The faith of our fathers - Carmel Apologetics

INVOCATION OF SAINTS. 193though God commanded them to invoke Job s intercession. Then the Jews exiled in Babylon werewrong in asking their brethren in Jerusalem to prayfor them ;then St. Paul was wrong in beseechinghis friends to pray for him then we are all;wrongin praying for each other. You deem it useful andpious to ask your pastor to pray for you. Is it not,atleast, equally useful for me to invoke the prayersof St. Paul, since I am convinced that he can hearme?God forbid that our supplications to our Fatherin heaven should diminish in proportion as ourprayers to the saints are increased; for, after all,we must remember that, while the Church declaresit to be necessary for salvation to pray to God, she"merely asserts that it isgood and useful to invokethe saints."lTo ask the prayers of the saints, far from beinguseless, is most profitable. By invoking their intercession, instead of one we have many praying forus. To our own tepid petitions we unite the ferventsupplications of the blessed; and "the Lord willhear the prayers of the just."*To the petitions ofus, poor pilgrims in this vale of tears, are unitedthose of the citizens of heaven. We ask them topray to their God and to our God to their;Fatherand to our Father, that we may one day share theii1 Council of Trent, Sees. xxv.* Prov. xv. 20.17 N