I believe in the Communion of Saints

Sources: Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1030-1032; The Faith Explained,

L.Trese; Beginning Apologetics, 8, Chacon, Burnham
Creed: I believe in the communion of saints

– Q: What do we mean when we say

“saints” in the Creed (that is, I
believe in the communion of
”saints”)?
– Q: What does the word mean
originally mean?
– Q: How is the word saint
understood nowadays?
– Q: What does the word
“communion” mean?
 Saint? Who, me?
“Saints” in the original meaning
– is St Paul's favorite term for the members of the
Christian community
– “The saints who are at Ephesus" (Eph 1:1) and the
"saints that are in the whole of Achaia" (2 Cor 1:1).
The Acts of the Apostles, the history of the infant
Church, called as saints all followers of Christ
– Every Christian soul, incorporated with Christ
by baptism…
… and harboring within himself the Holy Spirit
(so long as he remains in the state of sanctifying
grace) is holy, is a saint in the original meaning of
the word.
Communion: what does it mean?
Communion – is “union with”
– We believe that there exists a union, a
fellowship, an inter-personal relationship
among all souls in whom the Holy Spirit, the
Spirit of Christ, dwells.

Church militant (on earth)

– we who are here on earth, still fighting
against sin and error
With mortal sin, we are still member of the
communion, but… we are cut off from all
spiritual interchange (for as long as we
continue to exclude the Holy Spirit from our
soul)
 The Church Militant

a duty of mutual love

– we who are upon earth must also pray
for and help one another if we are to be
faithful to our obligations as members of
the communion of saints
– How? Especially by performing the
spiritual and corporal works of mercy,
and with our supernatural love, our
prayers and sacrifices offered for them

This is a responsibility that we should

not take lightly
 The Church Triumphant
Church triumphant (in heaven)
– are the souls of the blessed in
heaven.
– into it will be absorbed, after the last
Judgment, both the Church militant and
the Church suffering
– they are God’s heroic people, God's
intimate friends and familiars

– Q: Why do we pray and give honor to

the saints in heaven? Is honor given them
an honor taken away from God?
The Church goes beyond this life
There is an age to come

Matthew. 12:32
– “And whoever says a word
against the Son of man will be
forgiven; but whoever speaks
against the Holy Spirit will not be
forgiven, either in this age or in the
age to come.”
 The Church Triumphant
Church triumphant (in heaven)
– 1 Peter 1:15-16.
“As he who called you is holy, be holy
yourselves in all your conduct: since it is
written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am
holy’.”
– Hebrews 12:14
Strive for peace with all men, and for the
holiness without which no one will see
the Lord.
– Revelations 21:27
Nothing unclean shall enter it [heaven]
Communion: what does it mean?
Communion is mutual caring
— are all of us who are united in Christ
—the saints in heaven, the souls in
purgatory, and we upon earth—must
be mindful of the needs of one another
— Q: Are the saints in heaven
caught up in their own happiness
such as to forget or neglect the
souls who are still on earth?
— the love that the blessed in heaven
have for the souls in purgatory and the
souls on earth is not a passive love.
Rather, it is an an active.
The Church Suffering

Church suffering (in purgatory)

– are those in purgatory, with minor sins
and debts of penance that need purifying
– they cannot help themselves now; their
time for meriting is past. But we can help
them by the favor of God.
– once they are numbered among the
saints in heaven they will surely
remember us who helped them
The Church Suffering

Souls in purgatory
– Catechism of the Catholic Church, no.
1031:

“The Church give the name

purgatory to this final purification of
the elect, which is entirely different
from the punishment of the damned.”
Purgatory
Preliminary distinctions
– guilt and punishment
2 Sam 12:13-14: David said to Nathan, “I
have sinned against the Lord.” Nathan said
to David, “The Lord also has put away your
sin; you shall not die.
Nevertheless, because by this deed you
have utterly scorned the Lord, the child that
is born to you shall die.”
– mortal and venial sin
1 John 5:16-17
If one sees his brother committing what is
not a mortal sin… All wrongdoing is sin,
but there is sin which is not mortal.
Purgatory (cf. Beginning Apologetics 8)
Three Points to Remember
– Only imperfect saints in the state of
grace enter Purgatory. It is not a ”second
chance” for those who die in unrepented
mortal sin
– Purgatory exists for purification and
reparation. The effects of sin are purged.
The punishment due to sin are paid.
– Purgatory is only temporary. Once the
imperfect saints are purified they enter
heaven. Everyone in purgatory will go to
heaven. Purgatory will cease to exist at
the Second Coming.
Helping the souls in purgatory
New Testament on prayers and
practices
– 2 Tim 1:16-18
“May the Lord grant mercy to the
household of Onesiphorus, for he often
refreshed me; he was not ashamed of my
chains… may the Lord grant him to find
mercy from the Lord on that Day.”
– 2 Macabees 12:42-45
… because of the sin of those who have
fallen. He also took up a collection…
and sent to Jerusalem to provide for a sin
offering.
Helping the souls in purgatory
A look at 2 Maccabees

“42 and they turned to prayer,

beseeching that the sin which had been
committed might be wholly blotted out.
And the noble Judas exhorted the people
to keep themselves free from sin, for they
had seen with their own eyes what had
happened because of the sin of those who
had fallen.
43 He also took up a collection, man by
man, to the amount of two thousand
drachmas of silver, and sent it to
Jerusalem to provide for a sin offering.
Helping the souls in purgatory
A look at 2 Maccabees
… In doing this he acted very well and
honorably, taking account of the
resurrection.
44 For if he were not expecting that
those who had fallen would rise again, it
would have been superfluous and foolish
to pray for the dead.
45 But if he was looking to the splendid
reward that is laid up for those who fall
asleep in godliness, it was a holy and
pious thought. Therefore he made
atonement for the dead, that they might
be delivered from their sin.”
How can we avoid Purgatory?
Our goal isn’t just making it to
purgatory, is it?

We can avoid the immense suffering

purgatory.
– Daily prayer
– Confession
– Mass and communion
– Penance and Indulgences
– Offering up our daily crosses
– Sacrament of Anointing
– Rosary and other pious practices