What is a saint?

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What is the Catholic teaching on what a saint is? My RCIA instructors said that “we are all saints” and this really struck a nerve with me because I didn’t think this was sound Catholic teaching. But now I’m unsure…what is a saint?
 
a saint is someone in heaven, so it’s people and angels, but we down here are not saints…we are sinners, and even the great saints when they were on earth never considered themselves saints(even if others did) they called themselves sinners, and were most severe with themselves in that regard…so if the saints did not call themselves saints while on earth, then we hardly have any right to do so either…

so yes, you are right, that is not a catholic teaching.
 
The saints absolutely called OTHER earthly people saints, if not claiming the title for themselves.

St Paul especially called EVERYONE in the communities he wrote to saints, as in ‘the saints at Corinth’, ‘the saints at Ephesus’ and so on. He didn’t make too many exceptions for people who he thought shouldn’t be called saints.

In this sense, clearly, all members of the Church can be rightly called saints. And if others can address us by that name, why cannot we claim it for ourselves?

Do you think, for example, that it was OK for Thomas to call Jesus God but not for Jesus Himself to claim His divinity (as He did in several places in scripture, for example saying ‘the Father and I are one’)?
 
Thank you all for replying! It looks like I got two opposing answers! Any other thoughts out there?
 
  1. Saint is used in different senses (meaning Holy…)
  2. Those canonized are examples of heroic sanctity…St.Thomas More…etc as are all those recognized as “Saints” by the Church in this sense…
  3. All in heaven are saints …some heroic some less so.
  4. St. Paul referred to Christians as saints…as holy…and indeed Pope Benedict reminded us of this…
A few examples…

Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them. (Rm 16:13 RSV CE)

So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God… (Ep 2:19 RSV CE)

“At the beginning of Christianity, the members of the Church were also called “saints”. 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, but at the same time they must become so by conforming themselves every more closely to him.” --Pope Benedict XVI

so as being Baptized into Christ we are saints…and seeking to be evermore so…even of the heroic sort.

As Leon Bloy wrote: “The only sadness in life is not to be a saint”.
 
Bookcat said:
“At the beginning of Christianity, the members of the Church were also called “saints”. 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, but at the same time they must become so by conforming themselves every more closely to him.” --Pope Benedict XVI

so as being Baptized into Christ we are saints…and seeking to be evermore so…even of the heroic sort.
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If being baptized technically makes you a saint, then can a person who is not baptized be considered a saint? The reason I ask so specifically is because what bothered me was that our RCIA directors said to a group of the elect “we are all saints”. As you know, the elect in the RCIA process are not yet baptized.
 
D0UBTFIRE said:
If being baptized technically makes you a saint, then can a person who is not baptized be considered a saint? The reason I ask so specifically is because what bothered me was that our RCIA directors said to a group of the elect “we are all saints”. As you know, the elect in the RCIA process are not yet baptized.
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She was mis-speaking here…with good intentions no doubt.

(of course it is possible that some can be ‘saints’ in a sense…prior to baptism.and catechumens are in a unique place…but the term as Paul used it and as we use it is normally for Baptized Christians …)
 
Bookcat said:
She was mis-peaking here…with good intentions no doubt.

(of course it is possible that some can be ‘saints’ in a sense…prior to baptism…but the term as Paul used it and as we use it is normally for Baptized Christians …)
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Okay, thanks. I don’t think he mis-spoke, if by mis-spoke you mean that he said it with out really meaning it. I say that because I indignantly retorted “No we’re not!”. (I admit that was wrong of me to do in that manner. I sincerely thought they were wrong and after listening to 5 minutes of new age hogwash about how we are God I had had enough!) Then they proceeded to tell me “yes we are saints” and all the instructors agreed with each other that we are saints and they explained that as a part of the teaching of the communion of saints.
 
D0UBTFIRE said:
Okay, thanks. I don’t think he mis-spoke, if by mis-spoke you mean that he said it with out really meaning it. I say that because I indignantly retorted “No we’re not!”. (I admit that was wrong of me to do in that manner. I sincerely thought they were wrong and after listening to 5 minutes of new age hogwash about how we are God I had had enough!) Then they proceeded to tell me “yes we are saints” and all the instructors agreed with each other that we are saints and they explained that as a part of the teaching of the communion of saints.
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RCIA instructors are not always theologians…who can distinguish such …

and they may have been forgetting then …that not all had been baptized into Christ yet.

🙂

And they may have been thinking of those who are saved…even though they were not baptized…

But they should have kept with the normal usage of the Baptized…and the canonized…(of course those who are in mortal sin are not at that moment…saints…)
 
Bookcat said:
RCIA instructors are not always theologians…who can distinguish such …

and they may have been forgetting then …that not all had been baptized into Christ yet.

