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Question asked at Sonfest ’04:
"Why do Catholics believe in saints?"
- Charity
The word saint is derived from the Latin word sanctus, which means 'holy'. St Paul, in his letter to the Colossians, uses the term to mean any person who follows Christ:
"Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the saints at Colossae, faithful brothers in Christ." (Colossians 1:2).
Paul refers to the faithful of Colossae as 'saints' in the sense that they are members of God's holy people, not because of any personal holiness they may have possessed. This usage of the word is fairly common in Sacred Scripture. In the Protestant King James Version of the Bible, for example, there are over thirty references to 'saint' in the Old Testament, and over sixty references in the New Testament, and the number varies depending on which version of Sacred Scripture you read. Some modern translations substitute the words 'holy ones' for 'saints'.
Today the Church partly preserves this meaning in the Creed, when we profess our belief in the Communion of Saints, when the word 'saints' refers to all those who have been made holy--that is, reborn as children of God-- through baptism, not solely those who are in heaven. The Communion of Saints is a spiritual union, in and through Christ, which encompasses, not only the saints in heaven, but also the souls in purgatory and the faithful here on earth.
Over time, however, in the early Church, the term gradually assumed the meaning which it presently retains in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox, and a few Protestant churches today; namely, that the saints are holy persons who have died and are now experiencing the beatific vision; that is, they are in glory with God in heaven. This belief, in fact, was held by all Christians until it was abandoned by most of our Protestant brethren in the 1500s.
So, saints are men, women, and children who have led exemplary lives while on earth, or who have died as martyrs. In the early years of the Church, many of these holy people were recognized as worthy of veneration by the bishop in their local area. Later, near the end of the first millennium, a more formal process was established, called canonization, whereby the saint was recognized throughout the universal Church. There are many people in heaven, of course, who are also saints, though not officially recognized as such by the Church. By the grace of God, all of us can one day be numbered among the saints, in most cases after a period in purgatory.
The canonization process, whereby certain holy people after death are declared by the Church to be saints, has certainly undergone changes over the years. In the early centuries of the Church, as has been said, such holy people were generally recognized and venerated at the local level by the bishop and people of a particular diocese. Often a bishop would forward details of the life of a local martyr to bishops in other jurisdictions, and in this way the veneration of that person would spread.
At first, those recognized were always martyrs; that is, men and women who had died for the faith. Gradually, somewhere between the fourth and the ninth century, this recognition was extended to those who had shown what was called 'heroic virtue'. Such persons may not have died for the faith, but they were regarded as having suffered greatly and nobly for their Christian beliefs during their lifetime.
In all of the above cases, the permission of Church authorities was required before veneration could take place. Initially, as has been said, such permission was local, usually granted by a bishop in a diocese, but round about the twelfth century such decisions began to be reserved for the Popes and the Church Councils, in order to bring a measure of consistency to the process. Finally, in 1634, Pope Urban VII issued a directive (known as a 'Bull') which made canonization the exclusive prerogative of Rome.
Canonization is preceded by a process known as 'beatification.' This begins at the local level by the appointment of a 'postulator of the cause'; that is, a person who will oversee the promotion and investigation of the candidate at the local level, and who sees to it that the results are forwarded in the appropriate manner to Rome. The local investigation involves examining the candidate's writings, if any, and interviewing witnesses about the candidate's sanctity. Part of the investigation entails looking for evidence of miracles granted through the intercession of the candidate. Generally speaking, evidence of one miracle is required for beatification, and evidence of another one for canonization, though this can vary. People who die as martyrs, for example, are usually exempt from the miracle requirement. Eventually the evidence is sent to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Rome. After a thorough and detailed analysis, the Congregation may deem the cause worthy of further study, at which point the candidate is given the title 'Venerable.'
Now the Congregation begins to scrutinize the life of the candidate even more intensely. The criteria centre very much on the degree to which the candidate has practiced the theological and cardinal virtues. The theological virtues, you may remember, are faith, hope and charity, while the cardinal virtues are prudence, justice, temperance and fortitude. While all of us are required to exercise these virtues, and do so with varying degrees of success, the saint is required to have practiced them to an heroic degree (Catechism: 828). When the lengthy examination is complete, the Congregation votes, and if the decision is favourable, the matter is passed on to the Pope for his final consent. Once the Holy Father's consent is given, always after much prayer and reflection, the beatification ceremony takes place in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, and the Holy Father then issues a decree permitting local public veneration of the candidate, who is now known as 'Blessed.'
The investigation of the candidate continues after beatification. Even at this advanced stage, some causes can be delayed, sometimes due to the wait for a second miracle. It should be pointed out here that the requirement calls for a 'first class miracle'; that is, a miracle, often a cure, that cannot be explained in any other way except as the result of a supernatural act. When final approval is given, the canonization usually takes place in a beautiful ceremony, again at St. Peter's, when the Pope declares the candidate to be in heaven, worthy to be honoured throughout the universal Church, and worthy of the title of 'Saint.'
We sometimes speak of a person being 'made' a saint, but more properly it is the Church, guided by the Holy Spirit, giving public recognition to someone already welcomed by God into the company of the saints in heaven. By proclaiming sainthood in this fashion, the Church 'sustains the hope of believers by proposing the saints to them as models and intercessors' (Catechism: 828).
As intercessors dwelling now in the glory of heaven, the saints are our powerful companions, living in God's presence and praying to Him on our behalf, and as models of the holy life, they are due our special reverence. Catholics, however, contrary to what some outside the Church believe, do not regard saints as some kind of divine or semi-divine beings, and are always careful to distinguish the veneration of saints from the adoration which must be reserved for the one mediator 'Jesus Christ, Our Lord, who is our sole Redeemer and Saviour.' (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church: No. 50)
The arguments put forward by some against praying to saints are hard to understand. In our everyday lives, in the natural world, do we not act as St. Paul did, and sometimes ask our friends and those around us to pray to God on our behalf ? If such prayers have merit, and they do, think of what worth we may attach to prayers offered on our behalf by those dwelling now in God's presence in the glory of heaven.
It is good that you have an interest in sainthood, for all of us have all been called by Jesus to the holiness exemplified by the saints: "Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matt:5:48)
God bless,
Fr. Norbert