Christian Saints Final

The Council of Trent

- affirmed that those in Purgatory can be helped by offerings of the living faithful. - taught that the sacrifice of the Mass is offered only to God and benefits the living and the dead. - condemned abuses connected with relics but affirmed the tradition of keeping relics.

Christian asceticism

- aims at moral and/or spiritual development/perfection. - involves renunciation and often pain, persecution, and suffering. - has been expressed in the monastic life, as well as in other styles of rigorous Christian life. - is a dimension of every state and style of Christian life.

Saints are holy

- and therefore can be viewed as symbols in the religious sense. - and therefore can be viewed as "living icons." - and therefore can be viewed sacramentally.

Patron saints today

- are associated with particular causes, such as jobs or hobbies. - are known as especially good intercessors. - might be remembered in historical and/or legendary accounts.

Catholics believe that canonized saints

- are different than other Christians in degree of holiness but not in nature. - are perfected by grace. - are known to be in Heaven.

Christian relic impulses

- are evident in the passion account of Polycarp. - are evident in the passion account of Perpetua. - are evident in the early Christian desire to be buried near a martyr or on a martyr's death day. - are connected to belief in a martyr's/saint's closeness to Christ.

Scripture shows that the roles of the canonized saints

- are grounded in the basic relationship of human beings with God and other human beings. - are essentially the same in any place and/or time. - are possible in Christ's salvific work.

New saints

- are numerous among founders of religious orders. - are few among scholars. - are none among Church Fathers.

Christian martyrs

- are related to confessors, who were tortured or imprisoned but did not die. - include Stephen, of the first Christian martyrdom recounted in the Acts of the Apostles. - were memorialized in documents known as "passions" and "acts." - were not suicides. - were "witnesses" to Christ.

Charisms given to the Church

- are to sanctify individuals and to build up the Church. - include preaching, teaching, healing, and prophecy. - include love, the most important charism.

Martyrs today

- as a rule must be proven to have died due to their killer's hatred for the faith. - have sometimes been conceived as those killed for Christian values such as charity and chastity.

Catholic theologian Karl Rahner described grace

- as divine self-communication. - as the self-communication of God. - as God the Trinity offering himself to us, and giving us the capacity to accept him, in love.

Luther viewed stories of saint lives

- as often contaminated by legend. - as examples of living in strong faith. - as examples of faith despite struggle.

Imitation of saints can be transformative

- because Christ is manifested in those who follow him closely, especially in suffering for him. - because the love of Christ can be mediated to others through any who are open to him. - because those who imitate Christ through grace become more like and in him.

Christians can share spiritual resources

- because Christians are one Body of Christ, to which Christ himself is the head. - because we are joined in the love of Christ through the Holy Spirit. - because our salvation by Christ is worked out in the context of love of God and love of neighbor.

God is referred to as the "Absolute Mystery"

- because even in the Beatific Vision we will never completely understand him. - because, unlike his creatures, God is infinite, having no limits.

Catholics pray for the dead and ask for prayers from the dead

- because from early days of Christianity this has been a practice. - because it is believed that death does not break the communal bond of the faithful. - because it is believed that those with God care about us, as does God. because it is believed that our salvation in Christ is worked out in community.

The Fourth Council of Constantinople taught that the image of Jesus Christ should be venerated as is the Book of the Gospels

- because such veneration goes beyond the image to Christ himself. - because the image intensifies our spiritual/emotional connection with Christ known throughScripture and tradition. - because the image can teach those about Christ who cannot read Scripture.

Pontifical infallibility has been asserted to be involved in canonizations

- because the Pope, ex cathedra, presides at the Mass announcing a canonization. - because the Pope, ex cathedra, in announcing a canonization is asserting universal veneration for the new saint. - because the Pope, ex cathedra, presents a new saint as a model (example) in Christ for others. - because the Pope, ex cathedra, in canonizing is teaching about faith and/or morals.

The Catholic Church

- believes in/supports the living praying for the dead. - believes in/supports the dead praying for the living. - believes in/supports the living praying for the living.

