Song - Let The Sleeping Saints Be

Lyrics

[Verse 1]

Praying to the saints, it's a Roman Catholic thing.

Look back at the Bible1, see what it did bring.

Saul asked a saint for help2, but it was a fail3.

Is this practice from heaven, or straight from Hell?4

[Chorus]

Oh Mary, when you meet a Catholic in the sky,

will you ask "hi, who are you?" with a twinkle in your eye?

We've been praying to the saints, hoping they'll hear our plea,

but maybe we should reconsider, let the sleeping saints5 be!

[Verse 2]

Light our candles, say our prayers,

hoping the saints will take away our cares6.

But Saul's story gives us a pause,

should we pray to saints, or is it a lost cause?

[Chorus]

Oh Mary, when you meet a Catholic in the sky,

will you ask "hi, who are you?" with a twinkle in your eye?

We've been praying to the saints, hoping they'll hear our plea,

but maybe we should reconsider, let the sleeping saints be!

[Verse 3]

Take a moment, open our eyes.

Stop praying to saints, send prayers to Christ7.

Keep faith strong, hearts pure.

Don't be like the fool at En Dor8.

[Chorus]

Oh Mary, when you meet a Catholic in the sky,

will you ask "hi, who are you?" with a twinkle in your eye?

We've been praying to the saints, hoping they'll hear our plea,

but maybe we should reconsider, let the sleeping saints be!

[Verse 2, reprise]

Light our candles, say our prayers...

Hoping the saints will take away our cares...

But Saul's story gives us a pause...

Should we pray to saints, or is it a lost cause?

Or is it a lost cause?

[Chorus]

Oh Mary, when you meet a Catholic in the sky,

will you ask "hi, who are you?" with a twinkle in your eye?

We've been praying to the saints, hoping they'll hear our plea,

but maybe we should reconsider, let the sleeping saints be!

[Verse 3, reprise]

Take a moment, open our eyes.

Stop praying to saints, send prayers to Christ.

Keep faith strong, hearts pure.

Don't be like the fool at En Dor.

Background

"Let the sleeping saints be" is a tongue-in-cheek jab at Roman Catholic necromancy, in particular with focus on Marian idolatry. It actually began as a meme, which is the header image for my article ""I never knew you": Less scary from Mary", though the title more closely resembles my similar article "Let sleeping saints lie".

The song is sung from the perspective of a religiously ambiguous pseudo-Catholic questioning the idea of communicating with the saints. The first verse introduces this idea, pointing out that praying to Saints is a primarily Roman Catholic thing. As it should, however, it leads directly into "look back at the Bible, see what it did bring." This is a direct reference to Isaiah 8:19-20, which states "And when they say to you, “Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter,” should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living? To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." Not only is this a Bible verse that forbids seeking the intercession of the dead, but it also harkens back "to the law and to the testimony", which likewise forbids seeking the intercession of the dead. Thus, the verse continues to question the origins of the practice.

The chorus is intentionally charitable towards Catholics. Objectively, Mary will never meet a Catholic. She died many years before the Catholic Church formed, and the only Catholics who actually make it to Heaven will no longer be Catholic. However, the song assumes the simplicity that is in Christ (2 Corinthians 11:3), which enables true believers to hold some of the most egregious errors. Thus, it is guaranteed Mary will meet many millions of ex-Catholics throughout eternity. The plot twist? Mary asks "hi, who are you?" There is, of course, quite a bit of speculation involved here, as it's possible God will supernaturally insert the knowledge of every individual saint into the minds of every other saint, eliminating the need for introductions. However, it is all but guaranteed that every prayer to Mary (and indeed every other deceased saint) falls on deaf ears. Thus, the chorus concludes with the phrase "let the sleeping saints be".

This is a triple reference. First, it draws on the way the death of the saved is referred to as "sleep" (e.g. 1 Corinthians 15:6). But they are also referred to as the dead in Christ (1 Thessalonians 4:16). By Biblical standards, this makes it utterly inexcusable to attempt to contact them. This is the sin of necromancy. And no, "they're alive in Heaven" does not excuse it.

But the third reference is also directly described in the rest of the song. In the entire Bible, there is only one example of a living person on the Earth attempting to contact a deceased saint for intercession. This is found in 1 Samuel 28, in which king Saul, approaching the end of his reign (and his life), seeks the intercession of Samuel the prophet. So he seeks out a witch in En Dor, and she summons Samuel. Rather than intercede, however, Samuel rebukes Saul for "disturbing" him by bringing him up. If this is how Samuel reacted to one man coming to him with one request, one can hardly imagine Mary, or any of our other forerunners in the faith, being happy about receiving literally millions of misguided requests on a daily basis. At the time I wrote this song, I had not yet written this article or began using its point, but I feel it is also worth noting that "Paul didn't believe he could help from the grave" either. It was his desire to "depart and be with Christ", yet he sought to remain on Earth because the Church needed him with them, too. Biblically, there is no indication that any saint can, or believed they could, hear us from Heaven, or that their closer access to God was somehow useful to those on the Earth.

The rest of the song draws very heavily on the story of Saul, emphasising how worthless prayer is when it is directed to any human being, save the obvious exception: The one mediator between man and God, Jesus Christ (1 Timothy 2:5). None of the excuses Catholics make for speaking to the saints hold up when we consider His unique role. He didn't die so we could have direct access to dead men, but so we could have direct access to the Living God.

One of the quirks of AI is that it sometimes generates strange things. A mispronounced word here, a mismatched note there, all sorts of weird things. Sometimes, it seems to cut a song short, but it also has a tendency to over-extend songs, too. In this case, Mozart AI decided to add a creepy, music box solo to the end of the song. I was not expecting it when I first heard it, as I doubt any of you were either. But given the theme, I thought it was actually perfect. While Catholics see their necromancy as a beautiful act of devotion, the distinction between it and occultic practices is negligible. So of course, I just had to include a Halloween type meme at the end, reminding the audience "Necromancy is BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD".

Scripture references

1. Isaiah 8:20

2. 1 Samuel 28:11

3. 1 Samuel 28:20

4. 2 Corinthians 11:13-15

5. 1 Thessalonians 4:16

6. 1 Peter 5:7

7. 1 Timothy 2:5

8. 1 Samuel 28:7

AI usage

This song was produced using Mozart AI.