Becoming a Saint

[SnowAngels]

Hello,

Have the requirements for becoming saint been the same throughout the history of the Roman Catholic Church? By requirements I mean preforming a certain amount of miracles, etc…Thank you. God bless!

 

[PietroPaolo]

Hello,

Have the requirements for becoming saint been the same throughout the history of the Roman Catholic Church? By requirements I mean preforming a certain amount of miracles, etc…Thank you. God bless!

No. The first “saints” (in our sense of the word) were the martyrs. Once the persecutions ended, the idea of a “white martyrdom” spread, in which living a holy life was recognized as a type of death to the world. The early non-martyr saints were “white martyrs” in this sense. In these early centuries saints were “canonized” by general acclamation.

 

[SnowAngels]

No. The first “saints” (in our sense of the word) were the martyrs. Once the persecutions ended, the idea of a “white martyrdom” spread, in which living a holy life was recognized as a type of death to the world. The early non-martyr saints were “white martyrs” in this sense. In these early centuries saints were “canonized” by general acclamation.

Thank you!

 

[HelenRose]

Hello,

Have the requirements for becoming saint been the same throughout the history of the Roman Catholic Church? By requirements I mean preforming a certain amount of miracles, etc…Thank you. God bless!

Let us be sure that we keep in mind that the Roman Catholic Church does not determine who becomes a saint. All the Catholic Church does is recognize a few of the Saints.

Your question my have be better if you had stated it this way.

“Have the requirements for *RECOGNISING SAINTS *been the same throughout the history of the Roman Catholic Church? By requirements I mean preforming a certain amount of miracles, etc.”

 

[Bookcat]

Christians on earth – who are living “in Christ” --* are* saints.

There is nothing new to this and is what we as Catholics hold.

We believe what Paul and other New Testament writers mean when they use the term.

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church 823 :

"The Church, then, is “the holy People of God,” and her members are called “saints.”

And from Pope Benedict XVI:

“In his First Letter to the Corinthians, St Paul addresses “those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (I Cor 1: 2). Indeed, Christians are already saints because Baptism unites them to Jesus and to his Paschal Mystery…”

(and then discussing becoming --more holy --more conformed to Christ he continues…)

“…but at the same time they must become so by conforming themselves every more closely to him.”

“Sometimes, people think that holiness is a privileged condition reserved for the few elect. Actually, becoming holy is every Christian’s task… The Apostle writes that God has always blessed us and has chosen us in Christ “that we should be holy and blameless before him… in love” (Eph 1: 3-5). … The “Way” is Christ, the Son, the Holy One of God: “no one comes to the Father but by me [Jesus]” (cf. Jn 14: 6).”

1 November 2007

Now over the centuries yes another use of the term saints developed. Saints has been yes used for those who have lived as saints in a heroic way (by the grace of God of course).

And yes later a process of canonization developed to recognize them, honor them and propose them as special models for the Christian faithful in following Christ.

Thus one can say there are saints and also Saints in the canonized sense or at least the recognized sense (they were recognized long before the process of canonization developed…especially Our Lady, the Apostles and Martyrs).

---

So when someone says to me “oh well I am not a saint” say “you better get to confession then” and the explain what I mean