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by Maureen Fiedler on Nov. 04, 2011
On Wednesday, an informal liturgy group of which I am a part celebrated both All Saints Day and All Souls Day in the same service. It seemed appropriate. A lot of ordinary "souls" are really saints, even if not formally recognized as such.
When homily time arrived, we had a discussion of saints, souls and canonization. We named several contemporary saints, most not formally recognized by any Vatican process: John XXIII; Oscar Romero; Mary Luke Tobin, SL; Marjorie Tuite, OP; Bill Callahan; and others. We even noted that St. Francis of Assisi might have found resonance with one member of our group who was gently petting a cat that had jumped on his lap, knowing that he was a friend of animals. (We have a very informal liturgy group.)
Then, one nun in our group mentioned that her foundress was surely a saint, but that canonization costs money, so her order was not initiating the process. Others noted that canonization is often influenced by the Vatican politics of the day. Why, for example, is John Paul II on a "fast track" but John XXIII apparently on a "slow track"? Why does it seem that Archbishop Oscar Romero is on "no track"?
Yet we realized that there are many people who deserve at least informal "lay canonization." The laity -- through Call to Action maybe -- might want to find a way to name saints that the Vatican doesn't recognize either because there are so many to name, or because the formal process is expensive, or because of simple politics.
I suggest it be a list with several blank spaces at the end. We can all think of great saints in our lives!
I would like to offer two
I would like to offer two nominations. The first though personal is very representational, if one reflects on it.
My mother. Mom grew up Presbyterian (though I was told by one centenarian that she was a student in mom's bible class at the Anglican Church). Mom had ambitions to be a fashion designer; she played piano, the harp and violin. She "converted" after marrying my father, gave birth to thirteen children (God only knows how many other pregnancies went unfullfilled). She paid the price. By the time she could relax all that was left in that four foot eleven (and one half inch) frame was an irrepresable smile, unconditional love and pain.
My second nomination is Mattie Stepanic.
The Episcopal Church as a
The Episcopal Church as a great resource, "Holy Women, Holy Men: Celebrating the Saints" that recognizes a multitude of saints, both those officially recognized and those not. I'd suggest it for anyone who is inspired by the lives of holy people, regardless of their religious affiliation: http://goo.gl/k2D19
Thank you for this
Thank you for this interesting article about "Saints and Souls." I agree that their are many more deserving souls that you mentioned should be Saints. I believe that we will not really know who the real saints are until we leave this world and hopefully join God and all of his saints.
"John Paul II on a "fast
"John Paul II on a "fast track"
that track was hyper tracked by wojotyla himself in closing the needed office of Devil's Advocate in order to rush himself to sainthood. THey already had a Feast Day picked out, and his favorite torpedo/hatchetman ratzo to get the job down as swiftly as possible without too much investigation into his ties to Marcial and to the young lady in his skiing trips and his severe decimation of our Church and all of the rest.
Meanwhile, because wojo and the other Nazis consider Romero a commie, his cause will go nowhere but deeper into the hearts of the poor, to bear a fruitful harvest.
Still, it's sad to see wojo's prideful image plastered all over the place, and not Monsenor Romero's much humbler and far more saintly, kindly, loving, gentle, resolute, edifying face.
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