Since "blesseds" (beati) and "saints" (sancti) became distinct,

- blesseds are those venerated by a local geographical area or a religious order. - saints are those venerated by the Church universally. - Catholics are required to venerate saints corporately but not privately.

Pope John Paul II's Divinus Perfectionis Magister changed the canonization process

- by reducing the number of miracles required for canonization from four to two. - by eliminating the legal trial and "Devil's Advocate." - by placing an increased emphasis on the Positio. - by eliminating local tribunals overseen by the local bishop.

Pope Benedict XVI's Sanctorum Mater updated the 1983 canonization process changes

- by underscoring that a candidate must have an undeniable reputation for holiness. - by insisting that miracles be of a physical nature. - by affirming that martyrs must be explicit witnesses to Christ killed by a hater of the faith.

Miracles associated with saints in the Middle Ages

- call attention to the sanctity of those named saints. - show after death that one is an intercessor and therefore in Heaven.

Lay persons

- can through marriage serve as models of mutual love reflecting God's love. - include single people who might commit themselves to good in a profession, family, care, etc. - can through marriage with family serve as a "domestic church" to care for others. - include the widowed who in their loss show charity to others.

Miracles submitted for the cause of one being examined for sainthood

- confirm that a candidate is with God in Heaven. - must be intercessory in order to be considered in a candidate's cause/process. - confirm that after death God's power has worked through a candidate to accomplish extraordinary physical events, such as healings.

The Consulta Medica

- determines whether purported miracles are "inexplicable" or "natural." - is a group of physicians in service of the Vatican for sainthood causes. - exists to help ensure that the process is rigorous and that examination results on a candidate are validated by God.

Stories about saints

- encourage veneration of saints to praise God. - show God glorified in saint's lives. - provide to others inspiration and courage for Christian life.

Catholics believe that veneration of saints

- enhances worship of God. - occurs in consciousness of Christ's transformative, or sanctifying, work in the saints. - occurs in hope of our own transformation by Christ's grace.

The formal canonization process that existed until 1983

- featured the Pope as presider at the canonization Mass. - had a fifty-year waiting period before a process began. - required that all "Devil's Advocate" questions about a candidate's dossier be answered.

Martin Luther criticized the cult of the saints

- for its use of the word "saint" denoting some as holier than others. - for its practice of invoking saints as intercessors. - in his belief that veneration of saints amounted to idolatry. - for its practice of preserving and venerating relics.

One declared "Venerable"

- has a Positio approved by the Pope. - has a decree of heroic virtue(s) or of martrydom issued in his/her cause. - is a Servant of God.

Monastic life

- has its beginning in Desert Father Antony of Egypt. - was "fathered" in the West by Benedict of Nursia. - developed in both the Eastern and Western Christian Church. - often involves vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.

Documents of the Catholic Church since Vatican II

- have taught that religious images, by turning our mind to God and our purpose in him, cancounteract the sometimes degrading images of popular culture. - have encouraged special veneration of Mary in such a way that other Christians can understand that Catholic doctrine about her is always in view of her Son Christ. - have taught that popular piety can foster a genuine encounter with God in Christ.

One is declared "Venerable"

- if an Informatio successfully proves martyrdom and/or heroic virtue. - after local tribunals have been held yielding evidence of sanctity. - after published and unpublished writings and statements have been deemed orthodox.

Although Christ is the Model (and the Mediator/Intercessor),

- in Scripture others are presented as models (examples) of Christ to imitate. - in the history/tradition of Christianity saints have played a role as model (example). - model (example) is one of the roles of the saints identified by Vatican II.

Christians have venerated Mary

- in a more pronounced or prominent way than they have venerated other saints. - as Mother of God, the New Eve, and Queen of Heaven. - through recitation of the rosary and the Angelus.

Veneration of saints displays love

- in that it recognizes the transforming, loving work of Christ in another. - in that it asks for the help of another in Christ in trust, without attempt at manipulation. - in that it seeks and recognizes the unity of all in Christ.

