Editing Intercession of saints (section)

== Catholic view ==
[[File:Plaguet03.jpg|thumb|[[Saint Sebastian]] pleads with [[Jesus]] (at top left) for the life of a [[gravedigger]] afflicted by plague during the [[Plague of Justinian]]. ([[Josse Lieferinxe]], c. 1497–1499)]]
[[Catholic Church|Catholic]] doctrine supports intercessory prayer to saints. This practice is an application of the doctrine of the [[Communion of saints]]. Some of the early basis for this was the belief that [[Christian martyr|martyrs]] passed immediately into the presence of God and could obtain graces and blessings for others, which naturally and immediately led to their direct invocation. A further reinforcement was derived from the cult of the angels which, while pre-Christian in its origin, was heartily embraced by the faithful of the sub-Apostolic age.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15459a.htm|title=Catholic Encyclopedia: Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary|work=newadvent.org}}</ref>

[[Gregory of Nazianzus]] said of his deceased father: "I am well assured that his intercession is of more avail now than was his instruction in former days, since he is closer to God, now that he has shaken off his bodily fetters, and freed his mind from the clay which obscured it";<ref>{{Cite web |title=CHURCH FATHERS: Oration 18 (Gregory Nazianzen) |url=https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/310218.htm |access-date=2023-04-27 |website=www.newadvent.org}}</ref> and [[Jerome]] wrote: "If the Apostles and Martyrs, while still in the body, can pray for others, at a time when they must still be anxious for themselves, how much more after their crowns, victories, and triumphs are won! One man, Moses, obtains from God pardon for six hundred thousand men in arms; and Stephen, the imitator of the Lord, and the first martyr in Christ, begs forgiveness for his persecutors; and shall their power be less after having begun to be with Christ?"<ref name=scannell>{{cite web|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08070a.htm|title=Catholic Encyclopedia: Intercession|work=newadvent.org}}</ref>

The doctrine of intercession and invocation was set forth by the [[Council of Trent]], which teaches that "... the saints who reign together with Christ offer up their own prayers to God for men. It is good and useful suppliantly to invoke them, and to have recourse to their prayers, aid, and help for obtaining benefits from God, through His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, Who alone is our Redeemer and Saviour".<ref name=scannell />

Intercessory prayer to saintly persons who have not yet been [[Beatification|beatified]] can also practiced by individuals, and evidence of miracles produced as a result of such prayer is very commonly produced during the formal process of [[beatification]] and [[canonization]].

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

{{blockquote|956 The intercession of the saints. "Being more closely united to Christ, those who dwell in heaven fix the whole Church more firmly in holiness. ...They do not cease to intercede with the Father for us, as they proffer the merits which they acquired on earth through the one mediator between God and men, Christ Jesus. ...So by their fraternal concern is our weakness greatly helped."<ref>{{cite book |title=Catechism of the Catholic Church – The Communion of Saints |url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p123a9p5.htm |access-date=24 November 2018}}</ref>|title=Catechism of the Catholic Church – The Communion of Saints}}

Some Catholic scholars have assessed invocation and [[Intercession#Theological perspective|intercession of the saints]] with a critical view toward the medieval tendencies of imagining the saints in heaven distributing favors to whom they will and instead seeing in proper devotion to the saints a means of response to God's activity in us through these creative models of Christ-likeness.<ref>Patricia A. Sullivan. "A Reinterpretation of Invocation and Intercession of the Saints." ''Theological Studies'' ''66,'' no.2 (2005): 381–400.  https://theologicalstudies.net/2005-all-volumes-and-table-of-contents/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210812032243/https://theologicalstudies.net/2005-all-volumes-and-table-of-contents/ |date=2021-08-12 }}.</ref>

In ecumenical conversations, agreement has been reached that "asking the saints to intercede for us expresses the solidarity of the church wherein all are meant to be of mutual support to one another. Analogous to what is done among living persons, the request directed toward a saint to pray for us is a precise expression of solidarity in Jesus Christ, through the ages and across various modes of human existence".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fiorenza |first=Francis Schüssler |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vkXV2MZYLrYC&pg=PA447 |title=Systematic Theology: Roman Catholic Perspectives |date=2011 |publisher=Fortress Press |isbn=978-1-4514-0792-1 |pages=447 |language=en}}</ref>

Intercessory prayer to saints also plays an important role in the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox  churches such as the [[Coptic Orthodox Church]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=On Intercessions {{!}} Coptic Orthodox Diocese of Los Angeles |url=https://www.lacopts.org/orthodoxy/our-faith/the-saints/on-intercessions/ |access-date=2023-04-27 |website=www.lacopts.org}}</ref> In addition, some [[Anglo-Catholics]] believe in the intercession of the saints.