ears, and didst bury the dead, and didst leave
thy dinner, I offered thy prayer to the Lord."(194) How could the angel,
if he were ignorant of these petitions, have presented to God the prayers
of Tobias?

To pass from the Old to the New Testament, our Savior declares that "there
shall be joy before the angels of God upon one sinner doing penance."(195)
Then the angels are glad whenever you repent of your sins. Now, what is
repentance? It is a change of heart. It is an interior operation of the
will. The saints, therefore, are acquainted--we know not how--not only with
your actions and words, but even with your very thoughts.

And when St. Paul says that "we are made a spectacle to the world, to
angels, and to men,"(196) what does he mean, unless that as our actions
are seen by men even so they are visible to the angels in heaven?

The examples I have quoted refer, it is true, to the angels. But our Lord
declares that the saints in heaven shall be like the angelic spirits, by
possessing the same knowledge, enjoying the same happiness.(197)

We read in the Gospel that Dives, while suffering in the place of the
reprobates, earnestly besought Abraham to cool his burning thirst. And
Abraham, in his abode of rest after death, was able to listen and reply to
him. Now, if communication could exist between the souls of the just and
of the reprobate, how much easier is it to suppose that interchange of
thought can exist between the saints in heaven and their brethren on
earth?

These few instances are sufficient to convince you that the spirits in
heaven hear our prayers.

Second--We have, also, abundant testimony from Scripture to show that the
saints assist us by their prayers. Almighty God threatened the inhabitants
of Sodom and Gomorrha with utter destruction on account of their crimes
and abominations. Abraham interposes in their behalf and, in response to
his prayer, God consents to spare those cities if only ten just men are
found therein. Here the avenging hand of God is suspended and the fire of
His wrath withheld, through the efficacy of the prayers of a single
man.(198)

We read in the Book of Exodus that when the Amalekites were about to wage
war on the children of Israel Moses, the great servant and Prophet of the
Lord, went upon a mountain to pray for the success of his people; and the
Scriptures inform us that whenever Moses raised his hands in prayer the
Israelites were victorious, but when he ceased to pr