Process of Declaring A Person "Saint" by Rev Fr Lawrence ogundipe (SDV).

Process of  Declaring Person "Saint" by Rev Fr Lawrence ogundipe

 

The act, by which the church declares that a person who has died was a saint, is called Canonization it involved different processes requiring extension proof that the candidate for canonization lived and died in such an exemplary and holy way that he is worthy to be recognized as a saint. The Church's official recognition of sanctity implies that the person is now in Heaven and that he may be publicly invoked and mentioned officially in the liturgy of the Church, including in the Litany of the Saints.

   This first step toward canonization begins with the title Servant of God (Latin: Servus Dei): This process commence at the diocesan level. A bishop with jurisdiction, usually the bishop of the place where the candidate died or is buried, (although another ordinary can be given this authority) gives permission to open an investigation into the virtues of the individual in response to a petition of members of the faithful, either actually or "as a matter of form". This investigation usually commences no dinner than five years after the death of the person being investigated. 

  The Pope, as the Bishop of Rome, may also open a process and has the authority to waive the waiting period of five years, as was done in the case of St. Teresa of Calcutta by Pope St. John Paul II, and for Lucia Santos and for Pope John Paul II himself by Pope Benedict XVI. Normally, an association to promote the cause of the candidate is instituted, an exhaustive search of the candidate's writings, speeches, and sermons is undertaken, a detailed biography is written, and eyewitness accounts are collected, the local bishop presents the investigation of the candidate, who is titled "Servant of God" to the Congregation for the Saints of the Roman Curia (administrative apparatus of the Holy see), where assigned a postulator, whose office is to collect further evidence of the life of the Servant of God. Religious orders that regularly deal with the Congregation often designate their own postulator General. 

  At some time, permission is then granted for the body of the Servant of God to be exhumed and examined. A certification "non cultus" is made that no superstitious or heretical worship, or improper cult of the Servant of God or his tomb has emerged, and relics are taken and preserved.

Venerable (Latin: "Venerabilis" ) or "Heroic in Virtue": Here, When sufficient evidence has been collected, the Congregation recommends to the Pope that he proclaim the heroic virtue of the Servant of God; that is, that the Servant of God exercised to a heroic degree the theological virtues of faith, hope and charity and the Cardinal virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance). From this time the one said to be "heroic in virtue" is entitled "Venerable". A Venerable does not yet have a feast day, permission to erect churches in his honor has not yet been granted, and the Church does not yet issue a statement on his probable or certain presence in Heaven, but prayer cards and other materials may be printed to encourage the faithful to pray for a miracle wrought by his intercession as a sign of God's will that the person be canonized, "Blessed".

(The next stage).

Blessed (Latin: "Beatus" or "Beata" ) Beatification is a statement of the Church that is "worthy of belief" that the Venerable is in Heaven and saved. Attaining this grade depends on whether the Venerable is a martyr: 

>>> For martyrs, like St Lawrence the Pope only made a declaration of his martyrdom, which is certified that the Venerable gave his life voluntarily as a witness of the Faith and an act of heroic charity and love for others.

>>>For a non-martyr, all of them being denominated "confessors" because they "confessed", i, e., bore witness to the Faith by how they lived, proof is required of the occurrence of a miracle through the intercession of the Venerable; that is, that God granted a sign that the person is enjoying the Beatific Vision by performing a miracle for which the Venerable interceded. Presently, these miracles are almost always miraculous cures of infirmity, because these are the easiest to judge giving the Church's evidentiary requirements for miracle; e. g., a patient was sick with an illness for which no cure was known; prayers were directed to the Venerable; the patient was cured; the cure was spontaneous, instantaneous, complete, and enduring; and physicians cannot discover any natural explanation therefore.

    The satisfaction of the applicable conditions permits beatification, which then bestows on the Venerable the title of "Blessed". A feast day will be designated, but its observance is ordinarily only permitted for the Blessed's home diocese, (e. g. Blessed Tansi of Nigeria), to specific locations associated with him, or to the churches or houses of the Blessed's religious order if he belonged to one.

SAINT (Latin: "Sanctus" or "Sancta" ): To be canonized as a saint, ordinarily at least two miracles must have been officially recorded through the Intercession of the Blessed after his death, but for a blessed or confessors, i. e., blessed who were not declared martyrs, only one miracle is required, ordinarily been additional to that upon which beatification if he, the Sacred College of Cardinals, and the Congregation for the Causes of Saints all agree that the Blessed lived a life of great merit proven by certain actions. This extraordinary procedure was used in the process used by Pope Francis' for the canonization of Pope St. John XXIII, who convoked the first part of the Second Vatican Council.

   Canonization is a statement of the Church that person certainly enjoys the Beatific Vision of Heaven. The title "saint" is then proper, reflecting that the Saint is a refulgence of the holiness (sanctitas) of God Himself, which alone comes from God's gift. The Saint is assigned a feast day which may be celebrated anywhere in the universal Church, although it is not necessarily added to the General Roman Calendar or local calendars as an "obligatory" feast; parish churches may be erected in his honor; and the faithful may freely celebrate and honor the Saint. 

Flexibility in their celebration of mass, since they are now permitted to choose between the memorial masses of saints on most days of the year.

   Solemnity: this is the highest ranking type of feast day. 

It commemorates an event in the life of Jesus or Mary, or celebrates a Saint important to the whole Church or the local community, for example; January first each year, the Nigerian Church celebrate the solemnity of Mary Queen of Nigeria.

  This Mass of a solemnity has proper readings and prayers, the Gloria and Creed are recited, and occasionally there will be use of incense, a processional hymn and procession, and a recessional hymn/recession. Outside of Advent, Lent and Eastertide, a solemnity falling on a Sunday is celebrated in place of the Sunday. 

    Solemnities are closely related to Holy Days of Obligation, because all Holy Days of Obligation are also Solemnities - however, not all Solemnities are Holy Days of Obligation, for example, The Nativity of the Lord Jesus (Christmas), is a Solemnity which is always a Holy Day of Obligation, whereas the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul is usually not a Holy Day of Obligation. Also, in certain locales certain days which are celebrated as feasts or memorials in most of the Church are celebrated as Solemnity in Ireland, but is normally a Memorial for the rest of the Church; Our Lady of Sorrows is a Solemnity in Slovakia whereas it is a Memorial in all order places.

   Feast; The rank of secondary liturgical days including lesser events in the life of Jesus, Mary or an Apostle (theologically speaking) or for major saints. The Gloria is recited but not the Creed, and there are proper readings and prayers for the feast. Example of such feast is that of saints Lawrence and Jude (AP). 

   Memorial: The celebration of a saint of lesser importance; Many memorials are optional or only observed in specific dioceses, regions, or nations.

Seasonal Weekday —a weekday in a "strong" liturgical season (Advent, Christmastide, Lent, or Eastertide), on which no solemnity, feast, or memorial is observed.