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(Communion of Saints)

A Module in REL 103 (MARIOLOGY AND THE LIVES OF SAINTS)

Prepared by Miss Myla M. Nacorda

 We confess our belief to the Holy, Catholic Church, and to
the Communion of Saints.
The Communion of Saints is a “communion,” a union, a
common bond, a profound connection, a great fellowship
— shared among the “saints,” the holy ones, the Christian
faithful, those who are filled with grace, members of the one
body with Christ as the head.
“The communion of saints is the Church” (Catechism of the
Catholic Church, No. 946). It has three states or divisions,
the communion of saints of the living, those who are still on
their pilgrim journey on earth; and the communion of saints of the dead or the faithful
departed, some of whom are being purified, those in purgatory, and the ones who are
enjoying eternal glory in the presence of God, those in heaven (Catechism, No. 954).

In the West, the communion of saints more commonly means a communion of “holy
ones,” both the living and the dead. The communion of saints encompasses not only all
believers in Christ, but, according to many scholars, all those of truth and love, in whom
the Spirit is at work. This communion includes:

The church triumphant describes the Church in heaven. In the kingdom of God — the
realm in which the holy Trinity, the angels and saints, and the abode of all those who
have reached the fullness of salvation in Christ — the Church already exists. But it will
have its fullest being at the end of time, when all of creation and (we hope) all human
beings will be conformed to Christ and all reality will be one of divine praise and glory.
The term “church triumphant” underlines the truth that in the glory of heaven all
human sin will have been transformed, death and suffering will be no more, and the
glory of God will have triumphed over all the imperfections of human history.

The church militant refers to the Church on earth. The term “militant” can suggest an
antagonistic relationship between the Church and the world. Nevertheless, it refers to
an authentic reality: that the Church on earth works to overcome the imperfect and
sinful dimensions of human existence.
The Church’s mission is not to oppose the world and society, but to work for their
transformation by the convincing preaching of the Gospel and by the edifying power of
the good works and example of those who are baptized into Christ. The Church’s best
asset is the saintly activity and example of those who have chosen the Christian way of
life.
The church suffering refers to the church in purgatory. Purgatory is not a kind of
temporary hell. It is rather the threshold, the antechamber of heaven. In purgatory, all
those — whether Christian or not — who have reached the gates of death without
reaching the full perfection of life represented in Christ are cleansed in a kind of
ongoing baptism and are purified by the enlightening fire of the Holy Spirit. The
suffering of purgatory is not one of destruction, but the suffering that comes from
leaving the old self behind and taking on the new.

Saints are the heroes of the Catholic faith. They

lived lives in holiness, dedicated to serving God and spreading his message of
salvation. Indeed, many Catholic saints courageously met their deaths simply because
of their faith. Today, the saints serve as examples for all Catholics, showing us how to
lead a more satisfying, more spiritual life in communion with our Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ. They are reminders that this life will come to an end, and only what was
done for Christ will have a lasting reward. Each saint’s story is a fascinating one. They
lived at different times in different places throughout history, but they all shared a love
of God that has been meticulously documented through the teachings of the Catholic
Church.

The saints have a special place in the Body of Christ, which includes both the
living and the dead. Through Christ we on earth remain in communion both with the
saints in heaven and with the dead who are still in Purgatory. We can pray for those in
Purgatory and ask the saints to pray for us. Through their prayers of intercession, the
saints in heaven play an integral role in the life of the Church on earth. "For after they
have been received into their heavenly home and are present to the Lord, through Him
and with Him and in Him they do not cease to intercede with the Father for us,
showing forth the merits which they won on earth through the one Mediator between
God and man." The saints, the members of the Church who have arrived at perfect
union with Christ, join their wills to the will of God in praying for those in the Church
who are still on their pilgrimage of faith. (From Popular Devotional Practices)

Reflect and Analyze

Do you have a family altar? Do you recognize the image/s standing alongside the
image of Jesus? Why do you think the family keeps the image of this saint/s? Do you
have a special devotion for this saint? Why?
Veneration of the Saints

Besides what the saints can do for us by their prayers, the very practice of
venerating the saints does great good for those who are devoted to the saints. By
practicing love of the saints we strengthen the unity of the entire Body of Christ in the
Spirit. This in turn brings us all closer to Christ. "For just as Christian communion
among wayfarers brings us closer to Christ, so our companionship with the saints joins
us to Christ, from Whom as from its Fountain and Head issues every grace and the very
life of the people of God." Love of the saints necessarily includes and leads to love of
Christ and to love of the Holy Trinity. "For every genuine testimony of love shown by
us to those in heaven, by its very nature tends toward and terminates in Christ who is
the 'crown of all saints,' and through Him, in God Who is wonderful in his saints and is
magnified in them." (From Popular Devotional Practices)

Although the Church affirms intercession and encourages invocation of the

saints, Catholic doctrine makes a clear distinction between the veneration given to
saints (dulia, Greek for service or veneration), and adoration or worship that is afforded
to God alone (latria, worship). {Veneration of Mary is a sort of glorified dulia
(hyperdulia)} By distinguishing between dulia and latria, the Church teaches that we
pray only to God and
special graces or blessings bestowed on us come from God through the saint’s
intercession. Moreover, honor given to the saints is honor given to God because
holiness is only possible with the gift of God’s grace.