The saints can be viewed as "sacraments" or "icons" of God's love for us

- in that they have fallen in love with God and reflect that in love of neighbor. - in that they are fully converted, allowing Christ to work in and through them. - in that even the small choices in their lives are made consciously in reference to God. - in that the image and likeness of God in them has been perfected.

Human beings are unique in God's material creation

- in that we alone have rationality and therefore can see God's activity and respond to it. - in that Christ assumed our nature and therefore we have the possibility of eternal life in God. - in that we were made in the image and likeness of God and, fallen but redeemed, that image hasbeen elevated by the Incarnation.

Martyrs/saints came to be, and are still, standardly mentioned in the Mass

- in the Eucharistic prayers. - in the Easter Vigil's Litany of the Saints.

The saintly role of companion is evident in Scripture

- in the commandments of love of God and neighbor. - in early Christians' sense of brotherhood/sisterhood in Christ and the Holy Spirit. - in early Christians' understanding of the community as the Body of Christ. - in early Christians' sharing in Christ's suffering for others.

Historical developments in the canonization process that still apply

- include Pope Urban VIII's rule (17th century) of no public veneration for one not papally-declared a blessed. - include Pope Gregory IX's Decretals (1234) declaring that only the pope canonizes. - include Pope Paul VI's creation of the Sacred Congregation of the Causes of Saints (1969).

The traditional three classes of relics of saints

- include first-class relics in fixed altars. - include bodies (or parts of bodies) in fixed altars. - include bodies (or parts of bodies) whether or not in fixed altars. - include items coming into contact with first-class relics after saints' deaths. - include items worn or used by saints during their lifetimes/deaths.

Petitionary prayer theories

- include that such prayer ensures in the divine-human relationship there is no oppression or spoiling of one party by another - include that such prayer as intercession assures that God will not make some changes in our lives without being asked. - include that such prayer might indicate that God will do that which he plans in a life but perhaps not to the same degree or in the same way as he might if asked. - include that such prayer is consistent with the understanding that both God and human beings are free in our relationship and that God is sovereign. - include that such prayer helps us to understand our dependence upon God.

Factors influencing the likelihood of canonizations

- include visibility of candidates during their lifetimes. - include "religious" or Catholic geography.

Traditional literature about the saints by the Middle Ages

- included a Translatio, an account of miracles during a saintly body's relocation to a shrine. - included martyrologies sometimes including martyr stories. - included legends - included hagiography.

Luther's theology of nature and grace

- included the conviction that Christ's righteousness is imputed to those with faith. - included the conviction that Christ's merits count for those with faith. - included the belief in "certainty of salvation" in Christ. - included belief in faith alone, grace alone, Scripture alone, and Christ alone. - included belief that Christians are both saints by grace and sinners by nature.

The Positio

- includes a Vita, biography, of a candidate. - includes an Informatio, an argument for martyrdom and/or heroic virtue, of a candidate. - includes testimony with documentation, from tribunals and elsewhere, about the candidate.

A wide variety of activities of private veneration of saints

- includes choosing a saint name at Confirmation. - includes keeping medals, holy cards, prayers, pictures, statues, etc. associated with saints. - includes saying the rosary or novenas. - includes reading about the lives/deaths of saints. - includes observing feast days of saints. - includes regarding a saint as one's patron.

Hagiography

- includes literature such as passio, acta, legendum, libelli miraculorum, and vitae. - was in the early Church sometimes used liturgically. - refers to "holy writing" (writings about/of holy persons).

The liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church

- includes the Roman Sanctorale (cycle of feast days). - includes the Temporale (cycle of seasons of central Christian mysteries). - includes local sanctoral calendars.

Saints are venerated in a variety of ways,

- including through writing and publication of accounts of their lives and deaths. - including through prayers and devotions, often invoking them for intercession. - including through the blessing and keeping of sacramentals or the observance of events connected to them. - including naming churches/parishes after them. - including maintaining pilgrimage sites related to their lives and/or deaths.

