Sainthood: Stages and Process

• Saints are people who lived holy lives and set an example of Christ-like living.
• Catholics pray to Saints, but do not worship them.

Stages of Sainthood/Canonization

• Servant of God is the first stage.
• Venerable is the second stage.
• Blessed is the third stage.
• Saint is the final stage.

Servant of God

• At least five years after death, the bishop of the diocese where the person lived requests to open a cause for sainthood.
• The Pope can waive the five year wait.
• A diocesan tribunal investigates the person's life, virtues, and writings.
• The bishop grants Nihil Obstat if no theological errors are found, meaning the case can move forward.
• Nihil Obstat is an official Church declaration that a text or cause contains no errors in faith or morals so can proceed.
• The case is then sent to the Episcopal Conference for Ecclesiastical Approval to ensures broader Church support.
• The case is sent to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.
• Once the Congregation for the Causes of Saints accepts the case, the person is officially given the title "Servant of God."
• The Vatican continues investigating the person's holiness and reputation.

Venerable

• A special committee at the Congregation for the Causes of Saints examines the case.
• The Promoter of Justice (formerly called the Devil's Advocate) critically reviews the case.
• The Pope declares the person "Venerable" if found to have lived a life of heroic virtue.
• No miracles are needed at this stage.

Blessed (Beatification)

• A miracle attributed to the candidate's intercession must be verified for non-martyrs.
• Martyrs may be beatified without a miracle.
• The Pope conducts a beatification ceremony upon recognition of the miracle, granting the title "Blessed."

Saint (Canonization)

• A second miracle is required for canonization.

• The Pope presides over the canonization ceremony after verification of the second miracle, officially declaring the individual a "Saint."

• St. John the Baptist is the Patron Saint of Letran.

• The Dominican Order was founded during medieval times.

• Heresy is the obstinate denial of a core doctrine of the Catholic faith after baptism.

St. Thomas Aquinas

• St. Thomas Aquinas grabbed a piece of parchment and stopped crying during his infancy.
• His parents forced his hands open and it had Ave Maria written on it.
• He joined the Dominican order instead against his parent's wishes.
• St. Thomas Aquinas was imprisoned to prevent him from becoming a mendicant preacher.
• His parents sent a prostitute to change his mind, but he drove her away with a torch.
• St. Thomas Aquinas prayed and drew a cross.
• Angles tied the rope of chastity around his waist and he no longer felt lust.

St. Bernadette of Lourde

• Full Name: Marie-Bernarde Soubirous
• Feast Day: April 16
• Canonized: December 8, 1933, by Pope Pius XI
• Patron Saint of illness, the sick, shepherds, poverty, and Lourdes, France

The Apparition of Our Lady of Lourde

• Between February 11 and July 16, 1858, Bernadette experienced 18 apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
• While gathering firewood, Bernadette Soubirous saw a lady in white with a blue sash and golden rosary.
• The lady smiles at her and prays the Rosary with her before disappearing.
• Bernadette feels a strong pull to return to the grotto.
• Sprinkles the lady with holy water to test if she is from God.
• On the third visit, the lady asked Bernadette to come for 15 days and said "I do not promise you happiness in this world, but in the next."
• The lady tells Bernadette to dig into the ground and drink from a spring.
• There was mud at first, but soon a small trickle of water appeared.
• The spring later became known for its miraculous healing powers, and a blind man could see again
• The water became noticeably warmer.
• On March 25, the lady said, “I am the Immaculate Conception.”

St. Thomas Aquinas

• Full Name: Thomas Aquinas
• Feast Day: January 28
• Canonized: July 18, 1323, by Pope John XXII
• Patron Saint of:
• Catholic schools
• universities
• students
• philosophers
• theologians
• apologists
• Religious Order: Dominican Order
• Iconography includes Sun burning around his chest, carrying a book.
• St. Albert the Great was his saintly teacher.
• He would rather believe a Flying Fox than St. Thomas Aquinas.
• Aristotle was his favourite philosopher.
• Summa Theologica was written by St. Thomas Aquinas, in it he wrote the 5 ways to prove God's existence.
• 4,101 pages long.

