The Communion of Saints

 

            I have plenty of pictures on the wall at my house. Pictures of my kids dominate the space, but I also have pictures of other family members and those special to me. Funny how no one has ever accused me of worshipping these people. Because if these pictures happened to be of the heroes of the faith: Mary, St. Francis, St. Thomas, etc., many of my Baptist friends would accuse me of idolatry.

            But, honestly, what is the difference? Christians are members of the Body of Christ and if one member suffers all suffer, and if one member is glorified all rejoice (1 Corinthians 12:12-27). The Saints are the people that God has glorified. They are our holy examples of how holy our lives can become if we trust God completely.

            You may object and say that the Saints are dead, but this simply isn’t true. The Bible says that God is not the God of the dead, but of the living; the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Mark 12:26-27). According to Scripture, even death cannot separate us from Christ (Romans 8:35-39). Surely those in heaven are far more alive than they ever were on earth!

            Maybe you think that those in heaven are unaware or don’t care about what is going on here on earth, but this is untrue also. Remember the Transfiguration of Christ (Matthew 17:3)? Where Moses and Elijah appeared to Peter, John, and James and discussed matters with Jesus?  Or what about Revelation 5:8 where the prayers of the Saints in heaven are poured out before the Lord as a “golden bowl full of incense”?

            Have you ever honestly considered any reason why you should NOT ask the Saints to pray for you? They aren’t dead, they are aware of earthly matters, and they are far closer to God than we are for they “are like Him, they see Him as He is, face to face (John 1:32).”

            The Bible tells us, “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:5).

            Protestants like to use this verse to reject prayer to the Saints. They assume that praying with the Saints is some how violating Christ’s role as mediator, but this isn’t so.

            The New Testament tells us repeatedly to “pray for one another.” I can cite dozens of verses, but my money says that you are already familiar with many of them, but here is one for good measure, “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectful in every way. This is good, and pleasing to God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:1-4).

We read elsewhere that “the prayers of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16). Who is more righteous than those in heaven?

Does asking my mother or my friend to pray for me interfere at all with Christ’s role as one mediator? Absolutely not, and neither does asking someone in heaven to pray for me.

You and I and the Saints can pray for one another precisely because Christ is the one mediator, because of Him we all have direct access to the Father! Catholics don’t pray to the Saints instead of Jesus, we simply ask them for their prayers. We use the word “pray” in the Old English sense, which means “to ask”. We ask for their prayers on our behalf and we ask them to help us “bear our burdens” (Galatians 6:2).

The problem with Protestant theology in this area is simple: it’s personal to a fault. Protestants focus so much on a “personal” relationship with God, accepting Jesus as their “personal” Lord and Savior, etc. that they often neglect the fact that Christians are a family. We are the children of God the Father and the brethren of Christ. We are the Body of Christ and members of one another.

Look at it this way: If you visit my house and set for hours and hours doing nothing but honoring my children instead of me directly, would I be upset? No way! It pleases a parent to see his children honored. In fact, it honors the parent to see his children honored, it doesn’t detract from the parent’s honor.

Or, if you prefer, imagine that you walked into the personal studio of a great painter. On the wall were dozens of his greatest works, beautiful paintings and sculptures filled the room. If you spent a great deal of time admiring the artist’s work would this detract from his glory? Of course not!

The Saints are God’s masterpieces! He is the true and perfect Father, He is the greatest Artist, it is because of Him that these holy men and women are worthy of honor.

The Saints are nothing more than our older brothers and sisters in the family of God. They are a shining example of His mercy and His redeeming work. They don’t distract us from God, not even close, they magnify God because God magnified them! The moon doesn’t take any glory away from the sun simply because it reflects the sun’s light, similarly the Saints are just that, reflections of God’s love. 

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (Hebrews 12:1).

Saint Paul was quite the athlete. He described the process of salvation and sanctification in athletic terms. Here he teaches that believers are being surrounded by a stadium full of on-lookers, as it were, cheering us on to our final destination. This mighty cloud is full of the Saints, and what a beautiful image it is.

Catholics don’t pray for Saints like we pray for those on earth and in Purgatory, we ask the Saints in heaven to pray for us. This is a practice that goes back to the very beginning.  

            Once we understand that the Church is the Body of Christ we are forced to realize that the Church is much bigger than any of us, much bigger than any local congregation. The Church is actually divided into three groups, a Trinity if you will. We have the Church Militant, those of us here on earth, the Church Triumphant made up of the Saints in heaven, and the Church Suffering containing the holy souls in Purgatory. And, without a doubt, we need each other.

