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 BELIEVE IN...the Communion of Saints,..."
 Yes,
I do. I rely on their assistance for many things every day.
What is the Communion of Saints? Who are these creatures?
They are so many witnesses in a great
cloud on every side of us...the millions of angels have
gathered for the festival...the spirits of the saints who
have been made perfect.[1]
Wow! That is a comprehensive list! It includes all the
angels who chose to be faithful to God, and all the people
who have gone before us marked with the sign of faith.
Together they number more than the stars in the sky, more
than the grains of sand on the sea shore; just as God
promised to Abraham!
Angels
Jesus
assured us that our angels are constantly in the presence of
our Father in heaven. They are always praying and
interceding for us: they pray with us whenever we pray; they
defend us in our battles against Satan; they help us in our
everyday lives and protect us in danger; they do God's will
perfectly because they cannot sin.
We
can pray to our guardian angel. I pray to mine every morning
using this prayer:
Angel of God, my guardian dear,
To whom God's love commits me here,
Ever this day be at my side
To light and guard, to rule and guide.
From sinful stain O keep me free,
And in this sorrow my helper be.
Perhaps
you have children or grandchildren for whom you are
concerned. Here is a prayer which you can pray on their
behalf.
Holy angels, guardians of my (grand)children, you know that I can no longer guide, guard or direct my (grand)children as when they were younger. I entrust them to your care. I beg you with the heart of a (grand)mother/father: protect my (grand)children today in body and soul. Strengthen their will that they may avoid evil. You see the face of the Heavenly Father: ask Him to lead my (grand)children along life's way to goodness so that someday, together with you, we may sing His praises. Amen.
What
more can we ask of our Heavenly Father than to send his holy
angels to guide and protect us and our offspring every
day?
Saints
The
saints in heaven, including those still in purgatory, also
intercede on our behalf for our requests and needs. They are the
porters of special graces. Many hundreds of that cloud of
witnesses have been publicly recognized by the Church down
through the ages through beatification and canonization.
Some of them are patrons of particular causes and we are
encouraged to invoke their assistance whenever we need
it.
For
example, the Church encourages us to ask St Joseph for help
in everything to do with home and family such as groceries
and house repairs. He can also help us to teach our
children; after all, he taught Jesus, didn't he? He is very
good at helping fathers to be good fathers. Joseph's special
skill was carpentry; thus he has a special role helping
carpenters. (I have heard that he is also pretty good at
auto-mechanics!) Likewise, Mary, his spouse, (the Mother of
God) can help mothers to be good mothers.
Here is a true story about St Joseph.
My
friend Erin (now in the Seminary) lived with the Community
of the Beatitudes in Beauceville, Québec for two
years. That Community depends totally on providence for
their survival and several times each week a large box of
food arrives on their doorstep. Another friend, Jean-Pierre
(also in the Seminary), went to visit Erin and the
Community. Erin was the cook for the Community at that time
and he invoked St Joseph every day.
On
one occasion, there was no meat for the twenty-five people
who lived in the house. Jean-Pierre offered to go to the
store to buy some, but Erin would not allow him to go. He
said, "Trust God; I have asked Saint Joseph and he will
provide." At noon hour there was still no meat and
Jean-Pierre was quite concerned. But Erin was unperturbed;
in mid-afternoon he warmed up the oven in anticipation of
cooking a roast because he had asked for one. Shortly
thereafter the door bell rang. Jean-Pierre answered the door
but no one was there; he found only a box with some roasts
of beef in it!
Other
saints have special ministries. St Anthony is often invoked
to help us find things which are lost. St Jude is the patron
of hopeless cases. Our Community musicians regularly ask St
Cecilia for her assistance when they practise and before
leading the music at Mass or at our prayer meetings. It
makes a big difference.
St
Monica, the mother of St Augustine, is the patron saint of
lost Catholics. While I was living in Sudbury, I shared a
house with several other Christian men (Erin from the above
story plus some lost Catholics). I asked St Monica to be our
patroness and I prayed to her every day to bring back those
who had abandoned our faith. Two of the men who lived there
did come back as did one woman who was a frequent visitor!
Praise God!
God cares for us
The
stories of angels and saints active in my life and the lives
of my family and friends are countless. All of them serve to
encourage us in our daily walk and draw us closer to the
heart of God and to the heart of Jesus. These stories help
our faith to grow, and each one is a demonstration of God's
love and care for us. He has carved us on the palm of his
hand; he will not forget us.
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