If you’re a lifelong Catholic or parishioner of a liturgical church, you might be surprised to learn that other Christians wonder if you go around praying to Saints. They might even ask, “Why do you talk to Mary or Joseph or John when you can talk directly to Christ?”

As the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 957 of “The Communion Of The Church Of Heaven And Earth” explains, “Exactly as Christian communion among our fellow pilgrims brings us closer to Christ, so our communion with the saints joins us to Christ....”

It’s like asking another person to pray for you even though you can pray just fine yourself! But then, fellowship with other Christians has always been a vital part of the loving, caring relationship Christ intended for the Church. Isn’t it good to know that someone somewhere is putting in a good word on your behalf? Or that someone has already dealt with your concerns as a person, poet, or writer? Or that your saintly father or grandmother, God bless their souls, still look out for you? You might say that Saints are like Church Peoples in heaven, so quite likely, their “special powers” correspond to the gifts discussed in I Corinthians 12 and Romans 12 -- spiritual gifts given in varying degrees to all Christians (yes, including you!) by the power of the risen Christ -- to uplift, nurture, and upbuild the Church as The Body of Christ on earth until the Lord comes again.

Meanwhile, Saints not only provide heavenly companions in prayer, they reveal the activity of the Holy Spirit in the Church, in Christians, and in lives dedicated to holiness. In fact, the Catechism lists references to Saints in the subject index under “Holiness,” where you’ll also find information about intercession and the significance of canonization.

In Part One of the Catechism, 828 discusses Church recognition of the Saints, saying: “By canonizing some of the faithful, i.e., by solemnly proclaiming that they practiced heroic virtue and lived in fidelity to God’s grace, the Church recognizes the power of the Spirit of holiness within her and sustains the hope of believers by proposing the saints to them as models and intercessors. ‘The saints have always been the source and origin of renewal in the most difficult moments in the Church’s history.’ Indeed, ‘holiness is the hidden source and infallible measure of her apostolic activity and missionary zeal’. “