One of my early intentions for this blog was to dispel misconceptions held by many about the Church. Thus, Don't Roman Catholics...? was born. Not intended for straight evangelization, these posts are purely for shedding some light on the many misconceptions regarding Catholic Christianity that I have heard and encountered from Christ's followers of different denominations. As the totally awesome Archbishop Fulton Sheen once said:
"There are not a hundred people in America who hate the Catholic Church. There are millions of people who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church - which is, of course, quite a different thing."
Don't Roman Catholics...
... Pray to Saints?
Praying for One Another
Have you ever asked a friend or a relative (or even a stranger or entire church congregation) to pray for you or some intention of yours? Have you ever been asked for your prayers? If your answers were "No," then I highly recommend you start asking for prayers and start meeting people who are willing to ask for your prayers. Why? Well, the New Testament talks a lot about praying for each other and asking for prayers. Take St Paul, for example:
I beseech you therefore, brethren, through our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the charity of the Holy Ghost, that you help me in your prayers for me to God
Romans 15:30
or St James the Just:
... and pray for one another, that you may be saved. For the continual prayer of a just man availeth much.
James 5:16
So it seems pretty clear that the Christian community is to pray for each other. But who is the just man whose prayer is so efficacious? Well, obviously, that could be anyone, but it is still worth considering. In all of humanity, who is the most "just" (besides Jesus, of course)? Or rather, who is closest to God? Ponder that.
What is the Church, and Who Do Catholics Consider Saints?
Let's talk about what the Church is for Catholics. Is it a building, or group of buildings? Or perhaps just the vague concept of God's Will in the universe? Is it a bunch of robed men who make rules for the rest of us? Is it just the laypeople?
Nope. The Church in the most accurate sense is the united people of God. Who are these people? Well, there are three states of the Church Universal (oh, by the way, that's what Catholic Church means). Each state compromises a different group of people, but all are in communion with the others as members of the unified Church.
1. Ecclesia Militans (the Church Militant) - That's us, the Christian people living on earth. We, who wrestle "against principalities and power, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness" (Eph. 6:12). When I talk about the travelers on the Christian Journey, these are the people I speak of.
2. Ecclesia Penitens (the Church Penitent), or Ecclesia Expectans (the Church Expectant) - The Christian dead who do not garner eternal damnation, but have yet to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. These are those whom "suffer loss" but are "saved, yet so as by fire" (1 Cor. 3:15). They still need to be purified of certain qualities before joining with God. This will be a good topic to return to in some future post about Purgatory and prayers for the dead.
3. Ecclesia Triumphans (the Church Triumphant) - Those who have entered into the victorious salvation of the beatific vision. These are the men and women who reside with God in Heaven, also known as Saints. Since a Saint is someone who is in Heaven, we also call angelic beings saints (i.e. St Michael, St Raphael, and St Gabriel). The righteous dead (particularly prophets like Moses, Abraham, etc.) who left the realm of the living before the victory of Christ, whom He rescued at the Harrowing of Hell (ah, another good topic for the future), are also considered Saints. Since "there shall not enter into [Heaven] any thing defiled" (Rev. 21:27), it can be assumed that the Church Triumphant are the most perfect creatures of God. They no longer sin, nor do they retain the inclination toward sin that the Church Militant have. These Saints are the most Christ-like of all created beings; thus, their lives are often a great example for us to live by. God wants us to be like them, because like them is being more like Christ.
As the most perfect creatures of God, it can be assumed that the Saints in Heaven follow God's rules to a tee. If the New Testament is the real deal (yet another topic idea), then it can be presumed that the Saints "pray without ceasing" (1 Thess 5:17), like the Apostle Paul said people ought to.
So let's lay all this out:
Dead Guys
"But Joseph," you might ask, "that's all well and good, but shouldn't we just ask for prayers from other living people? After all, the Saints are... dead." Without getting into the difference between "death" and "eternal life," I see your point. So I guess I should group the skeptical into two categories. Those who talk to dead guys, and those who don't talk to dead guys.
1. Those Who Talk to Dead Guys - Most Christians I know seem to have no problem talking to dead people (No I don't mean Ouija boards and seances, stay away from that unless you want a bad case of the Linda Blairs). Deceased friends and relatives? We talk to them all the time! It's comforting, and we have no problem saying and asking them things without expecting a direct verbal response. We even visit their grave sites or look at pictures of our loved ones because we feel closer to them that way.
This is very much like praying to Saints. We talk to Saints, ask them favors through their prayerful intercession, look upon images or statues of them, and visit their relics or holy sites. So for those of you who have no problem talking to the dead whom you know, I have found it extremely beneficial to cultivate a kind of personal relationship with certain Saints so that speaking to them feels like speaking to a family member whom I believe to be in Heaven.
