The saints, and asking for prayers
Like asking a friend to pray for you.
In short. The Church believes in the communion of saints: the faithful on earth, those being purified, and the blessed in heaven together form one Church.1 The saints in heaven do not cease to intercede with the Father for us, through the one mediator, Christ Jesus.2
Key points
- God is the God of the living, for all live to him.3
- The communion of saints is the Church.4
- The saints intercede for us through Christ, the one mediator.2
- We can and should ask them to intercede for us and for the whole world.5
Try this, this week
- Read Hebrews 12:1-2. Notice who the “cloud of witnesses” point us toward.
- Read Revelation (Apocalypse) 5:8. Look for what the elders hold.
- Learn about one saint. Read about their life and what they wrote.
- Ask a friend to pray for you this week. Then pray for them.
“For he is not the God of the dead, but of the living: for all live to him.”
Watch out: what this does not mean
- Asking a saint to pray for you is not adoration, which is due to God alone.9,2
- The saints do not replace Christ: they intercede through the one mediator between God and men, Christ Jesus.2
Common questions
Isn’t contacting the dead forbidden?
Scripture and the Church forbid divination, including conjuring up the dead and recourse to mediums.6,7 Asking the saints to pray for us is different: the Catechism teaches that they share in the living tradition of prayer and that we can and should ask them to intercede for us.5
How does someone become a canonized saint?
By canonizing some of the faithful, the Church solemnly proclaims that they practiced heroic virtue and lived in fidelity to God’s grace.8 It proposes them as models and intercessors.8
Remember: Like asking a friend to pray for you.