Replies

Of course there is no direct reference to praying to saints in the Bible, for the simple reason that one must be dead (in the worldly sense of the word) and perform miracles after that, in order to be canonized as saint, which circumstance places us in the patristic period and the age of the martyrs. That is notwithstanding your usage of "saint" as one "who [has] trusted Christ for [his] salvation", which of course is not who Christians generally speaking pray to.

The allusions to intercessory prayer that I was talking about are the wedding at Cana where Mary intercedes to Christ for the head waiter; the intercession of Jairus for his daughter, the Transfiguration, and the rich man talking to Lazarus. None involves a living person talking to the dead person, however these allusions establish the pattern that the Church followed, bearing in mind that the saints have everlasting life and we are in communion with them.

I agree that there is no direct instruction to pray to saints in the Bible; it is a pious practice that the Church developed after the books of the Bible had been written.

If based on your theology, no one knows if he/she makes it to heaven or purgatory or where ever until after they are dead, how do you know now if any one in the last 2,000 years, except Jesus, made it to heaven?

Who decides who gets to heaven, purgatory or where ever, God? the Pope? the Church? a lottery? or the person them self?

If God decides, then how does any one know if Mary or the saint or the dead person they are praying to for intercession actually made it to heaven to pass the request on?

Seems to me, one would pray to the One you know with certainty is able to do something about the prayer rather than just playing the odds and hoping the intercessor made it.

Of course there is no direct reference to praying to saints in the Bible, for the simple reason that one must be dead (in the worldly sense of the word) and perform miracles after that, in order to be canonized as saint, ...

May I ask for a little more explanation on this? I thought that miracles had to be proved and attributed as occurring during life on earth to qualify for Sainthood. How is it proved and attributed that miracles are accomplished after a person's death?