Hello there Biju!
Here is an article I came accross recently. Some of your doubts, if not all,
will be cleared with this. It is a bit long but in the light of your doubts
will be good if you go through it fully.
Tak care and God bless
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Intercession (Mediation)
To intercede is to go or come between two parties, to plead before one of
them on behalf of the other. In the New Testament it is used as the
equivalent of entygchanein (Vulg. interpellare, in Heb., vii, 25).
"Mediation" means a standing in the midst between two (contending) parties,
for the purpose of bringing them together (cf. mediator, mesites, I Tim.,
ii, 5).
In ecclesiastical usage both words are taken in the sense of the
intervention primarily of Christ, and secondarily of the Blessed Virgin and
the angels and saints, on behalf of men. It would be better, however, to
restrict the word mediation to the action of Christ, and intercession to the
action of the Blessed Virgin, the angels, and the saints. In this article we
shall briefly deal with: I. the Mediation of Christ; and at more length
with, II. the intercession of the saints.
I. THE MEDIATION OF CHRIST
In considering the Mediation of Christ we must distinguish between His
position and His office. As God-man He stands in the midst between God and
man partaking of the natures of both, and therefore, by that very fact,
fitted to act as Mediator between them. He is, indeed, the Mediator in the
absolute sense of the word, in a way that no one else can possibly be. "For
there is one God, and one mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (I
Tim., ii, 5). He is united to both: "The head of every man is Christ... the
head of Christ is God" (I Cor., xi, 3). His office of Mediator belongs to
Him as man, His human nature is the principium quo, but the value of His
action is derived from the fact that it is a Divine Person Who acts. The
main object of His mediation is to restore the friendship between God and
man. This is attained first by the meriting of grace and remission of sin,
by means of the worship and satisfaction offered to God by and through
Christ. But, besides bringing man nigh unto God, Christ brings God nigh unto
man, by revealing to man Divine truths and commands — He is the Apostle sent
by God to us and the High-Priest leading us on to God (Heb., iii, 1). Even
in the physical order the mere fact of Christ's existence is in itself a
mediation between God and man. By uniting our humanity to His Divinity He
united us to God and God to us. As St. Athanasius says, "Christ became man
that men might become gods" ("De Incarn.", n. 54; cf. St. Augustine, "Serm.
De Nativitate Dom."; St. Thomas, III, Q. i, a. 2). And for this Christ
prayed: "That they all may be one, as thou, Father, in me, and I in thee. .
. . I in them, and thou in me; that they may be made perfect in one" (John,
xvii, 21-23). The subject of Christ's mediation belongs properly to the
articles ATONEMENT; JESUS CHRIST; REDEMPTION. See also St. Thomas, III, Q.
xxvi; and the treatises on the Incarnation.
II. INTERCESSION AND INVOCATION
We shall here speak not only of intercession, but also of the invocation of
the saints. The one indeed implies the other; we should not call upon the
saints for aid unless they could help us. The foundation of both lies in the
doctrine of the communion of saints. In the article on this subject it has
been shown that the faithful in heaven, on earth, and in purgatory are one
mystical body, with Christ for their head. All that is of interest to one
part is of interest to the rest, and each helps the rest: we on earth by
honouring and invoking the saints and praying for the souls in purgatory,
and the saints in heaven by interceding for us. The Catholic doctrine of
intercession and invocation is set forth by the Council of Trent, which
teaches that
the saints who reign together with Christ offer up their own prayers to God
for men. It is good and useful suppliantly to invoke them, and to have
recourse to their prayers, aid, and help for obtaining benefits from God,
through His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, Who alone is our Redeemer and
Saviour. Those persons think impiously who deny that the Saints, who enjoy
eternal happiness in heaven, are to be invoked; or who assert either that
they do not pray for men, or that the invocation of them to pray for each of
us is idolatry, or that it is repugnant to the word of God, and is opposed
to the honour of the one Mediator of God and men, Jesus Christ (Sess. XXV).