RELICS are any object directly connected with a saint. They are not holy in
themselves but are revered by Catholics because of their link with the saint. The
tradition started when the early Christians gathered fragments of bones and ashes of
the martyrs and placed them in altars. The custom of celebrating Mass at an altar in
which a relic of a saint is placed is an ancient tradition, which at one time was
mandatory. In our day of movable altars, the custom is not essential. Relics are not to be
sold! The same congregation as for saints regulates relic documentation.

While devotion to the saints is encouraged and beneficial to one’s spirituality, it

needs to be balanced and kept secondary to the worship of God. Vatican II warns
against “abuse, excesses, or defects which may have crept in to practice, and to restore
all things to a more ample praise of Christ and of God.
 Reflect and Analyze

How do you think should we express our veneration for the saints? What does the Church say
about it? Make a list.

Devotion to the saints and the use of Sacramentals are aids and accessories to
one’s faith. They are the side dishes; the entrée is worship of God through Christ in
liturgy and sacraments. They are of value only in so much as they lead us to a greater
awareness of Jesus in our midst.

Halo
The halo surrounding the head of a saint’s image has a pre-Christian history. It
was used among the Greeks and Romans as a symbol of divinity for their gods and
goddesses and in particular Apollo, the sun god. It was also used to distinguish Roman
emperors on their coins. Christians adopted the halo in the 4th century as a sign of
sanctity in images and mosaics. To distinguish Christ from Saints, the halo around
Jesus’ head included a cross.

Road to Sainthood

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. If the bishop determines that the nominee is a
viable candidate for sainthood, then the candidate completes the first rung of
canonization and acquires his or her first title.

There are three things to look at if a person is to be considered for sainthood (canonization is the
Church’s term). First, the person must be thought of as having “heroic virtue;” second, they
must be thought of as being in heaven, and third, they must be recognized by the Catholic
Church for the sake of the faithful still here on Earth.

2. Venerable

Each officially sanctioned Servant of God then pursues the next title: Venerable. The
candidate’s life is investigated, analyzed, and contextualized by a Vatican committee
called the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. This committee works to uncover and
understand the life of the candidate and, ultimately, hopes to find proof that the
candidate lived a life of heroic virtue — that he or she earnestly and aggressively
sought to improve his or her own spirituality consistently throughout his or her life.

3.Blessed

Once the Congregation for the Causes of Saints has ensured that there is substantial
reason in the life of the candidate that he or she might be a saint, a miracle attributed to
the candidate must be observed.

The Catholic Church only acknowledges a miracle as legitimate if it is both spontaneous

and enigmatic. Claims of a miracle are meticulously investigated, a process that
includes an examination of the person who experiences or witnesses the miracle.
Experts are also consulted to ensure that there is no physical or natural explanation for
the miracle.

Although miracles often affect living people, especially in the form of healings, some
miracles are revealed in the mortal remains of the candidate. Such examples include
incorruptibility, in which the candidate’s remains do not decay, liquefaction, in which
the saint’s dried blood liquefies on his or her feast day, and odor of sanctity, in which
the candidate’s corpse smells not of decay, but of a sweet aroma years after his or her
death.

If the miracle is verified, the candidate is then presented to the pope. So begins the
process of beatification in which the pope — in his own divine influence — determines
if the candidate is worthy of the title “Blessed.”

4. Saint

Once a candidate has reached the “Blessed”, 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.

Check Your Progress

Identify significant personalities in the Church who were considered SERVANT OF GOD,
VENERABLE and BLESSED.
Model Answer for CYP:

Filipino teen Darwin Ramos has been declared a 'Servant of God' by the Vatican.
A Filipino teenager could be on his way to sainthood after the Vatican declared him a
"Servant of God," the first step in the long process toward canonization as a saint.
The Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Rome has given Cubao Diocese in the
Philippines the green light to look into the life of Darwin Ramos who died in 2012 at the
age of 17.The declaration was made by Cardinal Angelo Becciu, prefect of the
Congregation for the Causes of Saints, in March but was only made public in Manila
last week. "The Vatican has given us the go signal to go deeper into his life, how he
lived his faith and how he gave witness to Jesus to whom he was very close," said
Bishop Honesto Ongtioco of Cubao. The bishop said the Vatican declaration also
reminded the Catholics that, "we are invited to give witness to our faith in concrete
ways."

Fr Alfredo Cremonesi – a new Blessed martyred in Myanmar

Father Alfredo Cremonesi, an Italian PIME priest was beatified at a Holy Mass in the
northern city of Crema on Saturday. A missionary in Myanmar (formerly Burma) for 28,
he was killed on 7 February 1953.

The cause of beatification of Mother Émilie Gamelin, foundress of the Sisters of

Providence, is based in the Diocese of Montreal, Quebec. It is coordinated by the
Reverend James Fitzpatrick, OMI, Postulator, and Sister Thérèse Frigon, SP, Vice-
Postulator, who has been involved in the process for more than forty years.

Marguerite Bays: From everyday service to carrying the stigmata. Pope Saint John Paul
II proclaimed her Blessed on 29 October 1995.
Cahill, C. (2014). What is the communion of saints?

Vatican News: Saints and Blessed. https://www.vaticannews.va/en/taglist.chiesa-e-

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