Why aren't old testament figures considered saints?

[jeanne71350]

Hi there,

I have been wondering why Old Testament figures…like Abraham, Moses, David…and such aren’t considered saints. Is it because they weren’t members of the Chrisitan Church? Are they in heaven, even though they died before Jesus came?

Please help clear this up for me.

Thanks
Jeanne

 

[LoyalViews]

They’re in heaven, because they are Prophets.
Yes, they are saints! They are saints in heaven! Though, they never did go thru a formal Canonization.

 

[WillyMcCabe]

At times the Old Testament heroes are referred to as saints. I believe there is even a litany to the Saints of the Old Testament. My guess is the term isn’t used more just to avoid confusion between Old Testament figures and saints from latter times, but I’m not sure.

 

[Zekariya]

Hi there,

I have been wondering why Old Testament figures…like Abraham, Moses, David…and such aren’t considered saints. Is it because they weren’t members of the Chrisitan Church? Are they in heaven, even though they died before Jesus came?

Please help clear this up for me.

Thanks
Jeanne

In the east they are considered saints and have feast days like the others.

Zekariya

 

[MarcoPolo]

*Catechism #61 The patriarchs, prophets and certain other Old Testament figures have been and always will be honored as saints in all the Church’s liturgical traditions.*Now I’m not sure why they don’t get the monicker “Saint Moses” or “Saint Job” like they might in the Eastern tradition, but the Catechism does consider them saints.

 

[aball1035]

Why isn’t it the norm to pray to them?

 

[LilyM]

Why isn’t it the norm to pray to them?

Since we invoke ALL the saints regularly in the Mass, it IS ‘the norm’ to pray to them, even if we don’t invoke all of them by name (though some, such as Abraham, certainly get a mention). We don’t invoke all, or nearly all, of the NT saints by name in the Mass either.

Remember also that Elizabeth, Zechariah, Joachim and Anne (parents of Our Lady) are all OT figures. Arguably even John the Baptist, Joseph and Mary, although they are more correctly bridges between the Old and New Testaments.

And the Carmelite order even considers St Elijah (as in the prophet) to be one of the founders of their order!

On a different note, it may be for the same reason that we don’t obey all the laws prescribed in OT books such as Leviticus. While there is a place for the OT, it’s not our primary focus.