Communion of Saints

The Communion of Saints is the doctrine that speaks to the unity of the Body of Christ.

In 1 Cor. 12:18-20, 24-26, St. Paul explains that though we are many individual parts, we make up one Body – that is, the Body of Christ.  In John 17, our Lord Jesus prayed at the Last Supper for the unity of this Body (which is the Church), comparing it to the unity of the Father and the Son.

The Church is comprised of 3 parts: The Church Militant (those on earth), the Church Suffering (those in Purgatory) and the Church Triumphant (those in Heaven). None of these parts is more important than the other.  This is why we not only ask each other on earth for prayers, but of those in Heaven as well because we are all part of the same Body.  Non-Catholics who believe that those who have passed from this world are simply “dead and cannot hear us” deny the very Scriptures they claim to be the truth. Hebrews 12:1 tells us that we should “rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us” because we are “surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses”.

There are numerous New Testament passages that speak about interceding for one another. 1 Cor. 12:21-22 emphatically says that, “The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I do not need you,’ nor again the head to the feet, ‘I do not need you.’  This passage speaks to the importance of all of the parts of the Body.

Revelation 5:8 shows the Elders in heaven bringing our prayers before God and Rev. 8:3-4 speaks of the Angels in heaven doing the same thing.

The doctrine of the Communion of Saints is also supported by the Early Church Fathers from the 1^st century to St. Augustine and beyond.  In fact, this belief was so ingrained in the Early Church that it was included in many of the creeds, including the Apostles Creed and the Nicene Creed which we recite each week at mass.