Our village recently “celebrated” their annual festival to honor their patron saint, St. Nicolas. Festivities included a daily prayer time every morning for nine days, culminating in a procession through the village, and a mass and feast at the “local church”. We took the opportunity to ask several people about the morning time of prayer. We wanted to find out who they were praying to: were they praying to God, or to St. Nicolas? We received mixed answers. Some said that St. Nicolas was a mediator, so he would carry a person’s prayers to God. Some also said that the results of their prayers depended on their devotion to the saint. In other words, God would reward those who are devoted to the saint.
For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; 1 Timothy 2:5