"Pray for us." Say what?? -- #ForAlltheSaints

So far I've talked about the Feast of All Saints, given you some background on my first experience with the saints, and a brief biography of my favourite saint, St. Dymphna. You may be wondering though, what do Catholics really believe about the saints?

There are a number of common misconceptions about what Catholics believe regarding the saints, but the biggest one is that we worship the saints or somehow place them ahead of Jesus. Another one is that because we ask them to pray for us that it somehow means we believe we cannot "go directly to Jesus" or that because we do ask for their prayers that we don't pray to God directly. In order to help clear up some of these misconceptions, here's a brief "what we believe" regarding the saints.

1. Both the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed mention a concept called "the communion of saints." This is a term that refers to both Christians here on earth and those who have gone before us in death and are now present with God in heaven. The reason for this is that those who are alive in Christ (although dead in their earthly bodies), are more perfectly alive than we who live because they are in the presence of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. St. Paul says in Romans 8:38-39:

For I am convinced that neither life, nor death, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (emphasis mine)

If what Paul is saying is true, then it naturally follows that death cannot separate us from the Body of Christ either. The Body of Christ is the fellowship of ALL believers. If it were not and we were cut off from the Body of Christ once we die, then we would also be cut off from the love of God because how can we be united with the love of God if we are not also united with the Body of Christ? And so, when we die we remain as part of the Body of Christ.

2. Knowing that we are not separated from the Body of Christ, we ask our saintly brothers and sisters to pray for us. We are not worshiping them but instead, asking for their intercession. I have heard some non-Catholic Christians say things like: "Why go through the saints? Why not just pray to Jesus directly?" The answer is that we do both and so do they, but in a different way. Think of it this way. What would those same people say if I asked them why they ask their friends, family, or ministers to pray for them when they can just go to Jesus directly? They would point to the many scriptures that indicate that we are to pray for one another as a reason for asking others to pray. They would also state that they do indeed pray directly to Jesus as well, but that it's not unbiblical to ask others to pray for us too. Catholics agree with these things. The difference is that we not only ask our earthly brothers and sisters to pray for us, but our heavenly ones too. Since we do not believe that we are cut off from the Body of Christ by death (see #1 above), it only makes sense to ask those who are even closer to God than we are to intercede on our behalf. The book of Revelation records the following:

Then I saw standing in the midst of the throne and the four living creatures and the elders, a Lamb that seemed to have been slain. He had seven horns and seven eyes; these are the [seven] spirits of God sent out into the whole world. He came and received the scroll from the right hand of the one who sat on the throne. When he took it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each of the elders held a harp and gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of the holy ones. (Revelation 5:6-8)

So who are these holy ones? Most versions which do not call them holy ones refer to them as "saints." This is in keeping with the idea that these prayers are not just from those of us still living and sinning and needing forgiveness on earth. Sin is not holy and as long as we are slaves to our flesh and sinful natures, we cannot be perfectly holy as those who have been perfectly justified and are present with God in heaven are holy. It is these people, the ones who are truly holy, whose prayers are being offered as incense to the Lamb. It is worth noting that the word saint comes from the Latin "sanctus" which means holy. So the saints are holy and we on earth strive toward holiness. Their holiness makes their intercession especially powerful ("The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful." -- James 5:16b), so it makes sense to ask them to pray for us.

3. "Okay, but what about the statues and pictures of saints? Aren't those idols?" -- The answer to this is no. Think about it. Do you have a picture of a beloved family member or friend who is deceased? Unless you're Amish (and if you are, you aren't likely reading this), the answer to this for most people is a very emphatic yes. If you do have such a picture, do you ever look at it fondly while thinking about your loved one or even go as far as touching or holding the picture while recalling memories or how much you love that person or how much they loved you and touched your life? Of course you do. When our lives have been touched by someone else's life or we love that person, that love and those memories don't vanish just because that person is dead. How many times do we say things like, "I really miss Grandma" or "I can just hear Aunt Susan's laughter when I look at that picture. She was so funny" when we are looking at old photographs or some other memento that reminds us of someone we love? That is what is going on when someone has a picture of a saint or a statue. It is a remembrance of that saint and a way to call to mind the holy life that person lived which is worthy of imitation. This is why Catholic churches are filled with statues, pictures of saints (sometimes called icons), and stained glass windows depicting saints. It isn't because we are worshiping these people. It is because we love them as our brothers and sisters in Christ and we want to remember their lives and in so doing, imitate their example.

That's the basics of Catholic beliefs regarding the saints. I hope that maybe answers your questions about these beliefs.

Do you have any other questions about what Catholics believe about the saints? If so, let me know in the comments below!