penance" (_Luke_ xv. 10).

"For in the resurrection they [the saints] shall be as the angels of God
in heaven" (_Matt_. xxii. 10).

THE saints are friends of God. They are like the angels in heaven. We
honor them, not as we honor God, but on account of the relation they
bear to God. They are creatures of God, the work of His hands. When we
honor them, we honor God; as when we praise a beautiful painting, we
praise the artist.

We do not believe that the saints can help us of themselves. But we ask
them to "pray for us." We believe that everything comes to us "through
Our Lord Jesus Christ." With these words all our prayers end. It is
useful, salutary, and reasonable to pray to the saints and ask them to
pray for us. No doubt all will admit the reasonableness of this practice
if the saints can hear and help us.

That they hear and help us is evident from many passages of Scripture.
The patriarch Jacob would not have prayed to the angel to bless his
grandchildren Manasses and Ephraim (as we learn he did from _Gen_.
xlviii.), unless he knew the angel could do so.

We are informed (_Luke_ xv.) that the angels rejoice when one sinner
does penance. We are also informed (_Matt_ xxii.) that the saints are
like the angels--_i.e._, have the same happiness and knowledge.

Hence the saints, as well as the angels, can hear us, can help us, and
are acquainted with our actions, words, and thoughts.

It is generally conceded that it is reasonable to ask pious persons on
earth to pray for us. St. Paul, in his epistles, frequently asks the
Christians to pray for him. "Brethren," he says, "pray for us." It is
well known that God was pleased to answer the prayer of Abraham in favor
of Abimelech. "More things are wrought by prayer than this world knows
of." Now, if we poor sinners here on earth do not pray in vain for one
another, will the saints in heaven, the friends of God, who rejoice when
a sinner does penance, pray in vain for us? No. We have hosts of friends
in heaven to speak a good word for us. And as a child who has disobeyed
his parents wisely asks a better brother or sister to intercede with his
parents for mercy, so, too, having disobeyed our heavenly Father by sin,
we have recourse to others better than ourselves, to our better brothers
and sisters, the Blessed Virgin and saints, to intercede with God for
us.

Is not this a reasonable practice?

If your mother or sister crosses the sea she will continue to pray for