Sainthood

1) Four stages of Sainthood:

“Servant of God” is the highest honour bestowed by the church during the canonization process. A bishop must be nominated for official consideration before he can assess the feasibility of the candidate. The candidate completes the first step of canonization and receives his or her first title if the bishop decides that the nominee is a strong contender for sainthood.

The next rank, Venerable, is pursued by each Servant of God who has received formal approval. The Congregation for the Causes of Saints, a Vatican committee, investigates, examines, and contextualises the candidate’s life. This committee seeks to learn about and comprehend the candidate’s life with the ultimate goal of discovering evidence that the candidate lived a life of heroic virtue, actively and persistently working to advance his or her own spirituality.

A miracle attributed to the candidate must be witnessed after the Congregation for the Causes of Saints has confirmed that there is solid evidence in the applicant’s life that he or she may be a saint. A miracle can only be considered valid by the Catholic Church if it is both spontaneous and mysterious. Claims of miracles are carefully investigated, which includes interviewing everyone who claims to have seen or experienced one. In order to confirm that the miracle cannot be explained by anything physical or natural, experts are also consulted.

Even though healings and other forms of miracles frequently benefit the living, some miracles also appear in the candidate’s mortal remains. Examples of this include incorruptibility, where the candidate’s bones do not deteriorate, liquefaction, where the saint’s dried blood liquefies on his or her feast day, and odour of holiness, where the candidate’s corpse emits a lovely perfume rather than a decaying odour years after passing away. The nominee is then introduced to the pope if the miracle is confirmed. The process of beatification then begins, during which the pope, acting under the guidance of God, decides if the candidate is deserving of the title “Blessed.”

A candidate must be linked to at least one additional miracle in order to move up to the “Blessed” rung. The proof of the miracle is once more shown to the pope, who decides whether it is genuine. The Catholic Church will formally recognise a new saint after canonization if the pope judges that the candidate is really deserving of sainthood.

2) History of Sainthood:

The vox populi, vox Dei (voice of the people, voice of God), or public approval, was the basis for saint recognition in the first five centuries of the Church. There was no official canonical procedure as we know it now. Before someone could be canonised, the intervention of the local bishop was required starting in the sixth century and lasting until the twelfth century. A plea from the neighbourhood for the bishop to declare someone a saint typically started the local bishop’s intervention. The bishop would normally issue a decree, legalise the liturgical cult, and therefore canonise the individual after carefully reviewing the request and a detailed biography.

Beginning in the tenth century, a cause went through the typical progressions: the individual’s reputation would spread, the community would ask the local bishop to designate the individual a saint, and a biography would be created for the bishop’s consideration. But from this point forward, the bishop would gather eyewitness accounts from people who knew the individual and had seen miracles, and he would then provide a summary of the case to the Pope for his approval. After considering the case, the Pope issued a proclamation canonising the subject as a saint.

Pope John XV’s canonization of St. Ulric on January 31, 993, is the first known instance of papal invention. The Congregation for Sacred Rites was founded in 1588, when Pope Sixtus V restructured the Roman Curia. Its role included assisting the Pope in examining causes. From 1588 until 1917, when a universal Code of Canon Law was published, the canonization procedure remained mostly unchanged, with a few canonical modifications.

The 1917 code required that both an episcopal and an apostolic process be followed, and it also contained 145 canons (cc. 1999–2144) on reasons for canonization. The local bishop verified the candidate’s reputation, made sure a biography was available, gathered eyewitness accounts and the candidate’s written works as part of the episcopal process. The Congregation for Sacred Rites was then informed of everything. The apostolic procedure involved examining the submitted proof, gathering additional evidence, researching the reason, looking into any purported miracles, and finally submitting the cause to the Pope for his approval.

With the 1983 Code of Canon Law’s adoption and the introduction of new standards for causes of canonization, including Divinus Perfectionis Magister, Normae Servandae in Inquisitionibus ab Episcopis Faciendis in Causis Sanctorum, and Sanctorum Mater (2007), this procedure persisted until 1983. This updated procedure for canonization causes is still in effect. Since the earliest centuries, there hasn’t been a precise tally of those who have been declared saints.

However, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints published the first “Index ac Status Causarum” in 1988 to commemorate its fourth centenary. This book and its subsequent supplements, which were all written in Latin, are regarded as the official index of all causes that have been presented to the Congregation since its establishment.

3) Some Quotes by Saints:

Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.”

-St. Jerome

“Since Christ Himself has said, “This is My Body” who shall dare to doubt that It is His Body?”

– St. Cyril of Jerusalem

“Teach us to give and not count the cost.”

-St. Ignatius de Loyola

“Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.”

-St. Augustine

“Don’t you long to shout to those youths who are bustling around you: Fools! Leave those worldly things that shackle the heart – and very often degrade it – leave all that and come with us in search of Love!”

-St. Josemaria Escriva

“To convert somebody go and take them by the hand and guide them.”

-St. Thomas Aquinas

“On the question of relating to our fellowman – our neighbor’s spiritual need transcends every commandment. Everything else we do is a means to an end. But love is an end already, since God is love.”

– St. Teresia Benedicta (Edith Stein)

“If you are what you should be, you will set the whole world ablaze!”-St. Catherine of Sienna

“Lord, make me an instrument of your peace; where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy.”

– St. Francis

“Our hearts were made for You, O Lord, and they are restless until they rest in you.”

-St. Augustine of Hippo