(Continuation of The Ordinary Process)

(6) Beatification. Prior to beatification, a general meeting of the cardinals of the congregation is held with the pope to decide whether it is possible to safely proceed to the beatification of the Servant of God. The meeting is ceremonial, but the issue is real. In cases of “controversial” figures, the pope may in fact decide that it is “inopportune “at the moment to declare the Servant of God Blessed, despite the merits of the cause.

At the beatification ceremony, an apostolic brief is promulgated by the pope by which he proclaims that the Servant of God is to be venerated as one of the Church’s “blessed.” At this point the candidate has passes the most rigorous part of the passage to canonization. A special prayer to the Blessed and a mass in his/her honor are authorized by the Holy See for that purpose. However, the ultimate goal is yet to be achieved, namely, canonization to sainthood. The pope symbolizes that fact by not officiating at the solemn Pontifical Mass, which concluded the Beatification ceremony. Instead, he comes to the Basilica after mass to venerate the new blessed.

(7) Canonization. Following beatification, the cause lies dormant unless and until additional divine signs (miracles) are alleged and the entire miracle investigatory process is repeated. When the last required miracle has been examined and accepted, the pope issues a bull of canonization declaring that the candidate must be venerated as a saint throughout the universal church. This time, the pope himself leads the solemn ceremonies at St. Peter’s Basilica, thereby signifying that the declaration of sainthood has full authority of the papacy behind it. In his declaration, the pope sums up the saint’s life, and briefly explain what example and message the saint brings to the church.

(8) The Process of Proving Miracles. The Church takes as a divine sign a miracle performed through the intercession of the Servant of God. But the process by which the miracle is proved is as rigorously judicial as the investigations of heroic virtue. A miracle must establish that (a) God truly performed the miracle-nearly always a physical healing-and (b) the miracle occurred through intercession of the Servant of God.

In a manner similar to the Ordinary Process, the bishop where the alleged miracle occurred gathers the evidence and takes notarized testimony, if the data warrant, he then forwards this material to Rome where it is printed as a “positio.” At the congregation, several meetings are held to discuss, refute and defend the evidence, often more information is sought. However, now the case is studied by a panel of medical specialists, whose job is to determine that the cure could not have occurred by natural means. When such a judgment is made, the documentation is turned over to a panel of theological “consultors” to determine whether the alleged miracle was in fact granted through the prayer to the Servant of God and not, for example, through the simultaneous prayers to some other established saint. Eventually the judgments of the “consultors” are circulated through the congregation and, upon favorable advice of the cardinals, the pope certifies acceptance of a miracle by issuing a formal decree.

The medical panels are drawn from a pool of more than sixty physicians resident in Rome who constitute the congregation’s Consulta Medica. To judge by their professional achievements and reputations, the physicians are very qualified. They are specialists in their particular field of medicine. All members are Italian, men and all are Roman Catholic, though no member is questioned regarding the regularity of his religious practices. Medical competence is what counts. The cure must be complete and of lasting duration. It must also be inexplicable tby all known scientific measures. In the end, each physician on the full five member panel votes two ways on the cure: “natural” or “inexplicable.” The congregation prefers unanimity. However, there is the rub in the investigatory process. Anyone who has ever had a second or third opinion can attest that unimanity among five physicians who practice five different specialties would be exceedingly difficult. Thus, a simple majority among them is usually sufficient to see a miracle through. It has been said that it is a good method, but extremely severe.

The communion of saints presupposes that in God we are all connected, giving and receiving unexpected and undeserving acts of grace. In the practice of “making saints,” however, this communion is not only presumed, it is tapped to serve a specific purpose. Graces received and attributed to the Servant of God are collected, tested, sifted and authenticated by God’s own proof of a candidate’s holiness.

It is necessary to distinguish the process as it pertains to martyrs. Recent popes have routinely dispensed the cause from having to prove any miracle for beatification on the grounds that the ultimate sacrifice is sufficient for the title of blessed. The comparable is true for canonization. However, a unique problem comes into play when a martyr is the candidate for sainthood.

The question that must be resolved is when a martyr is a martyr in the eyes of the Church.

