Saints

This week the Vatican announced that Pope John XXXIII and Pope John Paul will be recognized as saints of the Church. In a month, we will celebrate All Saints' Day. Since The Episcopal Church recognizes certain saints, you may wonder what this is all about. Here’s the short version.

The Roman Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Oriental Orthodox Church are the three large Christian bodies that officially recognize or name saints. They each have a different process for doing so. For the most part, the Anglican Communion acknowledges those who are recognized as saints in the Roman Church, but I’m not aware we do so with those named in the Oriental or Eastern Orthodox Church. It is also true that we do not officially honor all those whom the Romans recognize. 

One estimate is that there are as many as 10,000 acknowledged saints in the Catholic Church, though not all are given feast days or continued to be venerated on a Church wide basis. The Episcopal Church routinely revises the list of those it calls saints as well as those who are not called saints but are worthy of Christian respect and remembrance and includes them in a list of those who have a feast day. These are included in a book called Lesser Feasts and Fasts. 

You can see a list of saints and others commemorated at the website http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calendar_of_saints_(Episcopal_Church) or you may view a pdf of the Lesser Feasts and Fasts 2006 at http://www.richardliantonio.com/anglican/Lesser%20Feasts%20and%20Fasts%202006.pdf. Both indicate who and when, and beginning on page 88 LFF, why.

But what exactly are saints? Originally, the name was used to refer to all believers. It is in this sense that Paul uses the word in his writings. Later, the name began to be reserved for those who were martyred for the faith and then finally, only for those who meet certain criteria. However, in the naming of Pope John XXXIII, Pope Francis declared that a second miracle was not needed for him, so there is flexibility. Francis’ recent pronouncements about Vatican reform and his intention to try to actualize more of what John started in Vatican II indicates the high regard in which he holds John.

Before the recognition by the Church proper of saints, they were universally local figures who were remembered in a parish or perhaps a diocese. The first saint officially proclaimed by the Roman Church was Bishop Ulrich of Augsburg in 993. In 1153, Pope Alexander III decreed that from that time forward only popes could recognize people as saints, though this decree eventually only applied to what we call the Western Church. 

In no branch of Christianity are saints worshipped, at least not officially. They are venerated, that is, revered or given honor due them for their lives. Their function is to inspire us to live more holy lives. 

Saints are commonly asked for help by the living, especially in Catholicism. Usually they are asked to intercede with God on behalf of the person praying to them. Because of that, some saints have been named “patron saints,” in that, they are particularly “useful” in problems in a certain area. For example, St. Francis is considered the patron saint of animals, while St. Stephen is the patron saint of deacons.

Since the Protestant Reformation, Protestants assert the only mediator needed between humans and God is Jesus. Still, some Protestants (especially Anglo-Catholic Anglicans) argue that asking a saint to pray on your behalf is no different from asking a living person to do so.

Go be a saint. Go honor a saint.

Peace, Jerry+