erefore, from this narrative that the Hebrew
people believed that the saints in heaven pray for their brethren on
earth.

St. John in his Revelation describes the Saints before the throne of God
praying for their earthly brethren: "The four and twenty ancients fell
down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps and golden vials full
of odors, which are the prayers of the saints."(205)

The prophet Zachariah records a prayer that was offered by the angel for
the people of God, and the favorable answer which came from heaven: "How
long, O Lord, wilt Thou not have mercy on Jerusalem, and on the cities of
Juda, with which Thou hast been angry?... And the Lord answered the angel
... good words, comfortable words."(206)

Nor can we be surprised to learn that the angels labor for our salvation,
since we are told by St. Peter that "the devil goeth about like a roaring
lion, seeking whom he may devour;" for, if hate impels the demons to ruin
us, surely love must inspire the angels to help us in securing the crown
of glory. And if the angels, though of a different nature from ours, are
so mindful of us, how much more interest do the saints manifest in our
welfare, who are bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh?

To ask the prayers of our brethren in heaven is not only conformable to
Holy Scripture, but is prompted by the instincts of our nature. The
Catholic doctrine of the Communion of Saints robs death of its terrors,
while the Reformers of the sixteenth century, in denying the Communion of
Saints, not only inflicted a deadly wound on the Creed, but also severed
the tenderest chords of the human heart. They broke asunder the holy ties
that unite earth with heaven--the soul in the flesh with the soul released
from the flesh. If my brother leaves me to cross the seas I believe that
he continues to pray for me. And when he crosses the narrow sea of death
and lands on the shores of eternity, why should he not pray for me still?
What does death destroy? The body. The soul still lives and moves and has
its being. It thinks and wills and remembers and loves. The dross of sin
and selfishness and hatred are burned by the salutary fires of contrition,
and nothing remains but the pure gold of charity.

O far be from us the dreary thought that death cuts off our friends
entirely from us! Far be from us the heartless creed which declares a
perpetual divorce between us and the just in heaven! Do not imagine when
you lose a father