The whole idea of "intercession" is a peculiar one. Why not just direct prayers?
Is the idea that some people are so bad that God will pay attention only if a better person (a.k.a saint) hands over the prayer? Or is it that God is so busy that prayers need to be "streamlined" by reliable gate-keepers, in the manner of old-fashioned "batch data processing"? Or does the better person act like a probation officer at the sentencing of a petty criminal: "yes, his is not a brilliant record; but, on the other hand, he's done this and that good thing; all things considered, room for redemption ..."? Or maybe saints, unlike many today, speak Latin, the "preferred" language?
Well, let me explain: We believe in something called the communion of saints. If the small toe is hurting, the whole body can partake in the suffering. In other words, the oneness of the body of believers (church) with each other and with Christ is believed to be absolutely real by Catholics and Orthodox and Assyrians. We don't believe that once a Christian dies, he is kicked out of Christ's body by death. If anything, their position in the body is far more secured than we on earth who can still decide tomorrow to opt out of that body. That is all there is to the belief in saints, really. Nothing too grand about it.The saints pray for us the same way we pray for each other here on earth, our problems are each others. It really is that simple. We don't pray for them (those in heaven) because they are already in heaven and are not exactly lacking in anything. But we do pray for those dead who we believe are still going through some suffering in purgatory, and we believe they suffering also pray for us.
So the big difference between us (including orthodox and all apostolic/historic churches) and protestants is not really about the
value or the point or the purpose of intercession; Christians know they always have to pray for each other and help each other carry the crosses of life. No, the real difference, is that we believe that Christians who die as Christians are not just very much alive but an integral part of the body of Christ and thus are still VERY MUCH connected to all Christians who are also part of that same body, we believe that death has no power whatsoever over this union, while protestants do not believe that once Christians have died they are still connected to Christians who are living on earth. That really is the big difference.
The issue about God not having time/being busy makes very little sense to me, in fact I'm convinced the notion could only come from a non-believer. We do not and have never believed for even one moment that God is anything but absolutely and fully present to
everything that exists at all times. In fact, we believe that if God were ever too busy even for the tiniest moment to be
fully aware of any single thing, that thing would simply vanish from existence since it is only by God knowing it and deliberately willing it, that anything exists at all or continues to exist at any moment. So, absolutely not, it has nothing to do with God allegedly having little time, what a strange notion. God is omnipresent, omnipotent, nothing escapes his attention, not even the flap of the wings of a fly. It is
impossible that anyone can say anything and God not be anything but FULLY aware of it, much less that anyone can say anything to God himself and he be unaware of it. Like I said, ideas like this come from unbelievers in my view, for I cannot imagine a Christian or even a Jew or a Muslim who entertains the notion that God is pressed for time or power to do anything at all.
The issue about people being too bad to pray is another one that makes little sense. Asking for intercession does not prevent one from talking to God himself. In fact, no one would ask for intercession if they were not talking to God themselves. I have NEVER asked for intercession--whether from my friends at the parish on Sunday or the priest or even from the saints in heaven--for something of which I wasn't asking God myself directly. I don't know anybody who does that, actually. Every time someone says, pray for me over this or that issue, it is because they are already themselves praying over the same issue. I think some of these suggestions come from people who just don't practice prayer themselves and are speaking about an alien, coz if you pray, you know the way some things happen as a matter of course.
Protestants are afraid that speaking to saints in heaven somehow interferes with the place of Christ in their lives, and this is a concern we fully appreciate and understand, its actually the main bone of contention they have with this practice. But we look at it as exactly the same way as when speaking to God for each other here on earth. It never interferes with our beliefs in God or the place he occupies, and just because these people happen to have passed, their souls separated from their bodies, doesn't change who they are in the church, in our view.
We believe we are joined to Christ and participate in his mission, co-priests and intercessors, with others, not because we ourselves do anything of our own power but because we are literally joined to Christ and participate in his divine sonship by the gift of grace. In fact, this participation, power to be sons of God in Christ, is what we Catholics call grace or sanctifying grace. The saints suffered with and in Christ on earth, and they are now reigning in Christ at the right hand of the father, as we all shall, God willing, at the end of time.
