Pews
A:
"As for us, we have this large crowd of witnesses around us."
-- Hebrews 12:1
Forbid it Lord, that we should die of loneliness. Recall us boldly to our truest senses. We are in the midst of unseen intercessors; the angelic wings waft our failing spirits upward. Centuries, nay millennia of heroic souls accompany us -- aeons old guardians lift our hands to pray.
Ours is the cross, the sky ... with us pray the Faithful of all ages.
The mightiest flights of angels look down upon us and Archangel Michael
rallies them to our constant defense.
Our prayers are carried unto the Lord as incense by these angels sent
to defend the Church. Those awaiting us in Paradise are also one
with us in our worship. They are with Christ and we are with Christ - -
nothing can separate us. I've always loved what the late Bishop of
Pittsburgh, Austin Pardue had to teach in this matter:
(Note: As they Really Are, and The Communion of Saints are
excerpted from the Rt. Rev. Austin Pardue's book, He Lives, published
in 1946 by Revell.)
The physical or temporary body is used as an instrument by the real or
spiritual body for the purpose of giving outward expression in a passing
material world. It is to the spirit what a fountain pen is to the mind.
Suppose that you have an idea you want to express via your pen. Should
the pen break or become lost, does that mean that you no longer have a
mind, feelings, love, and character? Certainly they are not lost just
because you lost your fountain pen. If you lose your pen, you get a
pencil, or a typewriter, or a Dictaphone, or you communicate by word of
mouth, or by prayer. The loss of a pen does not silence you forever any
more than the loss of a physical body can stop you from living.
In enjoying fellowship with the dead, or, as the Prayer Book puts it,
when we "rejoice in their fellowship," we must not think in terms of
flesh and bones. You can never see the real "me" as long as you look at
me with your physical eyes. You can see my hands, my feet, and my body,
you can even see my eyes, through which I look out upon the physical
world; but you cannot see the real me which is my soul, my character, my
sins, my virtues, and my hopes. Yet, what am I but the sum total of the
component parts of my spiritual body which is invisible and
indestructible?
It is also important to remember that the great majority of the members
of the whole church, those who have passed on in particular, are not yet
perfected "in Him." They are saints in the making; they are in the
process of arriving at the state of true perfection. Undoubtedly, the
great bulk of the whole Church belongs in that intermediate state known
as Paradise, or the Church Expectant. It is in that state that the
constant process of education is being carried on whereby the soul
learns to overcome selfishness an sin. There, souls are given every
possible opportunity to develop and build themselves into Christlike men
and women. It is in this process of development, both for us here and
for them over there, that we are part of a network of prayer linking
each to the other through Jesus Christ our Lord. We do not believe in
the abuse of the Medieval Church that "by saying so many masses" souls
will be catapulted out of [a semi-] hell into a higher realm. We do
believe that our prayers for those who have passed on, and their prayers
for us, through Christ, are of great benefit each to the other.
This matter of "praying to the saints" is one that we ought to have
straightened out in our minds. Certainly it is a superstitious practice
to pray to a saint in the sense that he is a minor God and that we are
seeking his supernatural assistance. No such concept is held in the
traditional faith. We should merely talk to a saint in prayer as to a
friend and ask him to think of us when he says his prayers. Time and
again people ask me if I will not remember some person who is sick, and
naturally I am delighted with the privilege. So also, the people who
are in the realm of the Church Expectant or Triumphant can be asked if
they will not kindly do the same in their prayers. After all, they have
great experience and growth and understanding and why not enlist their
friendship and assistance. This is a very ancient practice and it seems
to me, one that is extremely normal and reasonable. Naturally, when a
saint is looked upon as a magical device it is a terrible abuse, and it
is against such practices that Protestantism rightly rebels. Again,
rebellion should be practiced in the sense of reform rather than
complete revolution. In the Eastern Church, all good and holy people
are thought of as being able to assist us through their prayers and
surely that is a wise and sensible approach. Why shouldn't I frequently
remember my dearest friends who have passed on and enlist their
assistance from time to time? Surely their interest in me would be
sufficient to give me the best of their time, attention, and prayer life
at certain periods when I am particularly in need. Thus, we can see
that in the doctrine of the Communion of Saints there is a vast and rich
reservoir of spiritual energy . An opportunity for our participation in
it is one of the greatest privileges offered to mankind.
The idea of mutual prayer, within the fellowship of the saints, has
ample evidence from the very earliest days of Christianity. St.
Cyprian, the martyr-bishop of Carthage, who was born in the century
after St. John's death (A.D. 200), made an agreement with his friend
Cornelius that whichever of them died first should remember the one who
remained behind, "Let us mutually be mindful of each other . . . on
both sides, let us always pray for each other. Let us relieve our
affections and distresses by a reciprocity of love, and whichever of us
goes hence before the other by the speed of divine favor, let our
affections continue before the Lord."
A contemporary of St. Cyprian, named Origen, one of the greatest of all
Christian scholars, says, "All the souls who have departed this life,
still retaining their love for those who are in the world, concern
themselves for their salvation and aid them by their prayers and
meditation with God . . . . It is my opinion that all these fathers who
have fallen asleep before us, fight on our side, and aid us by their
prayers." The early fathers of the Church were unanimous in their
references to this inter-communion between all of the Saints in the
great Universal Church.
B: "All the world is a stage and those upon it actors." (adaptation of William Shakespeare)
Have I chosen the role and written the script and all that, ignoring the Director? Yes Lord, there is my sin, there my folly, and there my suffering.
Please Lord: You've provided the stage for this life and that I could
not change -- nor the audience, kind and unkind. But the climax surely
nears, the resolution, comic or tragic must be had. I remove my masks
by Your kind grace, I would play that final scene as myself -- acting
boldly or humbly
Your script at last, and till the last kneeling as the would-be hero seeking his Director! Amen
C: The Children of the Soul (adapted from Origen)
Let them be beautiful with the fragrances of Heaven's flowers, brilliant in the paradisiacal colors of infinite graces, these children of our souls. Oh mind, you must love this blood-bought soul, and in her depths sire ideas and ideals that aspire to Heaven and Home. Oh think of your wondrous and solemn responsibilities, our minds ... our souls: Father of spirits, hear our prayer. Make our minds fertile with goodness and sacred studies that our soul's constant offspring shall be at once humble, holy, and heroic in Christ our Lord ... Forbid it Lord that rebellious seed be birthed by our souls the souls You died to redeem ... Forbid it, we plead. Amen
D:
Oh dearest Christ my Lord, my Creator, we are compatible as are minds to minds only because of Your Image in us. You are somehow our redeemed Image at Your Father's right hand in Your ascended glory,