Everyone wonders if their prayers are being heard, and that is where "The Communion of Saints" comes in. Because of life's rigors, our prayers cease at times; but the Saints, in heaven with God, can pray for us unceasingly: What a help!
Helen Rogers King, the mother of my husband, Michael, had Alzheimer’s for sixteen years. We watched her pass from a vibrant mother of four men to a woman who did not even know her husband. She and Captain David L. G. King met at the Shipyard Commander’s office on Mare Island, between San Francisco and Oakland, CA, in 1942. Ensign King’s ship was undergoing repair shortly after the Pearl Harbor attack, which he experienced. They were married one month later.
Helen, in her early twenties
Helen, a Protestant, regularly took her four sons to church. Despite this observance, she was a woman who never discussed her faith. She likely viewed religion as a private affair. So when she died, it suddenly hit me that I truly did not know if she had made Jesus the King of her heart or not.
Jesus did, undoubtedly, reign in the heart and mind of Mabel Riggs Dunfee, my maternal grandmother and a Presbyterian from West Virginia. If I had to put my finger on someone who shaped my life through her faithful prayers, it would be Mabel. Even today, when I see a pink sky, my thoughts recall how Grandmother wanted to float away on a pink cloud when she died. Well, she lived to be nearly 102 when she passed, so each pink sky reminds me of her presence and prayers for me.
When Helen died, I needed to know that she was with Jesus, but I did not know how to find out. As I knew Mabel was in heaven, I tried an experiment to prove Helen’s location via my daughter Hannah. Hannah, our third child, was at Eastern Washington University near Spokane, WA, and I was very concerned about her spiritual condition. Without knowing much about The Communion of Saints, as I was not a Catholic at the time, I said to Mabel, “If Helen is up there with you, I want the two of you to get together and pray that Hannah will ask Jesus into her heart.” Within two weeks, Hannah made Jesus her Savior, and I knew that Helen was now part of Saints' Communion.
So when I came into the Catholic Church in 2009, I understood that I have an army of prayer warriors. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states it thus: 956–
"Being more closely united to Christ, those who dwell in heaven fix the whole Church more firmly in holiness…. They do not cease to intercede with the Father for us, as they proffer the merits they acquired on earth through the one mediator between God and men, Christ Jesus…. So by their fraternal concern is our weakness greatly helped.” Or as St. Dominic, dying to his brothers, stated, “Do not weep, for I shall be more useful to you after my death, and I shall help you then more effectively than during my life.”
When people ask me to pray for them, I immediately turn the prayers over to my Blessed Mother as I would to a stockbroker. She is my constant prayer warrior on duty at all times. Yes, I will write the prayers down in my little prayer book, and I will say them as I pray my Rosary, but I know that Mary will constantly be praying for that person’s needs. What a comfort!!
Giving those prayers to the Communion of Saints, so great a cloud of witnesses, reminds me of the beautiful statue of Our Blessed Mother, which Mrs. Betsy Miller gave my fifth child for her first communion. At the bottom of the statue is a little drawer where one can place prayers. When I hand my prayers to Our Blessed Mother and The Communion of Saints, my concerns are constantly being offered up, and I can live each day more fully for Him.
Martha Wild King, M.Ed., Author
The Frugal Catholic: Learn to live on less to give and save more.