Wednesday, July 2, 2025

Praying to the Saints

Why Do Catholics Pray to Saints?

A Biblical, Historical, and Supernatural Defense**
By Chris M. Forte

Catholics pray to the saints because we believe what Scripture reveals, what the early Christians practiced, and what the Church Fathers taught: death does not sever the Body of Christ, and the saints in heaven participate actively in God’s heavenly assembly.

Praying to saints reflects the fully supernatural worldview of ancient Judaism, early Christianity, Second Temple literature, and the earliest post-apostolic churches—a worldview later flattened in many Protestant traditions.

The following defense incorporates the Bible, the Deuterocanon, Second Temple texts, and the writings of early Christians.

1. The Dead Are Alive and Intercede—According to Scripture

Jesus teaches that God “is not the God of the dead, but of the living” (Matt. 22:32). Scripture consistently depicts the righteous dead as alive, conscious, and active in God’s presence.

The clearest biblical evidence for the saints’ intercession comes from the Deuterocanonical books, accepted by the Church since antiquity but later removed from the Protestant canon.

2. 2 Maccabees: Direct Biblical Proof That the Saints Intercede

In 2 Maccabees 15:12–16, the prophet Jeremiah and the deceased high priest Onias appear from heaven, praying for God’s people. Jeremiah is described as:

“a man who prays much for the people and the holy city.”¹

Onias likewise intercedes:

“He loves his brethren and prays much for the people.”²

This passage explicitly depicts the righteous dead praying for the living.

3. Tobit and Raphael the Archangel: Angels Present Prayers to God

In Tobit 12:12, the archangel Raphael reveals:

“I presented your prayer before the Holy One.”³

Thus angels carry prayers to God. Revelation 5:8 shows the saints doing the same. Scripture therefore depicts both angels and holy souls as intercessors.

Catholic teaching simply continues the biblical pattern.

4. Other Deuterocanonical Passages Supporting Intercession

Sirach 46–50 — Praise of the Fathers

Sirach praises the enduring holiness and ongoing spiritual activity of biblical heroes such as Elijah, Samuel, and Josiah, reflecting Jewish belief in the righteous dead.⁴

Wisdom 3:1

“The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God… and immortality is their reward.”⁵

This was the worldview Jesus and His contemporaries held: the righteous dead are alive with God and active in His purposes.

5. Jewish Second Temple Literature: The Book of Enoch

The Book of Enoch (1 Enoch), directly quoted in Jude 1:14–15, shaped the worldview of Second Temple Judaism and early Christianity. It depicts:

heavenly watchers,
intercessory angels,
the spirits of the righteous pleading before God,
a heavenly assembly governing creation.

In 1 Enoch 39:5, the souls of the holy ones intercede:

“I saw the souls of the righteous… making petitions and supplications.”⁶

In 1 Enoch 15–16, angels are shown delivering prayers and petitions.⁷

Catholics pray to saints because we have retained this biblical cosmology that Protestantism later minimized.

6. Early Christian Writings That Nearly Made It Into the Bible

Before later canon debates, the early Church freely used writings like The Shepherd of Hermas, 1 Clement, and the Didache. These reveal how earliest Christians understood the Communion of Saints.

The Shepherd of Hermas

Widely considered Scripture in the second century, Hermas describes visions of saints in heaven praying for believers:

“holy men of God who pray unceasingly for you.”⁸

1 Clement

Clement of Rome refers to the righteous dead as those:

“who served Him perfectly… and continue to intercede for us.”⁹

Odes of Solomon

An early Christian hymnal that speaks of heavenly worship and intercession:

“The saints are gathered, and the prayers of the righteous ascend.”¹⁰

These writings assume heavenly intercession as normal Christian belief.

7. The Early Church Fathers Explicitly Taught Intercession

The Church Fathers unanimously affirmed the intercession of saints.

St. Cyril of Jerusalem

“We mention those who have fallen asleep… for they pray for us.”¹¹

St. Jerome

“If the apostles and martyrs while still in the body can pray for others… how much more after their crowns?”¹²

St. Augustine

“The angels and saints… assist us in our spiritual needs.”¹³

St. Gregory of Nazianzus

“May the spirits of the righteous run to our aid.”¹⁴

St. Basil

“The martyrs help us by their prayers.”¹⁵

Not one early Christian writer taught the Protestant view.

8. “God Became Man So That Man Might Become God”—Theosis and Intercession

St. Athanasius famously wrote:

“God became man so that man might become god.”¹⁶

He meant participation in God’s life and glory by grace. Intercession naturally flows from this participation:

the saints see God,
love God perfectly,
and act as members of God’s family and heavenly council.

St. Irenaeus

“The glory of God is man fully alive.”¹⁷

The saints are “fully alive,” and their intercession flows from their glorification.