Tradition

- involves the Revelation of Christ and the Holy Spirit given to the apostles. - involves the process of transmitting Revelation to each generation. - is the Church's beliefs, doctrines, and rituals connected to Revelation.

The saintly role of companion

- is a basic role of all human beings which is perfected in the saints. - is foundational for the saintly roles of model (example) and intercessor. - exists because human beings share a nature with each other and an end in God.

The cult of the saints

- is a continuation and development of the cult of the martyrs. - venerates martyrs and Christians deemed heroically virtuous. - recognizes many types of saintly lives. - engages in various activities recognizing holy persons as companions, models, and intercessors.

Mysticism

- is a gift of God that, on the basic level of God's ongoing presence to us, can be cultivated in everyday life. - can be validated as true according to charity that must result.

Love

- is fueled by the Eucharist, the celebration of Christ's loving sacrifice for humanity. - is at its highest agape, charity, brotherly/sisterly love.

Veneration of saints

- is practiced by Orthodox as well as Catholic Christians. - was effectively validated by the Second Council of Nicaea. - is toward those listed in the Church's official canon of saints.

Veneration of saints (#2)

- is related to ecclesiology because it concerns the unity of all in Christ. - is related to theological anthropology because it is related to our end in God. - is related to Christology because saints are possible through Christ's grace and our recognition of his work in and through them praises him.

Heroic virtue, required of all non-martyr candidates,

- is to be displayed possibly in one or more of the cardinal (moral) virtues. - is to be displayed in the theological (supernatural) virtues. - is to be displayed in faith, hope, and/or love. - is to be displayed in prudence, temperance, justice, and fortitude. - is to be displayed possibly in "associated virtues" proper to life state and/or circumstances.

To reflect theologically upon the term "intentionality"

- is to consider that, because our end is in God, all of our actions can be a "yes" or "no" to him. - is to consider that, because our end is in God, our freedom is enhanced by choosing him. - is to consider that, because our end is in God, being in love with God furthers our moral and intellectual conversions.

Given Catholic teaching on the saints,

- it is understood that all human persons are called to be saints, whether or not canonized. - it is clear that the Church declares saints but God makes them. - it is understood that human nature is fallen but that through grace we can cooperate with God's work to save us.

Catholic theology of nature and grace

- maintains that grace perfects nature. - maintains that one human person could be holier than another. - maintains that grace works in and through human persons. - maintains that only Christ saves.

Private revelations

- may aid recipients to understand better or more deeply the revelation of Christ. - are sometimes validated by the Church, although individual Catholics do not have to pay heed to them but cannot denigrate those who do, especially publicly. - may be deemed "not worthy of belief" by the Church, requiring Catholics to ignore them.

"Living icons," saints,

- mediate the grace of Christ. - encourage us to allow Christ to make us saints. - pull our thoughts and emotions to God. - prompt our veneration of them in consciousness of Christ's presence/work in them.

Among traditional types of saints,

- mystics who are saints are canonized for great charity inspired by their communion with God. - "Doctors" of the Church are always saints. - the role of patron was viewed by late antique and medieval Christians as that of protector.

Canonizations

- occur in order to give the living reliable companions, models, and intercessors for our eschatological pilgrimage. - inspire the living to seek the Kingdom of Heaven. - prompt veneration which recognizes Christ's victorious, saving work in human beings.

Catholics believe in free will

- of both God and human persons. - and that it enables us to receive and in grace return friendship, love, that God extends to us. - and that it permits a divine-human relationship that is not controlling on either "side."

Veneration of saints in its developed form

- participates in worship of Christ. - recognizes the victory of Christ in the holiness of the saints. - expresses the hope that we will be made holy by grace.

The term "communion of saints" in the developed Apostle's Creed

- refers to all of the faithful, living and dead. - includes the idea of participation in holy things. - has a sacramental sense.

The term "Pilgrim Church"

- refers to the Church moving toward its eschatological completion. - refers to the Church on Earth. - refers to the Church Militant.

