Think of a saint. Perhaps you’re thinking of St Benedict (March 21st/July 11th) or St Scholastica (February 10th), or St Thérèse of Lisieux (October 1st), or maybe St Carlo Acutis, one of the newest saints (October 12th). So what (or who) is a saint and how many are there? Is it someone officially canonised by the Church? The first canonisation didn’t happen until 993 AD (so none of the 44 people (45 including Jesus) named in the Roman Canon has been canonised). One website has details of nearly 8300 saints, but then says it is incomplete. So perhaps a saint is anyone the Church says is in heaven. But what if the Church hasn’t said someone is in heaven?
St Paul mentions saints 40 times in his letters. Each time, he is referring to living Christians. Particularly telling is the greeting at the start of the Letter to the Romans, ‘To all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints’ (Romans 1:7). We are all called to be saints. The Church declares some people to be in heaven (including those in the Roman Canon) but admits that it doesn’t know how many others are also there. All those it does not know, who don’t have a feast day of their own (or shared, in the cases of some groups of martyrs), get to be celebrated on All Saints Day. These all enjoy the sight of God (called the beatific vision), which is what we all hope for and, as Christians, have been called to receive.
Paul calls the living Christians saints. Those in heaven are the ones who are truly alive, since they are with God. We who are alive on earth are called to the fullness of life in heaven with Christ.
Fr Bede
