What is communion of the saints?

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The creed says “I believe in the communion of the saints”.

In the beginning of my missal there are prayers to be said before mass. It says in the missal that the angels and the saints are present.

Is the communion of the saints the communion of catholics praying at mass with the communion of saints and martyrs in heaven?

Is this the reason why Catholic churches have so many saints and angels statues?
 
As Scripture says, we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. The saints in Heaven are always praying for us and interceding for us. We see them in Revelation 5 and 8 taking our prayers to God for us. They are the Church Triumphant, because they are in Heaven with God, and there are those who are in Purgatory who are being purified before entering Heaven, and they are the Church Suffering, and we on earth, who are still working out our salvation in fear and trembling who are the Church Militant.
 
Church_Militant said:
See if this blog article of mine helps. The Intercession & Communion of Saints
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thanks … that is a good article. In the beginning of the missal in the prayer “To Christ before mass” it says
“The martyrs are here, the martyrs of all the ages offering their lives; the apostles are here offering their efforts”
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“All these offerings of Thy brethren Lord Jesus avail only because they are joined to thine”
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The way I’m reading this it says that all of the saints and angels and Mary are present with Jesus inside of catholic churches.

Do catholics really believe this?
 
AmosTown said:
thanks … that is a good article. In the beginning of the missal in the prayer “To Christ before mass” it says

The way I’m reading this it says that all of the saints and angels and Mary are present with Jesus inside of catholic churches.

Do catholics really believe this?
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Not only inside our churches but with us everywhere. The Saints in heaven know about us and see us no matter where we are. They celebrate Christ’s one sacrifice with us, as they share in our daily prayers and offerings. We’re one, big happy family! 😃
 
Della said:
Not only inside our churches but with us everywhere. The Saints in heaven know about us and see us no matter where we are. They celebrate Christ’s one sacrifice with us, as they share in our daily prayers and offerings. We’re one, big happy family! 😃
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Wouldn’t that make them omnipresent? Can they really be with every Catholic everywhere?
 
cguerber said:
Wouldn’t that make them omnipresent? Can they really be with every Catholic everywhere?
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We have to remember that they are no longer living within the constraint of time and space. Besides this, it is by the power of the Holy Spirit that they are with us. Now that they are with God, they’re no longer limited, as we are by our fleshly, finite life. They can, again only by the power of the Holy Spirit, be with us and aid us according to God’s will for us.
 
cguerber said:
Wouldn’t that make them omnipresent? Can they really be with every Catholic everywhere?
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Hmmm. you got me on that one. The way I’m interpreting it is that the communion of saints are those christians saved through Christ and with Jesus in heaven.

All the creeds of the christian faith say “I believe in the communion of the saints” so this question has a lot to do with early christian beliefs and how we understand them today.

I’m studying catholicism and what I see is the church of the martyrs and the catacomb christians.

Here is the whole prayer in the beginning of the catholic missal that catholics say when they go into a catholic church.
to Christ before mass
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Thou art here Lord Jesus. Thou art going to offer Thy sacrifice Thy joys, Thy sufferings, Thy work, Thy passion, and Thy death. Thou art here Lord, with all Thy Church and its offerings. Our Lady is here, presenting the burning love of her young mother’s heart. The martyrs are here, the martyrs of all the ages, offering their lives; the apostles are here offering their efforts; and all Christians offering their joys and sufferings.
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The little ones are here offering Thee simply their first love, and the lads who have just begun to work offering Thee their pride in their labors; engaged couples offering their promises, young husbands and wives offering their love; the mother presents her cradle, the worker his labor, the old man his loneliness, and the dying their lives. An all these offerings of Thy brethren, Lord Jesus, avail only because they are joined to Thine.
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And I bring my efforts, my sacrifices, my joys and my sufferings, my entire life since my last Mass, and I bring too, those of the souls with which Thou hast charged me and who are not present. And in order to feel closer to Thee and to all my brethren, in order to increase our mutual love, I am going to receive Thee Jesus.
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I am going to receive Thee into a heart which is not humble, but which Thou shalt render as humble as Thyself, into a heart that is hardly pure and which Thou shalt make as pure as Thine; into a heart which is cowardly and which Thou shalt make as brave as Thine; into a heart attached to sin, which Thou shalt purify; into a selfish heart which Thou shalt render loving.
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That our love may be greater between my brethren and me … and Thee especially, come Lord Jesus come.
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This prayer seems to be an explanation of the “I believe in the communion of saints” belief in the apostles creed.
 
To quote Patrick Madrid on the communion of Saints.
" Any friend of God’s is a friend of mine"
 
AmosTown said:
This prayer seems to be an explanation of the “I believe in the communion of saints” belief in the apostles creed.
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Amen brother.

To Bible Christian. Its sort of like Mathew 6. We are all making little offerings to The Father through Jesus, as He wishes, in secret and in communion with each other and for each other and for the conversion of sinners. As a result, He, through the Holy Spirit, applies graces & mercies as He sees fit.
 
Ed_Silvia said:
Amen brother.

To Bible Christian. Its sort of like Mathew 6. We are all making little offerings to The Father through Jesus, as He wishes, in secret and in communion with each other and for each other and for the conversion of sinners. As a result, He, through the Holy Spirit, applies graces & mercies as He sees fit.
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Thank you Ed. Catholicism just keeps making more and more sense!
 
AmosTown said:
The creed says “I believe in the communion of the saints”.

In the beginning of my missal there are prayers to be said before mass. It says in the missal that the angels and the saints are present.

Is the communion of the saints the communion of catholics praying at mass with the communion of saints and martyrs in heaven?

Is this the reason why Catholic churches have so many saints and angels statues?
Click to expand...
[ - YouTube](http:// - YouTube)
 
cguerber said:
Wouldn’t that make them omnipresent? Can they really be with every Catholic everywhere?
Click to expand...
They are outside time, and if God wants to allow them to hear our prayers, and gives them the power to do so, then they can hear our prayers and witness our fight to be saints. This doesn’t make them omnipresent as they are limited to the power given them by God. They are not doing it through their own power.

Also, being able to see/hear many events isn’t omnipresence. Only God is omnipresent, and that means that He is PRESENT at all moments. That means His suffering on the cross is always present to Him. He experiences all time all at once. All of time is present to Him all at once.
 
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