I started praying to saints when I was in Grade 3 after our teacher shared with our class her story about how St. Anthony de Padua helped her find her lost keys. She said she already looked everywhere but found them only after praying to St. Anthony. She found them in her bag where she said she had already looked several times earlier. Sounds like a miracle...

I started praying specifically to St. Anthony since then. And my personal experiences only supported Ms. Bayog's own witnessing. The things I lost or misplaced were not as valuable as keys, money, jewelry and other expensive stuff. Since I was only a kid, I used to ask St. Anthony to help me find my lost Barbie dolls, magic springs, jackstone ball, and some utensils that were missing from my toy kitchen set. I didn't understand how my prayers worked, but all I knew was THEY DID WORK.

But when I grew older, I realized that saints are no different from us other humans, EXCEPT for their way of life. They were able to live a life that was very pleasing to God by denying their very selves for Him. (So I guess they were very different after all. Haha.) Saints became witnesses of the Gospel through their entire being, especially through their actions. They were more than words-- a lot more than preachers and bloggers like me. And so they deserve our high respects and good following.

With that, we can also call them our role models. But aside from being good examples, they have another role in the Church, and that is to help us human beings in our journey on Earth. If you can still recall in our Rel. Ed. classes, we were taught that the Church is composed of the Church Militant (that's us), Church Suffering (the poor souls in Purgatory), and Church Triumphant (the souls that are already in heaven: saints) Though we belong to different "dimensions," prayers become our means to "keep in touch." We are one Church.

"Hey (insert religious friend's name here), please pray for me, for so and so, for this and that... Malakas ka naman kay God e!" Have you ever said these words to a friend? Praying to saints is no different from such a concept. It is written in James 5:16 that

"The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful."

Saints are just like our friends, only more righteous and definitely holy. They lift up to God the prayers that we ask them to pray for. And since they are already spirits and are no longer limited by human bodies, I don't think they would ever have a problem with information overload-- or in this case, prayer overload.

Some may argue that God did not say we should pray to saints, and they back their premise up with a certain Bible passage in 1 Timothy 2: "For there is one God. There is also one mediator between God and the human race, Christ Jesus."

But really, did God forbid praying to saints? Let us examine the complete text:

1 Timothy 2: verses...
1 First of all, then, I ask that supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgiving be offered for everyone,
2 for kings and for all in authority, that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all devotion and dignity.
3 This is good and pleasing to God our savior,
4 who wills everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth.
5 For there is one God. There is also one mediator between God and the human race, Christ Jesus, himself human.

In the passage above, it is very clear that St. Paul was urging people to pray for others, and that such intercessions on behalf of others are good and pleasing in God's eyes. What saints do is actually pleasing in God's eyes!

By the way, be very careful, then, in listening to people who quote short and incomplete verses from the Bible. Haha. The full text usually gives a better explanation :-P

Next, "Really, who founded your religion?"