Bulletin Q&A Article; Published 1-14-24:
What does “the communion of the saints” in the Apostles’ Creed really mean?
We often recite our prayers without actually thinking about the words we are saying. But if we recite the Apostles’ Creed from memory, it is still important to understand what it is we say we believe. And one of those things we say we believe is in the communion of saints.
The Catechism addresses this line of the creed: “After confessing ‘the holy catholic Church,’ the Apostles’ Creed adds ‘the communion of saints.’ In a certain sense this article is a further explanation of the preceding: ‘What is the Church if not the assembly of all the saints?’ The communion of saints is the Church” (CCC #946). So the communion of saints constitutes the Church itself, but the Catechism goes on to say that the communion of saints: “has two closely linked meanings: ‘communion in holy things (sancta)’ and ‘among holy persons (sancti)’” (CCC #948).
The holy things mentioned in the Catechism include the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, our charisms and graces, and our worldly possessions that we should share in charity. The inclusion of holy things as part of the communion of saints is a new concept for me and will give me a different perspective when I pray the Apostles’ Creed. My image of the communion of saints has always focused on the holy persons aspect.
Regarding holy persons, the Catechism quotes from Lumen Gentium, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church from Vatican II, and speaks about three states in the Church: “When the Lord comes in glory, and all his angels with him, death will be no more and all things will be subject to him. But at the present time some of his disciples are pilgrims on earth. Others have died and are being purified, while still others are in glory, contemplating ‘in full light, God himself triune and one, exactly as he is’” (CCC #954).
The Church is made up of three different groups. First, there are those of us who are still living, who are striving to become saints working out our salvation with fear and trembling as St. Paul tells us we should in his letter to the Philippians. We are referred to as the Church Militant. Second, there are those souls in Purgatory who are being purified, but who are assured of reaching Heaven as their eternal destination. We refer to them as the Church Suffering. And third, there are the souls already in Heaven enjoying the beatific vision. We refer to them as the Church Triumphant. Together, all three groups make up the Church, the communion of saints.
We are all members of the Body of Christ. We are all in this together. Pope Benedict XVI in his encyclical Spe Salvi (Saved by Hope) writes: “As Christians we should never limit ourselves to asking: how can I save myself? We should also ask: what can I do in order that others may be saved and that for them too the star of hope may rise? Then I will have done my utmost for my own personal salvation as well” (Spe Salvi #48). We ask each other, and we ask the saints in Heaven, to pray for us that we too may be triumphant and gain entrance into Heaven. We pray for God’s mercy on the souls in Purgatory, because those souls can no longer pray for themselves.