The writings of St. Paul are
essential for understanding our relationship with the saints in heaven and the
intercessory power they have for us. St. Paul teaches that “We were baptized
into one body in a single Spirit, Jews
as well as Greeks, slaves
as well as free men, and we were all given the same Spirit
to drink.[1]
By our baptism we become partakers of Christ and in becoming partakers of Christ
we become partakers in the wellbeing of one another. This relationship with our
brothers and sisters in Christ does not end at death; rather it is strengthened
because the saints are face to face with God and possess perfect charity. If
this communion ceased at death it would be impossible for us to remain in
communion with Christ, but since we continue to remain in communion with Christ
we continue to remain in communion with the saints. The Body of Christ is
composed of the church triumphant, the saints in heaven, the church militant,
us here on earth, as well as the church suffering, those souls in purgatory who
are completing the race and one day will join the ranks of the church triumphant.[2]
The word saint literally means holy
ones. In one sense we could say all members of the Church who are free from
mortal sin are saints, yet in the proper sense of the word saints refers to
those who are in heaven. Our state here on earth is much different from those
who have completed the race and have become eternal saints. St. Paul teaches
that we live in an imperfect state. “Now we see only reflections in a mirror,
mere riddles, but then we shall be seeing face to face. Now I can know only
imperfectly; but then I shall know just as fully as I am myself known.”[3]
While we see only reflections in a mirror the saints, having attained the
fullness of sanctity see God as He truly is.
The earliest Christians believed in
the existence of saints are their ability to pray for us. The earliest
Christians prayed to the martyrs and in many cases offered the Holy Sacrifice
of the Mass on top of their tombs. They further prayed for those who died. It
was not, in fact, until the reformation that the intercessory power of the
saints was strongly contested. Martin Luther appealed to St. Paul’s letter to
Timothy to argue against praying to the saints for intercession. He argued that
St. Paul’s statement “for there is only one God, and there is only one mediator
between God
and humanity, himself a human being, Christ Jesus,”[4]
meant that one should only pray directly to God.
Yet
Luther looked at this passage too narrowly. Catholics agree with St. Paul that
Christ is the one and only mediator. Christ as the sole mediator does not
prevent us from praying to the saints asking them to pray to Christ who is the
mediator to the Father. When we pray to the saints we trust they pray through
Christ, after all being in heaven they know Christ is the one and only
mediator.
To
understand this more clearly we can see that asking someone else for prayers is
similar to asking the saints to pray for us. St. Paul is clear that we should
ask for the prayers of other Christians. “In all your prayer and entreaty keep
praying in the Spirit
on every possible occasion. Never get tired of staying awake to pray for all
God's holy people. And pray for me to be given an opportunity to open my mouth
and fearlessly make known the mystery
of the gospel.”[5] St.
Paul not only teaches that we can ask someone else for prayers he asks the
Ephesians to pray for him. In his writings to Timothy he further teaches that
we ought to pray for other people.[6]
We
see from the writings of St. Paul that so long as we remain in union with
Christ we remain in union with the whole Body of Christ, the church triumphant,
the church suffering and our fellow members of the church militant. We further
see St. Paul’s exhortation that we should all pray for one another. Our prayers
do not remove Christ as the sole mediator but rather our prayers are directed
to Christ, to who we conclude our prayer through Christ our Lord. Praying to
the saints is thus a powerful source of intercession because the body we share
continues to exist for the saints in heaven and if the saints are full of grace
how much more powerful must their prayers be.
[1] 1Cor 12:13
[2] While a teaching of the
existence of purgatory is beyond the scope of this reflection St. Paul makes
allusion to it in 1 Cor 3:12-15
[3] 1Cor 13:12
[4] 1 Tim 2:5
[5] Eph 6:18-20
[6] “I urge then, first of all
that petitions, prayers, intercessions and thanksgiving should be offered for
everyone.” 1 Tim 2:1
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