How Can Mary (and All Of The Angels And Saints For That Matter)

[Vincent Vega]

Hey pham,
I'm trying to explain marian devotion to a Baptist friend, and I'm using the analogy that it's like asking a friend to pray for us. And she says..."But how can she hear you?"
I guess I never thought about it...I don't know why she wouldn't be able to...
But scriptural or other literary evidentiary support would be great, if you could provide it.
Thanks,
Mitch

[Thy Geekdom Come]

Their is a great passage for saintly and angelic intercession in Revelation 5:8. The elders (who were saints) are seen offering up the prayers of the holy ones (a common phrase for all in the Church, here implying the holy ones on earth). However, this passage does not say explicitly [b]how[/b] the angels and saints get the prayers of the faithful to give to God. Of course, God hears all our prayers without the help of the angels and saints because He is obviously aware of our prayers even before we speak them. Therefore, saintly intercession is not a matter of necessity, but a matter of position. Because God honors His holy people and wishes to share His love, He asks us to pray for one another. It makes sense that those in heaven would also have this role, but that still begs the question of how they hear us.

To be honest, I don't know and I don't believe the Church has ever bothered herself with this question. We trust that God has allowed them in some spiritual way to hear our prayers so that they can make our cares their own, but I don't think we can really begin to understand just how this happens.

I hope someone else can give you a more satisfying response.

God bless,

Raphael