IV. Invocation of Saints

The Church, in teaching that the Invocation of Saints is beneficial, instructs us to pray to them in that spirit of charity and brotherly union which leads us to seek for the intercession of our brethren living among us. On this head the Council of Trent says, " If there is anything derogatory to the character of Mediator, which Holy Scripture gives to Our Lord Jesus Christ, in thus addressing the saints who dwell with God above, we are no less guilty of the fault, whatever it may be, in claiming the intercessory prayers of the faithful dwelling among us." The Catechism of the Council of Trent teaches the great difference made by the Church, between the manner in which we implore God's help, and that in which we ask the assistance of His saints : " For we pray to Almighty God, Himself to deliver us from some evil, or to grant us some good , whereas we address His saints as being more worthy of His favour than we, to take upon them our request, to present it as their own, and to entreat God's aid where we stand in need. And this is why we use two modes of prayer quite different, for in addressing God we say, " Have mercy on us" — " O Lord hear us." In asking for the intercession of the saints we use such expressions as these : " Pray for us ; " and in whatever words our prayers may be couched to them, the Church, as well as her faithful children, intend only that such should be their meaning — which we find confirmed in the Catechism (Part iv. Quis orandus sit,) from which we have quoted the first sentence.

But let us now consider how the Council obliges our Bishops to teach this doctrine. " The saints, who are ever dwelling in the presence of our Lord Jesus, are ready to offer the prayers of men to God, it is therefore most desirable for us to invocate them, and to have recourse to their help and succour, in obtaining from God His bless- ings, or His answers to our requests, but always through His Son Jesus Christ, who alone is our Saviour and Redeemer," — and still stronger, the Council condemns those who teach otherwise. To pray to the saints, then, according to the Council of Trent is, to ask for their prayers to God for man, and so obtain His grace through Jesus Christ; thus, when we receive anything by the intercession of the saints, we really do so only through Jesus Christ, and in His Name — for the saints themselves always pray in the Name of the Lord Jesus, and are only heard and answered through and by His blessed Name. Such is the belief of the Church, and the Council of Trent is very clear and concise in explaining it. How can it be objected to us that we depart from the faith which is in Christ Jesus, because we approach Him through His glorified members, who are also our members — His children, therefore our brethren — His saints who are the first fruits of our harvest — because we ask them to pray for us, and with us, to our common Master, through our mutual Mediator?

The same council declares very clearly and briefly what the spirit of the Church is, when she offers the Eucharist as a commemorative feast in honour of the saints and to their memory. This honour consists in making mention of them to God, in the prayers we address Him, blessing Him for the victories they have achieved, and humbly begging Him to give ear to their pleadings for us.

St. Augustin taught, twelve hundred years before, that people were not to think the Sacrifice was offered to the Holy Martyrs, because it was the usual practice, even before those times, in the whole Church, to offer the Sacrifice over their hallowed remains, and to their memory, that is over the spot where their precious relics were deposited. The same Father adds, it was the custom to make mention of the martyrs at the Holy Table in celebrating the Sacrifice, " not so much to pray for them, as we do for other dead, but rather that they may pray for us." I bring these words of the holy Bishop forward principally because the Council of Trent uses the same expressions. " The Church does not offer the Sacrifice to the Saints, but to God who has accepted their persons and crowned their labours. So that the priest does not address himself to St. Peter and St. Paul, and say, ' I offer this sacrifice to thee,' but offering God thanks for the victories they have accomplished, he asks their prayers, so that we making mention of them here, they will remember us before the throne of God, where they dwell." We honour the saints then for this end, that we may interest hem in our behalf before God, for His graces, the chief of which is that of imitating them. I think if any doubts remained, after such a clear review of the doctrine as we have laid down, our adversaries must confess that we do not derogate from the Divine perfections of our Lord, or give to His creatures any of those attributes by which He is so eminently distinguished, neither do we invest any, even the most perfect of His creation with a power which belongs to God alone. How after this, they can still accuse us of idolatry is to me quite incomprehensible, for the principle we maintain as the basis of all true religion, is subversive of the very idea. And further, when it is argued that in addressing prayers to the saints, we must suppose them to be every where present throughout the earth at the same time, and attribute to them a limited ubiquity and a knowledge of the secrets of all hearts, which in so many passages Holy Scripture asserts to be reserved to God alone, I answer, they do not sufficiently consider our doctrine on this head ; for without going into the grounds we may have for supposing that the saints have a knowledge of things that concern us, and are passing within us, may we not very reasonably conclude, that it can be revealed to them in that ineffable light by which they are surrounded and which God himself communicates to them. Will not the example of the prophets justify us in believing this, when we reflect that God did not disdain to give them the knowledge of such future things, which appear most especially fit to be reserved for Himself alone. And no catholic ever believed that the saints know of themselves alone and intuitively as it were, what are our wants, nor the desires of our hearts which we open in prayer.

The Church, from the earliest ages, has always taught that such prayers as we have described are very profitable to all who use them ; and we do not pretend to determine whether the saints are made cognizant of our needs, by the ministry of angels who have been constituted in a wonderful order to minister to God's creatures here, or whether God in His wisdom makes known our wants to them by an especial revelation, or whether they discover them in His infinite essence in which all truth centres ; nor has Holy Church herself thought fit to decide : but whichever be the means He has sanctified to this purpose, we never for a moment attributed to the greatest saints any degree of power, perfection, or excellence which was not derived from God, nor did we imagine they possessed any efficacy with Him, but through the grace they won of Him, and all the knowledge they have of human affairs, the Church declares they receive entirely through Him. Nor do we believe they enjoy any happiness but what they derive from their entire submission and perfect conformity to the Divine will. Does it appear from this statement of our inward regard for the saints that we seek to elevate them above the condition of creatures, or does our external homage denote any different emotion ? Outward reverence is nothing more than the exponent of inward feelings. The honour which the Church gives to the saints is mostly offered before their images and relics ; we will therefore next explain what she teaches on this head.