Canonization is the process in the catholic church where a
person is declared a saint it is a 4 step process that works somewhat like
this.
1. -Servant Of God- The person is question is declared a "servant
of god" this is a rigorous process that can only begin at least 5 years
after the person has died it involves research into their lives/writings a complete
biography being published and exhumation of their body to check for any discrepancies.
2.- Veneration- Then a person after being declared a servant
of god can be declared "Venerable/Heroic in Virtue" this is where the
person in question has shown heroic virtues. This means the person has shown
the virtues of faith, hope and charity, and the cardinal virtues of prudence,
justice, fortitude and temperance, to a heroic degree. even still at this point
the church makes no statement as to whether the person in question has made an assertion
into heaven.
3.- Beatification- The person then goes though the process of
becoming "Blessed" this is where either the person gave their life
voluntarily for the faith and/or in an act of heroic charity for others, or
that the person had performed at least one miracle in their time. While this
definition of a "miracle" can (and probably had been) exploited it is
meant to show that the person has experienced the true vision of god thus god
has responded to his/her prayers by performing act that cannot be explained through
natural methods.
4.- Saint- "saint" the ultimate honour the church
can bestow this has to include two more miracles after that of beatification
and after the persons death, it shows a complete certainty of the church that
the saint enjoys the Beatific Vision. A feast day is assigned to the saint and
churches may be built in their honour also the faithful may freely and without
restriction celebrate and honour the saint.
The order can be shown by this:
Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canonized
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Servant_of_God
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