What does "to pray" mean in Catholicism?
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Accepted answer
The Roman Catholic definition of prayer just means to communicate to God or the saints. To "pray" to a deity is to ask the deity for something, which involves communication. This is different from worship, which means to honor or show respect. Because a prayer means communication and worship means respect, prayer may be an act of worship or reverence. When Roman Catholics "pray" to saints or God, they really mean they want to communicate with them, looking at how the saints lived their lives and how that would be an example to present Catholics, which, in my opinion, does not sound too far-fetched from veneration of the ancestors in Chinese folk religion. Whether it is veneration of ancestors or saints, the veneration or worship should not be confused with the adoration of the gods or God. Assuming that the definition of "prayer" means "to ask or to beg a god for assistance", the Catholic definition seems to work nicely.
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