This had already been explained by St. Thomas:
Prayer is offered to a person in two ways: one as though to be granted by
himself, another as to be obtained through him. In the first way we pray to
God alone, because all our prayers ought to be directed to obtaining grace
and glory which God alone gives, according to those words of the psalm
(lxxxiii, 12): 'The Lord will give grace and glory.' But in the second way
we pray to the holy angels and to men not that God may learn our petition
through them, but that by their prayers and merits our prayers may be
efficacious. Wherefore it is said in the Apocalypse (viii, 4): 'And the
smoke of the incense of the prayers of the saints ascended up before God
from the hand of the angel' (Summ. Theol., II-II, Q. lxxxiii, a. 4).
The reasonableness of the Catholic teaching and practice cannot be better
stated than in St. Jerome's words:
If the Apostles and Martyrs, while still in the body, can pray for others,
at a time when they must still be anxious for themselves, how much more
after their crowns, victories, and triumphs are won! One man, Moses, obtains
from God pardon for six hundred thousand men in arms; and Stephen, the
imitator of the Lord, and the first martyr in Christ, begs forgiveness for
his persecutors; and shall their power be less after having begun to be with
Christ? The Apostle Paul declares that two hundred three score and sixteen
souls, sailing with him, were freely given him; and, after he is dissolved
and has begun to be with Christ, shall he close his lips, and not be able to
utter a word in behalf of those who throughout the whole world believed at
his preaching of the Gospel? And shall the living dog Vigilantius be better
than that dead lion? ("Contra Vigilant.", n. 6, in P. L., XXIII, 344).
The chief objections raised against the intercession and invocation of the
saints are that these doctrines are opposed to the faith and trust which we
should have in God alone; that they are a denial of the all-sufficient
merits of Christ; and that they cannot be proved from Scripture and the
Fathers. Thus Article 22 of the Anglican Church says: "The Romish doctrine
concerning the Invocation of Saints is a fond thing vainly invented, and
grounded upon no warranty of Scripture, but rather repugnant to the Word of
God."
(1) In the article ADORATION it has been clearly shown that the honour paid
to angels and saints is entirely different from the supreme honour due to
God alone, and is indeed paid to them only as His servants and friends. "By
honouring the Saints who have slept in the Lord, by invoking their
intercession and venerating their relics and ashes, so far is the glory of
God from being diminished that it is very much increased, in proportion as
the hope of men is thus more excited and confirmed, and they are encouraged
to the imitation of the Saints" (Cat. of the Council of Trent, pt. III, c.
ii, q. 11). We can, of course, address our prayers directly to God, and He
can hear us without the intervention of any creature. But this does not
prevent us from asking the help of our fellow-creatures who may be more
pleasing to Him than we are. It is not because our faith and trust in Him
are weak, nor because His goodness and mercy to us are less; rather is it
because we are encouraged by His precepts to approach Him at times through
His servants, as we shall presently see. As pointed out by St. Thomas, we
invoke the angels and saints in quite different language from that addressed
to God. We ask Him to have mercy upon us and Himself to grant us whatever we
require; whereas we ask the saints to pray for us, i.e. to join their
petitions with ours. However, we should here bear in mind Bellarmine's
remarks: "When we say that nothing should be asked of the saints but their
prayer for us, the question is not about the words, but the sense of the
words. For as far as the words go, it is lawful to say: 'St. Peter, pity me,
save me, open for me the gate of heaven'; also, 'Give me health of body,
patience, fortitude', etc., provided that we mean 'save and pity me by
praying for me'; 'grant me this or that by thy prayers and merits.' For so
speaks Gregory of Nazianzus (Orat. xviii — according to others, xxiv — " De
S. Cypriano" in P. G., XXXV, 1193; "Orat. de S. Athan.: In Laud. S.
Athanas.", Orat. xxi, in P. G., XXXV, 1128); in "De Sanct. Beatif.", I, 17.
The supreme act of impetration, sacrifice, is never offered to any creature.
