The Saints of the Church They have lived as hermits in the desert, denied themselves of food and sleep, and battled devils and demons. Others have experienced the stigmata, levitated, or even in one specific case, have flown. Some of these individuals were born into very wealthy families, while others were born into poor and modest homes. They have achieved all of this through the grace of God. So who are these individuals? They are the saints of the Catholic Church. They are the men and women who laid the foundation of stewardship and insight for the church to come. I have learned a great deal about the Saints of the Catholic Church. Coming from a Protestant background, I knew very little about any of these individuals, nor did I ever really care about their missions or what they endured. This class has given me incredible insight to the lives of these astonishing individuals. For example, I learned that St. Anthony never took a bath. St. Francis of Assisi talked to animals and is believed to be the first person to experience the stigmata. St. Joseph of Cupertino is believed to have been able to fly. There were two saints that struck me as being rather odd. The first of these is Simon Stylites. He lived and preached from a 60-foot pillar for 40 years. As a result, his skin was exposed to all types of weather. He developed sores in which flies would lay their eggs and thus he developed maggots. When these maggots would fall out, he would instruct someone to place them back within his sores. He would die on this pillar at the age of 69. Simon Stylites provides inspiration and devotion to my very own life. I will probably never live on a pillar or develop maggots within my sores, but by following his example, I may be taught how to persevere. The second of these saints that stuck me as being rather odd is Catherine of Sienna. She began having visions at age 6 and slept on a board, while using a stone for a pillow. She even wore a belt of nails.
When Jesus walked the earth his twelve disciples put aside all of their worldly possessions and worldly pursuits to fully and faithfully follow him. After the fall of Rome, Europe slipped into what has been referred to as the “dark ages.” However, even in these dark ages men and women put aside their secular desires and devoted themselves to a life of celibacy and simplicity. This similar desire between many people drew them together and this pursuit became know as monasticism. No one had a bigger influence on this way of life and on these people who chose this calling than Saint Benedict of Nursia. His teachings and life would have an impact on monasticism all throughout Europe helping to form its spirituality and culture.
What or who is a Saint? In a very simple way to answer the question, we may say that a saint is any person who dies and who is now enjoying his/her external life before the eternal and divine presence of God in heavens. For people, well known or not, are celebrated on the very first day of the month of November; the All Saints Day. The origins of the religious feast in the Roman Catholic Church came from the early days of the church around the year 80 or 80 AC when sealed by the blood of Jesus’ crucifixion on the cross. By the martyrdoms of many Catholics, who are dedicated to Jesus’ teachings and the example of Saint Peter, pay with their lives to the Glory of belonging to the only church founded by Jesus Christ himself. The Catholics by the virtue of their martyrdom and their lives in all of the extinction of the Roman Empire, where they were persecuted and executed at the Circus Maximus, The Roman Coliseum at the Caracalla, and even inside of the Domus Aurea (Nero’s Palace). Those martyrs who lost their lives from th...
Saint Francis was born into a wealthy family. Saint Francis’ father, Pietro di Bernardone was a clothing merchant who sold his items successfully. Saint Francis’ mother was a
...spread their religion and did not stop until their death. It is interesting to find out that there were people like that , that dedicated so much of their lives for a cause. I am sure other saints accomplished as much as St. Boniface, but to my knowledge, he seemed like the most active and aggressive. He not only prayed for change, he went out and made it happen. He took journey’s that lasted years, traveled aimlessly at times, from one ship to another converting pagans and spreading the word as he went along. He even went on these missions in his elder years, though dangerous for his age, he continued until his death.
When Saint Rose of Viterbo was about ten years old the Mother of God told her to join the Third Order of St. Francis. Then found out that the Lord was suffering. Saint Rose went through the town of Viterbo, which also was in the Papal States, to give speeches and many people would crowd around just to listen to her
A key pillar to the Roman Catholic Church are its Saints. Saints are men and women who are recognized by the Church to have had an exceptional degree of holiness or likeness to God and or Christ in their lives. There are many hundreds of saints within both the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches. The writing of the history and great acts of these saints are called Hagiographies, literally meaning sacred writing. Of the many hundreds of saints, a few stand out in history as truly exceptional, saints like Saint Peter, Paul, Thomas Aquinas, Benedict, and Francis all stood out as truly inspiring Christian men. Among these influential saints is Saint Dominic of Osma, founder of the Dominican Order, a mendicant religious order founded in
... then has become one of the most popular Saints in the Roman Catholic Church.