The early Christian martyrs were perceived and celebrated as imitators of Christ’s passion and death. The classic Christian martyr is an innocent victim who dies for the faith at the hands of a tyrant who is opposed to the faith. Also like Jesus, the classical martyr forgives hi/her enemies. One could be a martyr for the faith by dying in defense of the rights of the Church, for example, Archbishop Thomas a’ Becket, who, in the twelfth century, was quickly canonized after his murder for defending the prerogatives of the English church against King Henry 11. Essentially, advocates for the cause must prove that the candidate died for the faith. More precisely, they have to prove the “tyrant” was provoked into killing the victim bt the latter’s clear and unambiguous profession of faith. The advocates must produce witnesses and/or documents proving that a profession of faith took place, that the tyrant acted in hatred of the faith, and that the victim’s motives are clearly religious. Furthermore, witnesses are required, who can testify, that the victim persevered in his/her willingness to die for the faith right through the moment of shedding their blood.

This is as simplistic a description of what a martyr is required to be and the proof necessary to prove that validity of the cause. In recent times, however, the question arose as to whether a candidate died for reasons of faith perseverance or whether they died due to political unrest. This issue came to light in the alleged martyrdoms of St.Maximilian Kolbe, Martyr of Charity, and St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Carmelite nun (Edith Stein, convert), and Blessed Titus Brandsma, a Carmelite, priest, teacher and journalist, all who died as martyrs in Nazi concentration camps during World War 11.  If it cannot be proved that the candidate died as a martyr, then the cause must proceed tedious down the road of investigating virtues practiced to heroic degree as well as proving one miracle beatification and one for canonization as heretofore described. The question of whether a person died a martyr’s death is very complex and the object of much controversy within the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

(8) The new Procedures introduced by Pope John Paul 11.

Pope John Paul II was very concerned with the adversarial approach and atmosphere in the process of the causes of saints. It was his opinion and belief that the process was too time consuming and costly, and, thus an obstacle to the primary purpose of elevating candidates to sainthood, whose lives of holiness and dedication to God the faithful would hopefully be prone to imitate.

On January25, 1983, the system was officially changed. On that day Pope John Paul 11, issued an Apostolic Constitution, “Divinus perfectionis Magister,”mandating the most thoroughgoing reforming of the “saint-making” process since the decrees of Pope Urban VIII. The announced goals of the reform were to make the canonization process simpler, faster and cheaper, more collegial, and ultimately more productive. It did this in two fundamental ways. First, it put the entire responsibility for gathering all evidence in support of a cause in the hands of the local bishop.; instead of two canonical processes, the Ordinary and the Apostoloic, there would only be one, directed by the local bishop. Second-and far more drastic- it abolished the entire series of logical argumentation between defense lawyers and the Promoter of the Faith (Devil’s Advocate.) Not only were the advocates stripped of their powers, so were the Promter of the Faith and his staff of lawyers. After nearly six centuries, the function of the Devil’s Advocate had been eliminated.

Instead the Promoter of the faith was given a new title of “Prelate Theologian,” and assigned the largely administrative task of choosing the theological consultors for each cause and presiding at their meetings. The responsibility for demonstrating the truth about a candidate’s life and death now belonged to a new group of officials: “the college of realtors,” who would supervise the historical-critical account of the candidate’s life, virtues, and , in appropriate causes, martyrdom. Obviously, witnesses would still be called to testify of behalf of the Servant of God, but the chief sources of information would be historical, and the medium by which each cause was to judged hereafter would be well documented critical biography. Thus, the core of the reform was a striking paradigm shift: no longer would the church look to the courtroom as its model for arriving at the truth of a saint’s life, instead it would employ the academic model of researching and writing a doctoral dissertation. Hereafter, causes would be accepted or rejected according to canons of critical historiography, not by the arguments of contending advocates. In effect, then, the relator had replaced both the Devil’s Advocate and the defense lawyer. He alone was responsible for establishing heroic virtue or martyrdom, and it was up to the theological and historical consultants to give his work a passing or failing mark.

