What is a saint?

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souldiver

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In Wikipedia, it says that in Catholism, saints are Christians who are in heaven currently, right?

I encountered a Protestant pastor, it’s not certain people but all of Christian, I think she means all Christian including ones in earth.

Is the pastor right?
 
I don’t really understand your question, but a saint is any person who has attained heaven, no matter what his or her faith denomination.
 
Though commonly used to refer to those in heaven, all Christians are saints, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 823, says:
The Church, then, is “the holy People of God,” and her members are called “saints.” (source)
 
Todd977 said:
Though commonly used to refer to those in heaven, all Christians are saints, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 823, says:
The Church, then, is “the holy People of God,” and her members are called “saints.” (source)
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Wouldn’t that just be members of the Catholic Church then since that is “Christ’s Church” and not “all Christians,” many of whom are not members of the church established by Christ? 🤷
 
A “saint” (small letter s) is a christian living on earth.

A “Saint” (capital letter S) is a christian who has died an earthly death but has been deemed worthy and justified by the Church as already in Heaven e.g. all the Apostles, St Peter, St Paul etc

This is the Catholic understanding of those terms. I’m not sure there is a single Protestant definition for the term as there are so many denominations with different teachings.
 
Todd977 said:
Though commonly used to refer to those in heaven, all Christians are saints, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 823, says:
The Church, then, is “the holy People of God,” and her members are called “saints.” (source)
Click to expand...
And, if we are cooperating with the grace of the Lord we go through the process of sanctification, by which we are filled more and more with the Presence of the Lord, hopefully to attain to full union with Him while still on earth.
 
But in my elementary school, there are people who are called catechists, they taught that in order to be a saint, you have to be an extraordinary Christian, right?
 
The word saint can refer to several groups, “saints” can refer to (1) living or deceased Christians, (2)those decedents who are officially recognized or canonized because of their holiness and have the title “Saint”, as well as (3) gridironers from the Big Easy.

You have to pay attention to the context in order to understand the meaning of the word, from your description it seems as if the teacher was referring to definition (2).
 
souldiver said:
But in my elementary school, there are people who are called catechists, they taught that in order to be a saint, you have to be an extraordinary Christian, right?
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The saints that are canonized manifested heroic virtue. There are many such Christians who also did, but I think there is not enough time to canonize all of them! 🙂
 
Lily_Bernans said:
Wouldn’t that just be members of the Catholic Church then since that is “Christ’s Church” and not “all Christians,” many of whom are not members of the church established by Christ? 🤷
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The difference might be between being a saint and being saintly.
 
Lily_Bernans said:
Wouldn’t that just be members of the Catholic Church then since that is “Christ’s Church” and not “all Christians,” many of whom are not members of the church established by Christ? 🤷
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This is untrue.
You should know this.
The communion of saints refers to all who are residing in heaven.
Those who are canonized Saints of the Church have had miracle attributed to their intercession and widely demonstrated holiness while on earth.
They are revered and honored by the Church with canonization.
ANYONE (human) who is with God in heaven is a saint.
Angels are a separate species.
Of course the Catholic Church afford one all the tools necessary to attain heaven.
But we do not teach that you have to be catholic to be in heaven.
*
The Catholic Church believes that saints are ordinary and typical human beings who made it into heaven. In the broader sense, everyone who’s now in heaven is technically a saint. Saints are human beings who lived holy lives in obedience to God’s will and are now in heaven for eternity.*
 
Todd977 said:
Though commonly used to refer to those in heaven, all Christians are saints, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 823, says:
The Church, then, is “the holy People of God,” and her members are called “saints.” (source)
Click to expand...
I’d go with that. The Latin word “sanctus” signifies “holy” as well. However, we are not saints yet. Does that make sense?
 
ProVobis said:
I’d go with that. The Latin word “sanctus” signifies “holy” as well. However, we are not saints yet. Does that make sense?
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Well, the church teaches about the “Communion of saints”. The saints in heaven, the Church Militant (saints on earth still living) and the suffering souls in purgatory are all part of the Communion of saints.
 
