DO CATHOLICS WORSHIP GRAVEN IMAGES, SAINTS?

Basilica of  Black Nazarene (Quiapo Church) in Quiapo, Manila

First of all, NO CATHOLIC CHURCH DOCUMENTS tells that we are worshipping saints, adore them, etc.

The Catholics are venerating them. Veneration is biblically-based:

Genesis 19:1- Lot bowed own in the ground to venerate the two angels in Sodom.

Genesis 42:6- Joseph's brothers bow before Joseph with their faces on the ground.

Psalm 138:2- David bows down before God's holy temple.

Judith 14:7- Achior the Ammonite kneels before Judith, venerating her and praising God.

By he way, what is the meaning of the word "VENERATION"?

• Veneration (Latin veneratio, Greek δουλεία, douleia), or veneration of saints, is a special act of honoring a saint: an angel, or a dead person who has been identified by a church committee as singular in the traditions of the religion. Philologically, to venerate derives from the Latin verb, venerare, meaning to regard with reverence and respect. (source: Wikipedia)
• Veneration is to respect or awe inspired by the dignity, wisdom, dedication, or talent of a person  (source: Online Merriam-Webster Dictionary)
• Veneration is to honor. Veneration is not to worship.

What is  the meaning of the word "worship"? Some non-Catholics misinterpret this word:

• Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity. The word is derived from the Old English worthscipe, meaning worthiness or worth-ship — to give, at its simplest, worth to something.

• • According to Mark Miravalle the English word "worship" is equivocal, in that it has been used in Catholic writing, at any rate, to denote both adoration/latria and veneration/dulia, and in some cases even as a synonym for veneration as distinct from adoration:
  • Adoration, which is known as latria in classical theology, is the worship and homage that is rightly offered to God alone. It is the acknowledgement of excellence and perfection of an uncreated, divine person. It is the worship of the Creator that God alone deserves. Veneration, known as dulia in classical theology, is the honor due to the excellence of a created person. This refers to the excellence exhibited by the created being who likewise deserves recognition and honor. We see a general example of veneration in events like the awarding of academic awards for excellence in school, or the awarding of the Olympic medals for excellence in sports. There is nothing contrary to the proper adoration of God when we offer the appropriate honor and recognition that created persons deserve based on achievement in excellence. Here a further clarification should be made regarding the use of the term "worship" in relation to the categories of adoration and veneration. Some schools of theology use the term "worship" to introduce both adoration and veneration. They would distinguish between "worship of adoration" and "worship of veneration." The word "worship" (in the same way the theological term "cult" is traditionally used) in these classical definitions was not at all synonymous with adoration, but could be used to introduce either adoration or veneration. Hence Catholic writers will sometimes use the term "worship" not to indicate adoration, but only the worship of veneration given to Mary and the saints. (source: Wikipedia)

We kneel down to the saints to venerate them. Not to worship them.

Here is the official teaching of the Catholic Church regarding the veneration of Saints, martyrs.:

IV. "YOU SHALL NOT MAKE FOR YOURSELF A GRAVEN IMAGE . . ."

2129 The divine injunction included the prohibition of every representation of God by the hand of man. Deuteronomy explains: "Since you saw no form on the day that the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, beware lest you act corruptly by making a graven image for yourselves, in the form of any figure. . . . "⁶⁶ It is the absolutely transcendent God who revealed himself to Israel. "He is the all," but at the same time "he is greater than all his works."⁶⁷ He is "the author of beauty."⁶⁸

2130 Nevertheless, already in the Old Testament, God ordained or permitted the making of images that pointed symbolically toward salvation by the incarnate Word: so it was with the bronze serpent, the ark of the covenant, and the cherubim.⁶⁹

2131 Basing itself on the mystery of the incarnate Word, the seventh ecumenical council at Nicaea (787) justified against the iconoclasts the veneration of icons - of Christ, but also of the Mother of God, the angels, and all the saints. By becoming incarnate, the Son of God introduced a new "economy" of images.

2132 The Christian veneration of images is not contrary to the first commandment which proscribes idols. Indeed, "the honor rendered to an image passes to its prototype," and "whoever venerates an image venerates the person portrayed in it."⁷⁰ The honor paid to sacred images is a "respectful veneration," not the adoration due to God alone:

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We make graven images of our saints because we want to remember them. The graven images is like the photo of your beloved parents in your sala, the monument of Rizal, the monument of Andres Bonifacio, Monument of Ninoy and Cory Aquino, etc. These monuments were made to remember the person who represents their images/monuments.

The church teaching is not to worship the image alone but to venerate the person who represents the image.

We offer flowers to the saints because we remember them, not to worship them. If the offering of flowers is a kind of worship, it also literally means that the President of the Republic of the Philippines is worshipping Jose Rizal during his birthday, June 19?