THE CATECHISM OF
THE
CATHOLIC CHURCH
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THE PROFESSION OF FAITH
SECTION TWO
946 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?"[477] The communion of saints is the Church.
947 "Since all the faithful form one body, the good of each is
communicated to the others.... We must therefore believe that there exists
a communion of goods in the Church. But the most important member is
Christ, since he is the head.... Therefore, the riches of Christ are
communicated to all the members, through the sacraments."[478] "As this
Church is governed by one and the same Spirit, all the goods she has
received necessarily become a common fund."[479]
948 The term "communion of saints" therefore has two closely linked
meanings: communion in holy things (sancta)" and "among holy persons
(sancti)."
Sancta sancti's! ("God's holy gifts for God's holy people") is proclaimed
by the celebrant in most Eastern liturgies during the elevation of the
holy Gifts before the distribution of communion. The faithful (sancta) are
fed by Christ's holy body and blood (sancta) to grow in the communion of
the Holy Spirit (koinonia) and to communicate it to the world.
949 In the primitive community of Jerusalem, the disciples "devoted
themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of
the bread and the prayers."[480]
Communion in the faith. The faith of the faithful is the faith of the
Church, received from the apostles. Faith is a treasure of life which is
enriched by being shared.
950 Communion of the sacraments. "The fruit of all the sacraments belongs
to all the faithful. All the sacraments are sacred links uniting the
faithful with one another and binding them to Jesus Christ, and above all
Baptism, the gate by which we enter into the Church. The communion of
saints must be understood as the communion of the sacraments.... The name
'communion' can be applied to all of them, for they unite us to God....
But this name is better suited to the Eucharist than to any other, because
it is primarily the Eucharist that brings this communion about."[481]
951 Communion of charisms. Within the communion of the Church, the Holy
Spirit "distributes special graces among the faithful of every rank" for
the building up of the Church.[482] Now, "to each is given the
manifestation of the Spirit for the common good."[483]
952 "They had everything in common."[484] "Everything the true Christian
has is to be regarded as a good possessed in common with everyone else.
All Christians should be ready and eager to come to the help of the needy
. . . and of their
neighbors in want."[485] A Christian is a steward of the Lord's
goods.[486]
953 Communion in charity. In the sanctorum communio, "None of us lives to
himself, and none of us dies to himself."[487] "If one member suffers, all
suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you
are the body of Christ and individually members of it."[488] "Charity does
not insist on its own way."[489] 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.
954 The three states of 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"':[490]
All of us, however, in varying degrees and in different ways share in the
same charity towards God and our neighbours, and we all sing the one hymn
of glory to our God. All, indeed, who are of Christ and who have his
Spirit form one Church and in Christ cleave together.[491]
955 "So it is that the union of the wayfarers with the brethren who sleep
in the peace of Christ is in no way interrupted, but on the contrary,
according to the constant faith of the Church, this union is reinforced by
an exchange of spiritual goods."[492]
956 The intercession of the saints. "Being more closely united to Christ,
those who dwell in heaven fix the whole Church more firmly in holiness....
They do not cease to intercede with the Father for us, as they proffer
the merits which they acquired on earth through the one mediator between
God and men, Christ Jesus.... So by their fraternal concern is our
weakness greatly helped."[493]
Do not weep, for I shall be more useful to you after my death and I shall
help you then more effectively than during my life.[494]
I want to spend my heaven in doing good on earth.[495]
957 Communion with the saints. "It is not merely by the title of example
that we cherish the memory of those in heaven; we seek, rather, that by
this devotion to the exercise of fraternal charity the union of the whole
Church in the Spirit may be strengthened. Exactly as Christian communion
among our fellow pilgrims brings us closer to Christ, so our communion
with the saints joins us to Christ, from whom as from its fountain and
head issues all grace, and the life of the People of God itself"[496]:
We worship Christ as God's Son; we love the martyrs as the Lord's
disciples and imitators, and rightly so because of their matchless
devotion towards their king and master. May we also be their companions
and fellow disciples![497]
958 Communion with the dead. "In full consciousness of this communion of
the whole Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, the Church in its pilgrim
members, from the very earliest days of the Christian religion, has
honored with great respect the memory of the dead; and 'because it is a
holy and a wholesome thought to pray for the dead that they may be loosed
from their sins' she offers her suffrages for them."[498] Our prayer for
them is capable not only of helping them, but also of making their
intercession for us effective.
959 In the one family of God. "For 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."[499]
IN BRIEF
960 The Church is a "communion of saints": this expression refers first to
the "holy things" (sancta), above all the Eucharist, by which "the unity
of believers, who form one body in Christ, is both represented and brought
about" (LG 3).
961 The term "communion of saints" refers also to the communion of "holy
persons" (sancti) in Christ who "died for all," so that what each one does
or suffers in and for Christ bears fruit for all.
962 "We believe in the communion of all the faithful of Christ, those who
are pilgrims on earth, the dead who are being purified, and the blessed in
heaven, all together forming one Church; and we believe that in this
communion, the merciful love of God and his saints is always [attentive]
to our prayers" (Paul VI, CPG # 30).
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