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Objection 1: It would seem that we ought not to call upon the saints
to pray for us. For no man asks anyone's friends to pray for him,
except in so far as he believes he will more easily find favor with
them. But God is infinitely more merciful than any saint, and
consequently His will is more easily inclined to give us a gracious
hearing, than the will of a saint. Therefore it would seem
unnecessary to make the saints mediators between us and God, that they
may intercede for us.
Objection 2: Further, if we ought to beseech them to pray for us,
this is only because we know their prayer to be acceptable to God.
Now among the saints the holier a man is, the more is his prayer
acceptable to God. Therefore we ought always to bespeak the greater
saints to intercede for us with God, and never the lesser ones.
Objection 3: Further, Christ, even as man, is called the "Holy
of Holies," and, as man, it is competent to Him to pray. Yet we
never call upon Christ to pray for us. Therefore neither should we
ask the other saints to do so.
Objection 4: Further, whenever one person intercedes for another at
the latter's request, he presents his petition to the one with whom he
intercedes for him. Now it is unnecessary to present anything to one
to whom all things are present. Therefore it is unnecessary to make
the saints our intercessors with God.
Objection 5: Further, it is unnecessary to do a thing if, without
doing it, the purpose for which it is done would be achieved in the
same way, or else not achieved at all. Now the saints would pray for
us just the same, or would not pray for us at all, whether we pray to
them or not: for if we be worthy of their prayers, they would pray for
us even though we prayed not to them, while if we be unworthy they pray
not for us even though we ask them to. Therefore it seems altogether
unnecessary to call on them to pray for us.
On the contrary, It is written (Job 5:1): "Call . . . if
there be any that will answer thee, and turn to some of the saints."
Now, as Gregory says (Moral. v, 30) on this passage, "we
call upon God when we beseech Him in humble prayer." Therefore when
we wish to pray God, we should turn to the saints, that they may pray
God for us.
Further, the saints who are in heaven are more acceptable to God than
those who are on the way. Now we should make the saints, who are on
the way, our intercessors with God, after the example of the
Apostle, who said (Rm. 15:30): "I beseech you . . .
brethren, through our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the charity of the
Holy Ghost, that you help me in your prayers for me to God." Much
more, therefore, should we ask the saints who are in heaven to help us
by their prayers to God.
Further, an additional argument is provided by the common custom of
the Church which asks for the prayers of the saints in the Litany.
I answer that, According to Dionysius (Eccl. Hier. v) the
order established by God among things is that "the last should be led
to God by those that are midway between." Wherefore, since the
saints who are in heaven are nearest to God, the order of the Divine
law requires that we, who while we remain in the body are pilgrims from
the Lord, should be brought back to God by the saints who are between
us and Him: and this happens when the Divine goodness pours forth its
effect into us through them. And since our return to God should
correspond to the outflow of His boons upon us, just as the Divine
favors reach us by means of the saints intercession, so should we, by
their means, be brought back to God, that we may receive His favors
again. Hence it is that we make them our intercessors with God, and
our mediators as it were, when we ask them to pray for us.
Reply to Objection 1: It is not on account of any defect in God's
power that He works by means of second causes, but it is for the
perfection of the order of the universe, and the more manifold
outpouring of His goodness on things, through His bestowing on them
not only the goodness which is proper to them, but also the faculty of
causing goodness in others. Even so it is not through any defect in
His mercy, that we need to bespeak His clemency through the prayers
of the saints, but to the end that the aforesaid order in things be
observed.
Reply to Objection 2: Although the greater saints are more
acceptable to God than the lesser, it is sometimes profitable to pray
to the lesser; and this for five reasons. First, because sometimes
one has greater devotion for a lesser saint than for a greater, and the
effect of prayer depends very much on one's devotion. Secondly, in
order to avoid tediousness, for continual attention to one thing makes
a person weary; whereas by praying to different saints, the fervor of
our devotion is aroused anew as it were. Thirdly, because it is
granted to some saints to exercise their patronage in certain special
cases, for instance to Saint Anthony against the fire of hell.
Fourthly, that due honor be given by us to all. Fifthly, because
the prayers of several sometimes obtain that which would not have been
obtained by the prayers of one.
Reply to Objection 3: Prayer is an act, and acts belong to
particular persons [supposita]. Hence, were we to say: "Christ,
pray for us," except we added something, this would seem to refer to
Christ's person, and consequently to agree with the error either of
Nestorius, who distinguished in Christ the person of the son of man
from the person of the Son of God, or of Arius, who asserted that
the person of the Son is less than the Father. Wherefore to avoid
these errors the Church says not: "Christ, pray for us," but
"Christ, hear us," or "have mercy on us."
Reply to Objection 4: As we shall state further on (Article 3)
the saints are said to present our prayers to God, not as though they
notified things unknown to Him, but because they ask God to grant
those prayers a gracious hearing, or because they seek the Divine
truth about them, namely what ought to be done according to His
providence.
Reply to Objection 5: A person is rendered worthy of a saint's
prayers for him by the very fact that in his need he has recourse to him
with pure devotion. Hence it is not unnecessary to pray to the
saints.
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