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Ask An Eastern Orthodox Christian: Praying to Saints

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What would you like to know about the Eastern Orthodox Christian faith? Submit your question.

By Nicholas Damascus

Do Eastern Orthodox Christians believe praying to the Saints is more beneficial than praying to God?  Do they pray to certain saints for certain problems? This seems superstitious.

easternorthodoxThe definition of superstitious would be a belief or way of behaving that is based on fear of the unknown and faith in magic or luck: a belief that certain events or things will bring good luck or bad luck like a game of chance as in rolling the dice.

The Eastern Orthodox Church is not superstitious about any of its practices, beliefs, or teachings.  However, there are mysteries in the faith that can’t be explained with our finite intellect.

Eastern Orthodox Christians do not believe that praying to the Saints “is more beneficial” than praying to God.  Nowhere in the Scriptures is this implied.  However, praying with and to the saints has always been a practice in the church from the beginning of Christianity.

All Christians could be called saints through the work of the Holy Trinity; we ask our father in heaven to accept, on our behalf, “the prayers and the intercession” of the Saints to pray for us and with us.

In the early Church, St. Paul when writing to the churches he had visited, calls all the faithful “saints.”  The fact that Christians ask the intercessory prayer of saints is prefigured in the New Testament when Saint Paul addresses the Christian Ephesians, Thessalonians, Colossians and Romans to pray for him (Ephes. 6:19, 1 Thess 5:25; Col 4:3, and Rom 15:30-31).

Praying to the saints about certain ailments or illnesses is not a superstitious request.   A particular saint either before or after their departure from this world, may have been given special “grace” or “favor” to perform miracles concerning the curing of cancer, blindness, or many other concerns.   So if I had cancer, I would be more prone to pray to that saint that was associated with many miracle cures of cancer.

St. Paul asked other Christians to pray for him (2 Thessalonians 3: 1-4); just as the earliest Christians called St. Peter to come and pray when Tabitha had died, and by his prayers, God granted Tabitha new life (Acts 9: 36-43).

So why didn’t they just pray directly to God, rather than asking another to come and pray for them?  There are other references of “with the prayers of the saints” see Rev 8: 3, Rev 5: 8.  These prayers were not directly offered to God, but through intercessors of angels and saints.

Nicholas Damascus
Nicholas Damascus
As an infant, I was baptized as an Eastern Orthodox Christian. However, I would say that becoming a Christian is a work in progress, and I often wonder would there be enough evidence to convict me of becoming a Christian. The Orthodox Church is the ancient Church that Christ and the Apostles established. It is not a religion but rather a way of life. It is not about rules and regulations but rather guide posts to make choices to transition to what we were designed to become. Becoming Orthodox is not a conversion but more so a transformation of self. It’s not about being right: it is about “right being.” In John 14:6, Christ says I am the Way (to love and serve one another), the Truth (there is only one reality), and the Life (that life source is love). I invite you to submit any topics or questions to “Ask An Eastern Orthodox Christian” on the website. Join me in finding our way back home to the original teachings of the Church. When you change the way you look at things, things change the way they look.

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