            Praying with the Saints and praying for the dead isn’t necromancy and it isn’t “sooth-saying”, which were condemned in the Old Covenant. The Saints are our brothers and sisters who could not be separated from the Body of Christ, even by death. They don’t tell us the future, they don’t forgive us of our sins, no, simply put they only pray for us. They went through much of the same things that you and I go through, and they won!

            Any friend of God’s is a friend of mine, and the more people praying for me the better. In a certain since, all the faithful are saints just like all the faithful are martyrs, if they renounce their former life for the cross. But there are martyrs and the there are Martyrs, there are saints and then there are Saints.

            Before the Church declares anyone a Saint, which means someone in heaven, a thorough investigation is conducted. If anyone that knew the person is still alive they are asked to give sworn testimony to the person’s holiness. Also, the Church looks for evidence in the form of miracles attributed to that person after their death. It is a long and drawn out process and this leaves the faithful with a guarantee that this man or woman is in heaven, actively interceding for us.

            The Church does not say that ONLY the Saints she recognizes as such are in heaven. We believe that there are many, many men and women enjoying the Beatific Vision. But these men and women the Church recognizes lived extraordinary lives, filled with supernatural faith, hope, and charity, and can therefore be safely honored as a model for all the faithful.

            By honoring the Saints the Church is simply honoring those that Christ honors, she is blessing those who were blessed by Jesus, and she is loving the Lord in, and through, His brethren. And what could be more Christian than that?

               There are three words that the Church uses to distinguish our veneration of the Saints and Mary from the adoration due only to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit: latria, dulia, and hyperdulia.

            Latria means adoration. Only the Trinity is to be “adored” in the strict sense of the word. Only God is worshipped. Latria is sacrificial in character.

            Dulia is “veneration”. It is the “honor” that we give to all the Saints in heaven.

            Hyperdulia is a higher form of dulia but still nowhere near latria. Hyperdulia is the honor the Church gives to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

 

 

The Early Church on the Intercession of the Saints

 

Hermas

“[The Shepherd said:] ‘But those who are weak and slothful in prayer, hesitate to ask anything from the Lord; but the Lord is full of compassion, and gives without fail to all who ask him. But you, [Hermas,] having been strengthened by the holy angel [you saw], and having obtained from him such intercession, and not being slothful, why do not you ask of the Lord understanding, and receive it from him?’” (The Shepherd 3:5:4 [A.D. 80]).

Clement of Alexandria

“In this way is he [the true Christian] always pure for prayer. He also prays in the society of angels, as being already of angelic rank, and he is never out of their holy keeping; and though he pray alone, he has the choir of the saints standing with him [in prayer]” (Miscellanies 7:12 [A.D. 208]).

Origen

“But not the high priest [Christ] alone prays for those who pray sincerely, but also the angels . . . as also the souls of the saints who have already fallen asleep” (Prayer 11 [A.D. 233]).

Cyprian of Carthage

“Let us remember one another in concord and unanimity. Let us on both sides [of death] always pray for one another. Let us relieve burdens and afflictions by mutual love, that if one of us, by the swiftness of divine condescension, shall go hence first, our love may continue in the presence of the Lord, and our prayers for our brethren and sisters not cease in the presence of the Father’s mercy” (Letters 56[60]:5 [A.D. 253]).

Anonymous

“Atticus, sleep in peace, secure in your safety, and pray anxiously for our sins” (funerary inscription near St. Sabina’s in Rome [A.D. 300]).

“Pray for your parents, Matronata Matrona. She lived one year, fifty-two days” (ibid.).

“Mother of God, [listen to] my petitions; do not disregard us in adversity, but rescue us from danger” (Rylands Papyrus 3 [A.D. 350]).

Methodius

“Hail to you for ever, Virgin Mother of God, our unceasing joy, for to you do I turn again. You are the beginning of our feast; you are its middle and end; the pearl of great price that belongs to the kingdom; the fat of every victim, the living altar of the Bread of Life [Jesus]. Hail, you treasure of the love of God. Hail, you fount of the Son’s love for man. . . . You gleamed, sweet gift-bestowing Mother, with the light of the sun; you gleamed with the insupportable fires of a most fervent charity, bringing forth in the end that which was conceived of you . . . making manifest the mystery hidden and unspeakable, the invisible Son of the Father-the Prince of Peace, who in a marvelous manner showed himself as less than all littleness” (Oration on Simeon and Anna 14 [A.D. 305]).

“Therefore, we pray [ask] you, the most excellent among women, who glories in the confidence of your maternal honors, that you would unceasingly keep us in remembrance. O holy Mother of God, remember us, I say, who make our boast in you, and who in august hymns celebrate the memory, which will ever live, and never fade away” (ibid.).

