Did Katherin Drexel buy her Sainthood?

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Katharine Drexel was beatified by Pope John Paul II on November 20, 1988. From the age of 33 until her death in 1955, she dedicated her life and a fortune of 20 million dollars to this work.

I memorized her prayer which I found online at roman-catholic-prayers.com/saint/saint_katherine_drexel.htm
and it struck me as quite insincere… I think she was a priviledged person whom bought her recognition!

Was Katherine the last Saint? Do you think it is getting easier to become a Saint as time goes on? or harder? Do you think she would have been beatified is she didnt have all that money? I mean really… I know lots of hard working saintly people that struggle all their lives and give just as much time and energy and compassion but will never be recognized as Saints because they haven’t contributed the money or built the physical institutions - seems to me live the rich become Saints and the poor are just forgotten…
 
Canonizations are infallible. Either you except them or you incurr an automatic excommunication.
 
Well, if you named a few more saints who were fabulously wealthy, you might sound plausible. But the fact is that most saints aren’t multi-millionaires. Padre Pio wasn’t, nor was Mother Theresa. Josemaria Escriva? Nope. Also, it wasn’t just that St. Katherine wrote out a 20m dollar check, she founded an order of nuns and personally cared for the poor Indians. The fact that she was good with her money is an added bonus.
 
That’s what makes the saints so great! They come from all walks of life. Rich, poor, black, white, indian, asian, middle class. So no, because she was wealthy does not mean that she bought her sainthood. She did many wonderful things using the money she had. So no. She didn’t. If she had hoarded it all and paid a pope to canonize her…well, that would be wrong. Very wrong indeed. But she didn’t do that. Smile
 
The_Augustinian said:
Well, if you named a few more saints who were fabulously wealthy, you might sound plausible. But the fact is that most saints aren’t multi-millionaires. Padre Pio wasn’t, nor was Mother Theresa. Josemaria Escriva? Nope. Also, it wasn’t just that St. Katherine wrote out a 20m dollar check, she founded an order of nuns and personally cared for the poor Indians. The fact that she was good with her money is an added bonus.
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Oh there are more than a couple of members of the European nobility who’ve been named as Saints. Can’t imagine they’d have been poor nor tightfisted in donating to the Church :nope:

Offhand I can think of Empress St Helena of Rome, King St Edward the Confessor of England (built the original Westminster Abbey), King St Louis IX of France, Queen St Elizabeth of Hungary, King St Olaf of Norway, King St Casimir of Poland, Princess St Olga of the Ukraine …
 
please research her life and learn “the rest of the story” as paul harvey would say.

she gave away her fortune, using it to build schools and institutions to serve the minorities whom she loved to the degree that she gave up all wealth and trappings of wealth to become a nun, vowed with all the sacrifice that entails, to serve them all her life. That is hardly “buying sainthood” any more than Mother Teresa bought sainthood by accepting monetary donations to supply the needs of the poor she served. She was NOT a rich person who became a saint. She was a formerly rich person who became poor for the sake of those she served in the name of Christ.
 
Thomas More … a very wealthy businessman. He did not live a life of poverty and did not die in poverty but was well ordered as to his wealth. He hobnobbed with nobility and very important people in his time. Obviously he was not a slave to it.
 
robe69 said:
Katharine Drexel was beatified by Pope John Paul II on November 20, 1988. From the age of 33 until her death in 1955, she dedicated her life and a fortune of 20 million dollars to this work.

I memorized her prayer which I found online at roman-catholic-prayers.com/saint/saint_katherine_drexel.htm
and it struck me as quite insincere… I think she was a priviledged person whom bought her recognition!

Was Katherine the last Saint? Do you think it is getting easier to become a Saint as time goes on? or harder? Do you think she would have been beatified is she didnt have all that money? I mean really… I know lots of hard working saintly people that struggle all their lives and give just as much time and energy and compassion but will never be recognized as Saints because they haven’t contributed the money or built the physical institutions - seems to me live the rich become Saints and the poor are just forgotten…
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The last Saint? Hardly!

ewtn.com/library/MARY/STSBIOS.HTM

A reading of the lives of some of these newest canonized Saints would be very instructive for you.
 
robe69 said:
Katharine Drexel was beatified by Pope John Paul II on November 20, 1988. From the age of 33 until her death in 1955, she dedicated her life and a fortune of 20 million dollars to this work.

I memorized her prayer which I found online at roman-catholic-prayers.com/saint/saint_katherine_drexel.htm
and it struck me as quite insincere… I think she was a priviledged person whom bought her recognition!
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If you’ve got twenty million dollars in the bank and use it to buy a place in heaven, that isn’t a poor use of the money.

