Saints preserve us!

Chief O'Hara from TV's 'Batman' often intoned 'May the saints
preserve us,' which cast him as an Irish Catholic

I had a difference of opinion recently with another Christian on "Intercession of the Saints," which (as I understand it) means the community of all Christians, living and dead, actively engaged in prayer and intercession.

There's a variety of ways to analogize this[1], but in this post I just wanted to say something about the thoughts and behaviors of early Christians.

Jimmy Akin, in The Father's Know Best (52. Intercession of the Saints), quotes a number of early church sources (including Hermas, Clement of Alexandria, Jerome, Augustine) as well as early Christian inscriptions, which are even more interesting to me, like these:

Atticus, sleep in peace, secure in your safety, and pray anxiously for our sins [Christian Inscriptions, no. 37 (c. A.D. 350)].

Blessed Sozon gave back [his spirit] aged nine years; may the true Christ [receive] your spirit in peace, and pray for us [Christian Inscriptions, no. 25 (c. A.D. 250)].

Gentianus, a believer, in peace, who lived twenty-one years, eight months, and sixteen days, and in your prayers ask for us, because we know that you are in Christ [Christian Inscriptions, no. 29 (c. A.D. 250)].

Pray for your parents, Matronata Matrona. She lived one year, fifty-two days [Christian Inscriptions, no. 36 (c. A.D. 250)].

Why are the inscriptions more interesting to me?

They reflect the beliefs of ordinary people like you and me who were dealing with death like you and me: They lost a loved one and carved something meaningful on the tombstone, as it were, something they wanted others to see.

Why are early opinions and practices important?

Because the closer you get to the source of a thing, the more likely you are to see the true nature of a thing, as well as the controversies surrounding the nature of a thing. That's why we have courts of law, use microscopes, or test soil samples on Mars.

Saint Sebastian Interceding for the Plague Stricken,
Josse Lieferinxe, 1497-1499 (Wikimedia Commons)

Caveat

I wouldn't want someone to dig up Hillary Clinton 2,000 years from now and presume everyone in the United States shared her opinions. But the early church was small, persecuted, and despite their differences, shared a great deal of theology. You wouldn't likely engrave something that identified you as a persecuted minority unless it was especially meaningful.

Pray for Me

There are plenty of "pray for me" passages in the bible. On a purely practical level, if we believe a man who died 2,000 years ago can hear us, why not someone who died yesterday?

I'm not out to convince anyone. I have my own opinion that fits my understanding. It may not fit yours. But even if it's nonsense, what's the harm?

Either the church went awry very early…

… or we have to take these things seriously. Either way, we can't just toss them aside as irrelevant.

I can understand how we might say after 1,500 years things needed some shaking up (the Reformation), but after 200? 300?

Baptist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, nondenom, or anything else, if you're a Christian, you are the Church, the same Church to which belonged the grieving parents that buried their 1-year-old little girl Matronata Matrona in 250 AD.

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[1]

For example, Christians routinely ask each other for prayer, and there is an "elevated" quality to prayers requested by and offered by deacons, pastors, and so on. Some may disagree with that, but they're not observing carefully.

[2014-06-15]

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