers for St. Padre Pio‘s and St. Dominic’s intercessions. Not only did my family teach me to pray to saints but also my guardian angel.

As my life progressed, the invocation of saints became a huge impact in my life. The intercessions of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the saints became a spiritual thirst for my soul. The saints are more alive than we are as they are in Heaven, though some believe they are dead, but this is not what the Gospel teaches.

He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. (Mark 12:27)

At the very moment, I have become aware that the saints are my friends and interceding to them points me to the path to Christ, as they have entered the gate to Heaven through the path to Christ. Interceding to the saints has comforted me and has got me back on my feet, for example, praying  to St. Jude has taught me that nothing is hopeless!

Prayer to St. Jude, the patron of hopeless causes.

Lastly, asking the saints to pray for you is the equivalent of asking a family member or a best friend to pray for you. They are our role models that we can look to and strive to illustrate in our daily walk with Jesus.