by Miranda Mobley, Juicy Ecumenism
It is the day after Halloween. Sugar-laden children are enjoying their treats while parents take down decorations. And for more than a billion people around the globe, they also prepare to go to church. Why? For a Holy Day of Obligation in the Roman Catholic Church: All Saints’ Day.
All Saints’ Day is November 1st of every year, a day set aside to celebrate saints. But, if you’re a Protestant like I am, you might be wondering what that means. Aren’t we all saints? That seems a bit self-congratulatory. Or is this a day set aside for Catholics to do that “saint-worshipping thing” they are accused of?
In growing up as a nondenominational Protestant, my idea of sainthood was vague at best. I was taught that all believers are saints, but nothing else.
While the Catholic Church does agree with that statement broadly, it also defines “saint” in a stricter sense. When Catholics speak of saints, they specifically mean those whom we know are in Heaven. The church recognizes that by a process of canonization, by which the Pope declares that a saint is with God.
The Making of a Saint
The definition of sainthood and the process of recognizing saints exists in both the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. The Orthodox also have a specific day wherein they recognize the saints. This is the first Sunday after Pentecost. Both the Orthodox and Roman Catholic traditions have many similarities in regards to saints. This article will focus on the Catholic tradition.
The Catholic church has a strict process of recognizing saints known as canonization. It consists of four stages. In the first stage, the diocese initiates a Cause for Beatification and Canonization. If accepted, a commission begins to investigate the life of the individual. The commission aims to ascertain if the individual has lived a life characterized by great virtue. If this is the case, the Pope will award the individual with a Decree of Heroic Virtue. The individual then needs two proven miracles that happened specifically due to intercessory prayer to them. Once that happens, the person is officially canonized and recognized as a saint.