IN MY FATHER'S HOUSE THERE ARE MANY MANSIONS....in defense of Saints

In My Father's house there are many mansions,Jesus Christ said (John 14:2 )
The apostle Paul adds that every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor (1 Cor. 3: 8 ).
The degree of blessedness will corespond to the degree of the deeds--what we shall sow here on earth,that we shall reap in heaven.
The glorification of the rightous is not limited only to the heavenly mansions.
Our Lord, the just judge and Giver of gifts,
also glorifies His saints in the earthly Church.This glorification,
according to the instructions of the Church,
consists of our revering the departed rightous ones
as saints and friends of God, as''quick helpers and suplicators'', venerating their incorupt relics and their icons.
We call the rightous departed,saints of God, in the sense that they pleased God in their life, and for that reason were worthy to receive eternal blessedness.
But, revering saints of God,
we DO NOT PLACE THEM ON THE SAME LEVEL WITH THE LORD GOD, nor regard them as gods, but accept them as true SERVANTS of God, friends of God.
These words ,oft-heard in church: WONDEROUS IS GOD IN HIS SAINTS (PSALM 67:35 ),mean that God is glorified through His saints.
Living on earth, they praised God's name
by their life of rightousness,glorifying the name of heavenly Father,and now,residing in heaven,God's name is praised through their memory among people.
Therefore, revering God's rightous people, we honour in them God Himself,Whom they pleased while on earth, and Whose grace resided in them.
The Saviour , while regarding as His friends all those who fulfilled His commandments, said to His disciples: HE THAT RECEIVETH YOU RECEIVETH ME, AND HE THAT RECEIVETH ME RECEIVETH HIM THAT SENT ME (Mathew 10 :40 _)
There is no doubt that the Lord Himself immediately hears the prayers of all individuals, but our innumerable sins interfere with the power of our prayers.
I know that God will not hear sinners,
said the one who though blind from birth, was cured by the Saviour, but if any man be a worshipper of GOD ,and doeth His will, him He heareth (John 9: 31 )
The effectual fervant prayer of a rightous man availeth much, The Apostle James teaches us ( James 5 : 16)
God Himself commanded a king to entreat the rightous Abraham to pray for him,
saying:FOR HE IS A PROPHET, AND SHALL PRAY FOR THEE, AND THOU SHALL LIVE (Genesis 20:7 )
The Lord commanded the friends of the long suffering Job,who had offended him,to ask his prayers: GO TO MY SERVANT JOB,AND HE SHALL PRAY FOR YOU,FOR HIM WILL I ACCEPT, LEST I DEAL WITH YOU AFTER YOUR FOLLY (jOB 42: 8 )
Because of the prayers of the rightous
the Lord often spared people who sinned.
Moses prayed for the Hebrew people who had fallen into the sin of idol worship
and were already doomed to destructiony God;the Lord accepted the prayer of the holy man and pardoned the stiffnecked people (Exodus 32 :9-12 )

The Lord once said to the prophet Jeremiah:Though Moses and Samuel stood before Me, yet My mind could not be toward this people (Hebrews)....who shall have pity on thee, O Jerusalem,or who shall bemoan thee? (Jer. 15: 1, 5 )
This means that Moses and Samuel,though already departed by the time of Jeremiah,can intercede (pray for ) for sinful people.
Judas Maccabeus saw a vision of the departed high priest,Onias, who was '''praying for all the Hebrew people,'' and , pointed to another man, who was with him, said to Judas:This is Jeremiah, the prophet of God, who prays much for the people, and for the holy city(11 Macc.15:12,14 )

And the holy Apostle Peter clearly promised his disciples that after his death he would remember them:Moreover, i will endevour that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance (11 Peter. 1:15 )

In the book of Revelation the visions of St John the Theologion demonstartes that saints do pray for us, and their prayers , like smoke from a censer,rise before God, and He receives them with favour.