On the Petitioning of the Saints, and their Intercessions
Prayers to the Saints according to Holy Orthodoxy
Introduction
One of the main doctrinal issues for those from the “Non-Apostolic” traditions is that of “Prayer” to the Saints. In this article, I will not only explain this doctrine in a way that is not normally done in “Pop” apologetics, but also show that it is not as scandalous to the already held ideas of Christianity once terms are properly defined and metaphysics explained. Keep in mind that this article is NOT to convince anyone of the doctrine, but to explain Orthodox teaching so that future conversations on this matter are more fruitful.
Defining the Doctrine
Now, why, you may ask, did I put the word “Prayer” in quotations? That is because calling the doctrine “Prayer to the saints” now is a misnomer.
mis·no·mer, noun, “a wrong or unsuitable name”- Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary
This is not to say that “Prayers to the Saints” is heretical when properly understood, but in today’s modern English, it is a misleading term that does not properly represent the doctrine. This wasn’t always the case; in ancient English, the verb “to pray” simply meant “to ask” or “to petition” someone for something.
Pray, “to ask earnestly”, - Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary
Examples:
“I’ll bear your logs the while. Pray, give me that.” (Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act III, Scene i)
“And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways…” (Genesis 19:2 KJV)
“Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.” (2 Corinthians 5:20 KJV)
The issue this can cause in the modern context is that the verb “To pray” is almost exclusively used to refer to communication with the Divine or God and as a form of worship. So, in modern language, to say that anyone “prays” to anyone who isn’t God is automatically handwaved away as blatant idolatry, often with no intention of understanding what is actually believed or claimed.
It is therefore wise that the alternative term, “Intercession of the Saints” be used especially in conversations with those who don’t properly understand the doctrine, and it is how I will name it for the rest of the article. Once more, I feel it must be stressed that I’m not saying that it is heretical or wrong to call it “prayer” but that it is a misnomer in the modern context.
So to define it, “Intercession/Petition of the Saints” is simply that we on earth ask the Saints in heaven to intercede for us before Christ.
But that raises the question… what does that mean in practice?
Explanation and Attestation
I believe the most concise explanations of this doctrine come from the venerable Saint Paisios of Athos when answering questions from a young man with Protestant leanings, published in O Hosios Gregorios (Holy Monastery of Gregoriou, Mount Athos, 1995).
Question: The Lord taught us to pray to God the Father. The Orthodox Church prays to the Theotokos and the Saints who are people. Is this correct?
Answer: Listen. All prayers go to God. We pray to the Virgin Mary and the Saints, that is, we ask that they pray to the Lord for us. And their prayers have great power….
Now, here it is odd to hear him say that, “All prayers go to God…” but then right after he says, “We pray to the Virgin Mary and the Saints…” he explains it with the answer to the next question:
Question: Yes, but (I interrupted) the Virgin Mary and the Saints were people and they died. They do not hear us, nor are they present everywhere. Perhaps God is angered over the fact that we pray to them?
Answer: My child, to God no one dies. When someone dies, they die to us who are left here on earth. They do not die to God. And if that person has boldness before God, they learn from Christ that we are asking them to pray for us, and so they pray for us, and Christ hears and rejoices. The prayer of the righteous has great power.
Above, we see Saint Paisios say that the Saints in heaven are aware of our petitions because Christ makes them known to them. This same idea is also found in 1st Century Jewish thought, written by Philo of Alexandria, a contemporary of Saint Paul and Jesus Christ:
“In the second place, the holiness of all the founders of the nation, because they, with souls emancipated from the body, exhibiting a genuine and sincere obedience to the Ruler of all things, are not accustomed to offer up ineffectual prayers on behalf of their sons and daughters, since the Father has given to them, as a reward, that they shall be heard in their prayers.” (On Rewards and Punishment, Chapter 9)
Here we see the same idea, that prayers of the righteous, even after death, are by their participation in the life of God, effective through God’s own activity and not as a parallel or independent power or ability. This is a single unified act in Christ, our only mediator to the father.
Now, how does this work?
The first thing that must be understood is that Orthodox theology is not made up of independent propositions but instead is a holistic system where to understand one doctrine in depth, one must already have a basic understanding of the underlying metaphysical/traditional framework, in this case, and for most, the Energy-Essence Distinction (EED) is crucial.
Now, that is not to say that the average Layperson needs to have a thorough understanding of philosophy, but such understanding is necessary when examining how specific doctrines work at the metaphysical level.
Energy-Essence Distinction
For the purposes of this article, I will do a basic overview of EED. The idea is simple: God’s essence is distinct from his Actions/Operations. Though we cannot participate in his essence, we can participate in his Energies (Actions/Operations). His Energies, being God as He manifests Himself, are not created or separate from Him.
Union with God is real, all without collapsing the Creator-creature distinction. In the context of the intercession of the saints, it is through grace, that is, through participation in the divine energies, that the Saints are alive in Him, participating in His knowledge, love, and activity.
When the saints intercede, they do so not by some independent power, but by participation in God’s own energies. Their intercession is a manifestation of God’s own activity working through them. In this way, the communion of saints is not a parallel system alongside God, or Idolatry, but actually the extension of His divine life and action within His Body, the Church.
