While praying to saints and angels is common in Catholicism, the document argues that praying to anyone other than God is idolatry. It provides several reasons from the Bible why praying to angels is wrong: 1) Jesus only prayed to God the Father and instructed his disciples to do the same. 2) Angels cannot grant requests that require omnipotent or omniscient powers like God. 3) Only God can fulfill the roles described in passages like sanctifying, glorifying, and preserving believers. The document concludes that prayer should only be directed to God through Jesus Christ as he acts as the sole intercessor, and angels do not have the ability to receive prayers from all people at once like God.

1. Is there a specific Catholic prayer to
pray to angels?
While there is no biblical verse which explicitly states, “You shall not
pray to angels,” it is abundantly clear that we are not to pray to
angels. This certainly flies in the face of Catholic sensibilities as
praying to saints (dead people) and angels is a common practice.
Ultimately, prayer is an act of worship. And, just as angels reject our
worship (Revelation 22:8-9), so they would also reject our prayers.
Offering our worship or prayer to anyone but God is idolatry.
There are also several practical and theological reasons why praying
to angels is wrong. Christ Himself never prayed to anyone but the
Father.
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2. When asked by His disciples to teach them to pray, He instructed
them, “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in
heaven…’” (Matthew 6:9; Luke 11:2).
If praying to angels were something we, as Jesus disciples, are to do,
this would have been the place for Him to tell us. Clearly, we are to
pray only to God. This is also evident in passages such as Matthew
11:25-26, where Christ's prayer introduction begins with “I thank thee,
O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, ...." Jesus not only begins His prayers
by addressing the Father, but the content of His prayers usually
requests assistance that could only be granted by someone with
omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent powers. Praying to angels
would be ineffective because they are created beings and do not
possess these powers.
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3. The case against praying to angels can also be made by reviewing John
17:1-26 where Jesus prays on behalf of His followers, requesting
multiple blessings on them from God the Father, including
sanctification, glorification, and preservation of the saints. These three
blessings can only come from the source that presently holds them,
and again, angels simply do not have this power. Angels cannot
sanctify us, they cannot glorify us, and they cannot guarantee our
inheritance in Christ (Ephesians 1:13-14).
Second, there is an occasion in John 14:13 when Christ Himself tells
believers that whatever we ask in His name, He will accomplish
because He pleads directly with the Father. Offering a prayer up to
angels would fall short of an effective and biblically guided prayer. A
second occasion in which Christ mentions that prayers must be
offered up in His name alone occurs in John 16:26. This verse conveys
the message that, after Christ's ascension to heaven, He acts as an
intercessor to the Father for all believers. Neither angels nor any other
created being is ever depicted as an intercessor with the Father. Only
the Son and the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:26) can intercede before the
Father’s throne.
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4. Last, 1 Thessalonians 5:17 tells the believer to pray without ceasing.
This would only be possible if a believer has access to a God who is
always present and available to listen to the pleas of every person at
one time. Angels do not have this ability—they are not omnipresent or
omnipotent—and as such are not qualified to receive our prayers.
Prayer to the Father through Christ is the only necessary and effective
means by which we can communicate with the Father. As harsh as this
may be to receive, the true answer is praying to angels is absolutely
not a biblical concept.
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