Any Lay Saints?

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mrsdizzyd

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I was watching a documentary about St. Anthony and made me think… are there any prominent saints who were simply lay people. I mean average lay people. Not wealthy, not in a religious order, not a deacon, not royalty, etc.

Just someone who was what we might call ‘your average Joe’. Might have worked, had a family, etc.

Thanks.
 
For me, Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, Blessed Chiara Badano, and Servant of God Dorothy Day come to mind.

I absolutely adore Chiara!
 
Yes and no. As I understand it, if someone is given the title of Venerable, then the church says that it is “worthy of belief” that he or she is in Heaven. Sure they don’t have “St.” in front of their name, but if you take a look at their lives and learn about them, I see no reason to think that they’re not in Heaven. Especially the one with “Blessed” in front of their names who have a miracle attributed to their cause for canonization.
 
There are some people who have only gotten partially through the canonization process and have never finished it. I think that might be less likely now since we have a lot more information about the people who are in process than we would have had in earlier times.

I was speaking of being officially declared a saint. They are not officially saints at this time.
 
Off the top of my head:

Many martyrs
St. Monica
Sts. Louis and Zelie Martin (parents of St. Therese)
St. Germaine Cousins (a poor French girl who was abused by her parents and herded sheep)
St. Gemma Galgani (mystic, stigmatist)

There are lots more, I’ll look later at my bigger list.
Also a lot of lay people on the path to sainthood.
 
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St. Maria Goretti was one. She was too young to have joined a religious order when she died at the hands of her attacker.
 
Sure, there are some. Different martyrs in every age, relatives of other saints, like St. Monica, and others too.

The advantage that people involved in religious orders have is that they have interested parties working to see the cause through to sainthood. It can take literally centuries to see someone canonized, and religious orders are perpetual organizations that don’t disappear.
 
Augustinian said:
The advantage that people involved in religious orders have is that they have interested parties working to see the cause through to sainthood. It can take literally centuries to see someone canonized, and religious orders are perpetual organizations that don’t disappear.
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That makes sense.
 
Thanks all. If you can think of any more keep them coming.

In particular, I’m looking for Saints who lived average lives. Parents, working people, etc. bonus points if there is a book or video about their lives.

Thanks again!
 
Millions if not billions…you are confusing Saint with Canonized Saints,
 
No. I’m not confused. I’m asking specifically about canonized Saints.
 
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