On Beatification and Canonization: The Process of Naming Saints
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Last week’s post continued featuring the rosary
and devotion to Mary. There were two pages of
articles in this post that speak of devotion to
Mary through the practice of praying the rosary.
Aside from those two articles, two Zenit news
clips are also given: one which speaks on praying
the rosary for peace, and the other which tell of
the efforts to revitalize the sacrament of confession.
Then, there were three articles on Catholic saints:
St. Teresa of Avila, the patron saints of France -
with the feast of St. Denis, bishop and martyr,
celebrated last October 9, and a page featuring
books and films on St. Therese of the Child Jesus.
Lastly, there was a link given to the Latest Updates
in the Vatican web site: a page which gives the
most recent events of the Catholic Church on a
universal level. To review the information from
last week’s post, you can click here.
This week’s post is a variety of topics with
a focus on information on saints and the process
of naming them. A news clip from Zenit featured
the program of the holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI,
on his schedule of celebrating 506 beatifications
these months of October to November. This gave us
the opportunity to give you also information on
the process of naming saints: beatification and
canonization. There is also a page which features
the study of saints’ lives, more particularly
called hagiography. We have also created a page
with an email form so that you can submit suggestions
for topics that we can develop as content in the
web site. This can help you if you need information
on something specific to what you are looking for,
or if you have a web log or a web site, it can be
a source of ideas for your site. This and many
other pages of content and information are featured
this week. You may check the list below:
This post features:
- Message: ‘May the spirit
of the Family of Nazareth reign in Christian
homes’ - Vocation Expo in Sydney
Calls Youth to Vocation - Zenit News - Autobiography of
Saint Augustine of Hippo: “The Confessions” - Lectionary Readings for
the 29th Sunday of the Year, Year C - Beatifications [506]
Scheduled for October to November - Zenit News - Process of Naming Saints:
Beatifications and Canonizations - Common Life Pattern in
the Lives of Saints: On Hagiography - Pope Benedict XVI Message
on Sacred Music - Zenit News - Suggestion For
Topics Page for RSS Subscribers - Something New for Everyone:
Books, Films and Music at 20% off
Message to Catholic Families
Given on this feed item is a link to the late John
Paul II’s message to families in his address at Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil. This very encouraging message to
parents and families helps us to see the important
role Catholic families have in building the Church
and society. John Paul II’s message is always one
of encouragement to holiness, and in the context of
the Catholic family, he means the “indispensable
family virtues of humility, the spirit of service
and sacrifice, parental and filial affection, respect
and mutual understanding”. He also encourages all
Catholic families in the world to support the family
apostolate - to spread generously the gift given to
us by God, first to our children then among other
couples who may be far from God or who are experiencing
moments of misunderstanding or distrust. He calls all
families to be inspired by the Holy Family of Nazareth
that the spirit of the Holy Family may reign in all our
Christian homes.
Vocation Expo in Sydney
The World Youth Day team in Sydney is making
preparations to make an exhibit to explore all the
vocational states of life. The event, which is
scheduled for July 2008, will be held at Sydney’s
Exhibition Center - Australia’s premier venue for
conferences and special events. Director Claire
Atkins explained that “exhibitors will represent
the rich variety of vocations in the Church; priesthood,
consecrated religious, consecrated lay communities and
communities or societies for married couples.” It is
expected that more than 250,000 young pilgrims who
are discerning their vocation will be at the exhibit.
To know more about this preparations for World Youth
Day at Sydney, you can visit the web site -
www.wyd2008.org
Autobiography of St. Augustine
When we read the lives of saints and find out that some
of them led sinful lives in their early years, we can
easily identify with them. One of those who can inspire
us with his saintly life is St. Augustine of Hippo. Many
know how much he grieved his mother St. Monica because
of his dissolute living and his adherence to a philosophy
that was anti-Christian. But by the grace of God and
through the incessant prayers of his mother, St. Augustine
was converted to the Christian faith and even became a
bishop. He was then given the title doctor of the Church
because of his fidelity to the teaching of the Church. In
his book “The Confessions”, he writes his autobiography
which is filled with much wisdom, both Christian in theology
and philosophy. Many who read his books, even the
non-Christians, attest to the greatness of his writing
which can influence many to goodness and God’s way. This
book is a classic and can be found in many libraries -
especially those in Catholic universities. Reading the
book can give anyone the inspiration to truly live his
Christian life seriously.
Lectionary Readings
The lectionary readings for the 29th sunday of the Year,
Year C, are taken from the book of Exodus, the second
letter of Paul to Timothy, and the gospel of Luke. In
the book of Exodus, we find the story of how Moses
contributed to the victory of Israel over Amalek and
his soldiers by simply raising his hands inprayer to
Yahweh. Then in the second letter of Paul to Timothy,
we find Paul teaching Timothy the importance of
Scriptures as useful for reproof, correction, and
training in holiness so that every person may be
fully competent to do good works. Lastly, in the
gospel of Luke, we find Jesus telling a parable of
the importance of always praying and not losing heart.
