Christians of most denominations are accustomed to recite the following article contained in the Apostles’ creed: “I believe in the communion of saints.” There are many, I fear, however, who have these words frequently on their lips, without the slightest knowledge of the precious meaning which they convey. The true and obvious sense of these words quoted from the Creed is, that between the children of God, whether reigning in Heaven or sojourning on earth, there exists an intercommunion or spiritual communication by prayer, and, consequently, that our friends who have entered into their rest are mindful of us in their petitions to God. I might easily show, by voluminous quotations from ecclesiastical writers of the first ages of the Church, how conformable to the teaching of antiquity is the orthodox practice of invoking the intercession of the saints. But as you, dear reader, may not be disposed to attach adequate importance to the writings of the Fathers, I shall confine myself to the testimony of the Holy Scripture. You will readily admit that it is a salutary custom to ask the prayers of the blessed in heaven, provided that you have no doubt that they can hear your prayers and that they have the power and the will to assist you. Now the Bible amply demonstrates the knowledge, the influence, and the love of the saints in our regard. Find and read the following passages: 1 Cor., xiii. 12; Gen., xlviii. 16; Tobias, xii. 12; Luke, xv. 10; 1 Cor., iv. 9; Matt., xxii. 30; Gen., xviii; Exodus, xvii; Baruch, i. 13; Job, xlii; 2 Chron., vii. 15; 2 Macab., xv. 14; Revelation, v. 8; Zach., i, 12-13; Prov., xv. 20.
The Church teaches that whatever happiness, or glory, or influence the saints possess, all comes from God. As the moon borrows her light from the sun, so do the blessed borrow their light from Jesus, the Sun of Justice, the One Mediator (of redemption) of God and men—1 Tim., ii. 5.
If not only the prayers of the just (which are pleasing in the sight of God) but also the penitent prayers of the wicked are accepted by God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, then, surely, the aspirations of a heart tenderly attached to the saints, whose glory is virtue elevated, will not be in vain. You deem it useful and pious to ask your friend, brother, or pastor to pray for you. Is it not, at least, equally useful for me to invoke the prayers of St. Paul or St. John?
Amongst the various departments of reading, none can be more interesting than that which records the actions of persons who have rendered themselves illustrious by their wisdom, their heroism, or their eminent virtues. In reading the lives of the saints we find a heroism that exceeds the natural powers of man;—a wisdom in comparison with which that of a Socrates or a Solon is but childishness (for wisdom becomes more or less estimable in proportion to the value of the objects that attract its attention); hence the virtues of the illustrious characters, whose memoirs have always adorned the pages of church history, as far surpass those of the most exalted characters of Pagan antiquity, as man in a state of nature is surpassed by the angelic spirits. Many traits will be found in their lives that cannot accord with the enervated delicacy of modern ideas and habits, preoccupied as they unfortunately are, by the false maxims and vitiated manners of an age that labors to substitute a vain philosophy, the pander of every passion, in lieu of divine revelation, which not only commands and affords the means of their subjugations, but also invites us to erect on their ruins the fabric of evangelical perfection.
The Almighty has at all times inspired His servants with a conduct suitable to the exigencies of the age in which they lived, making them all to all, in order to gain all to Himself. We see this in the lives of the prophets apostles, martyrs, evangelizers; in such men as Antony Macarius, Constantine the Great, John Chrysostom, Photius of Constantinople, Cyril and Methodius, Vladimir of Russia, Sabbas of Serbia, Sergius of Radonezh, Peter of Montenegro, and Herman of Alaska.
Christians should name their children after the saints because in them we have a clear type of holiness and virtue. By faithfully following their example we may, with more certainty, be able, than with our own feeble (and unsupported) exertion to imitate the only model of perfection—Jesus Christ. The Church of Christ is mighty, great, and rich. There are many in the ranks, not only of the saved, but also of the ones openly glorified. Christians of every age, condition, and sex, individuals, and whole families may find among the holy ones, which were glorified by God, a pattern for their special calling in this life.
Of course, skeptics will say that there are many things in the lives of the saints that appear supernatural. But we must remember that all which is told of the saints rests on the same credit and authority as the most ordinary and familiar circumstance related of them; nor is any miraculous interposition of Providence enabling them to pursue a mode of life, impossible to mere human effort, that has not a parallel in the Bible itself. These words were not written for the condemned who trample upon Divine Revelation, but for you, dear one, who are desirous of being a sincere Christian. For example, if some of the saints fasted many weeks without any corporal sustenance (without referring to the forty days’ fast of our Savior in the desert), did not St. Elias and St. John the Baptist also fast in the same rigorous manner? If St. Paul the first hermit was miraculously fed by a raven, was not the prophet Elias also fed in like manner? If a lioness saved the life of St. Malchus and his companion in a cave and destroyed the vengeful pursuers, did not bears also rush from the woods to devour the wicked children who had derided and insulted the baldness of Elisha the prophet? Thus we might cite a long list of wonderful parallels, but it is more proper to close with at least one instance, relating the profound humility of the saints, for it is upon their simplicity and humbleness that their greatness is founded. St. Ephrem Syrus, whom, St. Basil described as meek and simple in appearance, and badly clothed, was an extraordinary man in his age. He was a monk, but not a solitary one; he had renounced some human ties, but only to link himself closer with mankind. In his last testament or autobiography, he relates of himself:
“When I was but a little child
Yet reposing on my mother’s breast,
I saw, as it were in a vision,
What turned out to be truth.
A vine sprung forth from my tongue,
Which grew and touched the heaven;
It produced fruit without measure
And branches also innumerable,
The people gathered from it without stint,
Yet its clusters became more abundant.
The bunches of fruit were Hymns,
And these branches were Homilies;
God was the bestower of them.
Glory be to Him for His goodness!
He gave to me according to His pleasure
From the house of His treasures”
If it be not love and voluntary veneration, surely it should be out of fear, in such an extreme and undesired spiritual condition of some Christians—who accept the Holy Bible (considering the words in Revelation, viii. 3-4), that they ought to keep the memory of the saints.
Finally, we invoke in our needs, and in our repentance, the Holiest Ever-Virgin Mary,1 who is without comparison more honorable than the Cherubim, and more glorious than the Seraphim, as the parent of our Savior, who, while being a man, yet never ceases to be God, so that He is God-man, called on earth Jesus Christ, in whose Person two natures, the divine and the human, are united, unmixed, unchanged, undivided and inseparable. (See the acts and dogma of the Fourth General Council of the Church).
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The Most Blessed Virgin Mary is the Mother of God—inasmuch as she is the Mother of the Man Jesus. She was not born before all ages, as was Her Son, nor is she of Divine substance, except that she was glorified by Divine Power.
The Orthodox Church [also] refutes the new dogma of Rome, which declares that the conception of the Mother of God was immaculate.