Looking Back at the Church Militant, now Triumphant…

Lo, there do I see my father…

Lo, there do I see my mother, and my sister, and my brothers…

Lo, they do call to me…

They bid me take my place among them
in the halls of heaven…

With all the martyrs, the angels, and the saints, they live forever in the Presence of God.

~Adapted from The 13th Warrior

Saints… Dead or Alive?

Again quoting from Thomas Merton: Spiritual Master by Lawrence S. Cunningham… 

Saints of the fifteenth century. In the collapse of medieval society, amid the corruption of the clergy and the decadence of conventual life, there arose men and women of the laity who were perfectly obedient to God. Nicholas of Flue, for instance, and Joan of Arc. They were simple and straight forward signs of contradiction in the middle of worldliness, prejudice, cruelty, despair, and greed. They were not rebels at all. They were meek and submissive instruments of God who, while being completely opposed to the corrupt norms around them, gave every man and every authority his due.  They show clearly and convincingly what it is to be not a rebel, but obedient to God as a sign to men – a sign of mercy, a revelation of truth and power. We are spontaneously drawn to these signs of God with all the love of our hearts.  We naturally trust them, believe in their intercession, knowing that they live on in the glory of God and that God would not give us such love for them if they were not still “sacraments” of His mercy to us.

Saints and our relationship with them has been a great treasure to me as a new Catholic.  How often I  have looked at the current ‘heroes’ and role models of our culture and thought that for the most part they are absolutely NOT what I want for my children to emulate… but where WERE all the good ones?  Where were all the REAL heroes? The men and women who did truly great things with more lasting effect than the ‘Hail Mary’ touchdown.  They were missing in action… or so I thought.

The truth is that they’ve always been there… silent witnesses who still inspired and reached millions of people.  I just didn’t have access to them, didn’t know about them… because I was raised protestant.  The communion of saints, despite being in the Creeds to which most Christians at least nod if not actually adhere, was yet another Truth, another blessing, another grace which protestantism had stripped away from the fullness of the Faith. 

These saints live still… they are the Church Triumphant, the Church who has been perfected and dwell with the Lord having completed their race… and they are our cloud of witnesses who cheer us, the Church Militant, on in ours, interceding for us to the Father of us all.  We do not idolize them anymore than we idolize our brothers and sisters in Christ here on earth. We do not worship them any more than we worship a beloved sister or brother here on earth.  Rather, together as the complete Body of Christ we worship God together, and intercede for one another.

Ps. 103:20–22 Bless the LORD, all you angels, mighty in strength and attentive, obedient to every command. Bless the LORD, all you hosts, ministers who do God’s will. Bless the LORD, all creatures, everywhere in God’s domain. Bless the LORD, my soul!

Psalms 148: 1-2 Hallelujah! Praise the LORD from the heavens; give praise in the heights. Praise him, all you angels; give praise, all you hosts.

Just as surely as they worship God with us, do they also intercede for us. We do ask them to intercede for us… just as we ask brothers and sisters in Christ here on earth… Do not the prayers of the righteous avail much? (Jas. 5:16) Scripture itself speaks to the intercession of men and angels in heaven…

 Rev 5:8 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.

This shows that the saints and angels are aware of our prayers to God, else they would not be offering them to Him… They are aware of our prayers and intercede for us, presenting our needs to God as this scripture testifies.

Rev. 8:3–4 Another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a gold censer. He was given a great quantity of incense to offer, along with the prayers of all the holy ones, on the gold altar that was before the throne. The smoke of the incense along with the prayers of the holy ones went up before God from the hand of the angel.

Indeed we are cautioned as to the strength of their intercession…

Matt. 18:10 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father.

The testimony of the Early Church Fathers agrees with sacred scripture and we see it lived out in their example to us. 

Hermas

“[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

“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

“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

“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]). 

  “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.). 

Methodius

“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

“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

“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

“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

“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

“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 Nazianz

“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

“[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

“He that wears the purple [i.e., a royal man] . . . 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

“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

“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

“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]).

Indeed, Jesus is the only mediator between God and man…

1 Tim. 2:5 For there is one God. There is also one mediator between God and the human race, Christ Jesus, himself human,

However, this does not mean that we can’t or shouldn’t ask others to pray for us as we see in the verses immediately preceeding that…

1 Tim. 2:1–4 First of all, then, I ask that supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings be offered for everyone, for kings and for all in authority, that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all devotion and dignity. This is good and pleasing to God our savior, who wills everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth.

Just as our brethren who pray for us here on earth, the saints and angels do not bypass Christ, but rather intercede with and for us TO God THROUGH Christ… saying as He taught us ‘Our Father…’ among the many other forms of prayer which we offer to God.

