The church does not make saints — God does. The Church just recognises what is believed to be God’s divine will. There are four official rungs that an aspiring saint must climb before the Church acknowledges his or her sanctity.
1. Servant of God
The first esteemed title granted by the church in the canonization process is “Servant of God.” Someone must nominate a candidate for official consideration to a bishop, who then determines the candidate’s viability. We Discalced Carmelites have Forty-Three 43 Servants of God. They include friars, nuns and tertiaries.
2. Venerable
The candidate’s life is then investigated, analyzed, and contextualized by a Vatican committee called the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. This committee hopesto find proof that the candidate lived a life of heroic virtue. We have Eighteen 18 Venerables.
3. Blessed
A miracle has to be attributed to the candidate. The Church only acknowledges a miracle as legitimate if it is both spontaneous and enigmatic. Claims of a miracle are meticulously investigated. If
the miracle is verified, the candidate is then presented to the Pope.
So begins the process of beatification in which the Pope determines if the candidate is worthy of the title “Blessed.” We have Twenty-Three 23 Blessed.
4. Saint
Once a candidate has reached the “Blessed” rung, he or she must be associated with at least one more miracle. The pope is again presented with the miracle’s evidence and determines its legitimacy. If the pope indeed decides that the candidate is worthy of sainthood, then canonization ensues, and the Catholic Church officially recognizes a new saint. We have Eleven 11/12 Saints – two friars, eight nuns and one married couple .
Our Saints include :
It is now our turn to be the next saints… at least the next Servants Of God!
In the future, we shall give a full list of all our blesssed, venerables and servants of God. It is quite an impressive list.