The Communion Of Saints

• 8 years ago

By DON FIER

Part 2

One of the most important and consoling dogmas that we firmly hold as members of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church is contained in the second clause of the ninth article of the Apostles’ Creed: “I believe in . . . the communion of saints.” So key and central is this doctrine that the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) unequivocally states: “The communion of saints is the Church” (n. 946, emphasis added). It is an affirmation for faithful believers that death is not the end. The Church continues beyond this “vale of tears” which is ours on Earth — beyond all limitations of space and time.

“The communion of saints,” says Christoph Cardinal Schönborn, “is made up of all men who have placed their hope in Christ and belong to him through Baptism, whether they have already died or are still alive. Because in Christ we are one Body; we live in a communion that encompasses heaven and earth” (YOUCAT, p. 91).

This expression, as we saw last week, refers not only to the intimate bond that exists “between holy persons (sancti); that is, between those who by grace are united to the dead and risen Christ” (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 195). It also indicates “the common sharing of all the members of the Church in holy things (sancta): the faith, the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, the charisms, and the other spiritual gifts” (ibid., n. 194).

The Catechism next focuses on the three states of those who are members of the Church. As taught by the Vatican II fathers in Lumen Gentium (LG): “Until the Lord shall come in His majesty, and all the angels with Him (cf. Matt. 25:31) and death being destroyed, all things are subject to Him (cf. 1 Cor. 15:26-27), some of His disciples are exiles on earth, some having died are [being] purified, and others are in glory beholding ‘clearly God Himself triune and one, as He is’” (LG, n. 49).

The first state, those who are exiles on Earth, refers to persons who continue to sojourn as pilgrims in this mortal life (the Church Militant); those in the second state consist of persons who have died in the state of sanctifying grace but are in need of the purifying fire of Purgatory (the Church Suffering); and the third state is comprised of all who enjoy glory in Heaven, those who behold the Lord face to face in the Beatific Vision (the Church Triumphant).

Moreover, as pointed out in the Catholic Encyclopedia, “the [holy] angels, though not redeemed, enter the communion of saints because they come under Christ’s power and receive of His gratia capitis [the grace of the Head],” as taught by St. Thomas Aquinas in his Summa Theologiae (see III, Q. 8, art. 4). The holy angels (including our guardian angels), according to the teaching of the Angelic Doctor, are members of the Church Triumphant, for as Sacred Scripture says: “See that you do not despise one of these little ones; for I tell you that in heaven their angels always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 18:10).

All members of the Mystical Body of Christ, “in various ways and degrees are in communion in the same charity of God and neighbor and all sing the same hymn of glory to our God. For all who are in Christ, having His Spirit, form one Church and cleave together in Him” (LG, n. 49). It is a union that is strengthened and reinforced by the exchange of spiritual goods. In other words, members at various points on their journey are able to come to the aid of one another.

The Church Militant on Earth, in addition to being able to assist one another in their temporal and spiritual needs according to their state of life, can offer prayers, Masses, and sacrifices for the Poor Souls in Purgatory and can earn indulgences on their behalf. Likewise, they can venerate and ask for the intercessory help of the Church Triumphant in Heaven. The Church Suffering (the Holy Souls in Purgatory), although they are unable help themselves, are able to intercede for us on Earth and also for each other. The saints in Heaven, having attained their eternal destiny, can intercede for us on Earth and also for the Poor Souls in Purgatory. In fact, since they “are more closely united with Christ” (LG, n. 49), their intercession is most efficacious in the eyes of God.

And, of course, as we saw much earlier in this series, our guardian angels guide, protect, and constantly intercede for members of the Church Militant during their earthly pilgrimage.

Before proceeding with the topic of intercession, it would be good to reflect briefly on what the Church teaches regarding the impact of our prayers and virtuous acts on the Mystical Body of Christ, and also the effect of the sins and transgressions committed against our all-loving God. According to the doctrine of the communion of saints, there exists a “treasury of the Church” which is “the infinite and inexhaustible value the expiation and merits of Christ Our Lord have before God, offered as they were so that all of mankind could be set free from sin and attain communion with the Father” (Blessed Paul VI, Indulgentiarum Doctrina, n. 5 § 3).

But in some mysterious way, the faithful are able to add to this spiritual storehouse, for “this treasure also includes . . . the value before God of the prayers and good works . . . of all the saints” (ibid.).

At the same time, however, we must always keep in mind that “a soul that lowers itself through sin drags down with itself the church and, in some way, the whole world. In other words, there is no sin, not even the most intimate and secret one, the most strictly individual one, that exclusively concerns the person committing it” (St. John Paul II, Reconciliatio et Paenitentia, n. 16 § 5).

Happily for us, however, “in this wonderful exchange, the holiness of one profits others, well beyond the harm that the sin of one could cause others” (CCC, n. 1475).

The intercessory power of the saints in Heaven is efficacious, for “by their brotherly interest our weakness is greatly strengthened” (LG, n. 49). To illustrate this great mystery of our faith, the Catechism cites the words of two well-known saints: St. Dominic, founder of the Order of Preachers, and St. Thérèse of Lisieux.

“Do not weep,” St. Dominic said to his brothers as he was dying, “for I shall be more useful to you after my death and I shall help you then more effectively than during my life” (CCC, n. 956).

And as death approached for the Little Flower, she said: “I want to spend my heaven in doing good upon earth….I can’t rest as long as there are souls to be saved. But when the angel will have said: ‘Time is no more!’ then I will take my rest” (St. Thérèse of Lisieux: Her Last Conversations, tr. John Clarke, p. 102).

The Old Testament

Our communion with the saints in Heaven is celebrated each year on November 1, the Solemnity of All Saints. It is on that day that the faithful commemorate those souls who have attained that final goal for which the human heart yearns — both the canonized saints whom we know with certainty are in Heaven and all those unknown souls who quietly and unassumingly led holy, virtuous lives and are with the Lord.

“When we look at the lives of those who have faithfully followed Christ, we are inspired with a new reason for seeking the City that is to come (cf. Heb. 13:14; 11:10) and at the same time we are shown a most safe path by which among the vicissitudes of this world, in keeping with the state in life and condition proper to each of us, we will be able to arrive at perfect union with Christ, that is, perfect holiness” (LG, n. 50 § 2).

On the following day, November 2, the Commemoration of All Souls is celebrated for the faithful departed whose souls are being purified in Purgatory. As defined by the Second Council of Lyons in 1274, “from the beginning the Church has honored the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above all the Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus purified, they may attain the beatific vision of God” (CCC, n. 1032). These souls have safely passed the threshold of death and have the assurance of eternal salvation.

The practice of praying for the dead has its basis in the Old Testament: “[Judas Maccabeus] made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin” (2 Macc. 12:45). Furthermore, consistent with the doctrine of the communion of all members of the Mystical Body of Christ, both living and dead, “our prayer for them is capable not only of helping them, but also of making their intercession for us effective” (CCC, n. 958). Ultimately, we are “in the one family of God” (CCC, n. 959) as long as “we remain in communion with one another in mutual charity and in one praise of the most holy Trinity” (LG, n. 51 § 2).

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(Don Fier serves on the board of directors for The Catholic Servant, a Minneapolis-based monthly publication. He and his wife are the parents of seven children. Fier is a 2009 graduate of Ave Maria University’s Institute for Pastoral Theology. He is doing research for writing a definitive biography of Fr. John A. Hardon, SJ.)