I wonder, what is a Blessed as opposed to a saint? in cahtolic erminology, a saint is in heaven, but what or where is a Blessed? soemone told me hat Blesseds are likewise in heven, but sas have special Honurs, is this true?

Just asking.

-- ZAROVE (ZAROFF3@JUNO.COM), January 31, 2005

Answers

I wonder, what is a Blessed as opposed to a saint? in cahtolic erminology, a saint is in heaven, but what or where is a Blessed? soemone told me hat Blesseds are likewise in heven, but sas have special Honurs, is this true?

Just asking.

-- ZAROVE (ZAROFF3@JUNO.COM), January 31, 2005.

"Blesseds" = "Beati" are in Heaven. The difference is that canonized Saints can be "culted" i.e. named and invoked in the Universal Church's official liturgies, have churches named after them, have their statue/picture in churches etc. throughout the world. Usually when a Beatus/Beata is declared, the name of the Beatus/Beata is permitted to be used in this way only in a restricted area, eg in their local diocese or country, or within the religious order which they belonged to.

-- Steve (55555@aol.com), January 31, 2005.

i think of it this way, being beatified is generally a step in becoming cannonized as a saint. i'm not sure as to the clarification of whether or not beatifieds are in heaven or not, but it is certainly a declaration that they led a holy life.

-- paul h (dontSendMeMail@notAnAddress.com), January 31, 2005.

Paul, when a person is declared to have lived a holy life and lived each of the Christian virtues to an heroic extent, they are given the title “Venerable”. The first step to sainthood. But for the second step, to become “Blessed” there needs to be proof that God has worked a miracle through their intercession. People in Hell or Purgatory cannot intercede with God, so they must be in Heaven. “Blessed” means “full of bliss”. It would be absurd to describe someone in Hell or purgatory as “full of bliss”. It would also be absurd for the Church to allow people to venerate in the official liturgy people who are not in Heaven. There are no doubt many people in Heaven who have never been beatified. (We celebrate them on All Saints' Day.)The beatification and canonization process is basically a way for the Church to (a) declare that they are in Heaven and (b) to hold them up as a model for some (in the case of Beati) or all (in case of canonized saints) Christians.

-- Steve (55555@aol.com), January 31, 2005.

cool, thanks for the clarification steve.

-- paul h (dontSendMeMail@notAnAddress.com), January 31, 2005.

Not the right answer , but still a little help:

http://www.m-w.com , Online Dictionary ;)

Salute & Cheers from a NON BELIEVER:

-- Laurent LUG (.@...), February 01, 2005.