Chapter four addresses the divisions within the Corinthian church, such as jealousy, quarrelling and their defective view of the church. The apostle Paul links their view of the church to church leadership stating “If they had a true view of the church, they would have a true view of the leaders of the church” (p79). The situation was that their view was lower for the church and higher for the leaders thus they were boasting about the leaders. Paul’s view was that the Corinthian church was spoon feed Christians not maturing as they should. Paul’s reference to addressing the church as worldly did not mean they were unregenerate because they did possess the Spirit but they were not being spiritual, not being controlled by the Holy Spirit. He goes on to say “They have experienced new birth by the Spirit but have remained babies in Christ; they have not yet become mature in Christ” (p80) The Apostle most likely would express the same opinion about many Church congregations today. Many churches are elated with their church growth, but it is often superficial. If the church does not offer a real growth opportunity the journey is short lived. The church fills up with Christians not participating in the sanctification process. As with many churches today the Corinthians had a self-serving attitude about themselves and their church. The Corinthians would have never behaved the way they did if they had a higher view of the church and what it stood for and a lesser view of the leaders. Paul outlines three visions of the church “each of which has important implications” (p82). The first metaphor is agricultural: God’s field (v9) 9 For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God...
Thomas Merton first begins to identify his definition of sainthood by describing things other than humans act like saints in acting as they were intended by God. For example Merton describes how “the little yellow flowers that nobody notices on the edge of the road” (Merton 30) are saints simply for fulfilling their naturally intended role; not attempting to do something or be something that they are not. Merton soon after begins to elaborate on why this process of sainthood is a lot more complicated for humans than it is for anything else. For humans,
Lynn Malone, is currently the senior pastor at First United Methodist Church in Monroe, Louisiana. On June 13, 2008, Malone gave a homily that entailed a very key component of the Christian faith, the church. In this homily, the main concept of the homily is the church as being one whole entity. Throughout the homily, numerous examples are given that exemplify this concept. I will be discussing two themes more in depth throughout this paper, the Christian Church as one entity, and the universality of Christianity and Christ’s teachings.
By 1979, the roots of the CoC were firmly in place. It was then that Chuck
The dictionary says a saint is "a person officially recognized as being entitled to public ...
Lives of the Saints is a story that examines the complexities and tribulations of everyday life in a small town. Throughout the novel, we discover that even the most trustworthy and caring individuals live secret lives behind closed doors, and that the surface appearance of minor communities can be very deceptive. Some people spend their entire adult-lives trying to knock down these doors and discover the truth, but perhaps they are overlooking the key to the lock… our children.
The Episcopal Church was founded in the 16th century during the Protestant Reformation on the belief to spread Christianity and worship . The Episcopal church originated from the Church of England that modeled much of it’s religious beliefs from the Roman Catholic Church. Episcopalians (followers of the Episcopal Church) refer to their religion as “Protestant, yet Catholic,” (Wikipedia). I had the privilege to interview one of my teachers from middle school, Erin Havens. She grew up as a conservative Episcopalian, and described that experience as being almost identical to, “The way the Roman Catholics hold their masses, holidays and how they practice their beliefs,” (Havens). Which is true, because most of the modeling of the faith is role modeled after the Catholic Church other than some key differences.
St Ignatius of Loyola is an inspiring person and has touched the lives of many people even now centuries after his death. Loyola has affected the lives of an uncountable number of people, either directly or indirectly. He started as an extremely brave and tough soldier and turned into the founder of a powerful religious order. He was born in 1491 in Spain and founded the Jesuits in 1540 at the age of 49.The Jesuits today are still a devoted religious order. Everything they do is in God’s name, hence their motto AD MAIOREM DEI GLORIAM this literally means “for the greater glory of God”. (Linten, Seven Things) Many Jesuits (and even non Jesuits like Pope John Paul II) sign their documents with amdg at the end to show that they do their work for God and not solely for themselves. (Linten, Seven Things) The Jesuits have survived multiple persecutions and yet have still remained a major influence in the church and in universities around the world. If it were not for an unfortunate cannonball shattering a soldier’s leg then none of this may have happened.