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During my years as an active Catholic, I was never actually taught to worship patron saints; but rather, to look to them for support, guidance, protection, and comfort; viz: pray to them for providence. Unfortunately, patron saints compete with God for humanity's affections; which is of course unacceptable.
†. Deut 6:5 . .You shall love Yhvh your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.
†. Mark 12:30 . .You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.
"you shall" is neither a suggestion nor an option, no; it's mandatory.
When people pray to celestial beings like departed saints and/or angels for providence; they're not really loving God with all their heart, all their soul, all their mind, and with all their strength. No, their loyalties are divided; viz: they're allotting God a percentage of their all, but not 100% of their all.
A number of other gods vied for humanity's affections in Jacob's day; and out of all the available options, he selected Yhvh (contingent, in Jacob's spiritually immature mind, upon Yhvh's reliability as a provider).
†. Gen 28:20-21 . . Jacob then made a vow, saying: If God remains with me, if He protects me on this journey that I am making, and gives me bread to eat and clothing to wear, and if I return safe to my father's house-- Yhvh shall be my god.
What did Jacob say? Yhvh wasn't his god up to that point? Not necessarily. It wasn't uncommon in those days for people to communicate with other gods right along with Yhvh. This practice was later strictly forbidden by the first of the Ten Commandments.
†. Ex 20:1-3 . . And God spoke all these words: I am Yhvh your god, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods in my sight.
Jacob's uncle Laban was notorious for polytheism. On the one hand, he recognized Yhvh as a legitimate deity (Gen 24:50, Gen 31:29) while on the other hand he harbored a collection of patron gods in his home (Gen 31:19, Gen 31:30). In the ancient Semitic world; patron gods were equivalent to Catholicism's patron saints-- objects of devotion; venerated as special guardians, intercessors, protectors, and/or supporters; viz: alternate sources of providence.
Jacob's vow reflects a personal decision of his own volition to make Yhvh the sole source of his providence to the exclusion of all the other gods that people commonly looked to in his day. So Gen 28:20-21 could be paraphrased to read like this:
"If God remains with me, if He protects me on this journey that I am making, and gives me bread to eat and clothing to wear, and if I return safe to my father's house-- Yhvh shall be my only patron."
So, although I didn't worship patron saints, nevertheless, I practiced polytheism just like uncle Laban because of my devotion to God's competitors rather than narrowing the field down to just the one benefactor like Jacob did.
That was a very important milestone for Jacob; and it's a very tall obstacle for John and Jane Doe pew warmer to overcome because most of them feel far more comfortable looking to after-market providers such as Christ's mom and departed saints rather than looking to the Holy Bible's God alone for all their needs.
Q: What about Rev 5:8 where it talks about the prayers of the saints. Doesn't that indicate they pray for us?
A: Even if Rev 5:8 did indicate that departed saints pray for people down here on the earth, it doesn't eo ipso indicate it's okay for people on the earth to reciprocate with prayers either to them or for them.
However, when that passage in Revelation is read with care, it's easily seen that the prayers in question are not the active prayers of saints; but rather, archived prayers.
†. Rev 5:8 . . And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
You see, the bowls in that passage are already full; strongly suggesting that those particular prayers were prayed in this life; not in the next; and it also indicates that no new prayers will fit in the bowls because they are already to capacity.
The details of the prayers in those bowls aren't stated; so it would be purely conjecture to allege they're intercessory prayers. It's likely the current prayers of departed saints are for justice and vindication (e.g. Rev 6:10).
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