One of the most ancient prayers of the Church is called the Jesus prayer, “Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner”. This is the prayer that the blind man cried out when he heard that Jesus was near. In the Hail Mary we ask Mary to pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. It is important to note that we ask Jesus for mercy and we ask Mary for prayers. This formula holds true in our Litanies and other prayers such as, “Jesus, Mercy; Mary Help”. Although the norm is to ask Jesus for mercy and Mary for help, the union between Mary and Jesus, Mother and Son, is so strong that we have no problem asking Mary for mercy, and even call her Our Mother of Mercy. We know that Jesus is the source of all mercy, but that He choose to give that mercy through Our Lady, since it was through her womb, that mercy was given to the world. In the Byzantine Rite of the Church, the faithful pray, “O Most Holy Lady, Mother of God, Light of my poor soul, my hope, my protection, my refuge my comfort and my joy; I thank you for having enabled me to be a partaker of the most pure Body and the most precious Blood of your Son. Enlighten the eyes of my heart, you who carried the Source of Immortality, O most tender and loving Mother of the merciful God, have mercy on me, and grant me a repentant and contrite heart with humility of mind. Recall my thoughts from wandering into all kinds of distractions, and make me worthy always, even to my last breath, to receive the most pure Mysteries of Christ for the healing of my soul and body. Give me tears of repentance and thanksgiving, that I may chant and praise You all the days of my life. You who are ever blessed and glorified. Amen.”[i]
The last part of the Hail Mary tells us when Mary prayers for us, “now and at the hour of our death”. These two times are the most important times in our life. One is happening as we pray and then other when we will die and be judged. Who better to be with us in death than the mother of God? We remember how full of courage and dignity, Mary was at the foot of her Son at the moment of His death and we pray that she will pray for us to be courageous and full of dignity in our own death.
Revelation 5:8 – “When he took it (scroll), the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each of the elders held a harp and gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of the holy ones.”
Revelation 8:3-4 – “An angel came and stood at the altar [in heaven] with a golden censer; and he was given much incense to mingle with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar before the throne; and the smoke of the incense rose with the prayers of the saints from the hand of the angel before God.”
Prayers are spiritual and thus are delivered spiritually. We see in the book of Revelation that the elders and angels are offering up the “prayers of the holy ones” and the “prayers of the saints”. Why do the elders and angels do offer up our prayers? Why can’t the holy ones and saints offer up their own prayers? We believe in the Communion of Saints, those on earth, in purgatory and in heaven. We are in communion and therefore pray in communion. We express this belief in the Mass, just after the preface and before the Sanctus the priest prays, “And so, with Angels and Archangels, with Thrones and Dominions, and with all the hosts and Powers of heaven, we sing the hymn of your glory, as without end we acclaim”[ii] What a blessing it is to use the means given to us by God to offer up prayers. We can offer up our own prayer, but added to that God allows the angels and all of heaven to join in this offering. He also allows the Saints and Mary the Mother of God to join in this offering. What a blessing to use the powerful means that God gives us. Prayer is communication with God.
Let’s think a moment about human communication. If a husband were to communicate with his wife and used the cell phone as a means, we would not say to him, “Why don’t you go directly to your wife and not through cellular towers?”. In communication person to person on earth, we use many means to communicate with each other; this should also be the case with communication with God.
1 Timothy 2:1-4 – “First of all, then I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectful in every way. This is good, and it is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
Praying for each other is what we do as Christians. The angels, Mary and Saints are Christians and perfect Christians at that, why would we exclude them from this central demand of the Christian life? We do not exclude them at Mass and we should not exclude them in our daily life. Death does not end their Christian obligation to intercede for their neighbor. We intercede on earth for people and we will do this in heaven but on a grander scale. Saint Therese said, “I will spend my heaven, doing good on earth.” Blessed John Paul II was known to carry an index card around and when he met someone that needed prayer he would write down the intention and then remember all of those prayers when he prayed at Mass or Liturgy of the Hours or whenever in prayer. We can do the same thing and will be amazed at the great need of prayer in our society. Another idea is to randomly pick friends and or acquaintances, for instance you could pick five of your Facebook friends or the last five people that sent you e-mails and pray for them and their intentions for a week. This intercession can be secret or you can let them know and ask their intentions.
Why are the prayers of those in heaven more powerful?
James 5:16-18 – “The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects. Elijah was a man of like nature with ourselves and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth its fruit.”
Is heaven and those in heaven limited by time, space or language? NO, not at all. Therefore Mary, Angels and the Saints can hear all prayers.
One of the major objections that Protestants have of Catholics is that we pray to Mary and the Saints. To a Protestant Mary plays a very insignificant role in the daily life of a Christian. Protestantism has three main tenants.
[i] Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostomos; Prayers of Thanksgiving; Fourth Prayer;
[ii] The Order of the Mass; Preface