"Although the Church has been accustomed at times to celebrate certain
Masses in honour and memory of the Saints, it does not follow that she
teaches that sacrifice is offered unto them, but unto God alone, who crowned
them; whence neither is the priest wont to say 'I offer sacrifice to thee,
Peter, or Paul', but, giving thanks to God for their victories, he implores
their patronage, that they may vouchsafe to intercede for us in heaven,
whose memory we celebrate upon earth" (Council of Trent, Sess. XXII, c.
iii). The Collyridians, or Philomarianites, offered little cakes in
sacrifice to the Mother of God; but the practice was condemned by St.
Epiphanius (Hær., lxxix, in P. G., XLI, 740); Leontius Byzant., "Contra
Nest. et Eutych.", III, 6, in P. G., LXXXVI, 1364; and St. John of Damascus
(Hær., lxxix, in P. G., XCIV, 728).
(2) The doctrine of one Mediator, Christ, in no way excludes the invocation
and intercession of saints. All merit indeed comes through Him; but this
does not make it unlawful to ask our fellow-creatures, whether here on earth
or already in heaven, to help us by their prayers. The same Apostle who
insists so strongly on the sole mediatorship of Christ, earnestly begs the
prayers of his brethren: "I beseech you, therefore, brethren, through our
Lord Jesus Christ, and by the charity of the Holy Ghost, that you help me in
your prayers for me to God" (Rom., xv, 30); and he himself prays for them:
"I give thanks to my God in every remembrance of you, always in all my
prayers making supplication for you all" (Phil., i, 3, 4). If the prayers of
the brethren on earth do not derogate from the glory and dignity of the
Mediator, Christ, neither do the prayers of the saints in heaven.
(3) As regards the proof from Holy Scripture and the Fathers, we can show
that the principle and the practice of invoking the aid of our
fellow-creatures are clearly laid down in both. That the angels have an
interest in the welfare of men is clear from Christ's words: "There shall be
joy before the angels of God upon one sinner doing penance" (Luke, xv, 10).
In verse 7 He says simply: "There shall be joy in heaven". Cf. Matt., xviii,
10; Heb., i, 14. That the angels pray for men is plain from the vision of
the Prophet Zacharias: "And the angel of the Lord answered, and said: O Lord
of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem . . . and the Lord
answered the angel . . . good words, comfortable words" (Zach., i, 12, 13).
And the angel Raphael says: " When thou didst pray with tears . . . I
offered thy prayer to the Lord" (Tob., xii, 12) The combination of the
prayers both of angels and saints is seen in the vision of St. John: "And
another angel came, and stood before the altar, having a golden censer; and
there was given to him much incense, that he should offer of the prayers of
all saints upon the golden altar, which is before the throne of God. And the
smoke of the incense of the prayers of the saints ascended up before God
from the hand of the angel" (Apoc., viii, 3, 4). God Himself commanded
Abimelech to have recourse to Abraham's intercession: "He shall pray for
thee, and thou shalt live. . . . And when Abraham prayed, God healed
Abimelech" (Gen., xx, 7, 17). So, too, in the case of Job's friends He said:
"Go to my servant Job, and offer for yourselves a holocaust; and my servant
Job shall pray for you: his face I will accept" (Job, xlii, 8). Intercession
is indeed prominent in several passages in this same Book of Job: "Call now
if there be any that will answer thee, and turn to some of the saints' (v,
1);" If there shall be an angel speaking for him . . . He shall have mercy
on him, and shall say: Deliver him, that he may not go down to corruption"
(xxxiii, 23). "They [the angels] appear as intercessors for men with God,
bringing men's needs before Him, mediating in their behalf. This work is
easily connected with their general office of labouring for the good of men"
(Dillman on Job, p. 44). Moses is constantly spoken of as "mediator': "I was
the mediator and stood between the Lord and you" (Deut., v, 5; cf. Gal.,
iii, 19, 20). It is true that in none of the passages of the Old Testament
mention is made of prayer to the saints, i. e; holy men already departed
from this life; but this is in keeping with the imperfect knowledge of the
state of the dead, who were still in Limbo. The general principle of
intercession and invocation of fellow-creatures is, however, stated in terms
which admit of no denial; and this principle would in due course be applied
to the saints as soon as their position was defined. In the New Testament
the number of the saints already departed would be comparatively small in
the early days.
