Intercession of saints
The intercession of saints is a Christian doctrine that maintains that saints can intercede for others. The invocation of the saints is the practice of persons requesting saints to intercede for them; the comprecation of saints is the practice in which Christians ask God for a share in the prayers offered by the saints. The practice of the invocation of the saints is held by the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, and some Lutherans and Anglicans (chiefly those of Evangelical Catholic or Anglo-Catholic churchmanship, respectively). The Lutheran Churches and the Anglican Communion accept the doctrine of the intercession of the saints, holding that the saints (living and in heaven) pray for the Church; the practice of the comprecation of saints is accepted by these traditions, though the invocation of the saints is generally rejected by these Christian denominations (apart from certain Evangelical Catholics and Anglo-Catholics).
Quotes
[edit]Bible
[edit]- My servant ... was numbered with the transgressors.
- Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
- Epistle to the Romans 8:26 KJV
A
[edit]- Let us pray to God...for the Catholic Church, its establishment and increase; for the Eastern, its deliverance and union; for the Western, its adjustment and peace; for the British, the supply of what is wanting in it, the strengthening of what remains in it; for the episcopate, presbytery, Christian people...for all whom I have promised to remember in my prayers; or from mutual offices, for all who remember me in their prayers, and ask of me the same; or from stress of engagements, for all who on sufficient reasons fail to call upon Thee; for all who have no intercessor in their own behalf...
- Lancelot Andrews, Preces Privatæ, Second Day of the Week, Intercession (as translated by John Henry Newman)
B
[edit]- They were able to bear witness to their faith even in the difficult times of the forced closure of our church. The heroic testimony of the faith of our ancestors, to the point of martyrdom, and their intercession in heaven have contributed to the fact that in the Greek Catholic Church of Slovakia we are able to thank God for the abundance of priestly vocations.
- Fourteen centuries after the Christianization of the Croats, has the time finally come for maturity, the time of our confirmation – confirmation of humanity and faith? Has the time come for a transition from the selfish egocentrism of the individual, party, government and opposition into a mature, conscious person open to dialogue and the society, where Domnius' language of the value of openness and respect, justice and solidarity, the common good and unity, to all of us in the city of Split and the homeland of Croatia, will be our everyday, understandable and acceptable language? I believe that it is! That is why we ask his intercession today and celebrate him.
- Where there is Mary, there is Jesus and where there is Jesus there is joy, Mary is not only the Mother of God, she is the Mother of all of us who seek her constant intercession, we entrust our suffering to her.
D
[edit]- Prayer is petition, intercession, adoration, and contemplation; great saints and mystics have agreed on this definition. To stop short at petition is to pray only in a crippled fashion. Further, such prayer encourages one of the faults which is most reprehended by spiritual instructors — turning to God without turning from Self.
- Robertson Davies, Shakespeare over the Port (1960)
- All those who were physically healed in Lourdes have died or will die, even if for evils other than those for which they turned to Mary's intercession. [...] It is an obvious reflection, perhaps apparently banal. Yet, it allows us to clarify the Catholic's perspective in the face of the impressive dossier of "physical" healings which, at the foot of the Pyrenees, have not ceased to occur since 1858. The believer, that is, knows that what is promised by the Gospel - what 'everyone' is promised - it is indeed the radical and definitive "healing" of the body too; but only when this is resurrected to eternal life. (Vittorio Messori)
- Yes, it has been a long and painful journey. I went to Lourdes in January and felt great straight after for a long time. It's an incredible place.
- Cristiano De André
E
[edit]- Miracles are not the intercession of an external, divine agency in violoation of the laws of nature. A miracles is something impossible from an old understanding of reality, and possible from a new one.
- Charles Eisenstein, A New Story of the People: Charles Eisenstein at TEDxWhitechapel, YouTube, 13 February 2013
H
[edit]- The Muslim reform movements of the nineteenth century helped to transform Muslim attitudes towards Hindus. They were essen¬ tially rejections of medieval Islam in India in favour of early Islam in Arabia. They were not movements confined to the library and to the study; their exponents did not merely formulate intellectual positions against monism, but went out and preached against the customs which so many Muslims shared with Hindus - intercession at the tombs of saints, consultation of Brahmins, even vegetarianism and aversion to the remarriage of widows. Muslims in India were to be made aware of what they did not share with their non-Muslim neighbours. India could be made by the reformers to feel not like a home, but like a habitat.
