Towards the end of one episode of Saint Seiya, the girl running the fighting competition, Saori Kido, pleads with her deceased grandfather for advice on how to deal with the theft of the Golden Cloth armor. Rather than the monologue I expected, her late grandfather actually appears to her and gives her some consoling advice. He reminds her that the saints were meant to fight evil and that this tournament was part of that end. He mentions that even Athena, the creator of the saints’ armor, had a difficult time fighting evil. After saying these thing, he leaves, even though Saori would have him stay longer.
Now, let’s leave off talking about the fighting saints of the anime and consider the real friends of God. The scene described reminded me of two chief differences between Christian saints and Japanese ancestor worship: 1) the saints intercede for us before Christ rather than grant our requests through their own power; and 2) the saints point to Christ, not to themselves or one’s clan. Christ came down to show us the way to the Father. As he told St. Philip at the Last Supper, there was no need to show the Apostles the Father because Jesus Christ and the Father are One. As Christ stands as an icon pointing to the Father, the saints are icons pointing to Christ.
A pilgrim to St. Padre Pio’s monastery was once awed by seeing St. Pio in prayer before Mass. In the pilgrim’s eyes, it was not Padre Pio who knelt there at prayer but Christ. Few saints in modern times have so closely identified with Christ as Padre Pio–this miracle worker, priest, confessor, and stigmatist. When the pope asked someone what Padre Pio did at his monastery, the gentleman replied that Padre Pio “forgives the sins of the world.” An exaggeration, truly, but hundreds of thousands of pilgrims when to see Padre Pio in order to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation during the saint’s lifetime. This baffled Padre Pio, who would always say that receiving the sacrament from him was no different than receiving it from any other priest: the priest does not absolve sins, but Christ in whose person the priest acts.
Part of the role of a saint is to offer intercessory prayers on our behalf. No matter how direct a prayer to a saint might appear, the prayer’s terminus is always God, who actually grants the prayer. The saints accomplish nothing by their own power. As such, praying to saints always recalls our mind to their Master, before whom the Apostles and Patriarchs cast down their crowns in adoration.
Are there any advantages in praying to the saints? Yes, firstly, because the prayer of a righteous man avails much. Secondly, praying to a saint means that one admires and loves them and loving a good man is the beginning of virtue. The saints imitate the Savior more closely than any other class of persons. As such, the imitation of them offers a speedy way to attain the Christ-like virtues we all desire.
P. S. Yours truly will be attending the Christian Arts Festival being held at Greenwood, WI from August 4th to August 7th. I hope that it provides some good inspiration for my writing and some excellent Christian camaraderie. Pray for me that I make some good use of this festival which will cover things like writing fiction from a Christian perspective and apologetics.
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I’ve only seen two really saintlike human beings before in my life—- One was Mr. Rogers. He didn’t have any magic, except that when you looked at him, even on TV, you suddenly felt warm and small and strange. The second I met personally. In a doctor’s waiting room, I saw an old woman who smiled like the Sun. She told me about God and that she wasn’t afraid of death. And she wasn’t. You could tell. Her…”aura” was totally different, alarming and alien…and great. “One of the great ones, armor” is what I ‘heard,’ from Mar, too. I’ve wondered since if there’s really something to Christ’s ability to make His followers holy. Maybe sometimes that is what happens.
I’ve never seen another one in person, but…yeah.
I think I can see how one could view imitating, or asking for help, from the saints as entreating their Master, as a result. I can understand why people fear it as idolatry— If you worship the saint it’s misplaced. But if you worship “that.” then what you’re actually bowing your head before is God.
You remember Mr. Rogers also? I very much enjoyed his show when I was younger. I agree that he was a very kind and humble gentleman. One does meet saintly people here and there–people filled with joy, humility, patience, and wisdom. Christ is the vine, we are the branches: all the good we have comes from Christ.
When it comes to honoring the saints, Protestants worry too much that it takes honor away from God. But, this worry is unnecessary: Christ died to make men saints. The Church choosing to honor the saints glorifies God whose sacrifice and grace redeemed and sanctified these men.
Among legendary kings, King Arthur holds first place not so much for his victories as for attracting the greatest knights of his age to serve him: the Knights of the Round Table. Part of what manifests Christ as the King of Kings is how He attracted the greatest men of every Age to serve Him. Not only are these men His servants but also His victories, since every soul is a battlefield over which God and the devil fight. So, I cannot but see the veneration of the saints as honoring God also–unless it descends to outright worship (to use the Greek terms, “latria” rather than “dulia”) of them, as we see in Voodoo or Santeria.
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[…] one week has passed since I’ve written a proper blog. (See “Examining Old School Anime: The Saints Point to Christ“) I still need to comment on the new season among other things, but this post will be on my […]