Catholic Saints

What is a Saint?

Saints are individuals who lived exemplary Christian lives, worthy of special honor. The Catholic Church has deemed that they are in heaven and close to God. Just as you might ask someone on earth to pray for you, Catholics believe that you can also ask the Saints in heaven to pray for you. As the Catholic Encyclopedia states, "The Catholic Church canonizes or beatifies only those whose lives have been marked by the exercise of heroic virtue , and only after this has been proved by common repute for sanctity and by conclusive arguments."

How is Someone Named a Saint?

The first step towards Canonization (the action of naming someone a Saint) is beatification. This begins by the gathering of information which is collected and presented to a group of Cardinals who meet to discuss the case. The individual in question is given an advocate who speaks on their behalf. If the Cardinals agree that the person's life was exemplary and favor beatification, they create a document which is signed by the Pope. This person is then given the title, "Venerable."

After this step, a petition is sent to the Bishop of the area where the person was associated asking for first the belief in the sanctity and miracles associated with the person and then later the proof of such sanctity and miracles. If this information along with all the other information provided proves that the person had "evidence of the heroic virtues of the servant of God," then they pass the decree along to the Pope. The last step after this is to actually prove the miracles along with proof from physicians. If after this the majority of the gathered Cardinals agree then they pass this to the Pope who then decides whether to agree that this person can now be called "blessed" and publicly venerated. Mother Teresa was beatified on October 19, 2003. Note that martyrs are treated somewhat differently in terms of miracles.

Once two miracles have occurred and been proven after a person has been beatified, that person can go through canonization.

Patron Saints

Specific events in the life and/or death of a Saint can cause them to become a patron over a specific cause. In other words, people might ask for the intercession of a specifc Saint based on a cause that was dear to them during life. They have a special connection with that particular situation. For example, Saint Blaise, a bishop and physician who was beheaded in 316, is the patron saint of throat and health concerns dealing with throats. He was arrested for his religious beliefs and while in prison he saved a child who was choking on a fish bone. It is a tradition that on his feast day, February 3, you get your throat blessed at church. As the patron saint of throats, you might choose to ask for his prayers if you have a sore throat.

It is important to reiterate that praying to the Saints including patron saints is not worshiping those saints. It is asking for their intercession - asking for them to pray for you about certain issues. Again, it is no different than asking your next door neighbor to pray for you except in this case the Catholic church has said that the Saint is actually already in heaven and has been known to intercede for others.

Major Saints

Following is a list of some major Catholic saints and their areas of patronage:

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