“And you also, O honored and venerable Simeon, you earliest host of our holy religion, and teacher of the resurrection of the faithful, do be our patron and advocate with that Savior God, whom you were deemed worthy to receive into your arms. We, together with you, sing our praises to Christ, who has the power of life and death, saying, ‘You are the true Light, proceeding from the true Light; the true God, begotten of the true God’” (ibid.).

Cyril of Jerusalem

“Then [during the Eucharistic prayer] we make mention also of those who have already fallen asleep: first, the patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and martyrs, that through their prayers and supplications God would receive our petition . . . ” (Catechetical Lectures 23:9 [A.D. 350]).

Hilary of Poitiers

“To those who wish to stand [in God's grace], neither the guardianship of saints nor the defenses of angels are wanting” (Commentary on the Psalms 124:5:6 [A.D. 365]).

Ephraim the Syrian

“You victorious martyrs who endured torments gladly for the sake of the God and Savior, you who have boldness of speech toward the Lord himself, you saints, intercede for us who are timid and sinful men, full of sloth, that the grace of Christ may come upon us, and enlighten the hearts of all of us so that we may love him” (Commentary on Mark [A.D. 370]).

“Remember me, you heirs of God, you brethren of Christ; supplicate the Savior earnestly for me, that I may be freed through Christ from him that fights against me day by day” (The Fear at the End of Life [A.D. 370]).

The Liturgy of St. Basil

“By the command of your only-begotten Son we communicate with the memory of your saints . . . by whose prayers and supplications have mercy upon us all, and deliver us for the sake of your holy name” (Liturgy of St. Basil [A.D. 373]).

Pectorius

“Aschandius, my father, dearly beloved of my heart, with my sweet mother and my brethren, remember your Pectorius in the peace of the Fish [Christ]” (Epitaph of Pectorius [A.D. 375]).

Gregory of Nazianz

“May you [Cyprian] look down from above propitiously upon us, and guide our word and life; and shepherd this sacred flock . . . gladden the Holy Trinity, before which you stand” (Orations 17[24] [A.D. 380]).

“Yes, I am well assured that [my father's] intercession is of more avail now than was his instruction in former days, since he is closer to God, now that he has shaken off his bodily fetters, and freed his mind from the clay that obscured it, and holds conversation naked with the nakedness of the prime and purest mind . . . ” (ibid., 18:4).

Gregory of Nyssa

“[Ephraim], you who are standing at the divine altar [in heaven] . . . bear us all in remembrance, petitioning for us the remission of sins, and the fruition of an everlasting kingdom” (Sermon on Ephraim the Syrian [A.D. 380]).

John Chrysostom

“He that wears the purple [i.e., a royal man] . . . stands begging of the saints to be his patrons with God, and he that wears a diadem begs the tentmaker [Paul] and the fisherman [Peter] as patrons, even though they be dead” (Homilies on Second Corinthians 26 [A.D. 392]).

“When you perceive that God is chastening you, fly not to his enemies . . . but to his friends, the martyrs, the saints, and those who were pleasing to him, and who have great power [in God]” (Orations 8:6 [A.D. 396]).

Ambrose of Milan

“May Peter, who wept so efficaciously for himself, weep for us and turn towards us Christ’s benign countenance” (The Six Days Work 5:25:90 [A.D. 393]).

Jerome

“You say in your book that while we live we are able to pray for each other, but afterwards when we have died, the prayer of no person for another can be heard. . . . But if the apostles and martyrs while still in the body can pray for others, at a time when they ought still be solicitous about themselves, how much more will they do so after their crowns, victories, and triumphs?” (Against Vigilantius 6 [A.D. 406]).

Augustine

“A Christian people celebrates together in religious solemnity the memorials of the martyrs, both to encourage their being imitated and so that it can share in their merits and be aided by their prayers” (Against Faustus the Manichean [A.D. 400]).

“There is an ecclesiastical discipline, as the faithful know, when the names of the martyrs are read aloud in that place at the altar of God, where prayer is not offered for them. Prayer, however, is offered for the dead who are remembered. For it is wrong to pray for a martyr, to whose prayers we ought ourselves be commended” (Sermons 159:1 [A.D. 411]).

Lord’s table we do not commemorate martyrs in the same way that we do others who rest in peace so as to pray for them, but rather that they may pray for us that we may follow in their footsteps” (Homilies on John 84 [A.D. 416]).

“Neither are the souls of the pious dead separated from the Church which even now is the kingdom of Christ. Otherwise there would be no remembrance of them at the altar of God in the communication of the Body of Christ” (The City of God 20:9:2 [A.D. 419]).