By Jenna Marie Cooper
OSV News Question Corner
Q: What scriptural basis is there for praying for the dead for their repose, or for praying to the dead for their intercessions? And in a related way, what scriptural basis is there for the Catholic practice of “relics,” such as saving a person’s bone fragments? My Protestant friends say these practices are not in the Bible. (Indiana)
A: The Catholic customs of praying for the souls of the dead, praying to the saints who have gone before us in earthly life, and venerating relics are based primarily on the church’s long-standing tradition and theology rather than explicit scriptural “proof texts.” However, the Bible does indeed allude to these practices.
In terms of praying for the repose of the souls of the dead (praying for the souls in purgatory), the clearest supporting Scripture passages are found in the Old Testament book of 2 Maccabees.
For background, the books of 1 and 2 Maccabees tell the story of the Jewish people’s fight to maintain their culture and faith in the face of Greek occupying armies and of their liberation by the Maccabees and their leader, Judas. In chapter 12 of 2 Maccabees, we read that many Jewish warriors died in battle, and it was later discovered that the fallen had been wearing pagan amulets in clear violation of the First Commandment.
Judas the Maccabee: “then took up a collection among all his soldiers, amounting to two thousand silver drachmas, which he sent to Jerusalem to provide for an expiatory sacrifice. … He did this with a view to the splendid reward that awaits those who had gone to rest in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought. Thus he made atonement for the dead that they might be absolved from their sin” (2 Maccabees12:43-46).
But incidentally, the books of Maccabees are not always familiar to Protestant Christians, since these were among the Old Testament books that Martin Luther chose not to include in his edition of the Bible.
In terms of praying “to” the dead, it is more accurate to say that Catholics ask the saints for their intercession. Although the saints are members of the faithful who are “dead” insofar as they have already suffered bodily death, we believe that in a more ultimate sense, they are alive with God. And it would logically follow that we can ask the saints, our heavenly friends, for their prayers just as we could ask our friends here on earth to pray for us.
Scripturally, James 5:16 tells us that: “The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful” and Revelation 5:8 specifically describes the prayers of the saints as: “gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of the holy ones.” The “Catechism of the Catholic Church” states, “By virtue of the ‘communion of saints,’ the Church commends the dead to God’s mercy and offers her prayers, especially the holy sacrifice of the Eucharist, on their behalf.”
With respect to relics — which you correctly note are often a piece of a saint’s body such as bone fragments or pieces of hair — our main scriptural point of reference is Revelation 6:9, in which St. John recounts his vision where he “saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slaughtered because of the witness they bore to the word of God.”
Though this was in reference to a heavenly altar for the worship of God, very early Christians echoed this passage in a very tangible, concrete sense when they would celebrate Mass over the burial places of the martyrs.
Eventually this custom evolved from celebrating Mass in catacombs and cemeteries into the practice of placing a relic, such as a small piece of a saint’s body, into altars within church buildings. And in modern times, our current Code of Canon Law tells us: “The ancient tradition of placing relics of martyrs or other saints under a fixed altar is to be preserved” (Canon 1237). So, while relics of saints are now often venerated on their own, this “original” and scriptural use for relics continues.
Jenna Marie Cooper, who holds a licentiate in canon law, is a consecrated virgin and a canonist whose column appears weekly at OSV News. Send your questions to [email protected].