Summa Theologica ways to prove God's existence:

• The argument of motion: God is the first to induce motion.
• Efficient Cause: God is the cause while the earth and humans are the effect.
• Possibility and Necessity: There must of been a necessary being that gives creation.
• Gradation: There has to be something that is the greatest for all beings to be created.
• Governance in the world: There are manifestations that something created all natural things and God is manifested because of the beliefs of humans.
• "Nihil est intellectum quin prius est in sensu" means Nothing is in the intellect unless it first passes through the senses
• "Quid quid movetur ab alb movetur" means Whatever is moved, is moved by the other

Eucharist

• Body and Blood of Christ and the philosophy of "being"
• "Adoro te devote" means I adore you devoutly, a hymn in Latin composed by St. Thomas Aquinas, dedicated to the holy eucharist.
• Latens Deitas means Hidden deity
• refers to “matter of form,” is the highest form of Worship.
• Bread and wine becomes the body and blood during consecration.
• The bread and wine is set apart during Consecration and become the Body and Blood.
• Transubstantiation is the doctrine that explains what happens during consecration:
• The substance of the bread and wine changes into the Body and Blood of Christ.
• The accidents stay the same and still looks and tastes like bread and wine.

The 9 Accidents

• Quantity– ex. tall or short
• Quality – ex. skin color
• Relation– ex. family, friends, lover, etc;
• Action– ex. standing, running
• Passion– ex. dreaming, editing
• Time- ex. am or pm, day or night
• Place– ex. church
• Posture- ex. how you walk
• Habit- ex. what you wear
• The essence of God is his existence

Questions from the Quiz

• Amen means "I believe."
• Evil does not exist because everything that God creates is good

St. Catherine of Siena:

• Full name is Caterina di Jacopo di Benincasa
• Born March 25, 1347 Lapa Piagenti and Giacomo di Denincasa are her parents
• She was the 24th child.
• Was uneducated.
• St. Raymond of Capua was her educator and adviser.
• Dialogue is her famous written work.
• Great Schism was the situation of the church during St. Catherine’s time.
• Black plague happened in the society during St. Catherine's time.
• Stigmata refers to the bodily scars of Jesus.
• Deification is the process of making the human into divide.
• Incarnation is the process of making the divine into human.
• The vestment of the Pope is what Jesus wore during Catherine's vision of Christ.

Other Information

• Gave a Vow of perpetual virginity.
• Holy woman and recusa dedicated to prayer
• Joined Mantellate group.
• Blood is one of the major motifs and was mentioned 1800 times in her writing.
• Is the apostle of the blood of Christ.
• Mare pacificum means a peaceful sea in Latin and compares to divine essence

Three levels/stairs souls:

• 1st Stair (Mercenary Stage): Avoid sin out of fear of divine punishment.
• 2nd Stair (Friendship Stage): Those who move beyond fear and love to endure suffering
• 3rd Stair (Filial Love): People who demonstrate a deeper love for God that embrace unconditional suffering and abandonment

Types of tears in the Dialogue:

• bitter

• tender

• perfect

• sweet

• Orazione is prayer in Italian and was used 500 times in her writings

• Eptitaxis is a surplus of love that is a fundamental oneness with God and divine in reality

History

• First mass- 500 years ago Filippinos experienced their first mass in Latin
• Ecumenical Council of the Church was convened by Pope
• John XXIII in 1962
• Second Vatican Council or Vatican II produced 16 documents and 4 constitutions all rooted in 4 key objectives

The 4 objectives

• Deep self-understanding from the church

• Renewal of church through the liturgy

• Ecumenical Agenda which focuses on different denominations

• Engagement with the world

• Gaudium Et Specs is a landmark document meaning joy and hope

Issues

• Proclamation No 1081 was signed by President Ferdinand Marcos in 1972

• It placed the Philippines under martial law

• Officially announced on September 23, 1972

• Martial Law lasted until January 17, 1981

• Jaime Sin and Cardinal Sin was a priest that opposed the Marcos regime

• Raid on the Sacred Heart Novitiate occurred on August 25, 1975

• Claimed subversives were hiding which caused 21 people to be arrested

• Father of PPCRV Cardinal Sin

• The most important issue was labor and disputes

• Laborer Exercens- writing to serve in the labor center focusing on the Pope’s emphasis.

• A person should not be treated like a machine.

• Populorum Progressio-written by Pope Paul that states for a "New name for peace is growth and development"