"Saints": who are they? The Greek and Hebrew biblical words in the Scriptures that are most often translated as "holy" literally mean "holy" or "faithful." In the Catholic tradition, this concept can be used in several meanings reflected in the Holy Scriptures. Saint Paul sometimes addressed his letters to the "saints" of a certain city. In this case, he spoke of all Christians as "saints" because they became so through Baptism and now aspire to even greater holiness. Therefore, the Catholic Church claims that all faithful Christians are "saints" in this sense. The call to holiness is a universal thing; God addresses all Christians, saying: "As obedient children, not indulging in your former lusts, as it was in your ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, so you yourselves become holy throughout your life, for it is written: "You will be holy, because I am holy"" (1 Pet 1, 14-16). But in some passages of the Holy Scriptures, the word "holy" has a narrower meaning. The Gospel of Matthew mentions the "saints" who rose from the dead after the Resurrection of Christ - "The graves were opened, many bodies of the holy dead stood up, and coming out of the graves after his resurrection, they entered the holy city and appeared to many" (Mt 27, 52- 53), referring to the deceased faithful that Christ took to heaven. Saint Paul speaks of the "saints" who will accompany Christ from heaven when he comes to earth at the end of time: "That he may strengthen your hearts in holiness before God and our Father on the day of the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints" (1 Thess 3 , 13). St. John uses the same word when he speaks of the "saints" who are now in heaven praying to God: "And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer, and it was given to him the timiami of multitudes to place with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar , which is before the throne" (Revelation 8, 3). It is in this latter, narrower sense that the Catholic Church uses the term "saints" to denote those who have attained perfection and are now face to face with God in heaven, sharing in His divine nature. When the Church celebrates the feast of All Saints, on this day it honors all the people who are now in heaven, regardless of whether we know their names or not. Also, the word "saint" has another, even narrower meaning in which we use it as Catholics. The Catholic Church honors some deceased Christians with the official title of "saint". This indicates the certainty that the person died in peace with God and is now with Him in heaven. Although the Church teaches that we cannot know for sure who is in hell, she also insists that in some cases we can know for sure that certain people are in heaven. We mention them by name, for example, "Saint Teresa" or "Saint Thomas". So, how can the Church be certain that a particular person is in heaven? In the process called canonization, which leads to the official recognition of a person's holiness, she looks for various proofs. These include reliable evidence of the extraordinary sanctity of man in earthly life; signs that this life has brought others closer to God; as well as the carefully documented miracles that occurred after asking for this man's intercession. Such miracles are proof that man can offer effective help because he is now with God in heaven. Communion of Saints Why is it so important for the Church to proclaim certain people as saints? In this case, "saint" is much more than just an honorary title. Since the Church is sure that these people are now in heaven, Catholics are called not only to imitate them in life, but also to ask them for help. "Thanks to them, precious and great promises were given to us, so that through them you may become partakers of God's nature, avoiding the corruption that has spread in the world through lust" (2Pt 1, 4), says the Holy Scriptures. This means that the saints in heaven have a share in the divine nature, and it helps us to understand the teaching of the Church about what we call the communion of saints, that is, fellowship, communion, community. Perfect saints share in God's own nature, and therefore in His perfect Love. They love those still living on earth as God loves them. They want to help us; they want us to reach heaven too. So they have a desire to help us in any way they can. Perfect saints also share in perfect divine knowledge. By His grace, they can know what is happening on earth. God allows them to see and hear what He sees and hears, so that they can hear our requests to them. Perfect saints also share in God's perfect, supernatural power. Because of His grace, they are able to act on our behalf, to intervene in earthly affairs, just as He does. They don't just pray for us; they can also act on our behalf in various ways. The Holy Scriptures say: "The fervent prayer of a righteous man has great power" (James 5:16). If this is true of the faithful still living on earth, think how powerful and effective is the prayer of the saints in heaven perfected in righteousness! By his death and resurrection, Jesus Christ conquered death. Death is not
has power to separate those who are in Christ from one another; in Him they maintain a deep communion, whether they are in heaven, on earth, or in purgatory on their way to heaven. That is why here on earth we can help those in purgatory with our prayers and sacrifices, and those in heaven can help us with their prayers and other interventions. As members of one Body, the Body of Christ, we can share the spiritual benefits we receive through mutual prayer and help. Some may ask us, why does God want to share this authority? Why does He want to give the role of intercessors to saints, angels, and even those of us who still tread the earth? The answer is simple: it reflects His desire, according to the words of St. Paul, for us to come "to unity in faith and to the full knowledge of the Son of God, to the perfection of a man, to the measure of the full growth of the fullness of Christ" (Eph 4, 16). When we help each other, we show and share God's love. Some Christians believe that we should not ask the saints for help, because it would be displeasing to God that we do not directly appeal to Him. But the truth is that all Christians ask other Christians on earth to pray for them and help them in various ways. But when we do, we don't worry that we're not asking God directly for help. Why not? Because we understand the principle: God likes it when His children help each other. That is why He commands us in the Holy Scriptures to "pray for one another" (James 5:16). Honoring Saints Honoring is a natural human response to the kindness, even greatness, of another person. We honor the founders and other leaders of the country throughout history. We name cities after them, write books about them, put statues in public places. We paint them to display in schools and government buildings. We talk about them with trepidation and gratitude on patriotic holidays. We do similar things for great scientists, great social movement leaders, great artists and musicians. Why? Because recognizing their gifts and contributions is a matter of justice. Fairness means giving everyone their due, and we recognize that we owe a lot to these great people, so we want to talk about it in different ways. We should not be surprised, then, that the Catholic Church honors great heroes of the faith who, over the centuries, have embodied the way of life to which we are all called as Christians. Now that God has perfected these men and women and they are saints who behold Him in heaven, we have even more reason to honor them. Some may object that if we honor the saints, God will be jealous because we should give honor only to Him. But He is a God of justice, and His will is to give honor to those to whom it is due. This is what the Holy Scripture says: "Therefore give to each one his due: to whom a tax is a tax, to whom a duty is a duty, to whom a fear is a fear, to whom an honor is an honor" (Romans 13, 7). Are we somehow denying God the honor that is His when we honor His saints? No way! They are the perfect work of His hands, His masterpiece. When we praise skill, the Master receives all the reward. Meanwhile, as the old saying goes, "imitation is the sincerest form of praise." And that is why the Church calls us to imitate the saints and their example of holiness. After all, this is the best way to honor them.