Our All Saints’ Day reflection

If there is anything that Catholicism has brought into our Filipino Culture, it is our annual celebration of All Saints’ Day on Nov. 1 and All Souls’ Day on Nov. 2. That millions of Filipinos all over the Philippine archipelago would troop to all the cemeteries or memorial parks all over the nation is clear and visible proof of our Catholicism. That Catholics ask our favorite saints to intercede for them is a reality that continues up to this day. That we visit our dearly departed loved ones in the cemeteries is also a good gesture on our part to remember those who once walked upon this earth.

I’m sure that All Saints’ Day is abhorrent to our Born Again brethren who do not believe that we need saints to “intercede” for us to our Lord Jesus Christ for they believe in what is written in 1 Timothy 2:5 “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, Jesus Christ.”

What the Magisterium of the Catholic Church teaches is not just mere intercession, but also invocation of the Saints. The foundation of this doctrine is found in the Apostles’ Creed or simply Our Creed which most devout Catholics know by heart, when we say, “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the Communion of Saints and the forgiveness of sins…”.

We pray to our various saints because they already reign in heaven with God himself as approved during the Council of Trent. Perhaps our latest example is the recently canonized San Pedro Calungsod, who died four hundred years ago. Yet a few years ago, his was totally unheard of. But when San Pedro Calungsod was killed in the shores of Guam, his martyrdom meant that he was instantly granted his heavenly reward. For sure, a heavenly reward was more than what the young San Pedro Calungsod could have asked for.

Yet despite his anonymity, San Pedro Calungsod’s name was resurrected to become our second Filipino saint… not because he needs to be popular or famous, but rather we who are on this earth need his intercession and by invoking his help, there have been numerous miracles recorded all in the name of San Pedro Calungsod.

Even our Protestant brethren know that praying for one another is something that we all need, despite 1 Timothy 2:5. In fact, years ago, I encountered a Calvinist during one of our big bike rides to Biliran Island in Leyte. He asked me, “Why do you Catholics pray to saints or your Mama Mary when there is only one mediator between God and Man and that’s the Lord Jesus Christ?”

This was my reply to my friend, “Before I answer you, may I ask you to please pray for my mother who is sick?” Without any hesitation, my Calvinist friend replied, “Sure I would love to pray for your mother, what’s her name?” Of course, I told my friend that my mother wasn’t really sick but dared him, “Why do you care to pray for my mother when you just told me that there is only one mediator between God and Man?”

When he was still alive, Padre Pio of Pietrelcina who was known as a healer and is now canonized as St. Pio told his flock during one homily that if he is powerful enough to heal people while he is still alive, just watch me when I’ve gone to eternal life because I would be more powerful there. Indeed, proof of the pudding is in the eating. Saints are great intercessors, which is why many places in Europe which have relics or the body of saints have become pilgrimage sites where millions of pilgrims visit each year.

In his Summa Theologica, St. Thomas Aquinas wrote, “Prayer is offered to a person in two ways; one as though to be granted by himself, another as to be obtained through him. In the first way, we pray to God alone, because all our prayers ought to be directed to obtaining grace and glory, which God alone can give. But in the second way, we pray to the Holy Angels and to men not that God may learn our petition through them, but that by their prayers and merits, our prayers may be more efficacious.”

St. Jerome also stated, “If the Apostles and Martyrs, while still in the body, can pray for others, at a time when they must still be anxious for themselves, how much more after their crowns, victories, and triumphs are won! One man, Moses, obtained from God pardon for six hundred thousand men in arms; and Stephen, the imitator of the Lord and the first Martyr in Christ beg forgiveness for his persecutors, and shall their power be less after having begun to be with Christ?” 

Tomorrow is All Souls’ Day. Let me just say that we should take time to ponder about our dead members of the family… to reminisce the times when they were still alive. Perhaps a bigger question to ask is, “How sure are we that our loved ones are in heaven?” Some of us often get messages via dreams of our loved ones seeking prayers or they are in anguish somewhere. 

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