prayer just means to make a petition (like in Shakespeare) in English. so it’s not idolatry since no offering or sacrifice is made to the saint.
we’d also say that since they are alive in Christ, they are praying for us before His throne so to ask them to do anything for us is like when you ask friends and family to do something for you. and of course, however the saint responds is only by God’s will and for His purpose.
and lastly, St Paul says he has become all things to all men that he might save some. so the word “save” isn’t the issue as much as the context.
This is something that I've been having quite a bit of difficulty with and was wondering if you could dive a little deeper into it?
For some context: I was raised Roman Catholic, as were my parents, however they - and by extension myself - moved from Catholicism to Evangelical Protestantism. So from a young age the concept of Saints beyond being amazing individuals we can learn from was not taught - and to pray to them was idolatry.
I've been seeking to get closer with God for some time now, having perhaps lost my faith for most of my 20s in any meaningful sense. I have issues with the Church of Rome that I simply cannot rectify, but I've become so disillusioned and broken hearted with the Protestant church that it does not feel like a spiritual home - it feels hollow and like we are there to venerate a pastor rather than God.
I still find comfort in the Liturgy, the rites of the Catholic Church are deeply intertwined with my culture and ethnic background - but the more I learn about the Catharism and sought to rejuvenate my faith, the more I found myself drifting from the Catholic Church, though a number of my views have softened.
I've been trying for some time now to seek God more closely, but it has only been recently that I feel He has truly changed something in me. Without going too deeply into it here... there was a change that I can only describe as miraculous - because none of what changed I could do by myself no matter how hard I tried. And it was in this moment I realised just how broken, faithless, and far from the path I was. I began to pray and meditate again, read scripture, immerse myself in works concerning faith. I wanted to expand beyond what I was taught as a Protestant, not because it holds no value, but because it felt so... shallow. I started to look at the works of the Church Fathers and I wanted to know more. I began to read the lives of the Saints, both Orthodox and Catholic, and had a far greater appreciation for not just the history, but the spiritual lessons.
I wanted to look into Orthodoxy, as while I've dear friends who are Eastern Catholics, I know very little about the Church and what made it different to the Catholic. Something about the theology, the way in which we are called to cooperate with God's Grace and views on Original Sin all resonated with me. I began to listen to Orthodox Fathers speak on specific subjects I was/am having difficulties overcoming; and the way they spoke with clarity, passion and genuine love spoke to me deeply. I even began to listen to some Syriac services, again having known little of the Church - but the earnest and reverent nature spoke to me. This lead me to pray more actively, taking on what I was hearing and sought to be more active when seeking God. I began to find prayer no longer a chore but a joy, praying as I worked and wanting my work to be a simple act of worship. I began praying with my family and finding comfort in communing with God. I truly began to feel His presence, His energies in a way that I never have before. I was writing reflections on the time I spent in reading the scriptures, trying to understand not only what I was being shown but how I understood - I even found myself writing poetry to try and make sense of what I was feeling.. It felt like everything was just... overflowing, if that at all makes sense.
I've been reading The Orthodox Way by Metropolitan Ware, and what I thought was going to be a difficult theological study flowed like poetry and truly touched me. But I am still.. struggling to know what is right. I've been mislead in the past, putting my faith in what turned out to be hideous false teachings which only ended up hurting my spirit. And while I don't get that sense when I look at Orthodox teachings, i suppose something in me is apprehensive; particularly when it comes to praying to Saints. Veneration I have come to understand and not just appreciate it but endorse it, seeing it as a way to honour those who have come before and who stood strong in their faith and serve as examples that even in a broken world we are able to find and cooperate with God's Grace and through His Power alone we are able to find peace, wholeness that we can't find in ourselves. But I don't know if I'm... confident in my understanding of what is meant by seeking the collection of prayers by the Saints, as I've read in some explanations of it. I guess I don't have just one specific question, but rather want to know more, because this feels like a colossal obstacle that unless I can overcome my own apprehension or perhaps understand better because my own knowledge is lacking, then I'll continue in this spiral of trying to seek God, succeed for a while, fall, but with no spiritual home, no fellowship, no community in which to find direction and support, I'll drift away and forgo all the gifts He has given me. I do not want to become the man I was before, because how I was living was not glorifying to God, and I was only degrading myself - but I sincerely fear that I will fall back if I don't find a more complete truth to what I understand now. And I figure that this is a good place for me to start to understand, to learn.
I apologise for how long this was, I've not had an open and honest conversation with other Christians for so long that I guess things are a little bottled up. I appreciate your patience with me.
