What is intercession? Intercession is a prayer, petition, or entreaty in favor of another. The Catechism of the Catholic Church talks about 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" (CCC 956).

When we are going through a hard time, or we know of someone else who is suffering, our first instinct is to go to our friends and ask for their prayers. We especially ask those friends who we know have a solid prayer life. And if we ask our friends and family for prayers on our behalf, why wouldn't we beseech those in Heaven, who are before God, constantly worshipping, for all eternity, to pray for us as well? This is the beauty of the intercession of Mary and the saints.

There are many different devotions to Mary and the saints. We will be covering several of them in our prayer section, but here are a few of the most common devotions to be used in petitions for intercession:

Devotions to Mary:

Acts of Reparation
Consecration to Mary
First Saturdays
Hearts of Jesus & Mary
Immaculate Heart
The Rosary
Scapular
Seven Joys
Seven Sorrows

Devotions to Saints:

Novenas
Patron Saints
Chaplets
Litany
Intercession
Prayers