Upon what is the Catholic idea of saints based on?

Question

The Catholic idea of saints is based upon all of Scripture and Tradition.

The Communion of Saints
After confessing "the holy catholic church" the Apostles Creed adds "the communion of saints." In a certain sense this article is a further explanation of the preceding: "What is the Church if not the assembly of all the saints?" The communion of saints is the Church.
Since all the faithful form one body, the good of each is communicated to the others... We must therefore believe that there exists a communion of goods in the Church. But the most important member is Christ, since he is the head... Therefore, the riches of Christ are communicated to all the members, through the sacraments. As this Church is governed by one and the same Spirit, all the goods she has received necessarily become a common fund. (St Paul says we are one body, one body in Christ).

The three states of the Church.
"When the Lord comes in glory, and all his angels with him, death will be no more and all things will be subject to him. But at the present time some of his disciples are pilgrims on earth. Others haved died and are being purified, while still others are in glory, contemplating "in full light, God himself triune and one, exactly as he is": (Lumen Gentium of Vatican II): All of us, however, in varying degrees and in different ways share in the same charity towards God and our neighbors, and we all sing the one hymn of glory to our God. All, indeed who are of Christ and who have his Spirit form one Church and in Christ cleave together. Eph 4:16 Lumen Gentium
So it is that the union of the wayfarers with the brethren who sleep (have died, but living with god) in the peace of Christ is in no way interrupted, but on the contrary, according to the constant faith of the Church, this union is reinforced by an exchange of spiritual goods." Lumen G.

The intercession of Saints
"Being more closely united to Christ, those who dwell in heaven fix the whole Church more firmly in holiness...Thye do not cease to intercede with the Father for us, as they proffer the merits which they acquired on earth through the one mediator between God and men, Christ Jesus. So by their fraternal concern is our weakness greatly helped.

Answer 1

We Catholics do not believe that our deceased brothers and sisters are truly dead, but that they have received the fullness of life! How much more are they able to intercede for us now that they are freed from life's burdens? If I can ask a fellow church member to pray for me to find an apartment or good used car or a relative to pull through a risky surgery, why can't I ask someone in heaven to intercede for me?

Those who abide with God are filled with his righteousness and "the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective..." (JAMES 5:16)

Don't the saints present our prayers to Jesus?

"Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne. 4The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel's hand..." (REV 8:3-4).

Doesn't the writer of Hebrews assure us of the cloud of witnesses? "...Since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses...." (HEB 12:1).

As far as canonized saints in the Catholic Church, the Church does not "MAKE" saints! GOD alone makes saints by raising up certain individuals to do great things. We celebrate, then, God's great mercy toward them. Will the Church canonize Mother Teresa of Calcutta? Who else but Almighty God could ever compel a mere lowly woman such as she to do even 1/10th of what she did? Picking up dying lepers in the gutters, carrying them to her hospices, tenderly bathing and caring for them? UGH! She did it, though....for love of God! And so we praise God for the gift that she was. It was not on her accord....he even gave her the grace to respond to that ministry of love and mercy.

Answer 2

The 7 books removed from Protestant Bibles are known by Catholics as the "Deuterocanonical Books" (as opposed to the "Protocanonical Books" that are not in dispute), and by Protestants as the "Apocrypha."


In the 16th c., Luther, reacting to serious abuses and clerical corruption in the Latin Church, to his own heretical theological vision , and, frankly, to his own inner demons, removed books from the canon that lent support to orthodox doctrine, relegating them to an appendix. Removed in this way were books that supported such things as :


Prayers for the dead (Tobit 12:12; 2 Maccabees 12:39-45),

Purgatory (Wisdom 3:1-7),

intercession of dead saints (2 Maccabees 15:14),

and intercession of angels as intermediaries (Tobit 12:12-15)

Luther wanted to remove the Epistle of James, Esther, Hebrews, Jude and Revelation. Calvin and Zwingli also both had problems with the Book of Revelation, the former calling it "unintelligible" and forbidding the pastors in Geneva to interpret it, the latter calling it "unbiblical". The Syrian (Nestorian) Church has only 22 books in the New Testament while the Ethiopian Church has 8 "extra." The first edition of the King James Version of the Bible included the "Apocryphal" (ie, Deuterocanonical) Books.

Answer 3

"...we are one body, one body in Christ." That's is what we are. If we just realize that EVERYONE who accepts Jesus as their Savior who died on the cross for us, then the world would be a better place. We wouldn't be getting all uppity about "our" church because "WE", all the members of all the different "churches" are member of the Church of Christ.

What are the prerequisites of the Church of Christ?
Must accept Jesus as Lord and Savior and believe that He died on the cross for our sins. That, my fellow members, is Christianity.

It is up to Christians to strive to be saints. The catholics' "Apostle's Creed" makes saints out to be far in the past. We, Christ believing people can be saints .

Answer 4

I think some christians have been very close to God, and able to achieve miraculous things. Their faith is advanced, so their prayers succeed more. So people naturally sought their help (as still happens, e.g. people going to a Kathryn Kuhlmann service back in the 1970s). Then it was noticed that even after death miracles happened near their shrines etc. So abbeys etc sought for relics etc that had some connection with the saint in question.

I'm not sure though that Mary, for instance, can cope with the millions of prayers directed to her, hence if one is to try and seek help of the saints in heaven, going to the shrine might make more sense, as if the saint in heaven still retains earthly anointings, they could handle the numbers that way.

Answer 5

Why did you past 946 & 947 but forget 948?

948 The term "communion of saints" therefore has two closely linked meanings: communion in holy things (sancta)" and "among holy persons (sancti)."

