Intercession of the saints is a Christian doctrine common to the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. Intercessory prayer is a petition made to God on behalf of others. If a believer prays for her children or friends, his enemies or leaders, then the believer is interceding on behalf of another. The doctrine of saintly intercession goes back to the earliest church. The justification for calling upon a saint in prayer is that the saints are both close to God, because of their holiness, and accessible to humans.

Jesus' parable of Dives and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31 might indicate the ability of the dead to pray for the living. Paul's repeated references to Jesus Christ as "advocate" for the believers also indicates that Jesus, living at the right hand of God, will intercede (pray) for the believer (Rom 8:34; Heb 7:25). By extension, other holy persons who are dead might intercede on behalf of the petitioner.

In the Roman Catholic Church doctrine supports intercesory prayer to saints, especially Mary, the mother of Jesus, although the Second Vatican Council in the early 1960s deemphasized the role of saints. Intercesory prayer to saints also plays an important spot in the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches.

Protestant views

Many Protestant

Jewish views

There is some evidence of a Jewish belief in intercession, both in the form of the paternal blessings passed down from Abraham to his children, and 2 Maccabees, where Judas Maccabaeus sees the dead Onias and Jeremiah giving blessing to the Jewish army.

Muslim views

There is a difference of opinion amongst the Muslims. Both the Orthodox Sunni and the Shia Muslims accept intercession at the levels of Jurispudence and Creed. The Wahhabi Muslims approach the subject of intercession with extreme caution. In some cases the Wahhabis will call those who practice intercession (tawasul) as disbelievers.

See also

• Pokrov
• Patron saint
• Shrine

Hadith Proofs for Tawassul through the Prophet: