Saints LightThe Communion of Saints: Why Ask Them to Pray for Us?
All of Christ's people, living and dead, are one family, so we can ask the saints in heaven to pray for us just as we ask friends on earth.
What this lesson teaches
- The communion of saints is the one family of Christ on earth, in purification and in heaven.
- Asking saints to pray is like asking a friend to pray, and the saints are closer to God.
- This shares in Christ's one mediation instead of competing with it.
- It has nothing to do with contacting the dead; we ask for prayers, not information.
Catechism paragraphs this lesson cites
- CCC 946
- CCC 954-957
- CCC 962
- CCC 2683
CCC means the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Saints Light teaches it in its own words and never quotes it. Look up any paragraph in a printed copy or at vatican.va. See every lesson by paragraph in the Catechism index.
Scripture read in this lesson: James 5:16; Revelation 5:8 (Apocalypse in Douay-Rheims); Hebrews 12:1.
A sample question from this lesson
What are the three states of the Church in the communion of saints?
- Clergy, religious and laity
- Pilgrims on earth, those being purified, and those in heaven
- Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants
- The living, angels and demons
Show the answer
Pilgrims on earth, those being purified, and those in heaven. CCC 954, summarized in the lesson, names the pilgrims on earth, the dead being purified, and the blessed in heaven.
The lesson in the app has three questions, each with an explanation.
Words to know
- Communion of saints
- The union of all the faithful in Christ, on earth, in purgatory and in heaven, sharing spiritual goods.
- Intercession
- Praying to God on behalf of someone else.
More terms in the Catholic glossary. More passages in the Scripture index.
Read the full lesson in the app
"The Communion of Saints: Why Ask Them to Pray for Us?" is lesson 7 of Mary and the Saints. In Saints Light you get the whole teaching, the Scripture quoted in full, all three questions and a step to live it this week.
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Related lessons
- the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints (The Creed, free)
- Mary and the Saints: The Family of God (Start Here, free)
- Why Do Catholics Pray with the Saints and the Angels? (Learning to Pray)
- Do Catholics Worship Mary and Statues? (Hard Questions)