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The Intercessions of the Saints
Clarifications:
We do not “pray to” the Saints as Protestants understand this phrase. Rather we ask the Saints in heaven to pray for us to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In Old English the word pray can mean to “ask imploringly,” to “request,” or in general to communicate. An example: “Pray tell me where you are going?” “Praying” to Saints does not imply worship or the kind of prayer that is done to God (Father, Son, and/or Holy Spirit), rather we are requesting their prayers. At the time of the Protestant reformation there were excessive and exaggerated piety toward Saints among the Roman Catholic masses.For most Evangelicals even the term “Saints,” as it usually used in Orthodoxy, is objectionable. This is because Protestants seek to emphasize that all Christians are called to be holy (the word, “saint” means holy in Greek, “agios”) and the term is generally use for all Christians in the New Testament. Again as a reaction to certain practices among Roman Catholics, Evangelicals reject what they see as creating a class of believers by calling them Saints. In the Orthodox Church we embrace both the biblical usage – that all those who believe and are baptized into Christ are holy — and what became more common in the early centuries of the Church, to also refer to those who excelled in holiness as “Saints.” Note that in the Divine Liturgy the priest invites the faithful to Holy Communion with the words, “Holy things are for the holy” (i.e. the saints, referring to all Christians who have not disqualified themselves from Holy Communion through sin).
Biblical Evidence
It is true that there is very little direct evidence for prayer to the departed Saints in the Holy Scriptures. However, the whole context of the Scriptures show us that because of Christ’s redemptive work, His Cross and Resurrection, He has broken down the barrier between heaven and earth, and therefore between those who are in Christ, whether in heaven or on earth. Most Evangelicals have not thought deeply about the implications of Christ’s Resurrection. The following biblical quotes reveal how reality itself has changed due to the Lord’s destruction of death and His Resurrection. In Christ the limitations or barriers between heaven and earth, departed and living, church in heaven and church on earth has been broken down.
Separation between heaven and earth abolished:
Matt. 27:51 (Mk. 15:38; Lk. 23:45): Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. (Note: The veil or curtain of the temple separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies where only the High Priest was allowed to enter once per year. The curtain of the Temple not only symbolizes the barrier between God and man, but also between heaven and earth. From “top to bottom” indicates that the heavenly and earthly realms are no longer separated.)
Righteous dead raised and appear to those on earth:
Matt. 27:52-53: …and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.
Heaven and earth united in Christ:
Eph. 1:10: … that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him.
The dead in Christ are alive:
Matt. 22:32: God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.
Rom. 14:9: For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living.
Jesus talks with the dead (Moses):
Matt. 17:1-3: Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.
Angels and Saints in heaven intercede for the saints on earth:
Rev. 5:8: Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures [angels] and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints [on earth]”
Angel offers prayers of the saints on earth:
Rev. 8:3-4: Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand.
Angels and departed saints present at Christian worship:
Hebrews 12:22-23: But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect….
The Early Church
Asking the intercessions of the departed saints was the practice of the early church (See attached). This likely began with the martyrs, who were considered to be undoubtedly with Christ. Their intercessions were requested during the Divine Liturgy (Eucharist), especially on the anniversary of the martyrdom. We see this practice in the account of the martyrdom of St. Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrnea (170AD): “We took up his bones, which are more valuable than precious stones and finer than refined gold, and laid them in a suitable place, where the Lord will permit us to gather ourselves together, as we are able, in gladness and joy, and to celebrate the birthday of his martyrdom.” In other words, as was the early practice, they placed the holy relics of St. Polycarp in a place that would allow them to serve the Eucharist over his relics as a sign of Christ’s victory over death.
The living and departed in Christ have always been understood to be living members of the Church and of the kingdom of God. As St. Augustine explains:
“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]).
He specifically mentions the practice of asking for the intercessions of the martyrs:
“At the 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]).
Objections and Response:
O: But in the parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man (Lk. 16:19-31) it is said that there is a “great chasm” between heaven and earth.