- Peter Hardy (historian), [1] "The Muslims Of British India" also in Jain, M. (2010). Parallel pathways: Essays on Hindu-Muslim relations, 1707-1857.
- Holiness is religious principle put into motion. It is the love of God sent forth into circulation, on the feet, and with the hands of love to men. It is faith gone to work. It is charity coined into actions, and devotion breathing benedictions on human suffering, while it goes up in intercession to the Father of all piety.
- Frederic Dan Huntington, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), P. 314.
J
[edit]- Today I pray in a special way for peace and harmony in this country, so that with God's help and through the intercession of Our Lady of Budslau we can overcome.
K
[edit]- The most satisfactory way [in Jainism], perhaps, at arriving any conclusion is to divide the subject of prayer into various elements, such as petition, intercession, adoration, thanksgiving and to note under each head the actual practice and the sometimes conflicting opinions of the Jains.
- Subodh Kapoor (2002), in Indian Encyclopaedia, Volume 1. p. 5790.
- Father in heaven, just as the congregation’s intercessory prayer usually asks that you yourself will comfort all who are sick and sorrowful, so in this hour it asks that you give rest for their souls to those who labor and are burdened. And yet this is no intercession: who would dare to think himself so healthy that he would pray only for others. Alas, no, everyone is praying for himself, praying that you will give him rest for his soul. Give, O God, rest for the soul to each one individually whom you see are laboring and burdened in the consciousness of sins.
- Søren Kierkegaard, Christian Discourses, Hong translation P. 261
- I take the suffering of people caused by the events taking place with deep and heartfelt pain. I call on all parties to the conflict to do everything possible to avoid civilian casualties. I appeal to the bishops, pastors, monastics, and laity to provide all possible assistance to all victims, including refugees and people left homeless and without means of livelihood. The Russian and Ukrainian peoples have a common centuries-old history dating back to the Baptism of Rus’ by Prince St. Vladimir the Equal-to-the-Apostles. I believe that this God-given affinity will help overcome the divisions and disagreements that have arisen that have led to the current conflict. I call on the entire fullness of the Russian Orthodox Church to offer a special, fervent prayer for the speedy restoration of peace. May the All-merciful Lord, through the intercession of our Most Pure Lady the Theotokos and all the saints, preserve the Russian, Ukrainian, and other peoples who are spiritually united by our Church!
L
[edit]- O God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we call upon thy holy name, and as suppliants we implore thy clemency, that by the intercession of Mary, ever Virgin Immaculate and our Mother, and of the glorious Archangel St. Michael, thou wouldst deign to help us against Satan and all other unclean spirits, who wander about the world for the injury of the human race and the ruin of souls. Amen.
- Pope Leo XIII, Prayer to Saint Michael (1888)
- Please join me in thanking Our Lord for the election of Pope Leo XIV, Successor of St. Peter, as Shepherd of the Church throughout the world.The Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse has a particularly strong bond with the Roman Pontiff, especially through its affiliation with the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major. I urge all pilgrims and friends of the Shrine to pray fervently for Pope Leo XIV that Our Lord, through the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe, St. Peter the Apostle and Pope St. Leo the Great, may grant him abundant wisdom, strength and courage to do all that Our Lord asks of him in these tumultuous times. May God bless Pope Leo and grant him many years.
- Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke, as quoted in Cardinale Burke, Dio doni saggezza a Leone XIV in tempi tumultuosi, RAI News (May 9, 2025)
- It is only Jesus Christ who has thrown light on life and immortality through the Gospel; and because He has done so, and has enabled us by His Atoning Death and Intercession to make the most of this discovery, His Gospel is, for all who will, a power of God unto salvation.
- Henry Liddon, Sermons Preached before the University of Oxford: Second Series (1887) , Sermon XIII: "The Courage of Faith" (May 25, 1877), p. 202
M
[edit]- Christ by His intercession is able to save thee beyond the horizon and largest compass of thy thoughts, even to the utmost. In danger Christ lashes us to Himself, as Alpine guides do when there is perilous ice to get over.
