COMMUNION OF SAINTS - All members of the Church, living and departed, are in fellowship and communion with each other, being one Body in Christ.
When Christians depart this life, they remain a vital part of the Church, the Body of Christ. They are alive in the Lord and "registered in heaven"
(Hebrews 12:23). They worÂship God
(Revelation 4:10) and inhabit His heavenly dwelling places
(John 14:2). In the Eucharist we come "to the city of the living God" and join in communion with the saints in our worship of God
(Hebrews 12:22). They are that great "cloud of witnesses" which surÂrounds us, and we seek to imitate them in running "the race that is set before us"
(Hebrews 12:1). Rejecting or ignoring the communion of saints is a denial that those who have died in Christ are still part of his Holy Church.