Church Canonization Doesn't Make Saints, it Only Declares Them - 7 Things to Know About Becoming a Saint


1. ‎Church canonization doesn't make saints, it only declares them.‎
‎2. Church canonization does not create saints the way companies or factories manufacture products; she merely recognizes and solemnly proclaims what God Himself has already accomplished in a person's life.
3. ‎If a soul is in heaven, then by that very fact, it is already a saint, whether or not the Church has ever placed its name in the canon.
‎Canonization, therefore, is not creative but declarative: it does not confer sanctity, it bears witness to it.
‎4. Through the process of canonization, the Church, guided by the Holy Spirit and exercising her authority, discerns with certainty that a particular member of the faithful has persevered in grace, has been received into eternal glory, and may be proposed to the whole Church as a model of holiness and a sure intercessor before God.
‎5. This public declaration strengthens the faith of the pilgrim Church, for it reminds us that the call to holiness is universal and that grace truly triumphs over sin.
‎‎6. One of my favourite documents of the Second Vatican Council - Lumen Gentium (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church) teaches that holiness is not reserved for priests, religious, or a special few, but that every member of the Church: laity, clergy, and religious is called by Christ to holiness according to their state of life.
‎‎7. Thus, canonization is not about elevating someone to heaven, but about holding up before the eyes of the faithful a life in which the Gospel was lived with heroic fidelity. It is God who sanctifies; it is the Church who testifies.
‎‎Saints Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati, pray for us.
‎Amen.
by our New Writer at Catholic News World: Cosmos Ateli, B.Sc. - Email Atelicosmos1@gmail.com
Cosmos Ateli,  is a lover of Customer Experience and a writer for Catholic News World. He has a B.Sc degree in Marketing from Delta State University, Nigeria. He is an aspiring Canon Lawyer.

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