Old Testament saints

The word “saint” has different shades in Scripture. At first in this place it is a property of God himself, exalted incomparably above all creatures. In the vision of the prophet Isaiah sing seraphic, fiery beings, as the watchman of God. In a community of believers throne, without ceasing song: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory (Isaiah. 6: 3). Seraphs are they cover their faces with their wings, for they cannot look directly at the sacrament of God. So the Lord is the only “saint.” Nevertheless, even in the Old Testament, things are beginning to be called saints in a figurative, analogous sense and things created, who are in special contact with God. It is holy the place where God appeared, holy is the ark of the covenant, holy was the temple of Jerusalem, the tabernacle God among men, his holiest place was called sanctuary (1 Cr. 8, 6). And the city of Jerusalem was holy; God’s city (cf. Mt 27, 53).
When it comes to persons, Scripture often emphasizes above all not their holiness but sinfulness, as opposed to God’s holiness. Therefore, people do not go to God, but rather to God surrendered. It often seems as if God in the Old Testament does not allow a mediator between himself and the people. But it is not it’s still like that. There are also righteous people, faithful, dear to God there the prayer then has a special effect. Abraham begs for Sodom, and he would have saved her if she had found at least there ten righteous (Gen. 18). Abimelek is admonished to return the wife to Abraham. For he is a prophet and will be for to pray for you to stay alive (Gen. 20: 7).
Therefore, the Jews invoke the name of Abraham even after his death. In the time of kings, the invocation of Abraham, Moses, David, already becomes a form of official prayer: Lord, remember David and his great willingness! (Z 131, 1). And God says, The Lord swore an oath to David; is a true, he will never revoke it (Z 131, 11). The last century BC. Cr. There are also cases in Jews in which the dead prophets appear to intercede with God. Judah of Micah, for example, reveals the prophet Jeremiah(2 Mach 15, 12-16). After all, in the books of Scripture, which they arose after the return of exile, the old were righteous they often set an example (Sir 44, 1: Praise be to us famous men, their fathers according to their deeds!).
Christian saints
In Christian times, there were almost biographies of saints as “quotes useful to the soul.” Biography of St. Anton of St. Athanasius is the first handbook of Christian asceticism. Illustratively, by way of example, the main principles are taken over here life in God. What would otherwise be a dry calculation of principles becomes a vivid, attractive image. “How poor,” writes St. Ján Klimak, «when they see kings treasures, they become more aware of their own poverty, such the soul also feels when it reads of the great virtues of the Fathers. ” However, this is not just an external pattern, an imitation of a stranger. The cult of the martyrs, the liturgy on their graves, inscriptions asking for intercession testify to the faith of the early Church. One family feels with the saints, especially in prayer.
Origenes writes nicely: “With those who pray properly, not only the High Priest (i.e. Christ) prays, but also angels and souls those who have already died … In this life the saints saw only as in the mirror and in the riddle, in the future they see face to face. They have advanced as well in other virtues. One of the main virtues according to God’s words is love of neighbor, therefore the saints have it to a much greater extent than those who are here they are still fighting the earth … »Love forces them to do something for their neighbor on earth and to serve Christ. They can’t do it to do other than through prayer, intercession with God. The “communion of saints” is also explained by theologians of the new age. For example according to Shebeen, it inevitably follows from faith in the mystical body of Christ, t. j. Church, two consequences: union with Christ and spiritual In the community of believers not all members to each other by the bond of love, to each other giving and receiving gifts of grace.