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Should we adore the saints ?
Of course NOT! It is not right to adore the saints. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that adoration is the first act of the virtue of religion. “Adoring” is reserve to God alone. If we are going to take a look at the word “adoration” it is to give acknowledgement to God as our Creator and Savior.
To revere or to venerate is the right word best to describe what should we do to saints. Veneration signifies respect to the one represented by the image.
What sets the images of the saints apart from the other images of other religion?
The act of venerating the sacred images made the distinction of Christian believers from the other religions. Christians believed that the veneration of sacred images is based on the mystery of the incarnation of the word of God.
On the other hand, just like Buddha, the frog, the dragon and the firedog and the likes, the images of Christ remind us how God gave up his only Son for our salvation. The images of the saints remind us of how God succeeded in the sharing with the lives of ordinary people. The veneration to these images should move us to adore the One True God.
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