R: The “great chasm” spoken of (vs. 26) is between heaven (“the bosom of Abraham”) and the torment of Hades, not between heaven and earth. When the rich man requests that the Lord send Lazarus to his seven brothers on earth, the Lord does not refuse based on an idea that this is not possible, but that his brothers would not believe even if this occurred.
O: But why waste time “praying” to the Saints when we can pray to the Lord?
R: We could say the same thing in regard to asking for the prayers of Christians still living on this earth, something we do all the time, and something we all know we need. We also ask those Christians who have departed to be with Christ and who are in an even greater spiritual condition to pray for us. We are not “lone rangers” in the spiritual life, we need the prayers and help of others. Unlike those still living in this world, the Saints don’t get tired or distracted or forget to pray for us. They have a boldness before Christ that most on earth do not. As the Scriptures say, “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (James 5:16). There is no “competition” between the Lord and His Saints since the Saints, like the angels, are the ministers of His will and glory. It is Christ who is glorified in and through the Saints as He himself says, “…and I am glorified in them” (Jn. 17:10). In the Orthodox Church there has never been excessive practices toward the Saints, nor has the Church ever discouraged the faithful from praying directly to God, whether the Father, the Son, or the Holy Spirit as is attested to by the services and prayers of the Orthodox Church.
O: In the O.T. God forbids “conjuring up the spirits of the dead” (Deut. 18:11).
R: First we have to understand that the practices warned about and forbidden in the Old Testament were pagan in origin and purpose and relied not upon faith in the true God but in demonic sorcery, witchcraft and the like. They were practiced for sinful and evil purposes. God’s primary intention through these warnings was to protect the spiritually immature from adopting pagan religion. Next, we must remember that Christ’s death and resurrection has changed everything – the nature of death has been transformed and essentially made powerless. Through Christ the righteous dead have been raised with Him and are alive in Him. Through the Holy Spirit members of Christ’s Church ask these living and resurrected Saints to pray to the Lord on their behalf.
O: We should not ask for the intercessions of the Saints since as the Scriptures say, “There is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Jesus Christ” (1 Tim. 2:5).
R: It is true that Christ alone is the Mediator between God and man, since He alone is both God and Man. Christ alone can save man from sin and death. He alone broke down the barrier that separated man from God and restored our union with God the Father. The Saints are not mediators in this sense, nor do we imagine that they accomplish the redemption that Christ does. Rather, they ask the Savior to save us. They are able to pray to Christ that He extend to us the salvation only He could and has accomplish. They are able to intercede with Christ for our needs and well-being. They are not separated from Christ the Mediator but are rather “members of Christ” (1 Cor. 6:15) yet no longer with the distractions of this world. They are God’s faithful servants and “members of the household of God” (Eph. 2:19). The servants work for the Master. Servants run errands for and carry messages to the Master, yet they are not the Master. Finally, if we believe the saints in heaven cannot be “mediators” by praying to Christ, then we must cease asking the prayers of those living on this earth since, using the same logic, this would transgress the Scripture regarding Christ as the only mediator.
O: How do you know the Saints can hear you?
R: How do you know they cannot? The Lord said, “The time is coming and now is, when the dead with hear the voice of the Son of God” (Jn. 5:25). While this refers to Christ’s descent into hades after His crucifixion, the Church has never taught that the dead are cut off from the goings on of this world. According to the Revelation of St. John, the souls of the martyrs were well aware of the turmoil and persecutions on earth (Rev. 6:9). The Saints can hear us because they are united to Christ and share in His gifts. They share in His divine glory and gifts, through which they are the agents of miracles, both during their earthly lives and after. They hear inasmuch as Christ hears and according to His will and their “freedom” in Christ.
The Early Church Fathers on the Intercession of the Saints and Angels
Hermas [80AD][1]
“[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 [208AD]
“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 [233AD]
“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 [253AD]
“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 [300-350AD]
“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 [305AD]
“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 [350AD]
“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 [365AD]
“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 [370AD]
“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 [373AD]
“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 [375AD]
“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 Nazianzus [380AD]
“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 [380AD]
“[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 [392-6AD]
“He that wears the purple [i.e., royalty] . . . 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 [393AD]
“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 [406AD]
“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 [400-419AD]
“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]).
“At the 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]).