Doctrine in Practice
One of the best ways to learn about any orthodox doctrine is by going to a Sunday liturgy and seeing for yourself. Because, again, Orthodoxy is holistic, and basically every point of Dogma is either explicitly mentioned or practiced in the liturgy. Here are examples of our intercessory prayers during worship:
“Through the intercessions of the Theotokos, Savior, save us.” (The Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom)
“Forgive all our voluntary and involuntary transgressions, sanctify our souls and bodies, and grant that we may worship You in holiness all the days of our lives, through the intercessions of the holy Theotokos and of all the saints who have pleased You throughout the ages.” (The Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom)
“Wash away, Lord, by Your Holy Blood, the sins of Your servants here remembered through the intercessions of the Theotokos and all Your saints. Amen.” (The Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom)
“It showed us the height of humility. But while instructing us by your words, Father John Chrysostom, intercede with the Word, Christ, our God, that our souls be saved.” (The Apolytikion for St. John Chrysostom)
Deacon: Commemorating our most-holy, pure, blessed, and glorious Lady, the Theotokos and every-virgin Mary; the holy, blessed and glorious prophet and forerunner, John the Baptist; Stephen the first deacon and martyr; Moses, Aaron, Elijah, Elisha, Samuel, David, Daniel and all the prophets; and all the saints and righteous, that by their prayers and intercessions we may all receive mercy. (The Divine Liturgy of Saint James, the Brother of Christ)
Notice that not once is our attention taken away from Christ, but the Saints are invoked in a prayer that is entirely directed to God. Let’s visualize it with a Flow chart using the liturgy, the parentheses are mine:
Help us, save us, have mercy on us, and protect us, O God, by Your grace.
(Prayer is to God)↓
Deacon: Commemorating our most holy, pure, blessed, and glorious Lady, the Theotokos and ever-virgin Mary, with all the saints, let us commend ourselves and one another and our whole life to Christ our God.
(Saints are invoked but not as the final hearer of the Prayer)↓
People: To You, O Lord.
(The direction of the Prayer is confirmed, to Christ the entire time)
It is no more of a distraction from God than if one were to think of another while praying for them, but instead of praying for them, through Christ, we ask for their prayers for us.
This also solves the “how do the Saints hear us?” issue. Once it’s understood that Christ makes known to them our requests, short of saying that Christ does not have the power, it’s no different from asking anyone among you for prayer.
But why do it?
The importance of intercessory prayer to God
The following are examples from scripture showing not only times where God made intercession mandatory, but that he ordains that his gifts are often given through the prayers of others.
First, we see God command the friends of Job to bring a burnt offering to Job and ask him to pray for God’s forgiveness:
“Now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly… and the LORD accepted Job’s prayer. And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.” (Job 42:8-10)
Next, we see a situation where forgiveness is granted only insofar as they follow a certain order established by God: Restoration → prophetic intercession → divine mercy, but if the first step is not completed, then there is no prayer, and therefore they will die. This reflects what later became formalized in penance, which are concrete acts tied to reconciliation:
“And God said to him in a dream, “Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart. For I also withheld you from sinning against Me; therefore, I did not let you touch her. Now therefore, restore the man’s wife; for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you shall live. But if you do not restore her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours.” (Genesis 20:6-7)
And the last example we will use shows the people asking for intercessory prayer, and Samuel the Prophet has the impression that if he ceases to pray for them, then he would be sinning against God:
“And all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to the LORD your God, that we may not die; for we have added to all our sins the evil of asking a king for ourselves…Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you; but I will teach you the good and the right way.” (1 Samuel 12: 19,23)
In each of these cases, God does not act in isolation, but through righteous persons. Grace comes from God but is given through the prayer of another. Are we to say that God changed so that intercession is not necessary anymore? Of course not, we still see this commanded in the New Testament.
“I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions… be made for all people.” (1 Timothy 2:1)
“Pray for one another… The prayer of a righteous person has great power.” (James 5:16)
“Strive together with me in your prayers to God for me.” (Romans 15:30)
Now, if prayer, as we see, is commanded, powerful, universal, and rooted in an unchanging Christ, then why would it stop after death?
This doctrine is based on a fundamental point: Scripture presents the Body of Christ as a single, unified body, not divided after death. Hebrews 11 even says, “…that they should not be made perfect apart from us.” Thus, the Body of Christ consists of both on earth and in Heaven, united in Christ.
Conclusion - We all do it anyway
Now, to conclude, the doctrine is in principle no different than asking anyone you know to pray for you. The difference is that if it is true that “…The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much,” then why don’t we ask those who are the most righteous and in the presence of the Lord?
“Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” (James 5:16)
If worship (Revelation 7:9-15), prayer (Revelation 5:8), communion (Hebrews 12), knowledge of Earth (Luke 15:7), all continue after death, then intercession, being an expression of that same love and communion, would not cease, but instead is made perfect. Therefore, to ask the Saints for intercession is not to go around or bypass Christ, but to participate fully in His Body, where all prayer is to God. Offered to the Father, through the Son and in the Holy Spirit.