This, essentially, what is meant that the reform is to be “more collegial,” as well as simpler, faster and cheaper.

The reform also reduced the number of miracles require for beatification and canonization i from the previous two each to one each: a drop fifty percent.

However, application of the reforms did present complex problems. As is commonly stated-“the devil is in the details.”It is one thing to reform the system, quite another to make it work. In anticipation of the change, all new causes were put on hold for a year and many that were developed under the old system were sent back for fuller historical documentation.

Currently, the causes of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Pope John Paul II, Pope John XXIII is examples of the positive effects enhanced by the reform.

Much of the documentation utilized above was from valuable information derived and quoted from Making Saints, Kenneth L. Woodward,  Simon & Schuster copyright 1990.

What is a Saint?
Continue Reading:

Part 1: What is a Saint? – Understanding God’s Love

Part 2: What is a Saint? – Purgatory

Part 3: What is a Saint – The Ordinary Phase

Resources for “What is a Saint?”

The Jerusalem Bible – Reader’s Edition, with abridged introductions and notes, Doubleday, Division of Random House Inc., March 2000, General Editor – Alexander Jones, Nihil Obstat – Lionel Swain S.T.L., L.L.S., Imprimatur – John Cardinal Heenan, Westminster 4 July 1966.

Encyclopedia of Catholicism, Richard P. McBrien, General Editor, Harper San Francisco.

Making Saints, Kenneth L. Woodward, Simon & Schuster, 1990.

Dogmatic Constitution of the Church

The process of “making” saints was one that evolved slowly throughout the centuries of Christian history. Detailed reform procedures came in 1588, when Pope Sixtus V created the Congregation of Rites and gave its officials responsibility for preparing papal canonizations and for the authentication of relics. It was not until the pontificate of Urban V111 (1623 – 1644) that the papacy finally gained full control over the making of saints. In a series of papal decrees, Urban defined the canonical procedures by which beatification and canonization would take place. (Making Saints, Kenneth L. Woodward, Simon & Schuster, 1990, Pg75.)

The process eventually progress into two definitive segments. They included two canonical processes, the Ordinary and the Apostolic. Upon the death of a person considered to have lived a holy life, people who knew the individual are wont to discuss the deceased person’s life of holiness among themselves and their local pastor and priests at the diocesan level. They then begin to pray to the deceased holy person for their intercession with God for “divine favors” that would help in alleviating personal mental and/or physical sufferings in their lives or of those among members of their families and friends. The favors requested could also involve deliverance from natural disasters as earthquakes, floods, etc.: even deliverance from political persecution, and so on. These prayers to the deceased could be answered in some degree. The magnitude of the degree would delineate a granted “divine favor” from a “miracle.” I shall not describe the difference at this time. However, should the incidences of transcendent influence continue to occur on behalf of the hopeful intercessory prayer of the deceased person for those praying for relief, usually events by the faithful become stimulated.

The Ordinary phase of investigation into the holiness of the candidate proceed through many phases. These include:

(1) The Prejuridical Phase is a time frame within which to evaluate the reputation of holiness of the candidate and determine whether the reputation is durable and has substance and not a passing phase of emotion and celebrity. Currently, the normal time frame could be as little as five years. The local bishops are wary to rush the process. However, during this phase an individual or group recognized by the Church can organize unofficial activities in anticipation of the formal process by organizing financial and spiritual support on behalf of the candidate. The innovators are called the “initiators” of the cause. They are usually members of religious orders, who may possess the expertise, resources and self interest to properly guide the process to conclusion.

In the case of Venerable Father Anthony Vincent Gallo that person was his younger brother, Don Mario Gallo, a consecrated Brother of the Redemptorist Order. Talk about Divine Providence!

Reports of divine favors

The “initiators” are permitted to collect money to support activities and expenses of the cause: solicit reports of divine favors, print prayer leaflets, write newsletters of current events occurring, and publish a biographical book of the life of holiness of the candidate. It is effect a promotional phase designed to promote private devotion to the candidate, and to convince the local bishop (ordinary) that a genuine and persistent reputation for holiness does factually exist.

The initiator(s) eventually become the “petitioner” of the cause when they formally request the bishop to open the official process.

