Colleen Orchanian

Have you ever seen a magic show for kids? When the magician asks for a volunteer, every hand shoots up saying, Pick me! Pick me! They all want to help. They want to be part of the show, part of the magic. They are ready to serve.

It's the same with the communion of saints. This is the one spiritual tool that is always battle-ready without any effort on our part. Too often, though, we don't pick up that tool, and that's a shame, because the prayers of the holy ones are powerful.

What is the communion of saints?

The Catholic Church divides the communion of saints into three states: the Church Triumphant (those in heaven), the Church Suffering (those in Purgatory), and the Church Militant (those on earth—US.) All three are part of our army in the spiritual battle. All three are ready to serve at any time. Are all three part of your spiritual army?

The Church Triumphant. Those in heaven have been perfected, and they cheer us on in the game of life. I have holy intercessors in heaven that I pray to before I write. They were chosen for this book on spiritual warfare. Some are saints, like Augustine and Ignatius of Loyola. Others are regular people, like my dad and my uncle. I ask them to pray for me because I need all the prayers I can get, and those in heaven are very powerful.

The Church Suffering. That sounds like it should be those of us still on earth, not yet fully united to God in heaven because there is a lot of suffering in this life. But it actually refers to the souls in purgatory. Purgatory is a place of purgation and purification. It's where we go before we enter heaven because we are not yet perfect, and nothing imperfect can enter heaven (Revelation 21:27). Purgatory is the mudroom of heaven where you get the dirt off your shoes and get cleaned up. The saints there can pray for us, and they do, even when we don't ask for it. But we should ask for it!

The Church Militant. We are most familiar with this group. We ask our friends and family to pray for us, and we pray for them. I have people praying for the book I'm writing, and I give them specific things to pray for each week.

The Church is our army in the spiritual battle. We are not supposed to fight alone. So how can we use the full communion of saints in spiritual warfare?

Enlisting the Church in the spiritual battle

1. Ask for prayers from people you know (the church militant) and be specific about your needs. You probably already do this. We pray to God, but we should also be asking others to pray on our behalf. They become our intercessors. Some may even be available for healing prayer. If so, take advantage of that gift.

2. Find a friend to help you make a spiritual battle plan (the church militant). They can be a spiritual director or a wise friend who is close to God. Together, you can work through the Spiritual Warfare Inventory to create a battle plan to overcome the devil.

3. Identify your heavenly intercessors (the Church Triumphant and Church Suffering) and ask for their help. Be specific. I wrote a prayer to ask my heavenly intercessors for help writing my book. Here are some of my requests: Dad, pray that I can hear your encouragement when things are a struggle. Bishop Casey, pray that I teach the truth inspired by the Holy Spirit that you received at Vatican II. C. S. Lewis, pray that I have the creativity to imagine the rules of Satan and that I always strive to improve as a writer. There are more, but that gives you an idea of what your prayer might sound like.

4. Pray to your guardian angel. They are given to you for your protection. Remember the prayer you learned as a child? Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom His love commits me here. Ever this day be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen. Your angel is a powerful spirit whose whole purpose is to serve you. Ask for his intercession.

We have so many with their hands in the air saying, "Pick me! Pick Me!" People on earth and in heaven.

Why don't we activate the full communion of saints in our spiritual battle?

• We don't want to bother others. Our needs are not big enough/serious enough. Maybe if I had cancer I would ask, but this is not important enough. The lie behind this resistance is that prayer is a zero-sum game. There are 100 points allocated for prayer, and if I ask for 10, that means there are only 90 left for others. Crazy, right? God has an infinite amount of grace and healing available to us. He will never run out. Every need is a valid prayer request.

• We don't want to share our struggles with others. This is a wise concern. We don't share with everyone and anyone. We choose who can receive the information and will maintain confidentiality. But even when there is a perfect confidante, we don't want to share. It could be that pride is the obstacle. We want others to think we have it all together and our life is perfect. If we ask for prayer, they will know we are broken. News flash: Everyone is broken. It is our brokenness that people are attracted to. Not our perfection.

• We don't believe prayer matters, and we don't believe in miracles. Jesus did miracles and told the disciples that they would do greater deeds than he did. He wants us to believe that prayers get answered, but it is hard. And so we pray like the father who asked for healing for his son, I do believe. Help my unbelief. Not all prayers will be answered as we would like, but they won't be answered if we don't ask.

• We are ignorant of the power of the saints in heaven. Check out the miracles of the saints. They all have some. The process for canonization includes two verifiable miracles attributed to the person. That's not easy. If you are struggling with a particular challenge, find the patron saint for that, and ask them to pray for you. And ask for prayers from those who have loved you and passed away: parents, children, spouses, siblings, friends. They are more alive now than they ever were on this earth.

The communion of saints is a tool in our spiritual arsenal. We need to pick up that tool and use it. Begin by identifying the spiritual attacks you are experiencing. Then choose your intercessors—here on earth and those in heaven. Finally, tell them what you need.

This is an easy weapon to use—and a powerful one. What are you waiting for? Ask, and you shall receive. They are on alert, waiting for your call.

Questions for Prayer:

1. How naturally do you reach out to others as intercessors? Do you make use of all the saints, those on earth and those in heaven? And your guardian angel?

2. How can you take advantage of the intercessors in your life? What prayers will help you fight the spiritual battle?