🙂
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lol I wish I was as nice as you. But I hardly think they could have forgotten because the group they were talking to was the small group that will be getting baptized this easter vigil (they seperate the elect from the rest of the rcia group) We have our RCIA class on Sunday right after the liturgy of the Word and we were still in our brown robes from mass (for the scrutinies/minor exorcism).
 
D0UBTFIRE said:
lol I wish I was as nice as you. But I hardly think they could have forgotten because the group they were talking to was the small group that will be getting baptized this easter vigil (they seperate the elect from the rest of the rcia group) We have our RCIA class on Sunday right after the liturgy of the Word and we were still in our brown robes from mass (for the scrutinies/minor exorcism).
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see my addition above.

Also again…catechists again…are not all theologians who think about these various things…

but perhaps you can print just the quote from Pope Benedict…and give it to them…privately
 
PS: read some of the cool things from the Early Church on Baptism etc…
 
D0UBTFIRE said:
If being baptized technically makes you a saint, then can a person who is not baptized be considered a saint? The reason I ask so specifically is because what bothered me was that our RCIA directors said to a group of the elect “we are all saints”. As you know, the elect in the RCIA process are not yet baptized.
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Well, it’s like this.

It’s one thing for me to call another person a saint, or even to refer to the Church as the communion of saints (which it is). But it’s yet another thing for me to claim the title for myself. I don’t really feel comfortable doing that, and my sense of the humility my faith requires of me demands that I stop short of it.

It’s perfectly fine for Jesus to tell his disciples that they are the light of the world; I don’t feel right singing “We are the light of the world” in a liturgy. It feels as though I’m arrogating something to myself, and it smacks of the whole self-esteem cult.

I think part of the confusion is that there is sainthood (which, by grace, we are given by virtue of our baptism) and then there is heroic sainthood (the example of the holy people we commemorate on the calendar). A saint who is “in the canon” is one that the Church is sure, beyond any reasonable doubt, is in Heaven. Their faith, witness, work, and in some cases martyrdom, attest to this, and the miracles wrought under their patronage also bear witness. But note that the Church doesn’t canonize anyone who’s still living : this is because we are as yet unfinished works. A living person may indeed be a saint, but that’s not yet engraved in stone; they can fall into heresy or apostasy, and lose that status.
 
Such a great quote;

“At the beginning of Christianity, the members of the Church were also called “saints”. 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, but at the same time they must become so by conforming themselves every more closely to him.”

–Pope Benedict XVI
 
In Paul’s letters, he doesn’t recognize everyone that has faith in Jesus Christ as Saints. A saint is one that God has called, one that basically already gave up their free will before they became flesh. God has justified the ones He has called. He knows that He can trust them to do what He needs them to do. God can call on His saints at anytime go where He needs them to go even if it means leaving everything behind. The Apostles are a good example of saints.
 
Paul called all the baptized saints. (Of course those who left the state of grace via mortal …were not saints at that moment.)
 
f God is omniscient then he knows how to bring it about that there is neither evil nor suffering.
If God is omnipotent then he is able to bring it about that there is neither evil nor suffering.
If God is benevolent then he wants to bring it about that there is neither evil nor suffering.
But if God knows how to, is able to and wants to bring it about that there is neither evil nor suffering, then why does he not do so?

“God is incomprehensible” you respond.

Theists have often been content to say that we are unable to comprehend God, that his being transcends our mundane experiences and that our concepts, which are derived from such experiences, cannot be used to describe him. If true, then this might be thought to count in favor of agnosticism; if we cannot comprehend God, then how can we reason with any confidence concerning his existence?

Of course, I can’t expect this to make sense to any one here. The only way you could maintain such a blind faith as I see here is if you rejected anything that offended you or challenged your knowledge. At least when I am censored, you must acknowledge the truth of this last paragraph.
 
Bookcat said:
Such a great quote;

“At the beginning of Christianity, the members of the Church were also called “saints”. 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, but at the same time they must become so by conforming themselves every more closely to him.”

–Pope Benedict XVI
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I was thinking about this quote…The first half is a direct quote from Corinthians, the second half is what the Holy Father said. I noticed that in the Corinthians part, Paul says we Christians are “called to be saints”. I don’t think that means that we are saints, but literally that we are called by God to attempt to be saints. The second half is were the Holy Father seems to give his interpretation of that Corinthians passage. I assume he didn’t say this originally in English, I’m wondering if there might be a problem with the translation. The reason I wonder is because he seems to contradict himself when he says that “Christians are already saints” versus “they must become so”. Both can’t be true. We can’t already be saints and make an effort to become saints. (I suppose we could already be saints and make an effort to stay saints, but the word in the quote is “become”, which gives a different meaning.) I’m no theologian, and I really hate to question the Holy Father…I’m still looking for more insight on this.
 
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