What is a Saint?

By the end of the 1st century AD Christians had begun to honour other Christians who had died, as well as asking for their intercession. We see evidence of this, especially in the Catacombs around Rome, but in many other places as well.

It is wrong to think, as many do in Scotland, that honoring Saints was something the Church began to do much later on. Giving due honour to the Saints has been part of Christianity from the very beginning and shows its origins in a tradition in the Jewish faith of honoring prophets and holy people with shrines. The first saints were martyrs, people who had given up their lives for the Faith in the face of persecution. Soon the lives of others began to be recognised in this unique way.

Statues, Icons and Holy Pictures

In Scotland, statues, icons and holy pictures of the Saints are not so common because of the Presbyterian nature of Scottish Christianity. But why should we not have such reminders of those who have served the Church so faithfully?

We all have photographs of our loved ones around our homes or places of work, or even carry then around with us and proudly show the to others. And why not? We carry these pictures to remind us of people we love, to help us feel that they are close to us, even when we are not together, or to share our joys about them with others we meet. We would never say that we worshipped them!

It is for similar reasons that we have statues and pictures of the saints. Seeing a statue of Saint Therese of Lisieux who lost her mother when she was a child might make us feel less alone when we are grieving. A picture of Saint Francis of Assisi might remind us of how much he loved God's creation and make us more aware of our environment.

Praying with The Saints

For many of us there are times when we have asked someone to pray for us when life had been difficult. We asked that person because they were someone we could trust, someone who understood our problem, or someone who was close to God. Those are all reasons we ask saints to pray for us in times of trouble. We pray with saints, not to them.

Because the Saints have lived holy lives and are close to God in heaven, we feel that their prayers are particularly effective. Often we ask particular Saints to pray for us if we feel they have a particular interest in our problem. We might ask Saint Monica to pray for us if we have trouble with unanswered prayers, because Monica prayed for twenty years for her son to be converted. Her prayers were answered in a way she never dreamed of . . . her son, Augustine, himself became a Saint and a Doctor of the Church.