(2) Informative Phase. If the local bishop is convinced that there is merit in the candidate, he institutes the Ordinary Process. The purpose of this process is to provide sufficient material to the Congregation of the Causes of Saints so that its officials can determine whether a formal process is merited. The local bishop convenes a tribunal of inquiry. Witnesses are summoned to testify both for and against the candidate. It is at this point in the initial investigatory process that the candidate is called “the servant of God.” The purpose of these investigative procedures is twofold: the first is to establish whether the candidate has a solid reputation for holiness, and second to gather preliminary testimony as to whether that testimony is supported by facts. The local bishop must determine that the Servant of God is not the object of a public cult; i.e., it must be proven that with the passage of time, the candidate has not become the object of veneration in a public way. This procedure is to attempt to prevent cults of veneration to saints that are not officially canonized by the pope

(3) Judgment of Orthodoxy. This is a process whereby the local bishop appoints officials to collect publish documents of the candidate, if any exist, as well as letters and unpublished writings of the candidate. These documents are forwarded to Rome to be examined by experts in theology to determine whether or not any writing has subject matter that are contrary to official Church doctrine. If any exist, the cause is halted immediately. Those who work at the congregation in Rome confirm that the failure to pass the test of doctrinal purity has been the major reason why causes have been halted or put on indefinite hold. Those candidates that were prolific writers and published many books and articles would result in a long period of examination and scrutiny by the congregation officials assigned to the task. Furthermore, all Servants of God must receive from Rome a “nihil obstat” that there is nothing objectionable about them in the Vatican’s files; particularly in the files of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, which is charged with the defense of faith and morals. This is in addition to any of the other nine congregations that would have reason to keep data on the candidate.

(4) The Roman Phase. This the point at which real deliberations begins. As soon as the dossiers from the local bishop arrive at the congregation, responsibility for the cause is assigned to a postulator resident in Rome. His responsibility is to represent the petitioner, who paid by him. The petitioner also pays for the services of a defense lawyer selected by the postulator from among many canon lawyers, lay and clerical, who are licensed by the Holy See to handle causes. From the materials provided by the local bishop, the lawyer prepares a brief aimed at proving to the congregation’s judges that the cause should be officially introduced. In his brief, the lawyer argues that a true reputation for sanctity exists and the cause contains sufficient evidence to justify a fuller inquiry into the virtues of the Servant of God.

The Promoter of the Faith or Devil’s Advocate prepares his own brief in objection to the defense lawyer’s brief arguments. This exchange is usually repeated several times and many years-even decades-elapse before all differences between the advocate for the cause and the Promoter of the Faith are satisfactorily resolved. Eventually, a printed volume called a “Positio” is prepared which contains all the material developed at that point, including the arguments of the Promoter of the Faith and the advocate defending the cause. The Positio is studied by the cardinals and official prelates at an official meeting in the Apostolic Palace. If they make a positive judgment, the implication is that there a good grounds for the cause for a Processus (trial.)

Upon acceptance of the cause by the congregation, notice is sent to the pope. If he has not objection, he issues a Decree of Introduction. This decree passes the jurisdiction of the cause to the Holy See, and is now called the Apostolic Process.

In effect, the Apostolic Process is a more exacting version of the Ordinary Process; its purpose is to prove that the candidate’s reputation for holiness is based on fact. Thr Promoter of the Faith (Devil’s Advocate) and the defense advocate for the cause again commence their briefs and counter briefs concerning the practice of heroic virtue by the candidate during his/her lifetimes. They are wrangle again over the letters, published writings and books of the candidate to clearly ascertain their purity of Church doctrine.

After all this is completed, the postulator and the advocate of the cause prepare another document called the “Informatio,” which outlines in systematic detail the case for proving heroic virtue. All supporting testimony and documents are attached to the Informatio. It is sent to the Promoter of the Faith, who, after extensive study, answers with all of his objections. This exchange is printed into a volume with attached documents and submitted to the official of the Congregation of the Causes of Saints and their theological consultors for study and judgment. The issues are debated in similar fashion with study and judgment by th congregations officials a second and a third time. At the second go around cardinals of the congregation are involved. At the third time, the pope also is involved. If, then, the candidate is judged to have practice virtue in the heroic degree, he/she is entitled to be called “Venerable.”

