Communion of Saints

The spiritual fellowship uniting Christians on earth, the dead undergoing purification, and the saints in heaven. It expresses the unity of the Church across earthly life, purification, and heavenly glory.

Church (Christianity): The community of Christians understood as founded on Jesus Christ and entrusted with Christian worship and teaching. The communion describes the Church as one community extending beyond its living members.
Intercession of the saints: The practice of asking saints in heaven to pray to God on behalf of the living. It expresses the belief that fellowship with the saints includes prayer across death.
Protestant Reformation: The sixteenth-century movement that challenged Roman Catholic doctrine and authority and produced Protestant churches. Reformation debates reshaped how many Christians understood saints, prayer, and the Church.
Church Triumphant: The Christian community of saints believed to enjoy the presence of God in heaven. It names the heavenly members of the communion.
Saint: A person recognized as holy in Christian tradition, especially one believed to share eternal life with God. The saints in heaven form one part of the fellowship named by this doctrine.
Eucharist: The Christian sacrament commemorating Jesus’s Last Supper through bread and wine. Eucharistic worship joins earthly congregations to the worship of the whole Church.
Invocation of saints: The practice of calling upon saints to intercede with God. Some traditions accept this as an expression of communion; others reject it as lacking scriptural warrant.
Church Militant: A traditional Christian name for the Church’s members living and struggling on earth. It names the earthly members of the communion.
Purgatory: In Catholic teaching, a state of purification after death for those destined for heaven. The doctrine includes the dead undergoing purification alongside the living and the saints.
All Saints' Day: A Christian feast honoring all saints, including those without individual feast days. Its celebration makes the fellowship of known and unknown saints explicit.

Linked from 6 pages