Before the fall, in the Garden of Eden when all was as He created it to be … what did Adam do? God gave him work right? A way to join God in what He was doing… After the fall, where we are now… does God allow us to join Him in His work? Sure… even those of us who are not ‘officially’ in ministry are not only allowed to join Him, it is expected of us, is it not? Then why do we think it will be any different when we are once again perfectly joined with Him and reside with Him again side by side?

Matt. 17:1-3  After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.  And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with him.

Why do we assume that He will not give us ‘work’ then as well in assisting Him in caring for others, even when He has SHOWN us He does exactly that in sacred scripture!

God continually renews my mind, teaching me things of Himself and His ways that have been neglected in my spiritual education.  They are not always pleasant, these lessons… rarely in my ‘comfort zone’… but so richly blessed am I that I rejoice in His instruction and turning my face to Him, beg Him to continue for the sheer joy of learning at His feet despite the pain and suffering it may bring.  Truly, this is the Christ life…

Like A Child…

Lately I’ve been reading The Teachings of the Church Fathers put out by Ignatius Press. I’m not 35 pages into it but what riches!  I’m really grateful that the Lord allowed me to find this AFTER I was convinced. OY! If C.S. Lewis was a speed bump, these guys would have been a concrete reinforced brick wall. 

Just the writings I’ve worked my way through have covered what were some big issues for me coming into the Church and have given a final seal of affirmation which feels similar to a benediction of sorts. 

On Worship of God/Veneration of Mary and the Saints

St. Augustine said…
‘It is true that Christians pay religious honor to the memory of the martyrs, both to excite us to imitate them, and to obtain a share in their merits, and the assistance of their prayers.’

St. John of Damascus said…
‘We adore only the Creator and Maker of things, God, to whom we offer latria since God is to be adored according to His nature.  We also adore the holy mother of God, not as God, but as mother of God according to the flesh.  We also adore the saints, the chosen friends of God, by whom we have easy access to Him.’

And listen to this…

St. Fulgentius…
‘True religion consists in the service of the one true God.’

And other commentary on various topics…

‘When you have put off mortality, and put on immortality, then will you see God worthily.’    St. Theophilus of Antioch

‘Let us then in everything believe God, and contradict Him in nothing, though what is said seem to be contrary to our thoughts and senses, but let His word be of higher authority than both our reasonings and sight.  Thus let us do in the mysteries also, not looking at the things set before us, but keeping in mind His sayings.  For His word cannot deceive, but our senses are easily beguiled. His word has never failed, but our senses in most things go wrong.  Since then the Word says, “This is my Body’, (Matt 26:26) let us both be persuaded and believe, and look at It with the eyes of the mind.  For Christ has given us nothing sentient, but though things are sensible, yet all are to be perceived spiritually.  So also in baptism, the gift is bestowed by a sensible thing, that is, by water; but that which is done is perceived by the mind:- the birth and the renewal.  For if you had been incorporeal, He would have delivered to you the incorporeal gifts bare; but because the soul has a been locked up in a body, He delivers you the things that the mind perceives, in things sensible.  How many now say, I would wish to see His form, His figure, His clothes, His shoes.  You do see Him, you do touch Him, you do eat Him, and you indeed desire to see His clothes, but He gives Himself to you not only to see, but also to touch, and eat and receive within you.’  St. John Chrysostom

The Muratorian Fragment says ‘yet one church is recognized as being spread over the entire world’ and refers to the chair of the church of the city of Rome.

St. Augustine said, ‘If we are perplexed by an apparent contradiction in Scripture, it is not allowable to say, “The author of this book is mistaken”; but either the manuscript is faulty, or the translation is wrong, or you have not understood…’

Also…

 St. Augustine… ‘If divine works cannot be wrought but by God, take heed lest in This Man God lie concealed.’

And…

‘You could not see God, a man you could; so God was made man, that in one you might have both what to see, and what to believe.’

Isn’t that BEAUTIFUL?  It sends one scurrying back along pages to the above about giving us the incorporeal sensibly that we might see, touch, consume and receive Him, doesn’t it?

Oh, and this…

Origen… ‘And who would rationally maintain that an improved moral life, which daily lessened the number of a man’s offences, could proceed from a system of deceit?’

My soul thrills at such wealth! Word full of faith and glory, words of passionate belief by those who were so close compared to us that they could still smell the scent of His robes. Some of them recounting first hand what they heard from the apostles!  I find myself exclaiming over a passage and look up only to realize that there is no one here to share it with… and as I turn instead to the Lord, enthusing to Him as my children do to me with some new innocent joy about things I already know well, and as I become like a child once again myself I fancy I can see His indulgent smile and hear Him say, “Yes, I know, it IS wonderful”.