Prayers to Saints: The Biblical Basis
Yesterday's Biblical selection for the Office of Readings was a selection from Revelation chapter 5. The scene takes place in Heaven, where Jesus appears in the form of the Lamb and the saints in heaven are praising him. Verse 8 reads:
When he took it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each of the elders held a harp and gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of the holy ones.
Here we see the twenty-four elders, representing the Twelve Tribes of Israel and the Twelve Apostles, presenting the prayers of the holy ones to the the Lamb (Jesus), just as they do when we pray to the saints for our intentions. When Catholics pray to saints, we don't expect them personally to answer them. Rather, we are asking someone who has proven his closeness to Christ to pray for us. It's really no different than asking a friend or acquaintance to pray for us. The only real difference is that we know the saints we ask to pray for us in Heaven are close to God and have proven their ability to intercede to God though past miracles.
Again in Revelation chapter 8, we read:
Another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a gold censer. He was given a great quantity of incense to offer, along with the prayers of all the holy ones, on the gold altar that was before the throne. The smoke of the incense along with the prayers of the holy ones went up before God from the hand of the angel. (Rev 8: 3-4)
There are further instances of Biblical support for prayer to the saints. For example, in Psalm 103 verses 20-21, we see:
Bless the LORD, all you angels, mighty in strength and attentive, obedient to every command. Bless the LORD, all you hosts, ministers who do God's will.
Psalm 148 begins:
Hallelujah! Praise the LORD from the heavens; give praise in the heights. Praise him, all you angels; give praise, all you hosts.
There's a good article on Catholic.com which answers many Protestant objections to prayer to the saints. Here's one particularly good excerpt:
The answer is: "Of course one should pray directly to Jesus!" But that does not mean it is not also a good thing to ask others to pray for one as well. Ultimately, the "go-directly-to-Jesus" objection boomerangs back on the one who makes it: Why should we ask any Christian, in heaven or on earth, to pray for us when we can ask Jesus directly? If the mere fact that we can go straight to Jesus proved that we should ask no Christian in heaven to pray for us then it would also prove that we should ask no Christian on earth to pray for us. ... Since the practice of asking others to pray for us is so highly recommended in Scripture, it cannot be regarded as superfluous on the grounds that one can go directly to Jesus. The New Testament would not recommend it if there were not benefits coming from it. One such benefit is that the faith and devotion of the saints can support our own weaknesses and supply what is lacking in our own faith and devotion. Jesus regularly supplied for one person based on another person’s faith (e.g., Matt. 8:13, 15:28, 17:15–18, Mark 9:17–29, Luke 8:49–55). And it goes without saying that those in heaven, being free of the body and the distractions of this life, have even greater confidence and devotion to God than anyone on earth. ... Having others praying for us thus is a good thing, not something to be despised or set aside. Of course, we should pray directly to Christ with every pressing need we have (cf. John 14:13–14). That’s something the Catholic Church strongly encourages. In fact, the prayers of the Mass, the central act of Catholic worship, are directed to God and Jesus, not the saints. But this does not mean that we should not also ask our fellow Christians, including those in heaven, to pray with us.
I know from personal experience that prayer to the saints is not only permissible, but effective. It makes sense that those closest to God and who have the greatest faith in Him, as evidenced by the lives they led and their presence in Heaven, would be extremely helpful to us with their prayers. As humans, we need all the help we can get, don't cut yourselves off from some of the greatest help you can: pray to the saints too.