What are saints and why pray to saints?
Saints are persons who have died and have gone to heaven. They lived a life of heroic virtue because of their love for Jesus Christ. The saints are the good and faithful servants of the Lord (cf. Matthew 25:21), they are the blessed ones who have inherited the kingdom (cf. Matthew 25:34).
Christians need to be reminded of the saints because although saints are human persons like us, they inspire us to live a life of heroic virtue out of love for Jesus Christ. We ask the saints to pray for us so that we too can live a life that is pleasing to the Lord. We can always pray directly to God, but God has given us the saints to be our helpers. In this life, God always sends people to help us. In the same way, God also sends angels and saints to help us, even if we don’t see them with our eyes.
Saint Jude (martyred 65 AD) Feast Day: October 28 (with Saint Simon) The punishment of the evil and an exhortation to the faithful (From the Letter of St. Jude 1-8, 12-13, 17-25) Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to those who have been called by God; ...
Saint Luke (died at age 84 – circa late 1st century) Feast Day: October 18 The authorship of both the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles has been ascribed to St. Luke, which means that he contributed over a quarter of the text of the New Testament, ...
Saint Ignatius of Antioch (martyred 108 AD) Feast Day: October 17 I wish to forewarn you, for you are my dearest children Ignatius, also called Theophorus, to the holy church at Tralles in the province of Asia, dear to God the Father of Jesus Christ, elect and worthy of God, ...
Saint Francis of Assisi (1182-1226 AD) Feast Day: October 4 We must be simple, humble and pure It was through his archangel, Saint Gabriel, that the Father above made known to the holy and glorious Virgin Mary that the worthy, holy and glorious Word of the Father would come from ...
Saint Teresa of Avila (1515-1582 AD) Feast Day: October 15 Let us always be mindful of Christ’s love If Christ Jesus dwells in a man as his friend and noble leader, that man can endure all things, for Christ helps and strengthens us and never abandons us. He is a ...
Saint Therese of Lisieux (1873-1897 AD) Feast Day: October 1 In the heart of the Church I will be love Since my longing for martyrdom was powerful and unsettling, I turned to the epistles of Saint Paul in the hope of finally finding an answer. By chance the twelfth and ...
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