The Communion of Saints

Hebrews 12:1-2 , 14“Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith..Strive for.. That holiness without which no one will see the Lord.”

This” cloud of witnesses” is whom the Church now refers to as the saints.

So, what is a Saint? Saint literally means “Holy One”. In the early Church a saint was considered to be a person who was a Christian. Romans 15:30Early on though, the term was used, more and more, to denote a person of heroic virtueThey are recognized by the process called canonization in the Church.The latePope John Paul ll

What are some Characteristics of this heroic virtue?Incredible acts of self sacrifice and charity, which is love. Such as:A willingness to die for Christ.A willingness to die for others.A willingness to help others, even and especially when the cost is great to oneself.A charity which is second nature to the person, which allows them to act unhesitatingly.Detachment from the things of this world

So you see, saints are Models for us of whom we should strive to be.Witnesses for us of our own human ability to accomplish holiness. We can do it to.

They are, because of their holiness, believed to be in heaven.They are therefore invoked by the faithful to pray for us and our intentions.They are intercessors or mediators on our behalf.

The communion of saints is the spiritual solidarity which binds together: 1. the faithful on earth, 2. the souls in purgatory, 3. and the saints in heaven into the mystical body of Christ. In other words, WE ARE ALL ONE.

These three states of the Church are also known as:The Church Militant - On earthThe Church Suffering – In PurgatoryThe Church Triumphant – In HeavenThe saints we ask to pray for us are those men and women who the church declares, after close scrutiny, to have made it from The Church Militant to their Heavenly reward in the Church Triumphant.

The communion of saints has to do with a family relationship. We are all the adopted sons and daughters of God, through our baptism. We are sisters and brothers in Christ. Communion is possible because of God’s grace.

We all share spiritual gifts:Love for God and one anotherThe Sacraments, especially the EucharistReadiness to help those in needPraying for one another.

We do not Worship Saints!Saints are honored or venerated.Only God is worshiped or adored.The word “worship”, just as many words in the English language, has changed in meaning. It now means something reserved only for God. If people used to “worship” Mary, it was not meant in the same manner as Adoration of God. It was meant as honoring her.

We will talk more about The Blessed Virgin Mary’s role in the communion of saints, later.

When we say that we pray to a saint, we use the word in the old sense.One used to say to someone, for instance, “Pray sir, do help me cross the street.” What we are doing is asking for them to pray for us, just as we would ask each other here in the Church Militant to pray for one another.

The main difference is the difference in the benefit of the prayers. Do you think a saint’s prayers in heaven might have a little more effect than the prayers of someone, far less holy, on earth?

Prayer to saints in Scripture:James 5:16. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. Notice the distinction between a just man (saint) and a less just man (one of us for instance).And the angel Raphael says: "I can now tell you that when you, Tobit, and Sarah prayed, it was I who presented and read the record of your prayer before the Glory of the Lord (Tobit 12:12)

The combination of the prayers both of angels and saints is seen in the vision of St. John: "And another angel came, and stood before the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given to him much incense, that he should offer of the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar, which is before the throne of God. And the smoke of the incense of the prayers of the saints ascended up before God from the hand of the angel" (Revelation 8:3-4).

Some Heroic Saints…

St. Ignatius of AntiochEaten By Lions in the Arena, because he refused to deny Christ

St. JosephFoster Father of Jesus,protector and provider of the Holy Family

St. Gabriel the Archangel Messenger of God

St. PaulThe Great Evangelist, Spread the good news of Christ

St. Maximilian KolbeGave up his life for a stranger,in a German concentration camp

St. PeterThe first Pope died for Christ

St. Thomas MoorePut Christ before his King, and Willingly died for Him.

St. StephenForgave his executioners even as they killed him

St. Augustine of HippoGreat Defender of The Faith

John Paul II Sought the Unity of All Christians

Blessed Mother Teresa of CalcuttaPut other’s lives before her own.

Picking a Saint for your Confirmation Name:Try to give it a lot of thought.Pick someone you can relate to, or want to be like one day. Someone you can ask to pray for you and yours.Think in terms of the old, old, ancient, adult “you”, not the “you” of today. Remember this is a permanent name, one you will think of often as an adult. It probably will be something important to you one day. Please keep that in mind.