"Sainthood," in/by the Middle Ages,

- required either martyrdom or virtue possessed heroically. - was associated with miracles. - often was identified in well-known holy Church figures such as popes, bishops, and priests.

The Second Council of Nicaea

- required religious images in churches. - taught that in venerating images in churches the saints imaged in them are venerated. - taught that the possibility of saintly images is salvation by Christ.

The Middle Ages

- saw lively interest in the saints on the part of the faithful. - extended from approximately 500 A.D. to 1500 A.D. - featured figures whose holy lives were evident in heroic virtue.

Miracles

- should be understood as dramatic manifestations of God in history to which he is always present. - should remind us that Christ is with us always in the Holy Spirit. - should when they occur today be consciously connected to the miracles of Jesus.

Perpetua's visions about her brother Dinocrates

- show belief in a purgatorial (post-death purifying) reality. - show belief in the power of intercessory prayer. - show belief that the dead can benefit from prayers of the living.

Saintly models

- show us human beings more perfectly transformed into the image of Christ. - show us models of holiness in different states and styles of life. - show us human persons in whom human nature has been transformed by grace.

The doctrine of Purgatory

- shows God as merciful. - assures that purification can continue and prepare for Heaven those who said "yes" to God in life but may have had unrepented venial sins or repented mortal sins at death.

Polycarp's martyrdom account

- shows one going to his death confident in the saving power of Christ. - shows one betrayed by one close to him, as was Christ. - shows one going to his death with courage given by the presence of Christ. - shows that he had a sign of the way in which he would die.

Evaluation of the developed, formal Catholic system of canonization before 1983

- shows that it was rigorous and often long, producing fewer declarations of sainthood than existed earlier. - shows that it gave greater prominence to saints than existed earlier. - shows that history of saints was emphasized more than legend.

The Second Vatican Council

- sought to ensure that the faithful maintained focus on Christ. - decreased the liturgical calendar's feast days for saints. - recommended church architecture changes that decreased images of saints.

The Catholic Council of Trent

- taught that no human person can be sure in this life that he/she is saved. - initiated a reformation of the Catholic Church. answered "Protestant" critiques of the cult of the saints. - condemned abuses connected with the cult of the saints.

The Second Vatican Council (#2)

- taught that the eschatological pilgrimage of the earthly Church is to its destiny in God. - taught that we can see God acting in the saints. - taught that the saints inspire us and pray for us. - taught that veneration of saints draws the earthly Church closer to the heavenly Church. affirmed that those in Purgatory are part of the Church. - distinguished Mary for her unique role in the mission of her Son.

The Council of Constance and/or the Council of Florence

- taught that the living could offer up efficaciously for the dead prayers, sacrifices, and goodworks. - taught that suffrages of the living can help those in Purgatory gain Heaven. - taught that it is good to venerate relics and images of saints.

The Catholic Church teaches

- that all Christians are called to holiness. - that grace is offered to all human persons and that we can respond to grace by grace. - that we each are called to unique holiness, with God transforming us in the particular circumstances of our lives. - that it is important to try to find and accept the state of life that God intends for us.

The Positio is such a critical element in the process of canonization

- that collaborators/consultants are used to contextualize a candidate's life historically and theologically. - that a College of Relators exists of individuals trained in studying causes. - that it requires utmost care and honesty to ensure that any candidate canonized truly is a saint. - that once written it undergoes various modifications to answer questions and/or objections that may be raised at various levels at the Vatican up to the Pope.

The Catholic Church teaches about death

- that the faithful will be resurrected as "whole" persons. - that there are distinct realities of fullness of life in Christ, purification, and eternal punishment,which are called Heaven, Purgatory, and Hell, respectively. - that religious acts should be offered for the dead.

In the Eucharistic celebration,

- the Church in Heaven and the Church on Earth are united in the doxological (praiseful) posture proper to human persons. - the Church Militant and the Church Triumphant are united in the doxological (praiseful) posture proper to human persons. - the communion of the saints is expressed most powerfully. - the communion of the saints, living and dead, are united in Christ's offering of his redemptive sacrifice.

