Can Saints Help Only Through Intercession?
Q. I recently heard someone pray to Saint Joseph, asking him to “spare the unborn.” I thought that the only way saints could help us was through their intercession with God, not through direct action. Is it legitimate to ask a saint to do something other than intercede for us? J. K., via email A. The notion that the only way the saints can help us is to pass on our requests to God is common but mistaken, not in keeping with Scripture or Tradition. Both Scripture and Tradition tell us that the perfected saints, by God’s grace, have come to possess an actual share in His divine power. He is pleased to make it possible for them to help us in many ways — not just through their intercession. So it’s appropriate to ask them to “spare” the lives of the unborn or to do other things. The Scripture tells us that God has made certain “precious and very great promises” through which we will “come to have a share in the divine nature” (2 Pt 1:3, 4, emphasis added). This is possible because in Chris
