F FidesDB Comparative religion and belief database
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Belief overview

Communion of saints and intercession

The saints participate in the life of the Church and may be invoked in prayer.

61%
Confidence
3
Supportive
1
Contrary
0
Neutral

What it is: The Orthodox Church teaches that the Church includes the living and the departed in Christ, and that the saints may be honored and invoked as intercessors.

How the religion understands it: The communion of saints is seen as a concrete reality of ecclesial life, reflected in feasts, icons, hymns, and prayers. The intercession of saints does not replace the mediation of Christ, but is understood as participation in it.

Context: This belief is common to the ancient Christian traditions and is deeply rooted in the liturgy and memory of the Church.

Documentary evidence

Supportive

Council of Trent, Session XXV

council,trent,saints,images,intercession

Tridentine text on the invocation of saints, relics, and images.

In Session XXV, Trent reaffirmed the usefulness of honoring the saints, venerating relics, and using images in an ordered way, insisting that every true honor points back to Christ and to God. The document is the classic Catholic reference for regulating devotion and responding to Reformation critiques about idolatry.

Hebrews 12:1

bible,saints,communion,orthodoxy

Cloud of witnesses.

Reference: Hebrews 12:1.
Content: The text speaks of a great cloud of witnesses surrounding the faithful.
Use in debate: It is used for the communion of saints and the Church's liturgical memory.

Revelation 5:8

bible,saints,intercession,revelation

Prayers of the saints before God.

Reference: Revelation 5:8.
Content: The scene presents the prayers of the saints being offered before God.
Use in debate: It is frequently used in defense of the intercession of the saints.

Contrary

1 Timothy 2:5

bible,new-testament,christ,saints,mediation

There is one mediator between God and human beings, Jesus Christ.

The passage affirms Christ's unique mediation. In debates about invocation of the saints, it is used to argue that requests for heavenly intercession would compromise the centrality of Jesus. Catholic interpretation responds that subordinate and intercessory mediations do not compete with the unique redemptive mediation of Christ.