In his writings, Saint Paul frequently refers to the fundamental event of his life when he was traveling toward Damascus. A sudden light from heaven shone about him, and he heard a voice asking, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’ When Paul asked who was speaking, the voice replied, ‘I am Jesus whom you persecute,’ revealing from this first encounter that Jesus is personally and intimately united to the disciples Paul was harassing. This profound unity among Christians, stemming from their union with Christ as their Head, later became the central doctrine of the Mystical Body of Christ in Paul’s preaching. He taught that if one part suffers, all the rest suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the rest find pleasure in it. This unbreakable faith in the union of the faithful led the Apostle to ask for prayers from the Christians in Rome—whom he did not yet know personally—so that he might be delivered from unbelievers in Judaea. Furthermore, he always addressed his brothers in the faith as ‘saints,’ as seen in his letter to the Philippians.
From the earliest times of the Church, Christians have professed belief in the Communion of Saints as a principal truth of the Apostles’ Creed. This doctrine does not refer to sharing worldly benefits of a material, cultural, or artistic nature, but rather a community of imperishable spiritual possessions from which everyone benefits. By offering Our Lord our work, prayer, joy, and difficulties, we can do immense good for people who are far away from us and for the entire Church. Saint Josemaría Escrivá encouraged Christians to live this communion so that in moments of interior struggle or daily professional work, they would feel the joy and strength of not being alone. Similarly, Saint Teresa of Avila, recognizing the destruction caused by Protestant errors, emphasized this mutual support by stating that those who serve God must stand back to back to make any progress. This active solidarity has been practiced throughout Church history by figures such as Saint Ignatius of Antioch, Saint Cyprian, and Saint Ambrose.
In practice, the Communion of Saints means that everyone united in Christ—the saints in Heaven, the souls in Purgatory, and those of us on earth—must remain mindful of one another’s needs. The blessed in Heaven possess an active, ‘hungry’ love for the souls whom God loves, longing to help all souls onward to Heaven because they now realize their precious value as never before. If the prayer of a good person on earth has power with God, we cannot even estimate the power of the prayers offered by the saints, who are God’s intimate friends and heroes. This communion extends even to the most isolated Christian, assuring him that however much he finds himself on his own, he never dies alone, because the whole Church stands beside him to give him back to his Creator. Our actions have limitless repercussions, and on the Last Day we will understand the incalculable reverberations our words and deeds have had in the history of the world.
We all need one another, and we are continually sharing in the spiritual goods common to the whole Church. At this very moment, someone is praying for us, and our soul is being vitalized by the suffering or work of people we perhaps do not even know. One day, at the moment of our particular judgment, we will see how these immense contributions kept us afloat and helped us draw closer to God. If we remain faithful, we will also experience immense joy in seeing how our own sacrifices, work, and prayers effectively helped others, perhaps even contributing in great measure to their salvation. We share in this communion of spiritual benefits in a singular manner through the Holy Mass, where the unity of all members of the Church is perfected daily around the Body of the Lord. Every Christian receives the graces of every Mass through the Communion of Saints, whether the celebrant offers it before thousands of people or is assisted only by a distracted child.
Saint Gregory the Great illustrated the marvelous effectiveness of the Mass by telling the story of a man taken prisoner in a distant country. Believing him to be dead, his wife had Mass said for him every week. When the man eventually returned, he explained with wonderment that on certain days of the week, the chains binding him in his cell would loosen by themselves. His wife recognized that he was freed precisely when the Holy Sacrifice was being offered for his soul. Just as his chains were broken, many chains are broken for us every day thanks to the prayer of others. The Second Vatican Council teaches that in the Sacrament of the Eucharistic Bread, the unity of the faithful is both represented and reproduced. This sacrament of charity fuses Catholics into one body, just as a handful of separate grains of wheat are baked into one bread, regardless of their different backgrounds and locations.
This interchange of spiritual benefits exists among the Church triumphant in Heaven, the Church suffering in Purgatory, and the Church militant on earth. We can commend ourselves to the canonized and uncanonized saints, the angels, and the souls being purified in Purgatory, while also helping those souls alleviate their burden from where we are on earth. When we fulfill the pious duty of offering suffrages for the faithful departed, we should particularly remember our parents, family members, and friends who count on our prayers, knowing that the Holy Mass is the best suffrage we can offer them. The doctrine of indulgences is also based on this dogma, as the Church authoritatively administers the graces gained by Christ, Our Lady, and the Saints to make up for the punishment due to our sins or the needs of souls in Purgatory. Knowing that our tasks, sicknesses, and prayers offer considerable help to others should be a great stimulus for us to fulfill our duties faithfully and with a pure intention. Remembering that someone is interceding for us right now, and that someone else is relying on our prayers, inspires us to practice our faith more deeply today.