- Alexander Maclaren, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), P. 88.
- All those who were physically healed in Lourdes have died or will die, even if for evils other than those for which they turned to Mary's intercession. [...] It is an obvious reflection, perhaps apparently banal. Yet, it allows us to clarify the Catholic's perspective in the face of the impressive dossier of "physical" healings which, at the foot of the Pyrenees, have not ceased to occur since C.E.1858. The believer, that is, knows that what is promised by the Gospel - what 'everyone' is promised - it is indeed the radical and definitive "healing" of the body too; but only when this is resurrected to eternal life.
- Vittorio Messori, Hypothesis about Maria, p. 59
N
[edit]- There are not petitional or intercessory prayers in Buddhism. However much we may pray to the Buddha we cannot be saved. The Buddha does not grant favors to those who pray to Him. Instead of petitional prayers there is meditation that leads to self-control, purification and enlightenment. Meditation is neither a silent reverie nor keeping the mind blank. It is an active striving. It serves as a tonic both to the heart and the mind. The Buddha not only speaks of the futility of offering prayers but also disparages a slave mentality. A Buddhist should not pray to be saved, but should rely on himself and win his freedom.
- Narada Maha Thera, Buddhism in a Nutshell
- 5. The incarnation of the Son of God, His work of atonement for the sins of mankind, and His mediatorial intercession and reign;
- Mark Noll, "What is “Evangelical”?" (2010), "Chapter 1 What is “Evangelical”?", in McDermott, Gerald R., ed. (2010), p.29
O
[edit]- I guess when we love somebody we want to see them loved by others and being praised by others. And that's what Jesus, even all through history, so many miracles are done at the intercession of Our Blessed Mother, so much good comes into the world at the intercession of Our Blessed Mother, because Jesus wants her to be loved. Wants people, wants you and I to love her as much as he loves her.
P
[edit]- We will do our part, but everything is in God's hands, but one thing is certain: Niña now offers herself to us and to the faithful around the world, especially children and young people, as a model of Christian life. In her life she chose the path of holiness, she wanted to be close to the heart of God, she accepted and was faithful to the will of God in her journey. At this time we continue to ask for her intercession and we continue to work for the cause, praying and hoping that one day, God willing, she will be presented to us by Mother Church as Saint Niña Ruiz-Abad.
- Certainly, in the full and strict meaning of the term, only Jesus Christ, the God-Man, is King; but Mary, too, as Mother of the divine Christ, as His associate in the redemption, in his struggle with His enemies and His final victory over them, has a share, though in a limited and analogous way, in His royal dignity. For from her union with Christ she attains a radiant eminence transcending that of any other creature; from her union with Christ she receives the royal right to dispose of the treasures of the Divine Redeemer's Kingdom; from her union with Christ finally is derived the inexhaustible efficacy of her maternal intercession before the Son and His Father.
Q
[edit]- And cite for them the example of the people of the town, when the messengers came to it. Where We sent two to them, but they disbelieved in them, so We supported them with a third one, thus they said: "We are messengers to you." They replied: "You are but human beings like us, and the Almighty did not send down anything, you are only telling lies." They said: "Our Lord knows that we have been sent to you. And we are only required to give a clear delivery." They replied: "We have welcomed you better than you deserve. If you do not cease, we will stone you, and you will receive a painful retribution from us!" They said: "Keep your welcome with you, for you have been reminded. Indeed, you are transgressing people." And a man came running from the farthest part of the city, saying: "O my people, follow the messengers. Follow those who do not ask you for any wage, and are guided. And why should I not serve the One who created me, and to Him is your ultimate return? Shall I take gods besides Him? If the Almighty intends any harm for me, their intercession cannot help me in the least, nor can they save me. Then I would be clearly astray." "I have believed in your Lord, so listen to me!" It was said: "Enter Paradise." He said "Oh, how I wish my people only knew! Of what my Lord has forgiven me, and made me of the honoured ones." And We did not send down upon his people after him soldiers from the sky; for there was no need to send them down.