In ecumenical conversation between Catholics and Lutherans,

- there is agreement that salvation is the work of Christ unmerited by human beings. - there is agreement that in Christ is our righteousness. - there is disagreement on concupiscence, with Lutherans viewing this as sin itself and Catholics viewing it as an inclination to sin that, due to original sin, remains after baptism.

Canonizations became more formal and papal

- to ensure that history was examined carefully of those declared saints. - to gain great attention to those canonized. - to standardize the process.

It is evident that miracles have been important in the process of canonization

- to prove that a candidate is an intercessor and therefore with God in Heaven. - to prove that a candidate was a martyr and/or heroically virtuous. - to ensure that the process is as careful is possible, so that mistakes will not be made.

Penitential and devotional exercises of the Middle Ages (and now)

- traditionally include pilgrimages. - traditionally include visits to gravesites of martyrs and other saints. - traditionally include the Stations of the Cross. - traditionally include novenas, sometimes connected with saints.

Invocation for intercession

- was practiced from the early days of the Church, in veneration of martyrs. - is asking for prayer. - has involved "prayer" to/with saints. - can involve the living or the dead.

The early Christian community

- was viewed as atheistic by the Romans. - was originally part of Judaism. - was finally freed from Roman persecutions by a fourth-century edict tolerating all religions.

Human intercessors before God

- were attested in Judaism. - are asserted in Scripture to be praying in or through Christ. - are presented in Scripture as faithful believers.

"Saints of the Ordinary"

- were of especial interest to Pope John Paul II. - are those in states and styles of life that are ordinary but lived extraordinarily. - are a logical outcome of Vatican II's emphasis on the universal call to holiness.

Human beings are "mediators of the Mediator"

- when they disclose God in love of neighbor. - when in grace they allow Christ to work in and through them. - when they try to see and serve Christ in others.

Saintly models pt 2

- with regard to our state in life give us a guide for living in a particular way toward God. - are each unique, influenced in part by their time and place in history. - are each unique, due to human beings' unique personalities.

Petitionary prayer pt 2

God will always answer. God will always answer but not always as we think we wish. is effective in bringing our will in line with God's. is a response to God who calls us to turn to him in our needs.

Devotions

are communal in that they consciously move those practicing them to unity with God and with other human beings. move hearts and minds toward God who is immanent in the world but transcends it. move hearts and minds to human destiny, which is beyond this world.

Saints pt 2

are companions, models, and intercessors for other human beings. are important to the living for their faithful historical existence and our memory of that. are important to the living for their heavenly existence and their care for others in Christ. are "living icons" in that they mediate the grace of Christ by allowing him to work in and through them, reaching yet others in his loving, saving work.

Religious acts involving willing suffering

are conscious participation in the suffering of Christ. are penitential. are ascetic. are communal in their intent.

Sins, in the Catholic understanding,

are forgiven in Baptism. are more likely to occur due to concupiscence. are forgiven by God through the Church in Confession/Penance/Reconciliation, a sacrament. require "punishment" after forgiveness.

Canonized saints

are in Heaven. are fully sanctified, fully purified. are radical lovers of God and neighbor. are in a more eschatologically complete state than those in the pilgrim Church. pray for us. have feast days on the Church's liturgical calendar.

Marian dogmas

are the most important of Marian teachings. are celebrated in solemnities on the Church's liturgical calendar. are interrelated.

The dogma that Mary is Theotokos, "Mother of God,"

asserts that God the Son took on human reality through her. has been held by Christians since the early days of the Church, as evident in Church documents, such as from councils, and in popular piety. asserts a miraculous conception. attests to the identity of Christ as God the Son, a divine person.

The dogma of the Assumption

asserts that Mary's unique relationship with her resurrected Son has resulted in a state of greater eschatological completion than others yet enjoy. is closely related to the other Marian dogmas, all of which make Christological statements (i.e. statements about the identity and work of Christ).