2. Those Who Don't Talk to Dead Guys - These folks, understandably, are not comfortable talking to the dead, whether they be Mary and the Apostles or their own great-grandparents. I would direct them to this classic yet confusing verse:
... the four living creatures, and the four and twenty ancients fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints
Rev 5:8
A bit confused? So was I. Revelation is a complicated book. So hopefully we can break it down.
The four living creatures are traditionally recognized as the four evangelists (Saints Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) by major early Church Fathers such as St Ireneaus, St Augustine, and big-time Biblical authority St Jerome. They are identified as such because back in Revelation 4 they are seen standing at the base of God's throne and carrying it, just as the evangelists carried the God to Christians via the Gospels.
The four and twenty ancients are identified with what we now call "Saints" (we'll get to why those other "saints" are mentioned in a moment). Numbers being such a big thing all over John's Apocalypse, the twenty-four isn't random. It is believed to refer to Saints because twenty-four is twice twelve; there are twelve main Apostles and there are twelve tribes of Israel. In a broader sense, this refers to old Israel and the new Israel, both "peoples of God." Thus the number twenty-four represents the Church Triumphant, or the Saints.
The Lamb is Jesus, the sacrificial Lamb of the New Covenant. Don't need to go to far into that, its pretty straight forward as far as Revelation goes.
The saints here (I'm using a lowercase "s" - I've seen it more descriptively translated as "the holy people") are actually the Church Militant. The New International Version of the Bible refers to them as "God's people." It isn't the only time that Scripture refers to the living Christians as "saints," it just isn't the same use of the word as is used to talk about the Saints in Heaven.
So, rolling it back together, we get something along the lines of: the evangelists (who are undoubtedly in Heaven), the old Saints of Israel (in Heaven also), and new Saints of the Church (also in Heaven) are all offering up to Jesus the prayers of God's people on earth. If all those dead guys in Heaven know our prayers, then I guess God let's them hear our prayers. That sounds to me like a pretty concise definition for the Intercession of the Saints!
Don't Forget the Big Guy
Let me finish off by saying this: while it is highly beneficial to ask for the Saints' prayers, never forget to pray to God! Just like you shouldn't ask Mom to convince Dad to buy you a new iPod without also trying to convince him yourself, you shouldn't ask other Christians (saints or otherwise) to pray to God for you without also praying to Him some!
If you're still skeptical about the whole praying to saints thing, I understand. Again, it isn't my intention to go waving a Bible around and converting non-Catholics. I just hoped to make the Catholic Church's view clearer to those who may have heard other things.
If you've found that I said some helpful stuff, awesome! Like I say, we're all on the Journey together, so we should all be helping each other along the way, just like the saints help us! Maybe in the future I will touch on a related topic, the Veneration of the Saints.
As always, have a good one!
What is the Church, and Who Do Catholics Consider Saints?
Let's talk about what the Church is for Catholics. Is it a building, or group of buildings? Or perhaps just the vague concept of God's Will in the universe? Is it a bunch of robed men who make rules for the rest of us? Is it just the laypeople?
Nope. The Church in the most accurate sense is the united people of God. Who are these people? Well, there are three states of the Church Universal (oh, by the way, that's what Catholic Church means). Each state compromises a different group of people, but all are in communion with the others as members of the unified Church.
1. Ecclesia Militans (the Church Militant) - That's us, the Christian people living on earth. We, who wrestle "against principalities and power, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness" (Eph. 6:12). When I talk about the travelers on the Christian Journey, these are the people I speak of.
2. Ecclesia Penitens (the Church Penitent), or Ecclesia Expectans (the Church Expectant) - The Christian dead who do not garner eternal damnation, but have yet to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. These are those whom "suffer loss" but are "saved, yet so as by fire" (1 Cor. 3:15). They still need to be purified of certain qualities before joining with God. This will be a good topic to return to in some future post about Purgatory and prayers for the dead.
3. Ecclesia Triumphans (the Church Triumphant) - Those who have entered into the victorious salvation of the beatific vision. These are the men and women who reside with God in Heaven, also known as Saints. Since a Saint is someone who is in Heaven, we also call angelic beings saints (i.e. St Michael, St Raphael, and St Gabriel). The righteous dead (particularly prophets like Moses, Abraham, etc.) who left the realm of the living before the victory of Christ, whom He rescued at the Harrowing of Hell (ah, another good topic for the future), are also considered Saints. Since "there shall not enter into [Heaven] any thing defiled" (Rev. 21:27), it can be assumed that the Church Triumphant are the most perfect creatures of God. They no longer sin, nor do they retain the inclination toward sin that the Church Militant have. These Saints are the most Christ-like of all created beings; thus, their lives are often a great example for us to live by. God wants us to be like them, because like them is being more like Christ.
