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Questions & Answers

Intercession

Faith Q&A › Metropolitan Youssef › St. Mary and the Saints › Intercession

The question

I have a number of points to make concerning the departed saints’ intercessory prayers:
  • Are there any biblical evidences of the apostles praying to the saints and prophets before them?

  • Are there any biblical evidences of St. Mary having been given intercessory privileges?

  • Since St. Mary does not have God’s attributes of being omniscient, omnipotent (to mention a few), how could she possibly hear millions of prayers at the same time?

  • Why do you teach people such a doctrine which you can't defend?

  • God alone knows the private thoughts of a person, and what goes on in heaven and on earth. Neither the angels nor the departed saints have this all knowing capacity.

  • We can ask the prayers of each other on earth through legitimate methods of communication such as telephone, in person, mail etc. With the saints in heaven we are in a different dimension. We try to communicate in a way that is expressly prohibited in scripture (Is 8:19, Deut 18:10-11, Is 19:3).

  • The saints in heaven are not "really dead," they are absent in the body and present with the Lord. They are physically dead with no thought, nor emotions. In this sense we can't pray to the dead (saints in heaven) because they are physically dead even though they are present with the Lord.

  • The Holy Bible expressly prohibits us to communicate with the dead (Physically not spiritually dead). We can't talk to the saints who are physically dead.

  • This kind of teaching is a false teaching which needs to be addressed to all orthodox Christians and it is an obstacle that prevents us from approaching God, with confidence, through his only son our Lord Jesus Christ.

The answer

To answer some of your points, God chooses to reveal to St. Mary  or any other saint whatever He wants to reveal, and remember that departed saints are no longer restricted to the body; therefore, they can acquire more abilities while in this new state of freedom from their mortal bodies. Praying and asking the intercession of the saints has nothing to do with mediums and soothsayers. When praying to the saints, one does not expect to know the future or foretell events; one is asking the saints to pray for us before the Lord.

For more reading please check:
www.suscopts.org/messages/lectures/misclecture6.pdf.
www.suscopts.org/messages/lectures/marilecture2.pdf.

Denying intercession of the saints is primarily a protestant and not an orthodox teaching.

Answered by His Eminence Metropolitan Youssef (opens in a new tab)

Related questions

Questions answered by His Eminence Metropolitan Youssef (opens in a new tab) of the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. Question 800 on the Diocese’s Q&A site. Questions and answers © Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. All rights reserved.