Relics

attest to belief in the resurrection of Christ and the promise of our resurrection. have been important to Christians in every age of the Church. are of evident interest even in many scriptural passages. have sometimes been connected with miracles

The dogma of the Immaculate Conception

attests to the unique role of Mary in the plan of God for our salvation. affirms that only by grace can we be saved. asserts that Mary was conceived without the stain, or taint, of original sin. affirms that Mary was "full of grace," not losing sanctifying grace as have other human beings. asserts that Mary freely gave her graced "fiat" to be the vehicle of the Incarnation.

The term "saints" (according to a Christian definition)

can refer to all in the Christian community. can refer to canonized saints. can refer to martyrs. can refer to those in Heaven.

Scripture

clearly recalls Jesus offering prayer of petition. explicitly teaches that petitionary prayer is effective in faith, confidence, and persistence. explicitly teaches that we should pray for each other.

"Low" Mariologies

emphasize Mary's earthly life as the mother of Jesus of Nazareth. emphasize the connections of Mary's life with others who experience marginalization, poverty, oppression, and/or lack of education. emphasizes Mary's role in the community of the faithful more than her continuing role in Christ's redemptive work.

"High" Mariologies

emphasize Mary's eschatological existence in heaven. emphasize her role as Queen of heaven. emphasize her special intercessory role among the saints, in Christ.

A view of Mary as "co-creator"

emphasizes her graced cooperation in the mission of her Son. can be instructive for others in allowing Christ to work in and through us. allows us to appreciate God's work to save us through her unique role in the mission of Christ.

Prayer "to" saints

expects that saints might hear our prayers, in Christ. expects that saints might not hear our prayers but they pray for us anyway. expects that saints know the types of needs for which we pray, having lived an earthly life. expects that saints allow God to work through them to supply for our needs.

The Incarnation

has an effect on human beings in every time and place. objectively saves all human beings, but any could reject salvation in free will. is "the Way" that the saints follow. is the "Word made flesh." is Jesus Christ, God the Son who, without ceasing to be God, takes our human nature to save us. makes saints possible.

The dogma of Mary's perpetual virginity

has been held by Christians since the early days of the Church, as evident in ancient documents. asserts a miraculous conception. attests to the identity of Christ as God the Son, a divine person. is a symbol of a proper focus upon God in the whole of one's life.

Sin

includes that mortal, which necessarily leads to Hell if unrepented. includes that mortal, which is due eternal punishment. includes that venial, which weakens but does not destroy charity. includes that venial, which is due temporal punishment.

Inexplicable relic phenomena

includes the "odor of sanctity." includes the "Incorruptibles." has been reported in the Eastern and the Western Church.

The communion of saints

includes the living faithful. includes the dead faithful. includes any in Heaven. includes any on earth confessing and living for Christ.

The cult of the martyrs/saints

involves ritual activity. involves worship of Christ. involves religious practice.

Lumen Gentium

is a dogmatic constitution of Vatican II that included instruction on Mary and the saints. confirmed that the saints play the roles of companion, model, and intercessor. called Christ "the crown of all the saints." asserted that God "is wonderful in his saints and is glorified in them."

Invocation of saints pt 2

is a form of veneration that is a religious act because it expressly understands these neighbors in association with God in the fullness of Christ. is a facet of veneration, which is adoration, worship, of God. is a form of veneration that is beyond ordinary love of neighbor in that through it our relationship to each other in Christ is clearly grasped and pursued.

Intercessory prayer

is always petitionary prayer. is prayer of request, "asking" prayer. is engaged in regularly by Christians. necessarily involves a third party.

The Treasury of the Church (or Treasury of "Merits")

is centrally the infinite value of the merits of Christ offered to God the Father on our behalf. includes the communion of saints' spiritual goods. is the infinite love of Christ made powerfully apparent in the world through his sacrifice and the graced acceptance of and participation in this on the part of believers. is the salvific will of God in Christ bringing us to perfect charity and leading us away from sin.

Veneration

is honor. is dulia. is worship of Christ. is latria of Christ.

The Catholic Church pt 2

is large and contains many different spiritualities. leaves room for private religious practice to be tailored to an individual's personality. recognizes even private religious practices as occurring within community, the "people of God."