As the most perfect creatures of God, it can be assumed that the Saints in Heaven follow God's rules to a tee. If the New Testament is the real deal (yet another topic idea), then it can be presumed that the Saints "pray without ceasing" (1 Thess 5:17), like the Apostle Paul said people ought to.
So let's lay all this out:
- if we are to "pray for one another," as well as ask for the prayers of other Christians;
- if the aforementioned "continual prayer of a just man availeth much";
- if the most just of all men (and women) are the Saints, who are present in Heaven with Christ (the mediator between man and God); and
- if the Saints are ceaselessly praying before the throne of God;
Dead Guys
"But Joseph," you might ask, "that's all well and good, but shouldn't we just ask for prayers from other living people? After all, the Saints are... dead." Without getting into the difference between "death" and "eternal life," I see your point. So I guess I should group the skeptical into two categories. Those who talk to dead guys, and those who don't talk to dead guys.
1. Those Who Talk to Dead Guys - Most Christians I know seem to have no problem talking to dead people (No I don't mean Ouija boards and seances, stay away from that unless you want a bad case of the Linda Blairs). Deceased friends and relatives? We talk to them all the time! It's comforting, and we have no problem saying and asking them things without expecting a direct verbal response. We even visit their grave sites or look at pictures of our loved ones because we feel closer to them that way.
This is very much like praying to Saints. We talk to Saints, ask them favors through their prayerful intercession, look upon images or statues of them, and visit their relics or holy sites. So for those of you who have no problem talking to the dead whom you know, I have found it extremely beneficial to cultivate a kind of personal relationship with certain Saints so that speaking to them feels like speaking to a family member whom I believe to be in Heaven.
2. Those Who Don't Talk to Dead Guys - These folks, understandably, are not comfortable talking to the dead, whether they be Mary and the Apostles or their own great-grandparents. I would direct them to this classic yet confusing verse:
... the four living creatures, and the four and twenty ancients fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints
Rev 5:8
A bit confused? So was I. Revelation is a complicated book. So hopefully we can break it down.
The four living creatures are traditionally recognized as the four evangelists (Saints Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) by major early Church Fathers such as St Ireneaus, St Augustine, and big-time Biblical authority St Jerome. They are identified as such because back in Revelation 4 they are seen standing at the base of God's throne and carrying it, just as the evangelists carried the God to Christians via the Gospels.
The four and twenty ancients are identified with what we now call "Saints" (we'll get to why those other "saints" are mentioned in a moment). Numbers being such a big thing all over John's Apocalypse, the twenty-four isn't random. It is believed to refer to Saints because twenty-four is twice twelve; there are twelve main Apostles and there are twelve tribes of Israel. In a broader sense, this refers to old Israel and the new Israel, both "peoples of God." Thus the number twenty-four represents the Church Triumphant, or the Saints.
The Lamb is Jesus, the sacrificial Lamb of the New Covenant. Don't need to go to far into that, its pretty straight forward as far as Revelation goes.
The saints here (I'm using a lowercase "s" - I've seen it more descriptively translated as "the holy people") are actually the Church Militant. The New International Version of the Bible refers to them as "God's people." It isn't the only time that Scripture refers to the living Christians as "saints," it just isn't the same use of the word as is used to talk about the Saints in Heaven.
So, rolling it back together, we get something along the lines of: the evangelists (who are undoubtedly in Heaven), the old Saints of Israel (in Heaven also), and new Saints of the Church (also in Heaven) are all offering up to Jesus the prayers of God's people on earth. If all those dead guys in Heaven know our prayers, then I guess God let's them hear our prayers. That sounds to me like a pretty concise definition for the Intercession of the Saints!
Don't Forget the Big Guy
Let me finish off by saying this: while it is highly beneficial to ask for the Saints' prayers, never forget to pray to God! Just like you shouldn't ask Mom to convince Dad to buy you a new iPod without also trying to convince him yourself, you shouldn't ask other Christians (saints or otherwise) to pray to God for you without also praying to Him some!
If you're still skeptical about the whole praying to saints thing, I understand. Again, it isn't my intention to go waving a Bible around and converting non-Catholics. I just hoped to make the Catholic Church's view clearer to those who may have heard other things.
If you've found that I said some helpful stuff, awesome! Like I say, we're all on the Journey together, so we should all be helping each other along the way, just like the saints help us! Maybe in the future I will touch on a related topic, the Veneration of the Saints.
As always, have a good one!
No comments:
Post a Comment