The Prayers of the Saints

6 comments on “The Prayers of the Saints”

  1. Jacques Richard Pierre-Pierre Reply

    Thanks for the text Allison ! Isn’t it at the final judgment that humans will go to Heaven ? How is it that the Saints are already with the Lamb ?

    Thanks !

    • Allison Reply

      Thank you for the question.
      When we die, our body and soul are separated. Our souls are immortal and continue on to the next left. Our bodies remain in this world and corrupt. The moment we die we stand before the judgment seat of Christ (our soul without the body) and face judgment. [This is called the “particular judgment”.] At that moment we will learn our eternal destiny – either heaven or hell.
      [Purgatory does have a role for those who are given the gift of heaven but who are not yet perfect and pure they need to be purged so they experience purgatory before entering heaven. See my previous article on this.]

      Then at the end of time, on the “Last Day” as Scripture calls it, all humanity will experience the resurrection of our bodies. Our bodies will be reunited to our souls. There will then be the Final Judgment (or called the general judgment). This will be public with Christ the Judge. Restored to our full humanity (body and soul) we will again hear our eternal destiny. It will not be changed – the destiny we received at our particular judgment will again be made known though this time we will hear it with our resurrected bodies AND it will be public. After this judgment, all will be in either heaven or hell and time as we know it and the world as we know it will be no more. We are told in the Bible that there will be a “new heavens and a new earth” though we do not know exactly what this means.

      Having said all of this, right now, there are many souls in heaven. The Church tells us that Jesus is in heaven Body and Soul as is His Mother Mary who is in heaven Body and Soul. The Old Testament tells us Enoch and Elijah were taken to heaven as well and possibly body and soul but we are not sure. Otherwise, all human beings in heaven now are there in soul only. But they are alive and unceasingly giving God praise. Look in the book of Revelations and see the vision John had of heaven – angels and the souls of men who had died are there worshiping God.

      As I mention in the article, Revelation 5:8 also tells us that these Saints (even though only existing now as souls) ARE praying for us. They are united to God and His will. They are growing in knowledge and love for God. These human beings in heaven (the Saints) are aware that they have been separated from their bodies by death and they are longing for the Last Day when they will be once again reunited to their bodies.
      Similarly, those who have died and chosen hell, they too are there only as a soul for now but they still experience inconceivable miseries and pain. After the Last Day, they will be reunited to their bodies but will remain in hell for eternity (a destiny they freely chose, see my other article on this: ).

      Hope this helps
      Allison

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