It’s a question that many sincere Christians have asked: If saints are in heaven, how could they possibly hear our prayers here on earth? It’s a good and honest question, one that leads us to reflect more deeply on what it means to belong to the Body of Christ—a communion that even death cannot break.
In the Book of Revelation, we see a powerful image: the saints in heaven offering “golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the holy ones” (Revelation 5:8). This shows that the saints are not distant spectators but living members of Christ’s Body who care about what happens to us. Their love, purified and perfected in heaven, continues to intercede for us before the throne of God.
The Church teaches that those who are in heaven are fully united with Christ, and in Him, they share in His divine knowledge and love. Because they live in the light of God, they can perceive our needs—not by their own power, but through the grace of God who allows them to share in His concern for His children on earth. In this way, when we pray to a saint, we are asking a friend in heaven to join us in prayer to God.
Think of it like asking a holy friend on earth to pray for you—but even more perfectly. The saints’ intercession doesn’t replace our direct prayers to God; it strengthens them. As Scripture reminds us, “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective” (James 5:16). The saints, being completely righteous and alive in God’s presence, pray for us with hearts full of love and grace.
So yes, the saints can hear us—not by natural ability, but because they live fully in God, who is outside time and space. In His presence, nothing is hidden, and every cry of the heart is known. When we turn to the saints, we are not stepping away from Christ, but drawing nearer to Him through those who love Him most.
Let us remember that in God’s family, love never dies. The saints hear us because they live in the perfect love of Christ, and they long for us to join them there one day.
May we walk with confidence, knowing that heaven itself prays with us and for us.
— Fr. John Matthew, for Christian Way
