In the Apostles’ Creed, we profess: “I believe in the Holy Catholic Church, the Communion of Saints.”
Pope St. Pius X explained it this way: “the Church’s spiritual goods, both internal and external, are common to all her members because of the intimate union that exists between them. The internal goods that are common in the Church are: the graces received through the Sacraments; faith, hope and charity; the infinite merits of Jesus Christ; the superabundant merits of the Blessed Virgin and of the saints; and the fruit of all the good works done in the same Church. The external goods that are common in the Church are: the sacraments, the Sacrifice of the Mass, public prayers, religious functions, and all the other outward practices that unite the faithful.”
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “The witnesses who have preceded us into the kingdom, especially those whom the Church recognizes as saints, share in the living tradition of prayer by the example of their lives, the transmission of their writings, and their prayer today. They contemplate God, praise him, and constantly care for those whom they have left on earth. When they entered into the joy of their Master, they were ‘put in charge of many things.’”
Therefore, “their intercession is their most exalted service to God’s plan. We can and should ask them to intercede for us and for the whole world.” (CCC 2683)
The saints care about us and help us from heaven. St. Therese of Lisieux said, “after my death, I will let fall a shower of roses. I will spend my time in heaven doing good upon the earth. I will raise up a mighty host of little saints. My mission is to make God loved.”
St. Faustina Kowalska wrote, “I feel certain that my mission will not come to an end upon my death, but will begin. O doubting souls, I will draw aside for you the veils of heaven to convince you of God’s goodness, so that you will no longer continue to wound with your distrust the sweetest Heart of Jesus. God is Love and Mercy.”
Pope Francis said when facing anguish, we should first ask the saints to pray for us. “The name given to us at baptism is not a label or a decoration! It is usually the name of the Virgin, or a saint, who expects nothing other than to ‘give us a hand’ in life, to give us a hand to obtain the grace we need from God.”
The Holy Father called the Church a “great school of prayer.”
He said, “Everything in the Church originates in prayer and everything grows thanks to prayer. When the Enemy, the Evil One, wants to fight the Church, he does so first by trying to drain her fonts, preventing them from praying ... In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus poses a dramatic question that always makes us reflect: ‘When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?’ (Lk 18:8), or will he find only organizations, like groups of ‘entrepreneurs of faith’, everyone well organized, doing charitable works, many things … or will he find faith?”
When the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?
“This question,” continues Pope Francis, “comes at the end of a parable that demonstrates the need to pray with perseverance, without tiring. Therefore, we can conclude that the lamp of faith will always be lit on earth as long as there is the oil of prayer ... And this is the Church’s essential task: to pray and to teach how to pray. To transmit the lamp of faith and the oil of prayer from generation to generation ... Without faith everything collapses; and without prayer faith is extinguished. Faith and prayer together.”
聖人在人的生命中「伸出援手」。
宗徒信經中，我們宣稱：「我信聖而公教會，諸聖的相通」。教宗庇護十世解釋道：「在『諸聖的相通』中，信經的第九條教導我們，教會的屬靈福祉，無論是內在還是外在，都是因為教友之間所存在的密切聯繫而共享的。在教會中共同的內在福祉包括：通過聖事所獲得的恩寵；信、望、愛；耶穌基督無限的功勞；聖母及聖人超豐盛的功勞；以及在同一教會中所做的一切善行所結的果實。在教會中共同的外在福祉包括：聖事、彌撒聖祭、公共祈禱、宗教活動，以及團結信眾的其他的外展活動。」（聖庇護十世的天主教教理）
天主教教理中指出：「那些先我們進入天國的証人，特別是那些被教會確認為『聖人』的，以他們生活的榜樣和傳下來的作品，以及他們『今天』的祈禱，參與活生生的祈禱傳統。他們瞻仰天主，讚美天主，並不斷關懷遺留在世的人。當他們 進入主人的喜樂時，他們被委派『管理很多大事』。他們的代禱也是對天主計劃的最高服務，因此，我們可以而且應該求他們為我們和整個世界代 禱。」（天主教教理#2683）
聖人在天堂關心我們並且幫助我們。聖女小德蘭說：「在我去世之後，我將使玫瑰雨落下。我將在天堂裡用我的天堂來為人間行善度過我的時間。我將興起一支強大的小聖人軍隊。我的使命是讓世人愛上主。」聖女傅天娜寫道：「我堅信我的使命絕不會因我逝世而結束，反而是一個開始。滿腹狐疑的靈魂啊！我要為你們掀開天國的面紗，使你們信服天主的仁慈，好使你們不會再因不信賴，而繼續刺傷最溫馨的耶穌聖心。天主就是愛和慈悲 。」
教宗方濟各說：「面對煩憂時的第一種方式是請求我們的兄弟姐妹，尤其是聖人們，為我們祈禱。我們在領洗中得到的名字不僅僅是一個標籤或裝飾！通常是聖母或聖人的名字，他們期待著的不過是在生命中「伸出援手」，幫助我們從天主那裡獲得我們所需的恩寵。」
教宗稱教會為「偉大的祈禱學校」。他說：「教會中的一切都源於祈禱，並且一切都因祈禱而增長。當敵人 - 魔鬼 - 想要對抗教會時，他首先會試圖泄盡她的泉源，阻止他們祈禱…。在路加福音中，耶穌提出了一個戲劇性的問題使我們反思：『人子來臨時，能在世上找到信德嗎？』（路18.8），抑或只會找到一些團體，像是『信仰的企業家』，每個人都井然有序，從事慈善工作，做了很多事情…或者會找到信德？『人子來臨時，能在世上找到信德嗎？』這個問題出現在一個比喻的結尾，這個比喻展示了需要堅持不懈地、不倦地祈禱（參閱路11:1-8）。因此，我們可以得出結論，只要有祈禱的油，信仰的燈火就永遠不會在地上熄滅。只要有祈禱的油，教會真正的信仰之燈就永遠會在地上延亮…這就是教會的基本任務：祈禱、並教導如何祈禱。將信仰之燈和祈禱之油一代一代傳下去…沒有信仰，一切都會崩潰；沒有祈禱，就失去信仰。信仰與祈禱是相輔相成的。」