oubt, then, that during our earthly pilgrimage the saints
are our intercessors with God. True, we know that there is One who
guides our destinies and whose providence watches over all; but who
would not choose, also, to have a friend already abiding with God,
sharing His bliss and confirmed for ever in His grace, and who therefore
is in a position to aid us, and certainly will do so if we invoke Him?

The following is an example illustrating the power of the saints'
intercession with God:

Basilides was one of the guards that led St. Potamiana to a martyr's
death. Whilst the rest of the soldiers and the crowd of spectators
insulted the holy virgin, he treated her with great respect and
protected her from the assaults of the rabble. The martyr thanked him
for his kindness, and promised to pray for him when she came into God's
presence. A few days after her death the grace of God touched Basilides'
heart, and he professed himself a Christian. His comrades at first
imagined that he was jesting. But when he persevered in the confession
of the Faith, he was brought before the judge, who sentenced him to be
beheaded next day. Taken to prison, he was baptized, and at the
appointed time, executed.

What else but the intercession of the saint whom he had befriended
obtained for this heathen the grace of the Faith and martyrdom?
Convinced of the power of the intercession of the saints, Origen writes:
"I will fall on my knees, and because I am unworthy to pray to God on
account of my sins, I will invoke all the saints to come to my aid. O ye
saints of God, I, filled with sadness, sighing and weeping, implore you;
intercede for me, a miserable sinner, with the Lord of mercies!"

CHAPTER III

For What the Intercession of the Saints May and Should be Invoked

IT IS obvious that there are objects to attain which we ought not to
pray. We shall try to specify them as follows:

1. _We may not pray for things that are evil or injurious in themselves,
or injurious on account of circumstances._ Amongst these are comprised
all those that are opposed to the salvation of the person praying, or of
some one else. It is contrary to the very idea of prayer that God should
grant to His creature anything evil, anything that is in itself, and not
only by abuse, harmful. Prayer, according to the rules of morality, must
have for its object only the attainment of whatever is good and
profitable, and only then is it heard by God.

2. _Things