Praying for the dead and the invocation of the saints



PRAYING FOR THE DEAD AND THE INVOCATION OF THE SAINTS

Mario D’Couto

            We have just celebrated the feasts of All Saints and All Souls day (which are on 1st and 2nd November) and with that in mind, I thought of sharing a small reflection in line with this topic. While prayer helps us to stay connected with God, when we pray for each other, it also helps us stay connected with each other. This article is a ‘justification’ (if I may use the word) for the need to pray for all those who are deceased and also for each other.

            Sometimes some people would want to think that it is sufficient enough to pray to God and that we don’t need anybody’s help or intervention. However, this cannot be the case since no individual is an island. We re all, in some way connected. Hence it is not surprising for people to ask to pray for each other or for people to pray to the saints or for the dead.

            One may try to object by saying that this is not possible for where do we find in scriptures, instances that prove this fact? If science and technology can provide various means for people to communicate with others across the globe such as the telephone, mobile, the internet and other means, is it not possible for God, who is the Author of all sciences, to enable us to communicate with our brethren across the shores of eternity?

            Speaking about the facts from Sacred Scripture which support the idea of intercessory prayer, the very first book of Genesis has an account. Almighty God threatened the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah with utter destruction on account of their crimes and abominations. Abraham interposes on their behalf and in response to his prayer, God consents to spare those cities if only ten just men were found therein. Thus, over here we see the fire of His wrath is withheld through the efficacy of the prayer of a single man.

           
We read in the book of Exodus that when the Amalekites were about to wage war on the children of Israel, Moses, the great servant and Prophet of the Lord, went upto a mountain to pray for the success of his people and the scriptures inform us that whenever Moses raised his hands in prayer, the Israelites were victorious, but when he ceased to pray, Amalek conquered. Could the power of intercessory prayer be manifested in a more striking manner? The silent prayer of Moses on the mountain was more formidable to the Amalekites than the sword of Joshua and his armed hosts fighting in the valley as it is seen in Exodus 17.

            When the same Hebrew people were banished from the native country and carried into exile in Babylon, so great was their confidence in the prayers of their Brethren in Jerusalem that they sent them the following message, “Pray ye for us to the Lord our God, for we have sinned against the Lord our God.” (Baruch 1:13)

            When the friends of Job had excited the indignation of the Almighty in consequence of their vain speech, God, instead of directly granting them the pardon which they sought, commanded to invoke the intercession of Job: “Go,” He says, “ to My servant Job and offer yourselves a holocaust and My servant Job will pray for you and his face will I accept” (Job 13). In this instance, we not only see the value of intercessory prayer, but we find God sanctioning it by His own authority.

            However, no other person could describe and explain the phenomenon about the invocation of the saints than St. Paul himself. In fact, if we read the epistles to the Romans and Ephesians, we find a lot of petitions from St. Paul asking the people to pray for him. Another note – worthy figure who explained the phenomenon so eloquently was the evangelist, St. John who wrote, “The four living creatures and the twenty – four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp and with golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints” (Revelation 5:8)

            To ask the prayers of our brethren in heaven is not only ‘comfortable’ to Holy Scriptures but is prompted by the instincts of our nature. The Catholic Doctrine of the Communion of Saints robs death of its terror, while the Reformers of the 16th century, in denying the Communion of Saints, not only inflicted a deadly wound on the Creed, but also severed the tenderest chords of the human heart. They broke asunder the holy ties with the soul released from the flesh. The question that perhaps we could raise is what does death destroy? At the most, the body but not the soul. It, still continues to think, will, remember and love.   

            The saints are like beacons of light in our lives and we certainly do have an army praying for us. We also have to pray for all those who are no more with us, that God will grant them eternal rest. All in all, prayer, as mentioned earlier, is what keeps us together. No wonder Our Blessed Lord said in the Gospels, “When two or three are gathered in my name, there I am present” (Matthew 18:20). We are all united in God for we all breath in the same Spirit which He bestowed on us at the time of our conception. 


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