As a convert to the Catholic faith, the Catholic practice of praying to “Saints” was confusing. Several passages in the Bible refer to the faithful as “saints”....... this was important to me in my conversion because I feared that the Saints made me somehow inferior in my worship. My studies led me to understand that Catholics do not worship Saints or pray to them....we honor them and ask them to pray for us.
The first thing I came to understand is that all of the Christian faithful are saints. The difference between the faithful and those formally recognized as Saints by the Church was an important distinction to me:
“By canonizing some of the faithful, i.e., by solemnly proclaiming that they practiced heroic virtue and lived in fidelity to God's grace, the Church recognizes the power of the Spirit of holiness within her and sustains the hope of believers by proposing the saints to them as models and intercessors...” (CCC #828)
The solemn proclamation of the canonization points out two important parts of the lives of Saints: heroic virtue and a life lived in fidelity to God’s grace and the faith of the Catholic Church. This also points to the dual nature of the importance of Saints: they are examples here on Earth for the faithful to emulate and they are also intercessors in Heaven for prayers.
What is a Catholic Saint?
The word "saint" comes from the Latin word sanctus, which translates to "consecrated" or "holy."
Saints are men and women who have lived their lives (and very often gave them up freely) in such a way as to be rewarded with the Kingdom of God. The road to being officially recognized by the Church as a saint in a long one. In the earliest stage, the saint-in-the-making is identified as a "Servant of God." That stage is followed by a recognition of being "Venerable" and then "Blessed" before being recognized by the Church as a saint or "Friend of God." This official recognition by the Church as a saint comes at the conclusion of the process and ceremony called "canonization."
These saints, living exemplary lives, provide for us examples to follow so that we may, in turn, follow them to Heaven.
"Feast Days" are recognized for each saint. These feast days are very often the day of the year in which they died, especially if they gave up their lives for their faith. These special saints that gave up their lives for their faith are called "martyrs."
Based on the course of their lives and the circumstances surrounding them, some of the saints serve as "patrons" of certain peoples, places, things, and occupations, as they intercede for us before God.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches:
957 Communion with the saints. "It is not merely by the title of example that we cherish the memory of those in heaven; we seek, rather, that by this devotion to the exercise of fraternal charity the union of the whole Church in the Spirit may be strengthened. Exactly as Christian communion among our fellow pilgrims brings us closer to Christ, so our communion with the saints joins us to Christ, from whom as from its fountain and head issues all grace, and the life of the People of God itself" (LG 50; cf. Eph 4:1-6.)

We worship Christ as God's Son; we love the martyrs as the Lord's disciples and imitators, and rightly so because of their matchless devotion towards their king and master. May we also be their companions and fellow disciples!
(Martyrium Polycarpi, 17:Apostolic Fathers II/3,396.)
960 The Church is a "communion of saints": this expression refers first to the "holy things" (sancta), above all the Eucharist, by which "the unity of believers, who form one body in Christ, is both represented and brought about" (LG 3).
961 The term "communion of saints" refers also to the communion of "holy persons" (sancti) in Christ who "died for all," so that what each one does or suffers in and for Christ bears fruit for all.
962 "We believe in the communion of all the faithful of Christ, those who are pilgrims on earth, the dead who are being purified, and the blessed in heaven, all together forming one Church; and we believe that in this communion, the merciful love of God and his saints is always [attentive] to our prayers" (Paul VI, CPG § 30).
It is my hope that Christians of all faiths learn about the Saints and in turn, grow spiritually in their lives.
Learn more about the lives of Saints:
http://www.americancatholic.org/Feat...ay/default.asp
http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/indexsnt.htm
http://www.catholic.org/saints/


 

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