Citizenship With the Saints

Extract

The Communion of Saints is an article of faith recalled daily in the Creed, and its acceptance is implied in most common acts of religion, prayers to the saints in Heaven, prayers for the souls in Purgatory, prayers for one another. These practical and frequent applications of this article of faith, however, seldom seem to rouse curiosity as to the implication of the belief itself. Yet its importance in the ordinary things of Christian life gives meaning, for instance, to the feast of All Saints. The latter is more than a makeweight feast for all the saints who cannot otherwise be fitted into the calendar. It is, in a sense, our own feast; it is a reminder of the capabilities for grace which we all possess; it is a counsel to see more profound possibilities in the familiar sides of our daily life.

The principle of the doctrine of the Communion of Saints is enunciated in the Catechism of the Council of Trent: ‘Every pious and holy action done by one belongs and is profitable to all through charity which seeketh not her own.’