Sainthood

By Don Palmer

Sainthood is fuzzy. We toss the word around alot but - who are , or were, the saints?

It depends upon whom you ask. St. Paul (a charter member) referred to all believers as saints of the church. In the New Testament the word is used only in the plural, for all Christians. (The designation didn’t keep them from being severely chastised by St. Paul, however.) No one was singled out for a special type of sainthood, for such things as martyrdom, exceptional holiness, or having performed miracles.

After Paul’s inclusivity, the Church began to be more selective. During the first millennium of the Christian era, saints were named by popular accord. Then the ranks began closing because the Church sought to identify individuals who deserved especial veneration. The Roman Catholic Church recognized that the custom had gotten out of hand. Then the process of canonization was instituted. Following specific criteria and thorough investigation, certain individuals were first “beatified”, as a preliminary step, then canonized as saints. The performance of miracles was a prominent requirement. 

In 1969 the Roman church sought again to reform their church calendar. Too many saints, too little known about some of them. Many saints were dropped because of lack of credibility. This included St. Christopher, participant in the beautiful legend of his having carried the Christchild (hence the name, “Christ-bearer”). St. Valentine was dropped; legend had three Valentines, at least two of whom were beheaded, but little else was known about them.

Canonization is a tedious process, which the late Pope abbreviated upon occasion. John Paul II cannonized 300 saints… more than any of his predecessors had done. Now the hagiography of the Roman church - the calendar of saints - has 10,000 saints, or saints-in-process. There are even 700 whose name begins with “A”!

Our Episcopal church calendar recognizes only 15 saints, all mentioned in the Bible. That’s surprising, St. Francis is out, along with St. Augustine, St. Anthony, St. Vincent and a lot of our other friends. (Our calendar refers to “Francis, Friar of Assisi”. He’s a saint to me.) On the other hand, The Rev. Albert Kennington of Mobile, in his splendid “The Episcopal Church: A Primer for Believers”, is a follower of St. Paul. “Generally, any Christian, specifically, the heroes of the church remembered on special days.”

Why Saints? The Church, it is maintained, does not pray to saints, but prays with them. C.S. Lewis finds that distinction a bit fuzzy. The difference is important, however. Hagiolatry is the worship of saints. We don’t do that. We venerate; we don’t worship. Some ask saints to intercede for them; others find this unpalatable. So the term lacks consistency and clarity. St. Stephen, whose namesake I am, is still “Saint” to me. We may use the term as we choose, somewhat. I am reminded of a pure gold quotation:

“Why were the saints saints? Because they were cheerful when it was difficult to be cheerful; patient when it was difficult to be patient. And because they pushed on when they wanted to stand still, and kept silent when they wanted to talk. And because they were agreeable when they wanted to be disagreeable. that was all. It was quite simple, and always will be.”