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 Peter (martyred 64-68 AD) Feast Days: February 22 (Chair of St. Peter), June 29 (with Saint Paul) The Church of Christ rises on the firm foundation of Peter’s faith (sermon by Pope St. Leo the Great) Out of the whole world one man, Peter, is chosen to preside at ...
Saint Polycarp of Smyrna (69-155 AD) Feast Day: February 23 A rich and pleasing sacrifice (From a letter on the martyrdom of Saint Polycarp by the Church of Smyrna) When the pyre was ready, Polycarp took off all his clothes and loosened his under-garment. He made an effort also to ...
Saint Agatha (231-251 AD) Feast Day: February 5 The gift of God, the source of all goodness (from a homily on Saint Agatha by Saint Methodius of Sicily) My fellow Christians, our annual celebration of a martyr’s feast has brought us together. She achieved renown in the early Church for ...
Saint Blaise (martyred 316 AD) Feast Day: February 2 February 3 is the Feast Day of St. Blaise. Saint Blaise was a physician and the bishop of Sebastea in Armenia. During his lifetime, St. Blaise was known to be a healer. People often turned to St. Blaise for healing miracles ...
St. Cyril aka Constantine (826-869 AD) Feast Day: February 14 Build up your Church and gather all into unity Cyril aka Constantine, already burdened by many hardships, became ill. At one point during his extended illness, he experienced a vision of God and began to sing this verse: “My spirit ...
Holy Martyrs of Japan (m. 1597) Feast Day: February 6 You shall be my witnesses (from an account of the martyrdom of Saint Paul Miki and his companions) The crosses were set in place. Father Pasio and Father Rodriguez took turns encouraging the victims. Their steadfast behavior was wonderful to ...
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