I don’t see in scripture that the Apostles Prayed to OT saints or NT saints that have passed on. Nor did they teach this in scripture. If they also did not teach this Orally. How Can this be a Apostolic teaching ?
The intercession of saints is taught through Sacred Tradition and is one of the dogmas of the Church. In light of this, it is considered apostolic teaching, having been passed down mostly in an oral fashion until being committed to writing in Church documents and catechisms.
There are two notable things which support what I have stated above.
1) The ancient Christians believed that martyrs went straight to heaven (and the Bible describes them being at the throne of God; see Revelation 6:9-11). Consequently, when the martyrs were buried, Christians traditionally carved
ora pro nobis (i.e., “pray for us”) on their tombs. Many of these tombs and carvings still exist, providing historical evidence of the belief in the intercession of the saints in ancient times.
2) The intercession of saints has been historically taught not only by the Catholic Church but also all the various Eastern Orthodox Churches and all the various Oriental Orthodox Churches. These three branches of Christianity encompass all the Christian Churches which grew from the initial
Apostolic Sees.
Consider, for example, this article from the Orthodox Christian Information Center:
On the Intercession and Invocation of the Saints.
As an example of Oriental Orthodox teachings, here is a statement about the beliefs of Coptic Christians:
Copts venerate (not worship) saints and icons, which are images of saints and Christ painted on wood. The Coptic Christian Church teaches that saints act as intercessors for the prayers of the faithful.
(Jack Zavada:
Coptic Christian Beliefs and Practices)
Also consider the following material from the Orthodox Answers website. The question was posed, “Do you pray to the saints? Why do you not pray to God only? Isn’t that idolatry?” If you click
on this link you will notice that the question was answered by an Orthodox Christian in the exact same way that Catholics typically do.
Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians and Oriental Orthodox Christians have debated aspects of theology throughout the centuries. Therefore, something that has been historically taught and agreed upon by all three branches of Christianity can be argued to be apostolic by virtue of that fact alone. To say otherwise is to suggest that the intercession of saints is a man-made doctrine that arose in ancient times in
one of these Churches and somehow quickly spread over three continents to be fully embraced as a valid belief by
all the others. It would be extremely difficult to come up with a credible theory as to how such a thing could have even happened with such astounding efficiency.
Slightly later Church fathers that was not around when the Apostles were around have tended to disagree with each other over things. Can you give me a direct reference from the Apostles disciples. The disciples while the Apostle were alive ?
These specific fathers are known as the
Apostolic Fathers. Some of their writings have been preserved but presumably a lot else has been lost to history. Therefore, we have a surviving written account of what they taught on some subjects, but not all. I am on a road trip at the moment and unfortunately away from my patristics library, and lack the time to comb through online versions of their material to see specifically what they said about the subject at hand. Nevertheless, a good overview of how the intercession of saints developed from apostolic times into being declared a dogma of the Church can be gleaned from this article
The Communion of Saints.