(5) Examination of the Corpse. Sometime prior to Beatification the body of the candidate is exhumed for identification by the local bishop. If it is discovered that the body is not that of the Servant of God, the cause continues, but all prayers and similar private devotions at the gravesite must cease. This examination is for examination purposes only.. But if it revealed that the body is incorrupt, this discovery can influence interest in and support for the cause among the faithful. However, the Roman Catholic Church does not regard an incorrupt body as sign of sanctity. Environmental factors, Church officials believe are sufficient to explain such anomalies. This was not always the case. Through the early centuries of Church history, the bodies of saints gave off a sweet scent – “the odor of sanctity,” it was called-an incorruption that was taken as a strong indication of divine favor.

This tradition continues to move the faithful, in not officials of the congregation.

process of determining the sanctity of the candidate. The rank, if you will, of “Venerable” is an enormous accomplishment for the candidate’s cause on earth. The Church has officially proclaimed that the candidate, through human investigation and judgment, of the Congregation of the Causes of Saints and officially approved by the pope, the Successor of St. Peter, that the candidate is a saint based on all human evidence available.

The cause of the Venerable Father Anthony Vincent Gallo is currently at this most impressive juncture.

But, in all causes of saints, God has yet to speak! How? Through His granting of a miracle in answer to the intercessory prayers to the candidate, that he/she intercede for them with God to grant the miracle.

The next giant step to sainthood is the proclamations of the candidate to the status of “Blessed.” This is proclaimed when the candidate is beatified. It is necessary for Beatification that at least one miracle be attributed to the intercession of the candidate with God.  At lease a second miracle through the candidate’s intercession, subsequent to Beatification, is necessary for the candidate to be Canonized a saint. The pope officially proclaims that the candidate is a recognized saint in heaven.

God has spoken! I refer to this as the Testimony of God!

What is a Saint?
Continue Reading:

Part 1: What is a Saint? – Understanding God’s Love

Part 2: What is a Saint? – Purgatory

Part 4: What is a Saint – The Ordinary Phase Continues

Resources for “What is a Saint?”

The Jerusalem Bible – Reader’s Edition, with abridged introductions and notes, Doubleday, Division of Random House Inc., March 2000, General Editor – Alexander Jones, Nihil Obstat – Lionel Swain S.T.L., L.L.S., Imprimatur – John Cardinal Heenan, Westminster 4 July 1966.

Encyclopedia of Catholicism, Richard P. McBrien, General Editor, Harper San Francisco.

Making Saints, Kenneth L. Woodward, Simon & Schuster, 1990.

Dogmatic Constitution of the Church

The reader obviously notices that I use the word “deceased person.” There are no living saints, in spite of the fact that a living person practices virtues to the “heroic degree.” A person must be deceased to be considered for sainthood.

I would imagine one may ask “why can’t a living person, who is living an exemplary holy life, be considered a saint.” The reason is that a person must die first in order to proceed to heaven, provided at the point of death they were not alienated from God by serious sin. It is important to understand that at the last moment of a person’s life the temptation of the devil could overtake him or her with the sin of despair and they reject God. Likewise, the grace of the Holy Spirit could be accepted by a sinful dying person to seek God’s mercy and love at their last breath. God only knows who deserves to enter heaven at the point of death. We could rightly assume that the loving grace, mercy and forgiveness of Jesus would be with a person who did their best to follow God’s commandments up to the point of death.

At this time, I think it is necessary to explain the doctrine of “purgatory.” A person’s soul, at death, may proceed directly to heaven, because they lived a life of heroic holiness and their soul is deemed fit by God to immediately enter heaven. However, at death, God may direct one’s soul to purgatory to receive further cleansing in order to be deemed fit by God to enter heaven and be with Him for all eternity.

