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Saint: the story on HearLore | HearLore
Saint
On the 3rd of January 993, Pope John XV made a decision that would fundamentally alter the spiritual landscape of Europe by canonizing Bishop Ulrich of Augsburg, the first person to be officially declared a saint from outside the diocese of Rome. Before this pivotal moment, the veneration of holy figures was a local and spontaneous affair, confirmed only by the local bishop and never requiring papal approval. This shift centralized the power to declare sainthood, moving it from the grassroots level of local communities to the highest office of the Church. The process was not merely administrative; it was a consolidation of authority that would define the Catholic Church's approach to holiness for the next millennium. While earlier popes like John XVIII and Benedict VIII had permitted cults of martyrs, it was not until the pontificate of Innocent III that the popes reserved the exclusive authority to canonize saints, ensuring that no local bishop could unilaterally declare a holy figure worthy of universal veneration. The last person in Western Europe to be canonized by an authority other than the Pope was Walter of Pontoise, who was elevated by Hugh de Boves, the Archbishop of Rouen, in 1153. This historical turning point established a strict hierarchy where the Pope alone held the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven, transforming the concept of sainthood from a local folk tradition into a universal ecclesiastical decree.
The Corporate Saint And The Pauline Shift
In the earliest days of Christianity, the word saint did not refer to a select elite of holy individuals but rather described the entire community of believers. The Greek term hagioi appears 235 times in the Greek New Testament, yet it was predominantly used in the plural to designate all Christians in a given locality as a collective people set apart for God. The Apostle Paul explicitly identified the saints with the believers themselves, addressing communities as saints in the openings and closings of his letters to emphasize corporate unity across locations. In practical matters, Paul urged service and aid for the saints, often referring to the Jerusalem poor with abbreviated phrasing that presumed this shared self-designation. This early usage marked the church as a people rather than an elite subgroup, suggesting that holiness was a status shared by all who belonged to the covenant. Standard reference works concur that hagioi designates all believers, not a special class, and that the underlying idea is consecration and belonging to God. Later Christian traditions, including Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, and Protestantism, developed distinct practices of recognizing exemplary figures, but this stands apart from the New Testament's collective usage. The shift from a corporate identity to an individualized title of sainthood represents one of the most significant theological evolutions in the history of the faith, moving the focus from the community to the individual hero.
When did Pope John XV canonize Bishop Ulrich of Augsburg?
Pope John XV canonized Bishop Ulrich of Augsburg on the 3rd of January 993. This event marked the first official declaration of sainthood for a person from outside the diocese of Rome. The decision shifted the power to declare sainthood from local bishops to the highest office of the Church.
What does the Greek term hagioi mean in the New Testament?
The Greek term hagioi appears 235 times in the Greek New Testament and designates all Christians in a given locality as a collective people set apart for God. The Apostle Paul used this plural term to identify the entire community of believers as saints rather than a select elite. Standard reference works confirm that hagioi refers to all believers and implies consecration and belonging to God.
How many miracles are required for Catholic canonization?
The Catholic Church requires at least two important miracles through the intercession of the candidate before the Pope can officially declare them a saint. These miracles must be instantaneous medical recoveries that are not attributable to treatment and disappear for good. A panel of theologians validated the miracle of Jack Sullivan in 2009 when he was cured of spinal stenosis after praying to John Henry Newman.
How does the Eastern Orthodox Church define a saint?
The Eastern Orthodox Church defines a saint as anyone who is in Heaven besides God whether recognized here on earth or not. This definition includes figures such as Adam and Eve, Moses, the prophets, and archangels who are in communion with God. The Orthodox belief holds that God reveals saints through answered prayers and that the Church recognizes them through a service of glorification rather than making them saints.
What is the Protestant view on intercessory prayers to the saints?
Many Protestants consider intercessory prayers to the saints to be idolatry since they perceive it as an application of divine worship that should be given only to God himself. The Lutheran Church states through the Augsburg Confession that Scripture does not teach calling on the saints or pleading for help from them. Evangelical-Lutherans view saints as examples of faith to be imitated rather than mediators of redemption.
How are saints recognized in Hinduism and Islam?
In Hinduism, saints are recognized as showing a great degree of holiness and sanctity without a formal canonization process but rather acceptance as saints during their lifetime. In Islam, saints known as wali or fakir possess blessings and can perform miracles while ranking lower than prophets but able to intercede for people on the Day of Judgment. The veneration of saints became one of the most widespread Sunni practices for more than a millennium with the vast majority of saints venerated in the classical Sunni world being Sufis.
The path to sainthood often requires proof of power that transcends the natural world, specifically through the intercession of the candidate after their death. In the Catholic Church, the process of canonization demands at least two important miracles through the intercession of the candidate before the Pope can officially declare them a saint. These miracles must be instantaneous medical recoveries that are not attributable to treatment and disappear for good, serving as tangible evidence of the candidate's presence in Heaven. A striking example occurred in 2000 when an American deacon named Jack Sullivan claimed that John Henry Newman, then a blessed, interceded with God to cure him of spinal stenosis. Sullivan asserted that after addressing Newman, he was cured of the physical illness in a matter of hours. In 2009, a panel of theologians concluded that Sullivan's recovery was the result of his prayer to Newman, validating the miracle required for canonization. The Church maintains that to be deemed a miracle, a medical recovery must be instantaneous and not attributable to treatment, ensuring that the power attributed to the saint is divine rather than natural. Relics of saints, including their personal belongings and remains, are respected and venerated, with the practice of obtaining healing through intercession taken from the early Church. This reliance on miracles distinguishes the Catholic process from that of the Eastern Orthodox Church, which does not require the manifestation of miracles, focusing instead on evidence of a virtuous life and prior local veneration.