The greatest of the Fathers in the succeeding centuries speak plainly both
of the doctrine and practice of intercession and invocation. "But not the
High-Priest [Christ] alone prays for those who pray sincerely, but also the
angels . . . as also the souls of the saints who have already fallen asleep
(ai te ton prokekoimemenon hagion psychai, Origen, "De Oratione", n. xi, in
P. G.,
XI, 448). In many other places Origen uses similar expressions; indeed it
may be said that there is hardly any treatise or homily in which he does not
refer to the intercession of the angels and saints. St. Cyprian, writing to
Pope Cornelius, says: "Let us be mutually mindful of each other, let us ever
pray for each other, and if one of us shall, by the speediness of the Divine
vouchsafement, depart hence first, let our love continue in the presence of
the Lord, let not prayer for our brethren and sisters cease in the presence
of the mercy of the Father" (Ep. lvii, in P. L., IV, 358). "To those who
would fain stand, neither the guardianship of saints nor the defences of
angels are wanting" (St. Hilary, "In Ps. cxxiv", n. 5, 6, in P. L., X, 682).
"We then commemorate also those who have fallen asleep before us, first,
patriarchs, prophets, apostles, martyrs, that God, by their prayers and
intercessions, may receive our petitions" (St. Cyril of Jerus., "Cat.
Myst.", v, n. 9) in P. G., XXXIII, 1166). "Remember me, ye heirs of God, ye
brethren of Christ, supplicate the Saviour earnestly for me, that I may be
freed though Christ from him that fights against me day by day" (St. Ephraem
Syrus, "De Timore Anim." ,in fin.). "Ye victorious martyrs who endured
torments gladly for the sake of the God and Saviour; ye who have boldness of
speech towards the Lord Himself; ye saints, intercede for us who are timid
and sinful men, full of sloth, that the grace of Christ may come upon us,
and enlighten the hearts of all of us that so we may love him" (St. Ephraem,
"Encom. in Mart."). "Do thou, [Ephraem] that art standing at the Divine
altar, and art ministering with angels to the life-giving and most Holy
Trinity, bear us all in remembrance, petitioning for us the remission of
sins, and the fruition of an everlasting kingdom" (St. Gregory of Nyssa, "De
vita Ephraemi", in fin., P. G., XLVI, 850). "Mayest thou [Cyprian] look down
from above propitiously upon us, and guide our word and life; and shepherd
[or shepherd with me] this sacred flock . . . gladdening us with a more
perfect and clear illumination of the Holy Trinity, before Which thou
standest" (St. Gregory of Nazianzus, Orat. xvii — according to others,
xxiv — "De S. Cypr.", P. G., XXXV, 1193). In like manner does Gregory pray
to St. Athanasius (Orat. xxi, "In laud. S. Athan.", P. G., XXXV, 1128). "O
holy choir! O sacred band! O unbroken host of warriors! O common guardians
of the human race! Ye gracious sharers of our cares! Ye co-operators in our
prayer! Most powerful intercessors!" (St.Basil, "Hom. in XL Mart.", P. G.,
XXXI, 524). "May Peter, who wept so efficaciously for himself, weep for us
and turn towards us Christ's benignant countenance" (St. Ambrose, "Hexaem.",
V, xxv, n. 90, in P. L., XIV, 242). St. Jerome has been quoted above. St.
John Chrysostom frequently speaks of invocation and intercession in his
homilies on the saints, e. g. "When thou perceivest that God is chastening
thee, fly not to His enemies . . . but to His friends, the martyrs, the
saints, and those who were pleasing to Him, and who have great power"
(parresian, "boldness of speech" — Orat. VIII, "Adv. Jud.", n. 6, in P. G.,
XLVIII, 937). "He that wears the purple, laying aside his pomp, stands
begging of the saints to be his patrons with God; and he that wears the
diadem begs the Tent-maker and the Fisherman as patrons, even though they be
dead" ("Hom. xxvi, in II Ep. ad Cor.", n. 5, in P. G., LXI, 581). "At the
Lord's table we do not commemorate martyrs in the same way that we do others
who rest in peace so as to pray for them, but rather that they may pray for
us that we may follow in their footsteps" (St. Augustine, "In Joann.", tr.
lxxxiv, in P. L., XXXIV, 1847).
Prayers to the saints occur in almost all the ancient liturgies. Thus in the
Liturgy of St. Basil: "By the command of Thine only-begotten Son we
communicate with the memory of Thy saints . . . by whose prayers and
supplications have mercy upon us all, and deliver us for the sake of Thy
holy name which is invoked upon us". Cf. the Liturgy of Jerusalem, the
Liturgy of St. Chrysostom, the Liturgy of Nestorius, the Coptic Liturgy of
St. Cyril, etc. That these commemorations are not later additions is
manifest from the words of St. Cyril of Jerusalem: "We then commemorate also
those who have fallen asleep before us, first, patriarchs, prophets,
apostles, martyrs, that God by their prayers and intercessions may receive
our petitions" ("Cat. Myst.", v, in P. G., XXXIII, 1113). (See Renaudot,
"Liturgiarum Orientalium Collectio", Paris, 1716.)
We readily admit that the doctrine of the intercession of the saints is a
development from the teaching of Scripture and that the practice is open to
abuse. But if the carefully-worded and wholesome decrees of the Council of
Trent be adhered to, there is nothing in the doctrine or practice which
deserves the condemnation expressed in Article xxii of the Anglican
religion. Indeed the High Church Anglicans contend that it is not the
invocation of saints that is here rejected, but only the "Romish doctrine ",
i. e. the excesses prevailing at the time and afterwards condemned by the
Council of Trent. "In principle there is no question herein between us and
any other portion of the Catholic Church. . . . Let not that most ancient
custom, common to the Universal Church, as well Greek as Latin, of
addressing Angels and Saints in the way we have said, be condemned as
impious, or as vain and foolish" [Forbes, Bishop of Brechin (Anglican), "Of
the Thirty-nine Articles", p. 422]. The reformed Churches, as a body, reject
the invocation of the saints. Article xxi of the Augsburg Confession says:
"Scripture does not teach us to invoke the Saints, or to ask for help from
the Saints; for it puts before us Christ as the one mediator, propitiatory,
high-priest and intercessor." In the "Apology of the Augsburg Confession"
(ad art. xxi, sects. 3, 4), it is admitted that the angels pray for us, and
the saints, too, "for the Church in general"; but this does not imply that
they are to be invoked. The Calvinists, however, reject both intercession
and invocation as an imposture and delusion of Satan, since thereby the
right manner of praying is prevented, and the saints know nothing of us, and
have no concern as to what passes on earth ("Gall. Confess.", art. xxiv;
"Remonst. Conf." c. xvi, sect. 3).
DENZINGER, Enchiridion (10th ed., Freiburg im Br., 1908), n.984; Catechism
of the Council of Trent, tr. DONOVAN (Dublin, 1867); ST. THOMAS, II-II, Q.
lxxxiii, a. 4; and Suppl., Q. lxxii, a. 2; SUAREZ, De Incarnatione (Venice,
1740-51), disp. lii; PETAVIUS, De Incarnatione (Bar-le-Duc, 1864-70), XV, c.
v, vi; BELLARMINE, De Controversiis Christian Fidei, II (Paris, 1608),
Controv. quarta, I, xv sqq.; WATERWORTH, Faith of Catholics, III (New York,
1885); MILNER, End of Religious Controversy, ed. RIVINGTON (London, 1896);
GIBBONS, Faith of our Fathers (Baltimore, 1890), xiii, xiv; MÖHLER,
Symbolism tr. ROBERTSON, II (London, 1847), 140 sqq.
T.B. SCANNELL
Transcribed by Douglas J. Potter
Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume VIII
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