What it Takes to be a Saint

St. Ignatius of Loyola

Saints are not just made by the Church like Hollywood makes stars. The Church recognizes people that lived perfectly in obedience of God's will and are in Heaven as Saints.

The process to be recognized as a Saint (called canonization) is very long, where evidence is presented as to point out the holiness of a person and their sacrifices for God and the Church.  Specific stages are met on the path to being declared a saint:

• Servant of God: As soon as the person is accepted for consideration, he/she is called a Servant of God.

• Venerable: After the Vatican Congregation for the Causes of Saints determines that the servant of God lived a life of heroic virtue, she is granted the title of venerable. Heroic virtue doesn't mean a person was perfect or sinless, but that she worked aggressively to improve herself spiritually and never gave up trying to be better and grow in holiness.

• Blessed: After the Church establishes one miracle, the venerable person’s cause is presented to the pope to see whether he deems her worthy of being called blessed. This step is called beatification and is the next-to-last step.

• *Saint: Another miracle and the blessed person’s cause is presented to the pope again for his judgment. If he determines that the evidence is clear and that contrary reports aren't credible, he may initiate the canonization procedure. If all goes well, the candidate is publicly recognized as a saint.

The process is called canonization because after a person is anointed a Saint they are added to the Canon which is a list of all the Catholic Saints.

Saint are people we should all look up to because they exemplify the forms in that Man can be the truest to God, and we should all take example and try to live our lives more like Saints.