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Question
As Roman Catholics, are we required to honour and pray to saints and Mary or can we just pray to God himself? Also, are we supposed to believe the apparitions like the ones at Lourdes and in Portugal or is this optional for us Catholics?
Saints were established by God to be intercessors for us in virtue of the doctrine of the Communion of Saints, so the Church often prays to them as intercessors, as well as, most often, directly to God Himself.
Public Revelation closed with the death of the last Apostles, St. John. Nothing after that can be part of doctrine. Naturally, one should respect pious belief, but it is not required, as a matter of faith, that one believe any post-Scriptural apparition.
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Answers by Expert:
Fr. Michael
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A traditional Catholic priest, who provides forthright answers to questions FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF TRADITIONAL CATHOLICISM (not the New Order) on topics pertaining to TRADITIONAL Roman Catholicism, including theology, the Bible, Church history, the Latin language, liturgy (especially the Traditional Latin Mass), and music (especially Gregorian chant), and current events in the Catholic Church.
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