“Oh when the saints go marching in Oh when the saints go marching in How I want to be in that number When the saints go marching in”
Most of you are probably familiar with the popular jazz song When the Saints go Marching In. It expresses a desire to be part of that sacred ‘number’ that is in intimate communion with God in the glory of heaven. Although this song has a sense of the church as militant and it conveys a sense of exclusivity, it defines an important aspect of the church’s teaching on “The Communion of Saints”–that of relationship–relationship with the Divine and relationship with one another.
The human being, by nature of being holy and beloved, desires to be in communion with God. However, that bond of relationship extends outward into community, because God created the human person to live in community. The Church defines the communion of saints as a dynamic bond between those in heaven, those on earth, and those awaiting heaven. It includes both those Saints that are named, beatified and canonized, as well as those every-day saints that live a holy life by word and example.
The Church defines the communion of saints as a dynamic bond between those in heaven, those on earth, and those awaiting heaven.
It is a bond between all holy people, chosen, beloved and called to holiness. It is that bond with all people of all time that influences and encourages the practice of praying to the Saints, remembering their example and asking them to join their prayers with ours as one prayer to the Father, through the Son
The practice of praying to the Saints began in the early church, when communities desired to remember the sacrifice of martyrs and other holy people both to keep their memory alive and to pass on their zeal and gifts of faith. Although there have been abuses and misunderstandings of why and how we pray to the Saints, the focus is still clear–it unites us as the Body of Christ and keeps alive the witness of the faith throughout the centuries. The communion of saints is the people of God, marching on earth and in heaven as part of a sacred ‘number.’
“In salvation history, the Lord saved one people. We are never completely ourselves unless we belong to a people. That is why no one is saved alone, as an isolated individual. Rather, God draws us to himself, taking into account the complex fabric of interpersonal relationships present in the human community. God wanted to enter into the life and history of a people.”
