Part III. Practices: D. Intercession

Intercession

In the first century, when Christians were not allowed to pray in churches, they prayed in the cemeteries. This, they did, to declare to the pagans their conviction that those who have gone on ahead are still alive though unperceived physically. They called the departed “The Church Triumphant”, and those still here “The Church Militant”. This firm conviction led them to two concommittant activities :

1. belief in the intercession of the saints;

2. prayer for the departed.

Intercession, to them, is the inevitable outpouring of love.

People, here on earth, who love one another pray for one another; that is, they intercede for one another. If then intercession is practised by those still bound within the body, how much more will it be practised by those who have become free spirits ? And if it is practised by those still under temptation and in trials, how much more effectively will it be practised by those “just men made perfect” ? (Hebrews XII : 23). And in the Liturgy, prayers are not offered on behalf of the sinners only, but on behalf of the saints as well. At the end of praying for the latter, comes a prayer which says : “We, O our Master, are not worthy to intercede for the bliss of those saints; but they who stand before the Throne of They Only — Begotten Son intercede for us because of our weakness and servility. Be a Forgiver of our sins, O Lord, by their intercession, for the sake of Thy Holy Name by which we are identified. May their holy blessing be with us. Amen”.

The belief in intercession is naturally linked with having icons, or pictures of saints. We say picture, because an icon is not a portrait, rather is it an endeavour to portray a spiritual embodiment. The icon of a saint or martyr is to be regarded as a focus of a spiritual presence; it is a window opened on heaven; it is a reminder of a human dignity in its reality as it lifts the eyes of the onlooker from the earthly to the heavenly, and endeavours to make him live (even for a fleeting minute) in the world beyond to which he ultimately belongs.