How Do I Become A Saint? -- #ForAlltheSaints

"Do not be afraid to become the saints of the new millenium!" 

- Pope St. John Paul II

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The quote above is from one of the Catholic Church's most recently canonized saints (and a personal favourite of mine), Karol Wojtyła -- otherwise known as Pope John Paul II. He was speaking to a crowd of young people in Rome at an event he helped start called World Youth Day and was encouraging them to pursue holiness with such zeal that they will become the Church's modern day saints. The Church teaches that we are all called to sainthood -- whether or not we are officially canonized by the Church. The essence of becoming a saint is that we pursue Christ with our lives and in so doing, reach heaven after our earthly sojourn is finished. To become saints, we must live lives of holiness and virtue. It does not mean that we must be perfect, but that when we have failed, we turn back to God again and again and again. Following Christ's example and repenting when we fail in that are at the heart of what it means to become a saint. That said, to become a canonized Saint is something that is both the same and also slightly different.

So how does one become a saint? The short answer is that it's a process. First of all, you have to die. Yeah, it's kind of a bummer, but necessary. The thing about living, breathing humans is that we can still do stuff which means that we can still commit sins of one type or another. Because of our inclination toward doing sinful things, death is a prerequisite for becoming a Saint in the Catholic Church.

So you've died. Now what? The next step usually involves a bunch of people who knew you in this life presenting your name as potential candidate for sainthood to the local bishop of the diocese where you lived, died, or are buried. If the bishop accepts your candidacy, you are declared a Servant of God and the official cause for your canonization is begun. Once this happens, there is usually a group created for the purpose of promoting your cause. Then there is a very thorough investigation into your life. This usually includes many, many interviews with people who knew you, a comprehensive inspection of all your writings (letters, diaries, articles, speeches/homilies, books, etc.), and a detailed biography of your life is written. Once all this information is gathered, it is submitted by the local bishop to the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints in Rome and is assigned a person who will guide the cause for your sainthood through the canonical and judicial processes ahead. This person, called a postulator, gathers even more information about you and your life after the initial information is obtained from the local bishop. Eventually, permission will be given for your body to be exhumed and examined and at that time, relics will be taken (more on relics in a later part of this series).

After all the information about you and your life is reviewed, the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints will decide if you have lived a life of heroic virtue that is worthy of imitation. If this is indeed the case, you will be declared Venerable. At this point, the faithful are encouraged to pray for a miracle brought about by your intercession, usually little cards (called prayer cards) are created with your image on them and a prayer asking God to hear your intercession.

If someone claims that a miracle has occurred thanks to your intercession, then that supposed miracle will be investigated thoroughly. Almost always, these miracles are to do with physical, mental, or emotional healing and as such, a team of doctors, psychiatrists, and other medical experts are employed to determine the veracity of the miracle. There is also a spiritual inquiry to verify if it is a miracle that came about because someone specifically asked for your intercession in obtaining the miracle they are claiming. Once the investigation has finished and all the information is reviewed, if the miracle is accepted as valid and due to your intercession, then there will be a special ceremony celebrated by the Pope himself called a beatification in St. Peter's Square in Rome. From this point onward, you will be called Blessed and a special feast day will be assigned to you. The group that was created to promote the cause for your canonization will likely step up their prayers and their promotion of your cause by encouraging others to pray for another miracle.

Once a second miracle is claimed to have occurred due to your intercession, the investigation process that happened for the first miracle happens again. If it is determined that a second miracle did indeed happen as the result of your intercession, then there will be another special ceremony called a canonization whereupon your name will be officially added to the canon, or list, of the saints. This ceremony will be celebrated, again, by the Pope and is an even bigger celebration than your beatification was. It is from this day forward that you will be called Saint. Usually at this point, although possibly at some point just before the beatification ceremony, you will be assigned a patronage. In most cases, this is something that has to do with your life or something you did in your life. For example, St. Raymond Nonnatus (if that sounds familiar to you, it's the order that the nuns belong to in the BBC series Call the Midwife), is a patron saint of childbirth, midwives, and children because of the fact that he was born via Caesarean section and his mother died during childbirth. Also, this declaration of sainthood also means that the Church is stating that you are certainly in heaven and in the presence of God.

The process of canonization can be a very long one that takes centuries or a very short one. Pope St. John Paul II died in 2005 and was canonized just this year (2014) which is almost lightning speed as far as this process goes. Part of the reason for this is because his successor, Pope Benedict XVI, waived the normal five year long waiting period after death for candidacy due to popular acclaim (the people were chanting "santo subito!" or "saint now!" at JPII's funeral) and the overwhelming wealth of easily available evidence of his having lived a life of unceasing and heroic service to God. Waiving this waiting period is not common and has only been done a few times. Saints who were martyred for their faith may have the miracle required for beatification waived. Also, at the discretion of the Pope, a Blessed may have his/her second miracle waived. This is not a common occurrence but has happened recently in that Pope Francis waived Pope St. John XXIII's second miracle. I don't know all the reasons why this might happen, but it does happen on rare occasions.

So that's a basic summary of the process. Obviously there are a lot of official details that I don't know and have left out, but I hope this helps you understand the basics. On a final note, the Catholic Church does not exclude anyone from heaven based on not being canonized. This process is a way to recognize specific individuals who have lived lives of exemplary holiness and whose lives are definitely worthy of imitation by our example because of their holiness. It is also through this process that the Church officially declares that these people are certainly in heaven thanks to their miraculous intercession.

I'll let the many times mentioned Pope St. John Paul II have the final word. I think this quote is especially appropriate to all of us who are striving for sainthood (canonized or not!):

Image courtesy of Cassie Pease Designs