saints

[Cesyxn]

Pls. explain to me the concept of saints. How come they have to be dead to be saints if in the scriptures it says that they are people who are alive?Acts 9: 13, 32, 41; Rom. 1: 7; 1 Cor. 1: 2; Philip. 1: 1; 1 Pet. 1: 14-15).

 

[Cathryn]

We, while on earth, are all called to be saints. We are all called to be Holy and to be one with Jesus Christ. We are all called to be in the state of Grace. If we are not, we are to confess our sins and repent. We are members of the Body of Christ.

“Canonized” saints are those who the Church determines are without doubt with God in heaven. The Church determines that they are good models for us and we can ask them for their prayers for us.

 

[Veritas41]

Pls. explain to me the concept of saints. How come they have to be dead to be saints if in the scriptures it says that they are people who are alive?Acts 9: 13, 32, 41; Rom. 1: 7; 1 Cor. 1: 2; Philip. 1: 1; 1 Pet. 1: 14-15).

The saints in heaven are very much alive! The New Testament refers to Christians as “saints,” and anyone in a state of grace is a saint in that sense. We have been set apart and possess some degree of holiness due to our incorporation into Christ. But the Church also holds up Christians who are holy to an extraordinary degree (“heroic sanctity/virtue”) and are canonized in recognition of their high degree of sanctity. When Catholics refer to “the Saints” that’s who they’re referring to --not Christians in general. Usually the feast days of saints commemorate the dates of their death, not their birth, because that’s when they passed on into eternity, their salvation guaranteed and perfected, which is why they aren’t canonized until after their physical death.

 

[bpbasilphx]

The departed heroes and heroines we call “saints” are the Holy Roll of the Church, as one Orthodox lady put it.

 

[drafdog]

The official recognition by the church of an individual by which he/she is called a saint is a life achievement award. Thus it is posthumously awarded.

Matthew