Faith Matters For All the Saints

Overview What is a saint? Hagiography History and Types of Saints Process to Sainthood Whatever happened to….

What is a saint? The meaning of the terms for "saint" in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin is "holy one." holy, sanctified, or consecrated Term has been obscured in Modern times In Scripture the term "saint" is used in the following ways: to refer (indiscriminately) to Jews to refer (indiscriminately) to Christians to refer to notably holy people to refer to those in heaven to refer to holy angels to refer to Jesus to refer to God

Saints in the New Testament From the Greek – hag-ee-oes meant sacred, pure or blameless Title used to refer to the early Christians While they were still alive Human Often disagreed with one another Had faults and failings but worked toward building up the Kingdom of God Saints Peter and Paul

Misguided Hagiography

Misguided Hagiography From Saint Francis de Sales There is no harm to the saints if their faults are shown as well as their virtues...But great harm is done to everybody by the hagiographers who slur over the faults, be it for purposes of honoring the saints...or through fear of diminishing our reverence for their holiness.

History and Types of Saints Early Centuries I Thessalonians makes first reference to “saints” in heaven Cult of the Martyrs develops during first three centuries Significance attached to their burial place St. Calixtus Catacombs in Rome

History and Types of Saints By the 4th Century Matrons, Confessors, Virgins, Monastics Those whom the community of believers recognized as “Holy” From 4th Century onward Those whose lives were examples of “Heroic virtue” Mostly “religious” but recently more Lay People

Process to Sainthood According to Canon Law At least 5 years to have passed since death allow greater balance and objectivity let the emotions of the moment dissipate. Begun by local church who introduces the “CAUSE SERVANT OF GOD Once a Cause has begun, in the home diocese, the individual is called a Servant of God, e.g. the Servant of God Karol Wojtyła or the Servant of God Pope John Paul II.

Home Grown Saint in the making! Bishop Michael F. Burbidge signing Edict for the Opening of the Cause for Beatification and Canonization of Father Thomas F. Price. Born on August 19, 1860, in Wilmington, North Carolina, Father Price was the first native North Carolinian to be ordained to the Priesthood.

Process to Sainthood The Investigation Process May take many years to gather documents and take depositions If enough support for the cause is present and documents are in order the Local Bishop or Pope declares the person “Venerable” (Showing Heroic Virtue) Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, Diocese of Peoria signs his name to the official documents on the life of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen before they have to be placed in the box for sealing and shipment to Rome as Patricia Gibson, Chancellor looks on.

Process to Sainthood Material passed on to Congregation for the Causes of Saints A Postulator is Appointed who continues to organize materials The Miracle – thoroughly investigated – non-Christian doctors often employed The postulator argues the case before the Congregation of Saints The Advocate (Devil’s Advocate) job is to find evidence as to why the person should not be a saint

The Congregation for the Causes of Saints at a meeting in the Vatican, June 2002, concerning the Canonization of Mother Theresa.

Process to Sainthood Beatification a miracle attributed to the Servant of God, verified after his death Miracle must be studied Pope ultimately decides Person receives title of “Blessed“ Canonization another miracle is needed, attributed to the intercession of the Blessed and having occurred after his beatification. Canonization is understood as the concession of public worship in the Universal Church. Pontifical infallibility is involved. With canonization, the Blessed acquires the title of Saint."

Whatever happened to…. Are they still saints? Christopher, Ursula and others Before the formal canonization process began in the fifteenth century, many saints were proclaimed by popular approval. Many saint so named were based on legends, pagan mythology, or even other religions -- for example, the story of the Buddha traveled west to Europe and he was "converted" into a Catholic saint! In 1969, the Church took a long look at all the saints on its calendar to see if there was historical evidence that that saint existed and lived a life of holiness. Christopher was one of the names that was determined to have a basis mostly in legend. Therefore Christopher (and others) were dropped from the universal calendar. Some saints were considered so legendary that their cult was completely repressed (including St. Ursula). Christopher's cult was not suppressed but it is confined to local calendars (those for a diocese, country, or so forth).

Some Questions Exactly how many saints are there? There are over 10,000 named saints and beati from history, the Roman Martyology and Orthodox sources, but no definitive "head count". Is keeping statues or pictures of saints idolatry? No! Married Saints – Lay Saints Yes… !!!

Some Questions Do Catholics pray TO saints? We pray with saints, not to them. Since saints led holy lives and are close to God in heaven, we feel that their prayers are particularly effective. Often we ask particular saints to pray for us if we feel they have a particular interest in our problem. For example, many people ask Saint Monica to pray for them if they have trouble with unanswered prayers, because Monica prayed for twenty years for her son to be converted. Finally her prayers were answered in a way she never dreamed of -- her son, Augustine, became a canonized saint and a Doctor of the Church.