The saintly role of intercessor

is necessarily linked to the saintly roles of companion and model. can be practiced in any Christian life, though not yet with the perfection of the saints. should be practiced in any Christian life, in that Christians are to pray for each other.

Petitionary prayer

is prayer of request, "asking" prayer. is encouraged in Scripture. is engaged in regularly by Christians.

In Scripture, the Holy Spirit

is present in the community of believers. is said to help in petitionary prayer. is said to intercede in our prayer.

Christian intercessory belief and activity

is recorded in the passion account of Perpetua. is recorded as including prayers for spiritual and/or material favors. is recorded as graffiti on martyr/saint tombs. is recorded in epigraphs/inscriptions on martyr/saint tombs.

Mary

is regarded both as our mother and as our sister. is the most perfect disciple of Christ. is the first member of the Church. is the ideal model of discipleship for all Christians.

The Eucharistic celebration

is the re-presentation in the Mass of the sacrifice of Christ. involves those on Earth joining the saints in Heaven in praising God. reminds us that the saints are always with Christ. encourages us to join our intentionality to that of the saints in making God the focus of our thoughts, words, deeds, prayers, and heart. reminds us that through Christ's sacrifice the Holy Spirit is drawing us to the Father.

Invocation of a saint

is, consciously or unconsciously, invocation of all saints since they are all in Christ. is, consciously or unconsciously, recognizing the importance of our communal reality as we hope for eternity in Christ. is, consciously or unconsciously, attestation to the value of each and every human life which for those in Heaven is finally experienced in the fullness of Christ. consciously or unconsciously draws us into the intentionality of the saints which is ever focused on God.

Invocation of saints

joins us intentionally, profoundly with all those in permanent union with Christ. displays love of neighbor. displays our hope for transformation in Christ.

Intercessory prayer,

petitionary, always involves one person or group on behalf of another person or group. petitionary, is encouraged by Scripture and by tradition. petitionary, always makes requests for another.

Jesus

said that we should ask God for our needs. said that we should ask God for our needs often. said that we should have faith when we make requests of God. said that our prayers should be in correspondence with God's will.

Saints

share our humanity, but are perfected by grace in it. have the same humanity as Christ, whose humanity was perfect. can feel forsaken by God, even when they are doing God's will. follow Christ on the Cross to their own crosses.

Ancient and medieval texts about Mary

show that Mary was venerated exceptionally in all ages of the Church. attest to belief in matters that later are promulgated as Marian dogmas. display fervent interest in Mary because of belief in the identity of her Son as the Messiah.

Vatican II's Lumen Gentium

teaches that "merits" acquired during their lives through Christ are perpetually offered to him. teaches that in Christ they perpetually intercede for us. teaches that in their lives they, as Scripture says, completed in their flesh that which is lacking in Christ's sufferings for the sake of his Body, the Church.

Indulgences

were validated by the Council of Trent, during the Protestant and Catholic Reformations, and since. can help remit temporal punishment, or the residue of sin, so that we can be purified to see God. are pursued as penitential activities. are granted by the Church. may be plenary or partial. involve such as pilgrimages, litanies, novenas, etc., summed up as invocations, almsgiving, fasts and abstinence, and public witness to faith in Christ.

On the matter of human free will,

- Catholics believe that human beings have free will. - Luther believed that fallen human beings have no free will in spiritual matters. - Catholics believe that freedom of God and of human persons allows a relationship of love.

According to Catholics and Lutherans,

- Christ is God the Son, the second person of the Trinity. - Christ is the Hypostatic Union, one (divine) person with - in the Incarnation - two natures, a divine nature and a human nature. - Christ's sacrificial death and resurrection established the possibility of eternal life for humanity through participation in the life of God.

At martyr gravesites

- Christians celebrated the Eucharist over the body of a saint, a practice continued in the Church. - Christians held refrigeria and participated in the practice of "incubation." - Christians wished to be close to martyr relics. - Christians constructed chapels.