Our Relationship with the Saints
Our Relationship with the Saints
Whoever reads the Synaxarium sees that we celebrate a vast number of saints… among them angels, prophets, apostles, martyrs, female martyrs, patriarchs, bishops, deacons, virgins, and laypeople, whether celibate or married.
Each day has its saint or saints.
We celebrate the conclusion of their lives so that we may imitate their faith, whether on the days of their departure or their martyrdom.
We may also celebrate the day of the transfer of a saint’s body, or the building of a church in his or her name, or the occurrence of a miracle or wonder with this saint or through him.
And there are few saints whose birthdays we celebrate, or the annunciation of their birth, such as the Virgin Saint Mary, Saint John the Baptist, and Saint Abba Shenouda.
And we see that these saints have not died but are still alive. For our God is “not the God of the dead, but of the living” (Matthew 22:32).
Our bond with the saints is a bond of love, respect, and trust, the bond of children with their fathers, and of disciples with their teachers and guides.
We love them from the depths of our hearts, we address them in prayers, we chant hymns in which we sing of their virtues and their place with God, and we ask for their intercessions and prayers.
And the same applies to the angels.
We celebrate commemorations for them, most of which involve miracles performed by them, or important appearances of theirs on certain occasions, or simply their remembrance, and we recall what was said in the Scripture about them “as some of the heavenly hosts.”
This is the universal Church in its general meaning in eternity.
God, with Him the righteous angels, and all His saints—those who have departed and those who are still on earth and await their joining to the assembly of the righteous.
And the connection between all these does not cease.
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