9. The Divine Council Worldview Makes Intercession Logical

While modern Christians often imagine heaven as an empty expanse, Scripture reveals a populated, active heavenly assembly:

angels,
archangels,
elders,
martyrs,
thrones and dominions,
“the spirits of the righteous made perfect.”

This is not metaphor—it is the structure of God’s cosmos.

Revelation 4–5

Shows the Lamb surrounded by angels and saints offering prayers.

Daniel 7

Reveals the heavenly “court” with thrones and divine council members.

Hebrews 12:22–23

“You have come… to innumerable angels… and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect.”

“You have come”—present tense.

To be Christian is to belong to a supernatural family spanning heaven and earth.

Praying to saints is not consulting the dead; it is participating in the life of the living Body of Christ.

10. Why Protestants Reject It—And Why Catholics Retain the Biblical View

Protestantism inherited:

a reduced canon,
fear of medieval abuses,
suspicion of anything “too Catholic,”
and a flattened supernatural worldview.

Thus many Protestants reject:

the saints’ intercession,
the heavenly council,
the activity of the righteous dead,
the fullness of the Communion of Saints.

Catholics reject none of these, because the early Church rejected none of these.

Conclusion: Catholics Pray to Saints Because the Bible and Early Church Did

Catholics pray to the saints because:

Scripture shows the righteous dead praying for the living (2 Macc. 15).
Angels and saints present prayers before God (Tob. 12; Rev. 5:8).
Intercession is commanded (1 Tim. 2:1; Jas. 5:16).
The Church is one across death (Rom. 8; Heb. 12).
Second Temple Judaism saw heaven as alive and intercessory (1 Enoch).
Early Christian writings assume heavenly intercession (Hermas, Clement).
The Church Fathers unanimously affirm it.
The Divine Council worldview makes it necessary.
Theosis implies participation in Christ’s mediation.

In short:

Heaven is alive.
The saints are alive.
Christ unites us.
Prayers cross the veil.
The Church is one.

This is the supernatural fullness of the Gospel—not the truncated version later Christians inherited.

Footnotes

2 Maccabees 15:14 (LXX), in New American Bible, Revised Edition.
2 Maccabees 15:12 (LXX).
Tobit 12:12 (LXX).
Sirach 46–50 (LXX).
Wisdom 3:1 (LXX).
R. H. Charles, trans., The Book of Enoch (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1893), 39:5.
Ibid., 15–16.
The Shepherd of Hermas, Vision 3, in J.B. Lightfoot & J.R. Harmer, eds., The Apostolic Fathers (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1989).
1 Clement 46, in Lightfoot & Harmer, Apostolic Fathers.
Odes of Solomon 6, in James H. Charlesworth, ed., The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, Vol. 2 (New York: Doubleday, 1985).
Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures 23:9, in Philip Schaff, ed., Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, 2nd Series, Vol. 7.
Jerome, Against Vigilantius 6, in Schaff, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, 2nd Series, Vol. 6.
Augustine, City of God 20.9, in Schaff, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, 1st Series, Vol. 2.
Gregory of Nazianzus, Oration 43:26, in Schaff, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, 2nd Series, Vol. 7.
Basil the Great, Homily on the Forty Martyrs 8, in Schaff, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, 2nd Series, Vol. 8.
Athanasius, On the Incarnation 54:3, in Schaff, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, 2nd Series, Vol. 4.
Irenaeus, Against Heresies 4.20.7, in Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 1.

Bibliography (Chicago Style)

Athanasius. On the Incarnation. In Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, 2nd Series, Vol. 4. Edited by Philip Schaff. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1994.

Augustine. City of God. In Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, 1st Series, Vol. 2. Edited by Philip Schaff. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1994.

Basil the Great. Homily on the Forty Martyrs. In Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, 2nd Series, Vol. 8.

Charles, R. H., trans. The Book of Enoch. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1893.

Charlesworth, James H., ed. The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha. Vol. 2. New York: Doubleday, 1985.

Cyril of Jerusalem. Catechetical Lectures. In Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, 2nd Series, Vol. 7.

Gregory of Nazianzus. Orations. In Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, 2nd Series, Vol. 7.

Irenaeus. Against Heresies. In Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 1.

Jerome. Against Vigilantius. In Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, 2nd Series, Vol. 6.

Lightfoot, J.B., and J.R. Harmer, eds. The Apostolic Fathers. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1989.

New American Bible, Revised Edition. USCCB Publishing.

Odes of Solomon. In The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, Vol. 2. Edited by James H. Charlesworth.

Sirach (Ecclesiasticus). In Septuagint (LXX).

Tobit. In Septuagint (LXX).

Wisdom of Solomon. In Septuagint (LXX).

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