- Quran, Chapter 36 (Yasin) : 13-28
S
[edit]- Prayer is a relationship with God, probably the most personal and intimate aspect of our lives. My ministry as a bishop has expanded my vision of prayer, and even though prayer has always been a part of my life, I would say one thing that has grown is my intercessory prayer. There are so many individuals and things to pray for. With the mission of bishop, and as a shepherd to the faithful, I first and foremost want to reach out to everyone, and there’s no better way to do that than through prayer. I have a deeper consciousness of inner prayer, and bringing to the heart of Christ the intercession that has been entrusted to me.
- If the infidels pray, they will surely seek the intercession of their idols, which is taking things too far… A wise man has said that unless you become a maniac (diwanah) you cannot attain Islam. The state of this mania means going beyond considerations of profit and loss. Whatever one gains in the service of Islam should suffice…
- Ahmad Sirhindi, Maktubat-i-Imam Rabbani translated into Urdu by Maulana Muhammad Sa’id Ahmad Naqshbandi, Deoband, 1988, Volume I, p.388 ff.This letter was written to Shaikh Farid alias Nawab Murtaza Khan who was opposed to Akbar’s religious policy, and who supported Jahangir’s accession after taking from the latter a promise that Islam will be upheld in the new reign.
- So it was that the Catherines poured water and spooned gruel, while the Clares prayed for the intercession of the saints. The Catherines changed sheets. The Clares practiced mortification of the flesh. The Catherines employed antibiotics. The Clares made a public display of a kneecap of their patron saint.
It was soon widely know to which hospital one went to get well, and to which one went to die.- Michael Swanwick, The Iron Dragon's Daughter (1993), Chapter 9, “The Plague Kitchen” (p. 141)
T
[edit]- I have often encountered certain people still attached to the fables of pagan mythology who ridicule our belief and assert that faith is all we require of those whom we give religious instruction. They also point with scorn at the Apostles' lack of education and stigmatize these men as uncouth and ignorant of the niceties of cultivated speech. They further say that the veneration shown to the martyrs is absurd. And as for the living seeking to obtain the intercession of the dead, this, they declare, is the utmost folly.
X
[edit]- I am grateful to the Lord for his grace in choosing me, a humble servant, as Coadjutor Bishop of the Diocese of Beijing. I am aware that I do not have the qualities required for the task entrusted to me, but I accept it in faith and entrust myself to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Matthew the Apostle, trusting with all my heart and promising to dedicate myself entirely to the fulfillment of my pastoral duties, because "I do all things for the sake of Gospel."
Y
[edit]- That intercession is like this:
- On one side of the Sirat Bridge is paradise,
- on one there is darkness,
- and on the third there is hell
- There is help from the Friends and Brothers of the Hereafter
- for their brothers, the sinners.
- Qewlê Seremergê — The Hymn of the Moment of Death, 69
- for their brothers, the sinners.
- Yazidism, Faith, Kreyenbroek, Philip (1995). Yezidism: its background, observances, and textual tradition. Lewiston, New York: E. Mellen Press. ISBN 0-7734-9004-3. OCLC 31377794.
Z
[edit]- You should knot that a certain Franciscan from France, whose name indeed was Franz, was here not many days since and had such conversation with me concerning the Scriptural basis for the doctrine of the adoration of the saints and their intercession for us. He was not able to convince me with the assistance of a single passage of Scripture that the saints do pray for us, as he had with a great deal of assurance boasted he should do. At last he went to Basel, where he recounted the affair in an entirely different way from the reality - in fact he lied about it. So it seemed good to me to let you know about these things that you might not be ignorant of that Cumaean lion, if perchance he should ever turn your way.
There followed within six days another strife with our brethren preachers of the [different orders in Zurich, especially with the Augustinians]. Finally the burgonmaster and the Council appointed for them three commissioners on whom this was enjoined - that Aquinas and the rest of the doctors of that class being put aside they should base their arguments alone upon those sacred writings which are contained in the Bible. This troubled those beasts so much that one brother, the father reader of the order of Preachers [i.e., the Dominicans] cut loose from us, and we wept - as one weeps when a cross-grained and rich stepmother has departed this life. Meanwhile there are those who threaten, but God will turn the evil upon His enemies.- Huldrych Zwingli, letter July 30th to Rhenanus ibid, p.170-171.
