You say “always,” but there is not evidence that Christians thought this way prior to the Reformation. The evidence of the Roman catacombs, with the reverence of the dead, especially the martyrs, is to the contrary and these date back to the Second Century. Polycarp, at the start of that century, had many devotees, and must have been a truly extraordinary man. The martyrs and other saints were heroes of Christ whose work on earth for their fellow Christians was now assumed to continued in heaven as men’s ambassadors in the heavenly court. The leveling reformers of the 16th century were impatient with such heroes or any devotion that might detract from Christ.
*always* in Scripture.
There is not one instance in Scripture of contact with the dead by those of us living being permitted or encouraged.
God's command is ALWAYS to not to try to contact the dead.
I don't particularly care what the ECF has to say about it because their writings are not God breathed infallible Scripture.