Common Misunderstandings: Catholics are accused of worshipping the saints when they pray to them; this intercessory prayer is seen as an offense to the sole mediatorship of Jesus; kneeling before statues to pray is seen as idolatry.

Responses: Honoring the saints is found throughout both the Old and the New Testaments (Heb 11.1-36). At the time of Jesus it was commonly accepted that the saints in heaven interceded for those on earth (2 Macc 15:11-16, Jer 15:1, Rev 5:8, 8:3 and much intertestamental literature).

Sources: Video series by Scott and Kimberly Hahn, Catholic Adult Education, Program 18, A Closer Look at Christ's Church: Saints: Holy Siblings, St. Joseph's Communications: Keating, Catholicism and Fundamentalism, Chapter 21,"Honoring the Saints," pp. 259ff: Radio Replies (see index)vol 1, vol 3, CCC, the meaning of canonization, 828: in the Creed, 946ff: as example of Christian holiness, 1717, 2030: as companions in prayer, 2683-2684.

Background and Theological Understandings

1. 1. Meaning of the word, "worship." The original meaning of this word meant the condition of being worthy of honor, respect, or dignity. To worship in the older sense is to ascribe honor, worth or excellence to someone. But there are different kinds of worship just as there are different degrees of honor. The highest honor is reserved for God alone (latria-Latin). The "worship" or "veneration" given to Mary who is human but greater than all the saints is "hyper-dulia", and that offered to the saints is "dulia". This distinction, made by Catholic theology, is very much in need today. Many of our youth neither honor nor respect neither persons nor institutions. There is a great need to reassert today the sense of honor and respect at many levels.

Biblical Foundations for this doctrine

1. For the veneration of both saints and angels there is considerable scriptural warrant. The veneration of angels is shown in Jos 5:14-15; Dan 8:17 (Gabriel); and Tob. 12: 16 (Raphael). This veneration of angels is based on their supernatural dignity which comes from their union with God (Mt 18:10). Since the saints are also united with God (1 Cor. 13:12; 1 Jn. 3:2), it would follow that they should also be worthy of veneration.
2. For understanding the function of the saints triumphant in the church, a key passage isHebrews 11 – 12. This passage unites the O.T. and N.T.  perspectives. Hebrews 11 is like the Old Testament Hall of Fame. Here the writer presents the great saints of the Old Testament family of God. These saints are presented in order to inspire us to imitate their example. The first two verses of Hebrews 12 shows that ist is not a case of either Jesus or the saints but it is both/and. We “are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses… looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith…” We are looking at the same time both to Jesus as well as to these exemplary lives that have gone on before us who lead us on to Jesus. The cloud is theshakina, the Old Testament glory cloud. This cloud is filled with these saints. The setting is almost that of a stadium where the saints are watching on the Church militant as it runs with perseverance the race that is set before us…” (Heb. 12:1). This metaphor would be weak if there were no communication between the runners and witnesses. This communication is the basis for the belief in the communion of saints. Such communication is shown in the story of the rich man and Lazarus (Lk 16:19ff), when the rich man, who is in torment, speaks with Father Abraham, interceding for his five brothers. This communication is not sorcery, for the Saints are alive not dead. We are God’s family. God is our Father; the saints are our brothers and sisters. They care for us and keep us in “the race” to our Father’s house.
3. Prayers to the saints are a form of intercessory prayer. All the faithful baptized are identified as saints. The communion of the saints is one expression of the whole family of God. We are instructed to ask others on earth to support us in prayer. St. Paul also instructs Timothy to guide the faithful to make intercessory prayers on behalf of all men (1 Tim 2:1-4). He immediately then asserts that ‘there is only one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ” (1 Tim 2:5). This makes very clear that human intercessions for others do not diminish but fall within the mediatorship of Christ. Saints do not answer our prayers. They amplify our prayers. And the Apostle James does say that “the prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects” (Jas. 5:16). Those who are canonized saints, already in heaven, can also pray for us perhaps more effectively for their worthiness before God has already been publicly recognized.
4. Asking persons more worthy than ourselves to intercede for us is often both a necessity and a great comfort. It is true that often when we are discouraged or very caught up in our sin, we can feel inadequate and unable to approach God. It is a common biblical principle that God pays no attention to sinners (“sinners” refers to those unwilling to repent). See Jn. 9:31, Isa 1:15, 1 Jn. 3:21, Job 27:9, Ps 66:18, Ez. 8:18, Pr. 15:29).
5. Then the only other issue is whether the saints in heaven can pray for us. Scripture shows that God listens to prayers of those already in heaven. In Genesis 4:10, Abel’s soul cries out after he is killed by Cain and he is vindicated by God. That those who are deceased can intercede before God is clearly documented in Jer. 15:1 (Then the Lord said to me, “Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my heart would not turn toward this people…”). This is demonstrated in 2 Macc. 15:11-12 where Onias and Jeremiah are interceding for the persecuted Jews.

 
In the New Testament, Revelation 5:8 is an important documentation of the saints praying to God for us. The elders hold golden bowls of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. In Revelation 8:3 the incense brought by an angel is “mingled with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar before the throne; an the smoke of the incense rose with the prayers of all the saints from the hand of the angel before God.” The Presbyterian biblical scholar William Barclay says that “the significant thing (about this passage) is the idea of intermediaries in prayer.” He continues on to explain that it was assumed that the angels assisted the prayers of the faithful into heaven.
 
Summary:
An appreciation of what the veneration of the saints involves:

1. Catholics do not worship statues or pictures; we honor the people they signify
2. Those who die in Christ are alive and blessed, so praying to them is not sorcery.
3. Catholics do not worship saints; we worship God and imitate God by honoring His saints (Rev. 14:13).

Three-Fold Benefit to the Proper Veneration of the Saints:

1. We ask them for intercession and supplication
2. We are inspired to follow their example.
3. We honor them as God does.