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The Roman Catholic Church has a
long standing tradition of promoting
saints as, to put it simply, the
morally good dead people.
The lives of these people are
supposedly put under the microscope
to evaluate their full
integrity. There is a long drawn out procedure
of examining any miracles
supposedly performed by these dead people.
They then are canonized and
declared to be saints.
This is a very basic description
of what occurs.
Peter Kreeft. Saints are not freaks or exceptions, they are
the standard operating model for human beings
Catholic Pages
Directory: » SAINTS
We learn of the expense engendered by research into candidates'
lives,
the focus on required miracles
cultus confirmation
it means that the
Church is formally acknowledging the holiness
of this person, and
is saying that it is acceptable to venerate this person.
Confirmation of a
public cult is one of the first steps toward canonization.
It is a slightly
different process than that of the modern formal beatification,
but the person is
referred to as "Blessed".
beatification
(Latin: beatus, blessed; facere, to make) The declaration by
the pope as head of the Church that one of its members deserves for saintly
life as confessor or heroic death as martyr, to be entitled Blessed, that is,
regarded as dwelling in the happiness of heaven. The declaration is preceded by
a double process, the first consisting of an examination into the life,
virtues, writings, and reputation for holiness, or martyrdom, of the Servant of
God in question, conducted ordinarily by the bishop of the place in
which he or she died or lived a long time. In the case of a martyr no miracles
are required in this first process, but they are required for others. The
second process, known as the Apostolic process, is instituted by the Holy See
in case the first inquiry shows that there is a likelihood of proving that the
Servant of God practised virtue to an heroic degree, or died by the heroic
death of martyrdom. To go further and obtain canonization,
miracles are required for both martyrs and confessors. see also:
·
Blessed
New Catholic Dictionary - Catholic
Encyclopedia; P.C. Augustine (ed.)
saint
Dictionary
saint (sānt)
n.
-
- (Abbr. St. or S.) Christianity. A person officially recognized, especially by canonization, as being entitled to public veneration and capable of interceding for people on earth.
- A person who has died and gone to heaven.
- Saint A member of any of various religious groups, especially a Latter-Day Saint.
- An extremely virtuous person.
tr.v., saint·ed, saint·ing, saints.
To name, recognize, or venerate as a saint; canonize.
Syn: To reverence; revere;
adore; respect.
Source: WordNet
(r) 1.7
venerate
v : be in awe of; "Fear God as your father" [syn: reverence, fear, revere]
canonization
(M.L.: canonizare, to canonize)
Declaration of the Sovereign Pontiff that the faithful should venerate as a
Saint one who had already been beatified. Beatification
permits veneration of the Blessed one in certain
places or communities: canonization commands it everywhere. The decree is
issued only after the Congregation of Rites has accepted proof of two miracles
through the intercession of the Blessed who had been
formally beatified,
occurring after the beatification and
of three miracles for one whose beatification had
taken place without the ordinary process. The Saint is now entitled to the full
honors of the altar, though the Mass
and Office may not be extended to the entire Church. The canonization is
solemnly celebrated in Saint Peter's and a solemn novena or triduum is made in another
church of the city chosen for this purpose; this same nine or three days
service may be also held elsewhere within a given time following the
canonization.
New Catholic Dictionary -
Catholic Encyclopedia (ED.)
I have given these various definitions
and explanations about saints
so that it can be seen that
this is an important and very real issue.
You will have noticed that
some of the terms used such as reverence,
fear, and adore are terms that
can only apply to the Eternal God.
Having shown the process for
declaring a dead person a saint.
I have to tell you that it is
far easier to be unmade, that is
decannonized than it is to be
canonized.
Unfortunately once a saint you
are not always a saint according to this church.
When there are too many of
them, some have to be dropped.
There are countless millions
of people wearing or displaying in their vehicles their
St Christopher medal for
protection. They are totally unaware that this
person is no longer a ‘Saint’
according to the offical catholic list.
(I am just wondering as I
write whether he has been reinstated?)
It is a complex thing being a
saint.
I wonder what happens when you
pray to someone who is no longer a saint?
Does anyone answer?
Do they say sorry you have a wrong
number, please refer to directory enquiries?
Do they say the person you
have called is unlisted, sorry !
On reflection, I think that
what happens is just the same as before,
unless an evil spirit quickly
jumps in to resolve the dilemma.
The dead are uttlerly unable
to help us in any way.
Their body is in the grave and
their spirit is in the holding place
‘hades’, either the
comfortable part referred to as paradise,
or the other part, a place of
great suffering.
See our document
‘Destination’, and also ‘And Then You Die’.
The reality of what a saint
is.
In the New Testament there are
many references to saints.
The apostle Paul wrote many of
his epistles to the saints in various
geographic locations. These
people were very much alive.
Communicating with the dead is
strictly forbidden in the bible.
It is called necromancy.
As the dead cannot communicate
with us evil spirits quickly fill this void.
This mean that you end up
talking to demons.
The first time we read about
saints outside the gospel is in Acts.
There we see Saul persecuting
the saints.
Acts 9:13 Then Ananias answered, Lord, I
have heard by many of this man,
how
much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem:
Unfortunately in the King
James version there is a misleading addition.
Words in italics are added to
make the meaning clearer.
They are not in the original
text.
In the following verse ‘to be’, is added to supposedly clarify the
text.
It does the exact opposite and
causes confusion.
It completely alters the
meaning of the text.
It should read:
To all that be in Rome,
beloved of God, called saints:
This clearly defines that the
beloved of God are called saints.
It is not a future event but a
very present fact.
Romans 1:7
To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints:
Grace to you and peace from
God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
In the following verse we see that the saints were in need
of assistance.
Roman
12:13
Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.
Paul went to minister to the saints.
Romans
15:25 But now
I go unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints.
1Co 1:2 Unto the
church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus,
called (to be) saints, with all
that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs
and ours:
2Co 1:1 Paul, an
apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, unto the
church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints which are in all Achaia:
Eph 1:1 Paul, an apostle
of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to
the faithful in Christ Jesus:
2Co 13:13 All the
saints salute you.
Php 1:1
Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in
Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:
Col 1:2
To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse:
Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Col 1:2
To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse:
Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
As you can see in book after book the
Apostle Paul addresses the very much alive saints.
In Revelation we see that the prayers of
the saints are very important.
Re 8:4
And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints,
ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.
What we do as very much alive saved human
beings, who are called saints is very important.
If you live as a saint, you die as a
saint, but in the normal scheme of things
you have to wait until the resurrection
until you have any further part in the lives of humans.
A saint is an obedient repentant believer
who has the Godhead indwelling in him/her.
This state is achieved whilst one is
alive.
It requires no activity by any human
agency to be a saint.
No dubious miracles after you are dead
are required.
There are no other qualifications besides
those I mentioned above.
All genuine true believers at this time
can be referred to as
the saints at the end time,
the saints wherever you live assuming
there are true believers there,
for example the saints in London.
p.j.
The only way out of all dilemmas is Jesus
Christ.
He is
the only way of escape.
Praise the Lord.
Come soon Lord Jesus.
Amen.
(Bible
Explanations, Messages of Life, Hope &
Encouragement)