He teaches how the persistency of a widow before
a judge finally found her case and rights responded
to.
Beatifications Scheduled
Martyrdom is one of the ways of radically following
Jesus. And often, the blood of martyrs strengthens the
faith of those they have left behind and to whom they
have witnessed the sacrifice of their lives for Christ.
This coming October to November, the Pope approved five
beatification rites with the majority of those to be
beatified coming from the persecutions in Spain during
the 1930s. It was reported that the 498 martyrs of the
religious persecution in Spain (1936-1939) that will
be beatified will be the largest ever group of people
for beatification at the same time. [We are to note
that Pope Benedict XVI is following the mission of John
Paul II to reintroduce the element of holiness in our
Church; and this new record of a big beatification is
in line with that mission.] Aside from the beatification
of the 498 martyrs from Spain, there are also to be
beatified: Albertina Berkenbrock, a Brazilian laywoman;
Manuel Gomez Gonzalez, a Spanish diocesan priest; Adílio
Daronch, a Brazilian layman; Franz Jagerstatter of
Austria, a 36-year-old husband and father of three;
Celina Chludzinska, a widowed native of Poland and
founder of the Congregation of Sisters of the Resurrection
of Our Lord Jesus Christ; Ceferino Namuncura of Argentina,
layman and student of the San Francisco de Sales Society;
Italian priest Antonio Rosmini, theologian, philosopher,
and founder of the Institute of Charity and the Sisters
of Providence; and Brazilian Lindalva Justo de Oliveira,
a sister of the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul.
Process of Naming Saints
The process of beatification and canonization - the Church’s
naming of saints - is really a long and complex process,
sometimes involving decades or even centuries. Though
complex, we can describe it simply through certain key
points in the processing: the five-year waiting period
after the death of a candidate, the investigation of the
life of the candidate at the local level and name “venerable”
when the holiness of the candidate is authenticated, a
genuine miracle before beatification, and a second miracle
before canonization and the giving of the full stature of
saint in the universal church. Though the Church names many
of her heroes of faith as blesseds and saints, it is to be
noted that there are many who are not well-known, but who
have the same heroic virtue as their named counterparts
who are beatified and canonized. These the Church calls
also her saints and she honors them every solemnity of All
Saints Day on November 1. During this day, we honor all
the saints, “named” or “not-named”, who have in one way or
another shown to be good and holy role models for us to
follow in imitating our savior, Jesus Christ.
Common Life Pattern in Saints
It is one thing to read and be edified and inspired by
the life of a saint. It is another thing to study their
lives and discover a common life pattern among them.
Hagiographers, biographers of the saints, and those who
study their life, commonly agree that we can abstract
a general trend by which the saints follow in their
direction towards God and service to Him: first, there
is a conversion experience that leads the person to flee
from his former way of life which often is worldly and
sinful; second, the person goes into seclusion, solitude
or lives in an isolated place to seek God in prayer,
penance, and mortification; third, the person then is
called to leave his solitude and live a life of intense
apostolic activity and charitable works; fourth, due to
this life of religious activity or mission, the person
either suffers greatly through pain, suffering, and illness,
or dies a martyr’s death like Christ. This is the general
pattern that most saints’ lives follow. Most of the popular
saints that we know like St. Francis of Assisi, St. Augustine
of Hippo, St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Benedict and many
others follow this common pattern of journey towards
holiness and sainthood.
Pope Benedict XVI on Sacred Music
In his visit to the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music,
the pope stated that sacred music is an art form above any
other art form. The reason behind this is that when sacred
music is united with words, they are used to form a necessary
part of the sacred liturgy. He adds that those tasked with
this ‘mission’ of using sacred music in the service of God
are called to also develop the legacy of past musical traditions
with the novelties of the present so as to produce a synthesis
still worthy of its exalted mission. The pope even quotes
John Paul II in the late holy father’s thoughts on sacred
music: “today, as always, three characteristics distinguish
sacred music: its ’sanctity,’ its ‘true art,’ and its
‘universality,’ in other words the fact that it can be
presented to any people or assembly.”
Suggestion for Topics
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Something New for Everyone
This page features a variety of new items - from the book
that speaks about Ronald Reagan’s right hand man who
powerfully had a hand in the end of the Cold War, to
the spiritually beautiful writings of Pope Benedict XVI
on themes related to our liturgical seasons. There is
also a film on St. Maria Goretti - that young and chaste
virgin who willing accepted death rather than lose her
virginity to a man who wanted to rape her. Her story is
very moving. On the day of her canonization, the man [who
eventually repented and converted] was present to honor
her witnessing to Christ and to her championing the virtue
and value of purity. As regards music, there is featured
also the music of Josh Groban, the young tenor, who in this
audio item sings of 13 famous and popular Christmas songs
like: Silent Night, What Child is This, Ave Maria, Little
Drummer Boy, Angels We Have Heard on High, Panis Angelicus,
and O Come All Ye Faithful. Listening to music such as
these brings back warm memories of family and friends.