ProVobis said:
That’s presumption, no?
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From the Catechism of the Catholic Church vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p123a9p5.htm
ARTICLE 9
“I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH”
  • Paragraph 5. The Communion of Saints
946 **After confessing “the holy catholic Church,” the Apostles’ Creed adds “the communion of saints.” In a certain sense this article is a further explanation of the preceding: "What is the Church if not the assembly of all the saints?"479 The communion of saints is the Church.
**
947 "Since all the faithful form one body, the good of each is communicated to the others. . . . We must therefore believe that there exists a communion of goods in the Church. But the most important member is Christ, since he is the head. . . . Therefore, the riches of Christ are communicated to all the members, through the sacraments."480 "As this Church is governed by one and the same Spirit, all the goods she has received necessarily become a common fund."481

948 The term “communion of saints” therefore has two closely linked meanings: communion in holy things (sancta)" and “among holy persons (sancti).”

Sancta sanctis! (“God’s holy gifts for God’s holy people”) is proclaimed by the celebrant in most Eastern liturgies during the elevation of the holy Gifts before the distribution of communion. The faithful (sancti) are fed by Christ’s holy body and blood (sancta) to grow in the communion of the Holy Spirit (koinonia) and to communicate it to the world.
 
zab said:
From the Catechism of the Catholic Church vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p123a9p5.htm
ARTICLE 9
“I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH”
  • Paragraph 5. The Communion of Saints
946 **After confessing “the holy catholic Church,” the Apostles’ Creed adds “the communion of saints.” In a certain sense this article is a further explanation of the preceding: "What is the Church if not the assembly of all the saints?"479 The communion of saints is the Church.
**
947 "Since all the faithful form one body, the good of each is communicated to the others. . . . We must therefore believe that there exists a communion of goods in the Church. But the most important member is Christ, since he is the head. . . . Therefore, the riches of Christ are communicated to all the members, through the sacraments."480 "As this Church is governed by one and the same Spirit, all the goods she has received necessarily become a common fund."481

948 The term “communion of saints” therefore has two closely linked meanings: communion in holy things (sancta)" and “among holy persons (sancti).”

Sancta sanctis! (“God’s holy gifts for God’s holy people”) is proclaimed by the celebrant in most Eastern liturgies during the elevation of the holy Gifts before the distribution of communion. The faithful (sancti) are fed by Christ’s holy body and blood (sancta) to grow in the communion of the Holy Spirit (koinonia) and to communicate it to the world.
Click to expand...
In that sense that would be correct. We say the Sanctus in fact in the Mass. Actually it’s said three times and that in itself is significant. In the English it is more correct to say that we have levels of holiness that we should attain to, but saint in English has a different meaning. The Latin too seems to have two different uses, one of holiness and one which involves the canonization process. But how can we be sure of absolute holiness until after our Immediate Judgement?
 
pianistclare said:
This is untrue.
You should know this.
The communion of saints refers to all who are residing in heaven.
Those who are canonized Saints of the Church have had miracle attributed to their intercession and widely demonstrated holiness while on earth.
They are revered and honored by the Church with canonization.
ANYONE (human) who is with God in heaven is a saint.
Angels are a separate species.
Of course the Catholic Church afford one all the tools necessary to attain heaven.
But we do not teach that you have to be catholic to be in heaven.
*
The Catholic Church believes that saints are ordinary and typical human beings who made it into heaven. In the broader sense, everyone who’s now in heaven is technically a saint. Saints are human beings who lived holy lives in obedience to God’s will and are now in heaven for eternity.*
Click to expand...
That was my point, Clare, but obviously my post lacked clarity. Thank you for clearing it up. I believe anyone who is in heaven is a saint no matter what religion or even no religion. I agree with your post.

However, I believe the communion of saints is the Church Militant on earth, the Church Suffering in Purgatory, and the Church Triumphant in heaven, not just those in heaven:

vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p123a9p5.htm:

Maybe you meant this, I don’t know.🤷
 
ProVobis said:
Again I can’t see where you can say that before our Immediate Judgement.
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I see what you’re getting at, but it’s in the Catechism. I don’t mean those of us still on earth are morally perfect. I mean we join with the Church Triumphant and the Church Suffering as part of the Mystical Body of Christ. This might explain things better than I am obviously doing:

ewtn.com/faith/teachings/chura1.htm
 
A saint is not someone who simply does good things. Though this can open oneself up to grace. A saint is someone who recognises their continued need for mercy and their absolute unworthy nothingness without Him. Those who are canonized are those whose lives were touched by extra grace and participated in these abundant graces, thus enabling them to grow and deepen in humility, in total recognition of the awesomeness of the Creator. A reason why prayer is so important. For those who wish to grow in grace, spiritual works are not a substitute for prayer; they go hand in hand.

🙂
 
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