The word "pray" to catholics means to ask for help. The word "Pray" comes from the old latin word "precari" which means "to ask for help". We can ask for help from anyone. But Adoration and Worship is reserved for God alone. We of course do not worship or adore the saints.
This might help you to understand what we mean. When we pray to the saints, we are asking for them to help us Worship and Adore God. We Worship and Adore God alone, and ask the saints to pray to God with us and join with us in Worshiping and Adoring God.
The first Christians prayed and had their masses in the catacombs, not only for security but more importantly to be with and pray along with the deceased, "Those asleep in Christ".
It's sad that a lot of the schisms and disputes are because of semantics. Thank you for your follow-up post. God bless you.
This is a sermon by Saint Alphonsus Liguori...http://olrl.org/snt_docs/means.shtml...
You may familiar with the fella...I'm not...He says salvation outside of the Catholic church is impossible...
He also says salvation is thru Mary...Apparenty this good Catholic figures you have to pray to Mary to get salvation FROM HER...I believe that's contrary to what you are saying...
I know it's certainly contrary to God...
~~~I don't see where it's semantics being the problem...~~~
Thus as no man goeth to the Father but by the Son, so no man goeth to Christ but by His Mother...
"It is a great thing in any saint to have grace sufficient for the salvation of many souls; but to have enough to suffice for the salvation of everybody in the world is the greatest of all; and this is found in Christ and in the Blessed Virgin."[1]Source: AD DIEM ILLUM LAETISSIMUM (On the Immaculate Conception), Encyclical of Pope Pius X, February 2, 1904.
Among her many other titles we find her hailed as "our Lady, our Mediatrix,"[3] "the Reparatrix of the whole world,"[4] "the Dispenser of all heavenly gifts."[5]
O Virgin most holy, none abounds in the knowledge of God except through thee; none, O Mother of God, attains salvation except through thee; none receives a gift from the throne of mercy except through thee."[7]
Those, alas! furnish us by their conduct with a peremptory proof of it, who seduced by the wiles of the demon or deceived by false doctrines think they can do without the help of the Virgin. Hapless are they who neglect Mary under pretext of the honor to be paid to Jesus Christ! ...
The role of Mary in Christ's redeeming sacrifice is developed by Pope Benedict XV (1914-22) in his apostolic letter Inter Sodalicia, March 22, 1918.
As she suffered and almost died together with her suffering and dying Son, so she surrendered her mother's rights over her Son for the salvation of the human race. And to satisfy the justice of God she sacrificed her Son, as well as she could, so that it may justly be said that she together with Christ has redeemed the human race.
We must never go to Our Lord except through Mary, through her intercession and her influence with Him. We must never be without Mary when we pray to Jesus.
50. Beware, predestinate soul, of believing that it is more perfect to go straight to Jesus, straight to God. Without Mary, your action and your intention will be of little value; but if you go to God through Mary, your work will be Mary's work, and consequently it will be sublime and most worthy of God.
From here:http://www.aloha.net/~mikesch/mary.htm
~~~If you don't worship Mary, you'd better start...According to your church, you don't have a chance without her...SHE is your salvation...~~~