Prayer, its necessity - 3

III-ON INVOKING THE SAINTS AND ON PRAYING TO THE SOULS IN PURGATORY

Here a question arises, whether it is necessary to have recourse to the intercession of the Saints to obtain the grace of God.

1. That it is a lawful and useful thing to invoke the Saints, as intercessors, to obtain for us, by the merits of Jesus Christ, that which we, for our demerits, are not worthy to receive, is a Doctrine of the Church, declared by the Council of Trent. "It is good and useful to invoke them by supplication, and to have recourse to their aid and influence to obtain benefits from God through His Son Jesus Christ."

Such invocation was condemned by the impious Calvin, but most foolishly. For if it is lawful and profitable to invoke living Saints to aid us, and to beseech them to assist us in prayers, as the Prophet Baruch did: And pray ye for us to the Lord our God (Baruch i. 13); and St. Paul: Brethren, pray for us (1 Thess. v. 25); and as God Himself commanded the friends of Job to recommend themselves to his prayers, that by the merits of Job He might look favourably on them: Go to my servant Job,... and my servant Job shall pray for you; his face I will accept (Job xlii. 8); if, then, it is lawful for us to recommend ourselves to the living, how can it be unlawful to invoke the Saints who in Heaven enjoy God face to face? This is not derogatory to the honour due to God, but it is doubling it; for it is honouring the King not only in His Person but in His servants. Therefore, says, St. Thomas, it is good to have recourse to many Saints, "because by the prayers of many we can obtain that which we cannot by the prayers of one." And if any one object: But why have recourse to the Saints to pray for us, when they are already praying for all who are worthy of it? The same Doctor answers that no one can be said to be worthy that the Saints should pray for him; but that "he becomes worthy by having recourse to the Saints with devotion."

2. Again, it is disputed whether it is useful to recommend one's self to the Souls in Purgatory. Some say that the Souls in that state cannot pray for us; and these rely on the authority of St. Thomas, who says that those Souls, while they are being purified by pain, are inferior to us, and therefore "are not in a state to pray for us, but rather require our prayers." But many other Doctors, as Bellarmine, Cardinal Gotti, Lessius, and others affirm with great probability that we should piously believe that God manifests our prayers to those Holy Souls, that they may in turn pray for us; and that so the charitable interchange of mutual prayer may be kept up between them and us. Nor do St. Thomas's words present much difficulty; for, as Sylvius and Gotti say, it is one thing not to be in a state to pray, another not to be able to pray. It is true that those Souls are not in a state to pray, because, as St. Thomas says, while suffering they are inferior to us, and rather require our prayers; nevertheless, in this state they are well able to pray, as they are the friends of God. If a father keeps a son whom he tenderly loves in confinement for some fault; if the son then is not in a state to pray for himself, is that any reason why he cannot pray for others? And may he not expect to obtain what he asks, knowing, as he does, his father's affection for him? So the Souls in Purgatory, being beloved by God, and confirmed in grace, have absolutely no impediment to prevent them from praying for us. Still the Church does not invoke them, or implore their intercession, because ordinarily they have no cognisance of our prayers. But we may piously believe that God makes our prayers known to them; and then they, full of charity as they are, most assuredly do not omit to pray for us. St. Catherine of Bologna, whenever she desired any favour, had recourse to the Souls in Purgatory, and was immediately heard. She even testified that by the intercession of the Souls in Purgatory she had obtained many graces which had not been accorded to her by the intercession of the Saints. But here let me make a digression in favour of those Holy Souls.

3. If we desire the aid of their prayers, it is but fair that we should succour them with our prayers and good works. I said it is fair, but I should have said, it is a Christian duty; for Charity obliges us to succour our neighbour when he requires our aid, and we can help him without grave inconvenience. Now it is certain that amongst our neighbours are to be reckoned the Souls in Purgatory, who, although no longer living in this world, yet have not left the Communion of Saints. "The souls of the pious dead," says St. Augustine, "are not separated from the Church," and St. Thomas says more to our purpose that the Charity which is due to the dead who died in the grace of God is only an extension of the same Charity which we owe to our neighbour while living: "Charity, which is the bond that unites the members of the Church, extends not only to the living, but also to the dead who die in Charity." Therefore, we ought to succour, according to our ability, those Holy Souls as our neighbours; and as their necessities are greater than those of our other neighbours, for this reason our duty to succour them seems also to be greater.

But now, what are the necessities of those holy prisoners? It is certain that their pains are immense. The fire that tortures them, says St. Augustine, is more excruciating than any pain that man can endure in this life: "That fire will be more painful than anything that man can suffer in this life." St. Thomas thinks the same, and supposes it to be identical with the fire of hell; " The damned are tormented and the elect purified in the same fire." And this only relates to the pain of sense. But the pain of loss, that is, the privation of the sight of God, which those Holy Souls suffer, is much greater; because not only their natural affection, but also the supernatural love of God, wherewith they burn, draws them with such violence to be united with their Sovereign Good, that when they see the barrier which their sins have put in the way, they feel a pain so acute that, if they were capable of death, they could not live a moment. So that, as St. Chrysostom says, this pain of the deprivation of God tortures them incomparably more than the pain of sense: "The flames of a thousand hells together could not inflict such torments as the pain of loss by itself." So that those Holy Souls would rather suffer every other possible torture than be deprived for a single instant of the union with God for which they long. So St. Thomas says that the pain of Purgatory exceeds anything that can be endured in this life: "The pain of Purgatory must exceed all pain of this life." And Denis the Carthusian relates that a dead person who had been raised to life by the intercession of St. Jerome, told St. Cyril of Jerusalem that all the torments of this earth are refreshing and delightful when compared with the very least pain in Purgatory: "If all the torments of the world were compared with the least that can be had in Purgatory they would appear to be comforts." And he adds that if a man had once felt these torments, he would rather suffer all earthly sorrows that man can endure till the Day of Judgment than suffer for one day the least pain of Purgatory. Hence St. Cyril wrote to St. Augustine: "That as far as regards the infliction of suffering, these pains are the same as those of hell—their only difference being that they are not eternal." Hence we see that the pains of these Holy Souls are excessive, while, on the other hand, they cannot help themselves; because, as Job says: they are in chains, and are bound with the cords of poverty (Job xxxvi. 8). They are destined to reign with Christ; but they are withheld from taking possession of their kingdom till the time of their purgation is accomplished. And they cannot help themselves (at least not sufficiently, even according to those Theologians who assert that they can by their prayers gain some relief) to throw off their chains, until they have entirely satisfied the justice of God. This is precisely what a Cistercian monk said to the sacristan of the monastery: "Help me, I beseech you, with your prayers; for of myself I can obtain nothing." And this is consistent with the saying of St. Bonaventure: "Destitution impedes solvency." That is, those souls are so poor, that they have no means of making satisfaction.