Purgatory is an intermediate state of purification between death and heaven that provides for the removal of remaining personal obstacles to the full enjoyment of eternal union with God. According to Catholic doctrine, such purification continues and completes the process of sanctification that makes immediate union with the triune God possible for persons justified and reconciled in Christ. The obstacles in view here are both venial sins, unrepented at the time of death, and any enduring dispositional consequences of the repented and forgiven serious (mortal) sins committed during earthly life. (Encyclopedia of Catholicism, Richard P. McBrien, General Editor; Harper San Francisco, Page 1070, Purgatory.) It is important to understand that purgatory is not an opportunity to conversion where one did not exist during earthly life. Mortal sin cannot be purified in purgatory. Therefore, those who die in the state of grace free from mortal sin and proceed to purgatory upon death and after the initial judgment will eventually achieve their eternal reward in heaven and experience for eternity the Beatific Vision: seeing God “face to face” (1Cor13:12) in all His glory and know God as God. The doctrine of purgatory advances the basic assumption of unbroken Church liturgical tradition of intercessory prayer for those who died, and we pray to the saints for their early release, be it the will of God. This tradition was later formulated into Church doctrine at the councils of Florence (1439), and Trent (15630, and Vatican 2 (1965: Dogmatic Constitution of the Church, nn. 49 – 50.) Through prayer, the pilgrim Church on earth affirms its solidarity with the Church on the threshold of glory. (Encyclopedia of Catholicism, Purgatory Pg 1079.) Thus, those who achieve heaven after their purgation period are also saints known most probably only to God.

There are degrees of suffering in purgatory according to how one lived their lives on earth. If people lived good lives, and confessed their transgression that alienated them from God’s friendship, their time in purgatory would be shorter than those who committed serious sins continually throughout their lives, though confessed, would require a much longer period of purification of their souls to be ready for their reward in heaven, This is also true with those in heaven, There are degrees happiness, Though all who enter heaven receive the special grace to the Beatific Vision: to see God “face to face” and to known Him as God and experience Him in all His glory, yet, the degree of happiness received is based on one’s earthly experience. However, the degree of happiness is unknown among those in heaven. All have perfect happiness. This is a wonderful and glorious mystery of our faith in God’s plan for all humanity.

There is immortality and eternity for all humanity upon death. However, those who die rejecting God by an act of their free will receive the punishment of total separation from God for all eternity (never ending) at the initial judgment at death. No prayers can save those poor souls!

This is something we all must ponder very seriously, regardless of our religious affiliation or lack thereof.

What is a Saint?
Continue Reading:

Part 1: What is a Saint? – Understanding God’s Love

Part 3: What is a Saint – The Ordinary Phase

Part 4: What is a Saint – The Ordinary Phase Continues

Resources for “What is a Saint?”

The Jerusalem Bible – Reader’s Edition, with abridged introductions and notes, Doubleday, Division of Random House Inc., March 2000, General Editor – Alexander Jones, Nihil Obstat – Lionel Swain S.T.L., L.L.S., Imprimatur – John Cardinal Heenan, Westminster 4 July 1966.

Encyclopedia of Catholicism, Richard P. McBrien, General Editor, Harper San Francisco.

Making Saints, Kenneth L. Woodward, Simon & Schuster, 1990.

Dogmatic Constitution of the Church

(This is the first post in a series covering the process of becoming a saint.)

It is important to note that only God knows how many saints there are in heaven, as well as who they are. God’s grace and mercy is offered to every living person and their exercise of free will to accept His graces and live holy lives. We should all strive to become saints, though we are all sinners. The original sin of Adam and Eve was an abandonment of their trust in God, and, thus, wrought suffering, sin and evil into the world. What God created, as described in Genesis, was “good.” However, God, in His divine plan,  gave man the opportunity to seek His grace, mercy and love in preparation of the day He would send His only divine Son, Jesus Christ, to suffer the paschal mystery of  His passion, death and resurrection to redeem the sins of mankind.

