Catholic Devotions

Put simply Catholic Devotions practices that someone uses in order to grow in her or his faith. They can be either personal or communal. These practices are in addition to or happen outside of the Church’s’ regular liturgies like celebration of the Holy Mysteries at Mass or the Sacrament of Reconciliation. They can include things like the Novenas we pray here at the Dominican Shrine of St. Jude, Eucharist adoration, or regularly praying the Rosary. Some people wear one of the different scapulars, join the Legion of Mary, or adopt one of our great Saints–like St. Jude Thaddeus–as partner in prayer, often referred to as “praying to the Saints.”

When Catholics say something like “pray to St. Jude,” we do not in any way mean or imply worship of the saint. We worship God and God ALONE. However, we do ask the saints to pray with us and for us to God, in exactly the same way we ask our friends and family to pray for us here on earth. Our Holy Saints are those people we sure are with God in heaven. We hold them up as examples of what is possible for us and learn about their lives as our sisters and brothers in Christ.