Sancta sanctis! ("God's holy gifts for God's holy people") is proclaimed by the celebrant in most Eastern liturgies during the elevation of the holy Gifts before the distribution of communion. The faithful (sancti) are fed by Christ's holy body and blood (sancta) to grow in the communion of the Holy Spirit (koinonia) and to communicate it to the world.

Answer 6

Belief in Christ. All Christians are saints according to the Catholic Church. There are exceptional saints that lived exceptionally holy lives and are vehicles of God's healing.

Answer 7

Eph. 3:14-15- we are all one family ("Catholic") in heaven and on earth, united together, as children of the Father, through Jesus Christ. Our brothers and sisters who have gone to heaven before us are not a different family. We are one and the same family. This is why, in the Apostles Creed, we profess a belief in the "communion of saints." There cannot be a "communion" if there is no union. Loving beings, whether on earth or in heaven, are concerned for other beings, and this concern is reflected spiritually through prayers for one another.

Eph. 1:22-23; 5:23-32; Col. 1:18,24 - this family is in Jesus Christ, the head of the body, which is the Church.

1 Cor. 12:12,27; Rom. 12:5; Col. 3:15; Eph. 4:4 - we are the members of the one body of Christ, supernaturally linked together by our partaking of the Eucharist.

Rom. 8:35-39 - therefore, death does not separate the family of God and the love of Christ. We are still united with each other, even beyond death.

Matt. 17:3; Mark 9:4; Luke 9:30 - Jesus converses with "deceased" Moses and Elijah. They are more alive than the saints on earth.

Matt. 22:32; Mark 12:27; Luke 20:38 - God is the God of the living not the dead. The living on earth and in heaven are one family.

Luke 15:7,10 – if the angels and saints experience joy in heaven over our repentance, then they are still connected to us and are aware of our behavior.

John 15:1-6 - Jesus is the vine and we are the branches. The good branches are not cut off at death. They are alive in heaven.

1 Cor. 4:9 – because we can become a spectacle not only to men, but to angels as well, this indicates that angels are aware of our earthly activity. Those in heaven are connected to those on earth.

1 Cor. 12:26 - when one member suffers, all suffer. When one is honored, all rejoice. We are in this together as one family.

1 Cor 13:12; 1 John 3:2 - now we see in a mirror dimly, but in heaven we see face to face. The saints are more alive than we are!

Heb. 12:1 - we are surrounded by a great glory cloud (shekinah) of witnesses, our family in heaven. We are not separated. The “cloud of witnesses” (nephos marturon) refers to a great amphitheatre with the arena for the runners (us on earth), and many tiers of seats occupied by the saints (in heaven) rising up like a cloud. The “martures” are not mere spectators (“theatai”), but testifiers (witnesses) who testify from their own experience to God’s promises and cheer us on in our race to heaven. They are no less than our family in heaven.

1 Peter 2:9; Rev. 20:6 - we are a royal family of priests by virtue of baptism. We as priests intercede on behalf of each other.

2 Peter 1:4 - since God is the eternal family and we are His children, we are partakers of His divine nature as a united family.

1 Cor. 1:2; Rom. 1:7 - we are called to be saints. Saints refer to both those on earth and in heaven who are in Christ. Proof:

Acts 9:13,32,41; 26:10; 1 Cor. 6:1-2; 14:33; 2 Cor. 1:1; 8:4; 9:1-2; 13:13; Rom. 8:27; 12:23; 15:25,26, 31; 16:2,15; Eph. 1:1,15,18; 3:8; 5:3; 6:18; Phil. 1:1; 4:22; Col 1:2,4,26; 1 Tm 5:10; Philemon 1:5,7; Heb. 6:10; 13:24; Jude 1:3; Rev. 11:18; 13:7; 14:12; 16:6; 17:6;18:20,24; Rev 19:8; 20:9 - in these verses, we see that Christians still living on earth are called "saints."

Matt. 27:52; Eph. 2:19; 3:18; Col. 1:12; 2 Thess. 1:10; Rev. 5:8; 8:3-4; 11:18; 13:10 - in these verses, we also see that "saints" also refer to those in heaven who united with us.

Dan. 4:13,23; 8:23 – we also see that the angels in heaven are also called “saints.” The same Hebrew word “qaddiysh” (holy one) is applied to both humans and angels in heaven. Hence, there are angel saints in heaven and human saints in heaven and on earth. Loving beings (whether angels or saints) are concerned for other beings, and prayer is the spiritual way of expressing that love.

Answer 8

You didn't need all that detail. In plain words. The Roman Catholic church believes that there are people that did good in life, and have died, who have a direct line to the Boss, and a bit of pull.

Answer 9

The early members of the Church were all called Saints -- those who had been sanctified or "made holy" by their baptism by water and by the Holy Ghost. The Catholics Church later lost the original simplicity of the term and embellished it, making it an exclusive status with many requirements to achieve it.

Answer 10

First Jesus is not a "member of the church" He is the "Head of the Church" He is the "Root" we are the "branches" God is the Vine dresser. The Catholic Church venerates persons who have died with Sainthood after Cardinals and the Pope vote on the beneficial and compassionate "works" of these persons and they decide who is and who isn't a "Saint" The Catholic Church prostrates itself before icons of "the Saints" asking for intervention to Jesus or God Almighty for their needs. Persons of the other Christian religions consider all "believers" in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior to be "Saints" all of us "equal" and united in our faith and service to God. Other Christian denominations do not believe we need anyone to intercede for us to repent or to request petitions of God, we have Jesus Christ who split the Curtain at His death; which separated us from the holiest of holies, now there is no separation, no curtain, no priest to offer prayers or incense for us, we have Jesus Christ to go directly to with our petitions; and he stands before the Father praying for us.