Why Do Orthodox Christians Pray to the Saints?

One of the most common objections I hear from Protestants criticizing Orthodoxy, or even Catholicism, is when they say that “the saints are dead, they can’t hear you.” The saints in heaven are not dead. That is a fundamental rejection of what Christ did during the descent into Hades, He emptied the graves of the righteous dead and pulled everyone into heaven. Christ Himself said in the gospels, God is not the God of the dead, He is the God of the living. For in Christ, all are alive. (Luke 20:38)

The saints who are alive in Christ in heaven partake of the uncreated energies of God, as He shares some of His attributes with us (2 Peter 1:3-4). Therefore, the Saints in Heaven are actively aware of what is going on with us down here on earth in the church and act as a cloud of witnesses for us (Hebrews 12:1-2) This is also evidenced by the fact that St. John was able to hear all living creatures in heaven, on earth, and under the earth. (Revelations 5:13) Because they are aware of us, they very much are still concerned with what goes on with us here on earth and actively cheer us on until the end of days and pray exceedingly for us on our behalf and want vengeance for us even in heaven (Revelations 6:10), and it’s been shown that Rachel wept over her lost children of Benjamin and Judah during King Herod’s massacre of the infants (Matthew 2:18, referencing Jeremiah 31:15). The saints praying for us happens in the Bible (Revelations 5:8, and 8:3-4), and with all of this being put together, the last cherry on top of this is that if all these accounts are true and they are aware of us, they intercede for us on our behalf, and are alive in Christ, then what more shall we doubt? That we can ask the saints in heaven to pray for us, just as the holy apostle James encourages us to pray for one another, and he also says the prayers of a righteous man avails much (James 5:16). This means that some people’s prayers mean more to God than others, which is a fact (Proverbs 15:33). This sentiment that some people’s prayers are worth more than others is reflected many times in the scriptures, but one particular instance is reflected in St. Job, where God tells Eliphaz that him and his two friends are unworthy before Him, and they needed to sacrifice bulls and rams before God and that Job will pray for them and that God will actually answer if Job prays (Job 42:8). Therefore, if that is true, then the saints in heaven, since they have absolutely no sin anymore, have MUCH more valuable prayers than anyone on earth does. Remember what Our Lord said in the gospels that he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than the greatest man on earth (Matthew 11:11). So why wouldn’t we seek out the prayers of those who are defied in heaven if they hold this much power in prayer? We orthodox Christians believe it would be unwise not to ask them.

There are usually two objections that Protestants bring up if they make it this far into the scriptural references that I list above.

Protestant objection 1: It’s usually brought up, “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, – 1Timothy 2:5”. This is not an adequate objection to anything I’ve said. The word mediator here means “bridge,” not intercessor. Christ, being the only mediator between God and man, is due to the fact that Christ is both God and Man. Since He is both God and Man, He alone bridges the gap of salvation between God and man because He is the God-Man. Mediation is not intercession. 1 Tim 2:5 is a soteriological verse. It’s talking about salvation, not prayers and intercession. They’re two completely different things, so this verse is not saying what some Protestants might claim that it says.

Protestant objection 2: “Okay, so maybe the saints are aware of us and pray FOR us, but where does it say that we can pray TO them? Where does it show anybody asking a saint for intercession?” This is easy to show. The parable of the Rich man and Lazarus is where we see this happen (Luke 16:19-31). The whole parable is fascinating, but verses 24, 27, and 30 particularly stand out because the man in Hades is asking not for Jesus or for God the Father, but for Abraham to have mercy on him. This shows that God delegates authority to those who are his saints, and this account by Christ Himself reveals the active communion of these beloved people of God. As the Orthodox Study Bible annotated, “A man who isn’t even a believer calls out from Hades and converses with Abraham.” Souls of the departed have awareness of and concern for the state of those still on earth, but also that the intercession of the wicked man are heard, but avail nothing, which contrasts James 5:16. If this is the case in the Old Covenant, it’s going to be even more the case in the New Covenant.

There are examples of these sorts of things even in the OT as well. A couple of examples of these instances are Tobit 12:15, when St. Raphael the Archangel claims himself as the angel who brings the prayers of the saints to God. This, however, does not imply that the only interaction of the saints who’ve passed on is through prayer to God for us, but in some very rare circumstances by God’s divine permission, saints of Old can directly interact and appear to the faithful. In 2 Maccabees 15:12-16, Onias the High Priest who has been dead for several decades, and the Prophet Jeremiah who’s been dead for centuries, appears to Judas. Onias tells us in verse 14 that Jeremiah is one who loves his brothers and prays fervently for the faithful and the whole city. This is an incredible text that shows the saints were alive before the general resurrection, as also shown on Mt. Tabor when Moses and Elijah were with Christ during his Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-4). In 2 Maccabees 12:45, this sentiment of believers praying for one another is mirrored in the opposite way, too. It displays a long-standing Jewish tradition of praying on behalf of the souls that have departed this life. That’s because intercession goes both ways!

Not only do the saints pray for us, but we also pray for those who’ve reposed as well. There always has been a relationship and connection between the souls on earth and the souls of the spiritual realm. The Church Militant (Christians on earth) and the Church Triumphant (Christians in heaven) are one united church, and we always have been. This is shown that the church triumphant and church militant are not separated entities or churches but are one united church in St. Paul’s letter when he says from “From whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named.” (Ephesians 3:15)

In conclusion, the prayers and the active communion of the saints is not a pagan distortion. It’s not a Roman conspiracy. It is not worshipping the saints. This is a true and very ancient and important practice that all Christians must embrace. We have a family in heaven who cares for us, and we should care for them too. Keep the traditions that have been passed down to us. Through the prayers of the most-pure Mother of God and of our holy fathers, Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on us!

All comments are moderated and must be civil, concise, and constructive to the conversation. Comments that are critical of an article may be approved, but comments containing ad hominem criticism of the author will not be published. Also, comments containing web links or block quotations are unlikely to be approved. Keep in mind that articles represent the opinions of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Patristic Faith or its editor or publisher.
Print

Share:

Tags:

1 thought on “Why Do Orthodox Christians Pray to the Saints?”

  1. Thank you for posting this! This is a helpful explanation of the saintly intercession. I also remember in sacred scripture where Elisha the Tishbite asks Elijah for a double portion of his spirit something only God can grant. This ask would have Elisha condemned in my former Evangelical Churches if it were to happen today.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Subscribe to our newsletter!

Recent