The Communion of Saints

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. I believe in the communion of saints. That phrase, in the Apostles Creed, contains a truth so beautiful that I sometimes forget how revolutionary it is. The communion of saints. I am not alone in my faith. I am part of a vast company that crosses time and space and even death. Saint Paul writes in Hebrews, chapter twelve, Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. A great cloud of witnesses. They are watching. The saints in heaven. The souls being purified. They are not detached observers. They are intercessors. They are praying for me right now, even as I pray for them. Tonight I want to acknowledge this great family. I belong to the Church Triumphant. The saints in heaven. The ones whose names we know. Mary, queen of all saints. The apostles, who walked with Jesus. The martyrs, who died for Him. The doctors of the Church, who taught us. The mystics, who saw deeper than the rest of us. The hidden saints, the ones whose holiness was known only to God and a few neighbors. I also belong to the Church Suffering. The souls in Purgatory. The ones being purified for heaven. They are still part of the family. They are still loved. They still need our prayers, and they still pray for us. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord. And let perpetual light shine upon them. I belong to the Church Militant. The believers still on earth. The ones running the race with me. My brothers and sisters in every parish, in every Christian community, in every nation. The ones I will never meet but who are praying right now somewhere on the other side of the world. We are one family. The communion of saints. Tonight I ask the saints to pray for me. By name. The ones who have meant the most in my life. (Pause and name them.) Saint Joseph. Saint Therese. Saint Francis. Saint Padre Pio. Saint Anthony. Saint Catherine. Saint Augustine. Saint Patrick. Saint Mary, Mother of God. Whoever has accompanied me on this journey. Pray for me. I ask the saints I do not know personally but whose intercession I need. Saint Monica, for the conversion of family members. Saint Rita, for impossible cases. Saint Gerard, for expectant mothers. Saint Cecilia, for musicians. Saint Luke, for healers. Whoever is the saint for whatever I need tonight, pray for me. I ask the holy souls in Purgatory to pray for me. The Church teaches that they cannot pray for themselves, but they can pray for us. Pray for me, holy souls. Speed your own purification with the prayers I offer for you. I ask the saints I will never know on earth, the holy people who lived in my own neighborhood, my own family, even my own household, who reached holiness in obscurity. The grandmother whose rosary was worn from use. The neighbor who quietly fed the poor. The teacher who prayed for every student. Pray for me too. And I take my place in this communion. Tonight, I pray for the souls I love who have died. By name in my heart. (Pause and name them.) Have mercy on them, Lord. Bring them, by Your mercy, to the joy of Your presence. I pray for the believers still on earth who need help tonight. The persecuted. The hungry. The dying. The lonely. Add my prayer to the great river of intercession that rises from earth to heaven every moment of every day. The communion of saints is real. The bonds of charity transcend death. We are one Body in Christ. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us. All you holy angels and archangels, pray for us. All you holy patriarchs and prophets, pray for us. All you holy apostles and evangelists, pray for us. All you holy martyrs, pray for us. All you holy bishops and confessors, pray for us. All you holy doctors of the Church, pray for us. All you holy virgins and widows, pray for us. All you holy men and women, pray for us. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.