in Theology, the act of adoring God, and especially of addressing him in prayer for his assistance and protection. See the articles ADORATION and PRAYER.

The difference between the invocation of God and of the saints, as practised by the Papists, is thus explained in the catechism of the council of Trent. "We beg of God (says the catechism), to give us good things, and to deliver us from evil; but we pray to the saints, to intercede with God and obtain those things which we stand in need of. Hence we use different forms in praying to God and to the saints: to the former we say, hear