As Catholics, we believe in the communion of saints. When thinking of saints, one might usually think of those persons who have been specially canonized by the Church. It is easy to forget that every single person in heaven is a saint, and every person in the Church has a vocation to be one. This communion of saints consists of three parts—the Church militant, “those who are pilgrims on earth”; the Church suffering, “the dead who are being purified”; and the Church triumphant, “the blessed in heaven” (CCC 962).
The communion of saints, the Mystical Body of Christ, is united in our threefold purpose to know, love, and serve God. We are one family with a common duty to love God first and love our neighbors as ourselves. CCC 959 says, “if we continue to love one another and to join in praising the Most Holy Trinity - all of us who are sons of God and form one family in Christ - we will be faithful to the deepest vocation of the Church." So, by partaking in the obligations of the communion of saints, the Church succeeds in fulfilling her vocation.
The Church teaches that this communion forms the entirety of the Mystical Body of Christ. Christ is the head, and every one of the faithful are the parts of the body. St. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians: “just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ” (12:12). And further, “If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together” (12:26). Anything an individual Christian does, whether it be good or bad, it affects the entire Church. Hence CCC 953, “In this solidarity with all men, living or dead, which is founded on the communion of saints, the least of our acts done in charity redounds to the profit of all. Every sin harms this communion.”
As the word ‘Catholic’ implies, the communion of saints is a universal fellowship of the faithful. Although we are all united in one Body, each of us are individual beings with differences, just like the various parts of a body. This Body is like a beautiful mosaic: each person is a piece in this wonderful creation. By working together to form the mosaic, the three states of the Church can support each other in various ways, chiefly by praying for one another.
Our obligations in the communion of saints consist in encouraging each other in the faith as much as our current state allows, and living the faith well ourselves. This is done primarily by praying for each other: praying for the Church militant on earth to continue their fight for the faith; for the Church suffering going through a temporary purification; and to the Church triumphant in heaven, who rejoice in the Lord’s presence and pray for those who have yet to join them. The Council of Trent teaches us that “the souls there detained [in purgatory] are helped by the suffrages of the faithful, but principally by the acceptable sacrifice of the altar”; and later, that it is good and useful to invoke the saints who are with Christ (Sess. XXV).
In this day and age, it is often hard to openly practice our Catholic faith and continuously strive to be a saint—that is, to be holy. As young people, we can look to the examples of recent saints, especially younger ones, in following the footsteps of Christ, by living out a life of prayer, virtue, and communion with the Church. We must also beware of the many temptations that the Evil One has used to target our generations. As the holy men and women did in the Bible, we must walk in the commandments of God, living an upright and honest life. G.K. Chesterton has an awe-inspiring quote concerning this duty: “Each generation is contradicted by the saint who contradicts it most.”
The communion of saints is the Body of the Church, united in one Faith through one Leader. Pope Leo XIV says, “the mystery of the communion of saints, which we breathe in deeply today, reminds us of the final destiny of humanity: a great celebration in which we rejoice together in the love of God, present in all, recognizing and admiring the multifaceted beauty of faces, all different and all resembling the face of Christ.” This indeed is the Church’s beautiful vocation.
Bibliography
Catechism of the Catholic Church: Revised in Accordance with the Official Latin Text Promulgated by Pope John Paul II. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1997. Print.
Leo XIV. Angelus, 1st November 2025, Solemnity of All Saints. Vatican: The Holy See. Web. Last viewed: 01/12/2025. https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/angelus/2025/documents/20251101-angelus.html
The Holy Bible. Revised Standard Version 2nd Catholic Edition. San Francisco: Ignatius Press. 2006. Print.
Pius IV. Decree Concerning Purgatory and On the Invocation, Veneration, and Relics, of Saints, and on Sacred Images. General Council of Trent: Twenty-Fifth Session. 1563. Papal Encyclicals Online. Web. Last viewed: 01/12/2025. https://www.papalencyclicals.net/councils/trent/twenty-fifth-session.htm