Catholics have often been accused of worshipping Mary and the saints because we pray to them and venerate their images and relics. At the heart of this confusion is a misunderstanding of the term worship and the type and nature of prayer.
In Old English, worship (worthscipe) was a term used to describe the honor given to a dignified person or God. For example, British subjects might refer to their magistrates as “Your Worship.” However, no one would assume they were worshiping them in the same way they worship God.
In scripture, the Hebrew term for worship is shakhah. It was used to refer to the worship of God (Ex 3:12, 4:23, 7:16) and dignified people (Gen 37:7-9, 49:8, Ex 18:7). Shakhah was used in the same way as worthscipe in Old English.
Recently, the term worship has been narrowed to refer only to the worship and adoration of God alone. This is where the confusion has arisen. People of this time may still find old theological books or even councils that use the term worship concerning Mary and the saints. However, we must understand that the word was being used differently at the time of that writing. To clarify any confusion, the term worship was then used to refer to the adoration reserved to God alone, and honor or veneration was to be shown to Mary and the saints.
In the Second Council of Nicea in 787, the Council Fathers responded to the heresy known as iconoclasm, which was the destruction of sacred images and statues, because it was thought that they were being worshipped as idols (see 2 Kgs 18:4). They clearly defined that no creature can be worshipped, God alone is to be worshipped, and we shall have no other gods besides Him (CCC 2084-2132).
The Council Fathers ensured that distinctive language was used on this issue to avoid any confusion. They formalized distinct words in Greek (then into Latin) to differentiate the worship due to God alone and the honor given to the saints.
After a second wave of Protestant attacks on the Catholic misuse of images and relics and the “worship of saints,” the Council of Trent 1545-63 defined once again in distinct language that we reserve adoration and worship for God alone and honor and veneration for Mary and the saints.
Just to be clear. Catholics do not worship Mary and the saints. To do so would be idolatry, a most serious sin! We honor and venerate them as models of the Christian life. We invoke their intercession and request their prayers on our behalf to God, but we do not worship them.
This leads to another source of confusion: the misunderstanding of the nature or types of prayer. St Paul reveals the types of prayer as: petition, worship, intercession, and thanksgiving (1 Tim 2:1).
Notice how not all forms of prayer necessarily equate to “worship”. In fact, the most basic meaning of the term “pray” means “to make a request of”. When Catholics “pray” to Mary and the saints (CCC 971), we are not worshipping them as gods; we simply request their intercession or invoke their prayers for us on our behalf.
When we pray to Mary and the saints, it is similar to my asking you to pray for me. No one would assume I am worshiping you because I asked for your prayers. I am simply asking you to pray to God for me as well, because my request is more likely to be answered if many people are praying.
And in the same way that I don’t ask people to pray for me, because I think they have more power than God to answer my prayers, we don’t pray to the saints because we think they are more powerful than God. We are simply asking them to pray for us – to God – that my prayer will be heard.
