HKB
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Often appears with: prayer and worship · worship without biblical command · trust in christ · the problem of evil and theodicy · the nature and attributes of God · spiritual persecution · spiritual guidance · sign of the cross · religious persecution and toleration · purgatory prayers · prayer petitions · posthumous religious visions
Usually: argument (2) · exhortation (2) · narrative (1) · reflection (1) · crisis of belief (1) · grief and loss (1) · injustice endured (1) · the fall of the great (1) · censure (1) · detachment (1)
“Common prayer is that which is offered to God by the ministers of the Church representing the body of the faithful: wherefore such like prayer should come to the knowledge of the whole people for whom it is offered; and this would not be possible unless it were vocal prayer.” Thomas, Aquinas, Saint, Summa Theologica, Part II-II (Secunda Secundae) · insight
“As it is not proper in the matter of divine worship for us to do anything that is not commanded by God (and that whoever does is putting God to the test), it is therefore also not advisable or tolerable for one to call upon the saints for intercession or to teach others to do so.” Martin Luther, An Open Letter on Translating · precept
Aquinas defends the idea that saints in heaven pray for people on earth, arguing that greater charity and unity with God make their intercession more efficacious, despite believers’ role in praying for the suffering in purgatory.
this they pray. But they pray for us who lack the ultimate perfection of bliss: and their prayers are efficacious in impetrating through their previous merits and through God's acceptance. Reply Obj. 2: The saints impetrate what ever God wishes to take place through their prayers: and they pray for that which they deem will be granted through their prayers according to God's will. Reply Obj. 3: Those who are in Pur…
Luther argues there is no biblical warrant for asking saints or angels to intercede, so such worship is human invention that risks turning people away from trusting Christ.
the intercession of the saints. I will leave this subject for now--but you can count on my not forgetting it and allowing this primping and preening to continue without cost. And again, you know that there is not a single passage from God demanding us to call upon either saints or angels to intercede for us, and that there is no example of such in the Scriptures. One finds that the beloved angels spoke with the fath…
After his death, Teresa claims the man continued to help her through visions, advised her for petitions, and she uses this to urge readers to value penance and detach from worldly life.
exhorting, his brethren. When he saw that the end was comes he repeated the Psalm, [19] "Lætatus sum in his quæ dicta sunt mihi;" and then, kneeling down, he died. 21. Since then, it has pleased our Lord that I should find more help from him than during his life. He advises me in many matters. I have often seen him in great glory. The first time he appeared to me, he said: "O blessed penance, which has merited so…
When others claimed her visions were from Satan, Teresa was instructed to mock them by making the sign of the cross, yet she prayed for deliverance, sought protection from St. Peter and St. Paul, and felt the burden of obeying.
preserve me from delusion. I used to see them frequently most distinctly on my left hand; but that vision was not imaginary. These glorious Saints were my very good lords. 7. It was to me a most painful thing to make a show of contempt whenever I saw our Lord in a vision; for when I saw Him before me, if I were to be cut in pieces, I could not believe it was Satan. This was to me, therefore, a heavy kind of penance…