The Orthodox View Of The Living Dead
In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the definition of a saint diverges significantly from the Western model, defining a saint as anyone who is in Heaven besides God, whether recognized here on earth or not. This broad definition includes Adam and Eve, Moses, the various prophets, and archangels, suggesting that sainthood does not necessarily reflect a moral model but rather communion with God. There are many examples of people who lived in great sin and became saints through humility and repentance, such as Saints Mary of Egypt, Moses the Ethiopian, and Dismas, the repentant thief who was crucified with Jesus Christ. The Orthodox belief is that God reveals saints through answered prayers and other miracles, and saints are usually recognized by their local community, often by people who directly knew them. As their popularity grows, they are recognized by the entire Church through the Holy Spirit, a process that does not require the manifestation of miracles as it does in Roman Catholicism. The formal process involves deliberation by a synod of bishops, followed by a service of glorification in which the saint is given a day on the liturgical calendar to be celebrated by the entire Church. This service does not make the person a saint; the person already was a saint, and the Church ultimately recognized it. Because the Church shows no true distinction between the living and the dead, saints are referred to as if they are still alive and are venerated, not worshipped, believed to be able to intercede for the living for salvation or other requests.
The Protestant Rejection And The Universal Saint
The Protestant Reformation introduced a radical reinterpretation of the term saint, shifting the focus from a select group of holy individuals to the entire body of believers. In many Protestant churches, the word saint is used more generally to refer to anyone who is a Christian, similar to Paul's numerous references in the New Testament. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, for instance, uses the term to distinguish members living in the latter days before the Second Coming of Christ, considering all members who have entered into the Christian covenant of baptism as saints. This view emphasizes the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers, where anyone who is born-again is a saint because of their relationship with Christ Jesus. However, many Protestants consider intercessory prayers to the saints to be idolatry, since they perceive it as an application of divine worship that should be given only to God himself. The Lutheran Church, through the Augsburg Confession, states that Scripture does not teach calling on the saints or pleading for help from them, setting Christ alone as mediator, atoning sacrifice, high priest, and intercessor. While Evangelical-Lutherans believe that saints pray for the Christian Church in general, they prohibit prayers to the saints, viewing them as examples of faith to be imitated rather than mediators of redemption. This theological shift transformed the saint from an intercessor to a model, changing the dynamic of prayer and devotion within the Protestant tradition.
The Global Saint And The Syncretic Fusion
Beyond the boundaries of Christianity, the concept of the saint has been adopted and adapted by diverse religious traditions, creating a global tapestry of holiness. In Hinduism, saints are recognized as showing a great degree of holiness and sanctity, with no formal canonization process but rather acceptance as saints during their lifetime. These figures, variously called gurus, sadhus, rishis, and yogis, have often renounced the world and are sometimes given god-like status, being seen as incarnations of Vishnu, Shiva, Devi, and other aspects of the Divine. In Islam, saints known as wali or fakir possess blessings and can perform miracles, ranking lower than prophets but able to intercede for people on the Day of Judgment. The veneration of saints became one of the most widespread Sunni practices for more than a millennium, with the vast majority of saints venerated in the classical Sunni world being Sufis, who were all Sunni mystics belonging to one of the four orthodox legal schools of Sunni law. In the African diaspora, syncretist religions like Cuban Santería, Haitian Vodou, and Brazilian Umbanda adopted Catholic saints, applying their own spirits and deities to them, worshipping them in churches where they appear as saints and in religious festivals where they appear as deities. The name santería was originally a pejorative term for those whose worship of saints deviated from Catholic norms, yet it represents a profound fusion of spiritual traditions that transcends geographical and cultural boundaries.
The Saint In The Mirror Of History
The history of sainthood is a complex narrative of power, politics, and personal devotion that has evolved over centuries. The Catholic Church teaches that it does not make or create saints, but rather recognizes them, with proofs of heroic virtue required in the process of beatification serving to illustrate the general principles of holiness. The process is lengthy, often taking many years or even centuries, involving an investigation of the candidate's life by an expert, submission of the official report to the bishop of the pertinent diocese, and evaluation at the universal level of the church. If the application is approved, the candidate may be granted the title Venerable, followed by beatification with the title Blessed, which is elevation to the class of the Beati. The final stage requires proof of two important miracles through the intercession of the candidate before the Pope may canonize the candidate for veneration by the universal church. Once a person has been canonized, the deceased body of the saint is considered holy as a relic, and saints' personal belongings may also be used as relics. The veneration of saints, in Latin cultus sanctorum, describes a particular popular devotion or entrustment of one's self to a particular saint or group of saints, with the term worship used only with the older English connotation of honoring or respecting. This intricate process ensures that the title of saint is reserved for those who have proven their holiness through a life of service, sacrifice, and divine favor, creating a legacy that continues to inspire millions of believers across the world.