Each may seek to become a saint in his own way. As humans created in the image of God, we all, however, possess our personal strengths and weaknesses. God gives us, through grace and our acceptance of it, the ability to overcome our weakness and also to motivate our strengths to seek holiness. We may ask – what is holiness? This is a good and logical question to ponder. Perhaps we could say that holiness is living our lives, with all its imperfections, in a manner that all the good things we may do we do are not for personal aggrandizement, but rather and most importantly for the glory of God. When we do good, we may feel personal satisfaction, but we do the good to bring us closer in our personal relationship with God. Jesus commanded us in the Gospel of John 15:12-13, “This is my commandment: love one another as I have loved you. A man can have no greater love than to lay down his life for a friend.”

In reading the lives of saints you find many different types of personalities and characters throughout history who achieved a personal relationship with Jesus, notwithstanding their vocations in life and the manner in which they conducted themselves. Some were cynical, obnoxious, abusive, headstrong, doubters, adulterers, promiscuous, vicious, neglectful and selfish. Nonetheless, when they turned their thoughts, prayers and actions to God to seek His grace and help, their spiritual lives changed because they sought a purity of heart and a close relationship with Jesus. God works in strange and curious ways to motivate us to witness His divine love. Other saints lived lives of humility, piety, and love of God in all their actions. Yet, we are all sinners in one form or another, and notwithstanding, we are all called to seek perfection. We can be pious and love God and neighbor, but, if pride misdirects our purpose, we may become judgmental of others or take pride in our piety. This could be sinful. To seek the perfection God commands, we may seek forgiveness of our sins, which we can obtain through the sacrament of reconciliation. Jesus appeared to His disciples after His resurrection “He breathe on them and said: ‘Receive the Holy Spirit, For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; for those whose sins you retain, they are retained’ (John 20: 22 – 23.)”. Therefore, our sins do not hinder our journey to seek sainthood – provided we seek forgiveness and remain in God’s love.  Furthermore, in John’s gospel (14:16,17,26 ) Jesus promises to send an Advocate (paraclete) “I shall ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to be with you forever, that the Spirit of  truth whom the world can never receive since it neither sees or knows Him; but you know Him, because He is in you I will not leave you orphans… But the Advocate, The Holy Spirit, whom the Holy Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of everything I have said to you.” Thus, we are never alone to seek God’s help through the love, wisdom and strength of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus taught, ”But I say this to you; love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you; in this way you will be sons of the Father in heaven, for He causes His sun to fall on honest and dishonest men alike. For if you love those who love you, what right have you to claim any credit? Even the tax collectors do as much, do they not? And if you save your greetings for your brothers, are you doing anything exceptional? Even the pagans do as much, do they not? You must therefore be perfect just as you Father is perfect” (Matt.5:44 – 48). Further, “We can be sure we know God only by keeping His commandments. Anyone who says ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, refusing to admit the truth. But when anyone does obey what He has said, God’s love comes to perfection in him. We can be sure that we are in God only when the one who claims to be loving in Him is living the same kind of life Christ lived” (1John 2:3 – 6).

The Second Vatican Council (1962 – 65) taught that the call to holiness is universal, namely, “that all the faithful of Christ of whatever rank or status are called to the fullness of the Christian life and to the perfection of charity.” (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, n.40). All humans of whatever religion or lack thereof are called to be saints.

What a wonderful thought!

In this series, we will explore what qualities the Church investigates for in a deceased person’s life that would ultimately conclude that such person is truly a saint in heaven. We will also describe the methodology utilized by the Church to investigate the deceased person’s life and writings in order to prevent error.

What is a Saint?
Continue Reading:

Part 2: What is a Saint? – Purgatory

Part 3: What is a Saint – The Ordinary Phase

Part 4: What is a Saint – The Ordinary Phase Continues

Resources for “What is a Saint?”

The Jerusalem Bible – Reader’s Edition, with abridged introductions and notes, Doubleday, Division of Random House Inc., March 2000, General Editor – Alexander Jones, Nihil Obstat – Lionel Swain S.T.L., L.L.S., Imprimatur – John Cardinal Heenan, Westminster 4 July 1966.

Encyclopedia of Catholicism, Richard P. McBrien, General Editor, Harper San Francisco.

Making Saints, Kenneth L. Woodward, Simon & Schuster, 1990.

Dogmatic Constitution of the Church