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Pope Saint Paul VI (3 April 1969): “Although the text of the Roman Gradual—at least that which concerns the singing—has not been changed, the Entrance antiphons and Communions antiphons have been revised for Masses without singing.”

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Views from the Choir Loft

Intercession by saints? Why not go directly to God?

Jeff Ostrowski · August 5, 2014

898 Pope Pius XII IANIST STEPHEN HOUGH publishes a blog on The Telegraph in which he often talks about the Catholic faith … but don’t get too excited. He frequently attacks Catholic beliefs, and recently assaulted the notion that saints can intercede.

Similar to other “famous cases” against the truth of Catholicism, 1 intercession by the saints has been defended a hundred million times by Catholic authors, and I was surprised Mr. Hough didn’t Google before posting. However, let me offer another “take” on this subject—perhaps Fr. Friel or some other priest can let me know if I’m on the right track.

First, a brief story. My wife took our van to have the oil changed and tires rotated at Nissan. The ones performing the service damaged our vehicle. Nissan promised to fix the damage, and asked us to wait three weeks for the new parts to arrive. Once it arrived, they told us that if brought the van in at 8:15am, they’d have it fixed by 3:00pm. So, we dropped off the van, but a secretary called and said it might not be ready for a few days (which was unacceptable, since the children’s seats were in the van). To make a long story short, I spent two days trying to reach somebody in the maintenance department, but each time I called, various people “blocked” me from speaking to the man in charge of the repairs. My cell phone shows I called a total of fifteen times without being allowed to speak to him. Finally, I drove to the place where I knew my van was being repaired, only to discover it had already been fixed, and was just waiting to be picked up.

This story illustrates a fact that many have learned the hard way: giving the public direct access to you (like your private cell phone number) is to be avoided. Most company “higher ups” place a hundred billion secretaries and “intermediaries” between them and you, to make sure you’re kept in your place. For instance, consider that guy at Nissan. His secretary kept saying to me, “Oh, I’ll tell him.” His partner Doug kept saying, “I’ll get an answer for you when I see him.” It was like a type of shield he wore around himself. 2

I’m not going to belabor this point, because those who know what I’m talking about will understand already. Those who don’t will have to learn the hard way. An “intermediary” can be a very useful thing. I’d give anything to have a secretary who could make sure I never see the nasty letters we occasionally receive from people who don’t understand our mission to eliminate secular-style music from Mass. For some reason, my brain continues to dwell on these nasty letters, instead of the letters of encouragement we receive.

NOW CONSIDER THIS: if a “bad” intermediary like that Nissan secretary can have such a terrible effect, couldn’t a “good” intermediary like a saint have a positive effect? Besides, many times in the Bible, God did things difficult to understand on a human level—like requiring Moses to strike the Rock for water to come out, when God could have made water come without any striking—yet later we see that He had a reason. I could say more about this, especially in light of last week’s Gospel, but I’ll refrain for the time being.

When somebody says, “I don’t need a saint—I can go directly to God,” maybe we should respond: “Certainly, but how dare you?” Sometimes it seems we take for granted the fact that God lets us speak directly to Him (and He does). In other words, isn’t it a mark of humility when Catholics ask for the intercession of the saints? Shouldn’t we poor sinners be somewhat hesitant to approach the Holy Creator directly?

This is but ANOTHER TAKE on intercession, in addition to all the other explanations put forth by Catholic teachers over the years (which I’ve not even mentioned here).



NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   Another example would be the erroneous assertion that our Lady had other children. This was utterly demolished by St. Jerome.

2   Years ago, I worked for a priest like that. No matter how many times I’d call his phone, he’d never pick up. But when I called from a number he didn’t recognize, he’d pick up. Also, when he needed me to play a funeral or do him a favor, he’d call me. If I didn’t answer the phone when he called (even on my day off), he’d read me the riot act, or he’d keep calling my number over and over. If I still didn’t answer, he’d start calling my family members, including siblings who lived 900+ miles away!

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Pope Pius XII Second World War Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Jeff Ostrowski

Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas (2004). He resides with his wife and children in Michigan. —(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    “Music List” • 22nd in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I’ve prepared for 31 August 2025, which is the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and Mass Propers for this Sunday are conveniently stored at the spectacular feasts website alongside the official texts in Latin.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “The Worm That Dieth Not”
    My pastor asked me to write a column for our parish bulletin with reflections on the sacred liturgy and church music. In my most recent article, I discuss “The Worm That Dieth Not.” At this website, you can access it conveniently; simply scroll down to the one dated 31 August 2025.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    A Nice Hymn In Spanish
    In my humble opinion, this is a really beautiful hymn in Spanish. If I practice diligently, I’ll be able to pronounce all the words properly. If you’re someone who’s interested in obtaining a melody only version (suitable for your congregational ORDER OF WORSHIP) you can steal that from this.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Solemn “Salve Regina” (Chant)
    How many “S” words can you think of using alliteration? How about Schwann Solemn Salve Score? You can download the SOLEMN SALVE REGINA in Gregorian Chant. The notation follows the official rhythm (EDITIO VATICANA). Canon Jules Van Nuffel, choirmaster of the Cathedral of Saint Rumbold, composed this accompaniment for it (although some feel it isn’t his best work).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    Pope Pius XII Hymnal?
    Have you ever heard of the Pope Pius XII Hymnal? It’s a real book, published in the United States in 1959. Here’s a sample page so you can verify with your own eyes it existed.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    “Hybrid” Chant Notation?
    Over the years, many have tried to ‘simplify’ plainsong notation. The O’Fallon Propers attempted to simplify the notation—but ended up making matters worse. Dr. Karl Weinmann tried to do the same in the time of Pope Saint Pius X by replacing each porrectus. You can examine a specimen from his edition and see whether you agree he complicated matters. In particular, look at what he did with éxsules fílii Hévae.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed

Random Quote

“We must say it plainly: the Roman rite as we knew it exists no more. It has gone. Some walls of the structure have fallen, others have been altered—we can look at it as a ruin or as the partial foundation of a new building. Think back, if you remember it, to the Latin sung High Mass with Gregorian chant. Compare it with the modern post-Vatican II Mass. It is not only the words, but also the tunes and even certain actions that are different. In fact it is a different liturgy of the Mass.”

— Fr. Joseph Gelineau (1978)

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