To be a canonised saint there has to be something of a cult around you. Therefore you have to achieve recognition. In the nature of things, the exceptionally wealthy or exceptionally powerful are at a huge advantage. They can do more dramatic things, and are more likely to be held up as models for others to aspire to.

Humans do find heroes, as a natural part of their social behaviour. These are people who are unusually favoured in some respect, be it wealth, looks, or sporting ability. You can choose good heroes like St Katherine Drexel, or you can choose poorer ones like the singer Madonna.
 
It appears that the Rich Young Woman responded more wisely than the Rich Young Man of Matthew 19.
 
Caesar said:
Canonizations are infallible. Either you except them or you incurr an automatic excommunication.
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that is simply not a true statement. if you want to participate in a thread or start a new one to discuss infallibility or the canonization process, you may do so, but please check your facts before making such statements
 
Was Katherine the last Saint? Do you think it is getting easier to become a Saint as time goes on? or harder? Do you think she would have been beatified is she didnt have all that money? I mean really… I know lots of hard working saintly people that struggle all their lives and give just as much time and energy and compassion but will never be recognized as Saints because they haven’t contributed the money or built the physical institutions - seems to me live the rich become Saints and the poor are just forgotten…
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You obviously do not know your saints do you?

Many were born to noble families, gave up a life of comfort with all mod cons to endure hardship and poverty in order to devote ALL THEIR LIVES to meditating on the mystery we call Christ. Some of the great mystics were indeed canonised but by no means all. But they are still numbered among the Saints.

Saints are often role models for the rest of us. They illustrate in their everyday lives that though it can be tough, it can be one of dedication to constant worship and prayer.

If Katherine was undeserving, having done nothing more than anyone else would do, then I suggest those who criticise, though not millionares maybe, give up what they have got and live a life of a hermit.

You do not have to be a former multi-millionare to become poor, you can do it by abandoning whatever amount you possess 😛
 
robe69 said:
From the age of 33 until her death in 1955, she dedicated her life and a fortune of 20 million dollars to this work.
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So, what is “this work”?
She took an avid interest in the material and spiritual well-being of black and native Americans. She began by donating money but soon concluded that more was needed - the lacking ingredient was people. Katharine founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Indians and Colored People, whose members would work for the betterment of those they were called to serve.

However, “work” doesn’t buy you a ticket to heaven nor the title “saint”. You might want to search about her life on internet more.

If one could buy a “saint” title, I wouldn’t be a Catholic anymore.
 
puzzleannie said:
that is simply not a true statement. if you want to participate in a thread or start a new one to discuss infallibility or the canonization process, you may do so, but please check your facts before making such statements
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The Church’s ability to decree a that a person is in Heaven is infallible.
 
puzzleannie said:
please research her life and learn “the rest of the story” as paul harvey would say.

she gave away her fortune, using it to build schools and institutions to serve the minorities whom she loved to the degree that she gave up all wealth and trappings of wealth to become a nun, vowed with all the sacrifice that entails, to serve them all her life. That is hardly “buying sainthood” any more than Mother Teresa bought sainthood by accepting monetary donations to supply the needs of the poor she served. She was NOT a rich person who became a saint. She was a formerly rich person who became poor for the sake of those she served in the name of Christ.
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Some one said she was a racist because she believed in segregation.
 
bones_IV said:
Some one said she was a racist because she believed in segregation.
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then that someone is a racist himself.

She took an avid interest in the material and spiritual well-being of black and native Americans. She began by donating money but soon concluded that more was needed - the lacking ingredient was people. Katharine founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Indians and Colored People, whose members would work for the betterment of those they were called to serve.
 
I think the one thing we need to remember here is that being canonized only means that the Church recognizes that a certain person is a saint, it does not in and of itself make the person a saint. In reality it is almost certainly the case that the unrecognized saints outnumber the canonized ones, and we can hope that the ratio is many thousands or millions of unrecognized saint for every canonized saints.

Now regarding those who are canonized. It is true that coming from a prominent place in society tends to give one a leg up on receiving canonization. It is those who receive a certain amount of recognition for their holiness in life who are most likely to be canonized and those who are famous are more likely to be recognized simply because of the fact that more attention is on them in the first place. It doesn’t mean that they will get a special place in heaven, rather they will joyfully take their place as equals among the unrecognized saints secure with the knowledge that they are recognized by the one that truely matters. God.

–
Bill
 
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