Do Protestants have saints?

Sister Rejane  
This Random Nun Clip is brought to you by A Nun's Life Ministry.

Sister Maxine  
Our first question comes in from Lee in Idaho, and Lee writes, "I attended a Lutheran college called St. Olaf. But how is it that a Lutheran school has a saint?" And we had a similar question, Shannon, come in from Julie and Ohio, who said, "Do Protestants have saints?" So these are wonderful questions. We so appreciate hearing about your questions about the saints. And it may be interesting to know that St. Olaf College is halfway between Minneapolis and the border of Iowa, not far from where my family is. So everybody there knows about the college.

Sister Shannon  
So I think the first thing you think about when it comes to saints, especially within the Protestant tradition is that the Scripture makes reference to all of us who are believers as the saints of God. So it's a general term that can be applied to all Christian believers. But there are certain individuals who have devoted themselves and their lives so especially to the call of Christianity that they're recognized above others, and often called out specifically as saints.

Sister Maxine  
And I think in the Protestant tradition, it doesn't mean that if they have like a St. Peter Church or St. Paul Church or St. Olaf College, it doesn't mean that they subscribe to a belief that a saint is canonized.

Sister Shannon  
That's right. Canonization is a Roman Catholic process, when we recognize the well-lived experience of an individual. The church has a whole list of criteria they follow when they examine the life of that person. It takes a lot before. First, they're made Blessed and then canonized as saints. But I want you to think back for a minute to when the church was one. Up until the 16th century, there was one Christian Church, one Catholic Church. It was only at the time of the Protestant Reformation in 1517 that we began to split. Probably the church that was remained most like the Roman Catholic Church is the Anglican Communion. And they do, as we do, have a very similar understanding of the power of the saints as intercessors. They recognize them. And so they don't use the term as generally, as I would say, the Methodists, for example, who would only refer to some biblical characters as saints, but wouldn't acknowledge that, other than all people are saints.

Sister Maxine  
And so for, for the, for example, here we have the somebody who's asking it out of a Lutheran context. You know, it is the belief like a saint is somebody who lives an exemplary life, Prat present or past, but but not, they're honored, but I would say maybe not venerated as, as we tend to do.

Sister Shannon  
And within the Lutheran tradition, they have that same approach that all Christian believers are the saints of God. But they also recognize that there are saints within the Christian church, who pray for the church, who serve as intercessors, which is the way that we venerate a saint, right? We ask, in much the same way, Sister Max, that I might ask you to pray for me, I might ask one of those saints that's gone before me, to hold me close to God and to pray for me. So it's a kind of similar thing.

Sister Maxine  
And I think there's also the similarity in that, before the church began to canonize saints, we still recognized--as you say, back when there was the universal Catholic Church--we still recognized that the goodness of the example of a holy person all called to holiness. You know, there's a little echo of Vatican II, so I'm jumping around in time. But that those examples exist for us to encourage each other in this life of faith and the life of Christianity and our life of prayer.

Sister Shannon  
I think most Christian traditions, whether they name it as the Roman Catholics do or not, believe in the sense of the communion of saints, which is all of those who have gone before us, upon whose shoulders we stand. Those that we trust intercede for us on our behalf, and we have the hope that we will be reunited with them when we come into heaven. And so we have that sense of a connection with all of the saints that have gone before us.

Sister Maxine  
And so the naming of a college, the naming of a church--if it's Protestant, to have a saint name acknowledges that example, that goodness, that the holy people--recognizing we can all be holy--bring in our life.

Sister Shannon  
I think pretty typically the saint that is selected embodies the values that are significant to the community that's selecting the name, right? Either as a goal to become like that person or to recognize that they've lived their lives the way that we want to live our lives. So in our Toledo diocese, the newest parish that we have is called St. Pope John the XXIII.

Sister Maxine  
Well, I think I've seen that. It's down on the way to Bowling Green.

Sister Shannon  
It is, and he hasn't been officially named a saint for very long, but people that are alive today, remember Pope John the XXIII. And they recognized his wonderful life, and they honor him, and I think the community chose that name as a way to honor him, but also as a way to elevate themselves toward becoming the kind of person he was.

Sister Maxine  
Have you been in the church? I've only been by it.

Sister Shannon  
I've been by it, too, but I understand there's a picture, there's an image of him opening the window, which is the aggiornamento part of the Second Vatican Council, that he wanted to open the windows to let in the fresh air, but also to hear the voices of the people on the street.

Sister Maxine  
You know, I am going to do a little bit of sleuthing work. I will drive down there and visit the church and I'll report back. Yeah.

Sister Shannon  
That would be great.  

Sister Maxine  
Take some pictures. Yeah.

Sister Shannon  
That would be great. So I think the notion of saints is a broad Christian concept. And within Roman Catholicism, we've organized it more profoundly in terms of the acknowledgement of individuals who are saintly. But there is a book in Rome, in Vatican City, that lists all of those that have been literally canonized by the church and the number is incredibly large. Thousands and thousands and thousands. We honor probably in the church year 200 or 300 saints. So today, for example, is the feast of St. Catherine of Siena. And she was named a Doctor of the Church.

Sister Maxine  
One of only a few women!

Sister Shannon  
That's right. She's cool. And so we, in the church calendar, we can't acknowledge every single saint, there are so many. And there are everyday people that have done extraordinary things for the sake of their faith. And that's really what it is. And naming them as a saint is a way to honor. I don't know how you're thinking about it. But I would guess that you would think of your mom as a saint.

Sister Maxine  
As you were just describing that, I think, on my calendar at home, I'm going to write in the Betty Ann saint feast day.

Sister Shannon  
You know, my Uncle Si, he was my great uncle. And when my Aunt Veronica passed away, it was very hard for him. They were older, they'd been together a long time. And he sent me a thank you card after the services, and he signed it, Uncle Si and St. Veronica.

Sister Maxine  
Awww!

Sister Shannon  
I saved that card. I just thought, he gets it. He understands that the fullness of her life had been completed. She was now enjoying the wonders of heaven, as a full saint.

Sister Maxine  
And I think, as you're talking about that--certainly with my mom, and probably you with Mary John--that however we think about saints, they can be a huge comfort in our life. Not just an inspiration, but a comfort. And, you know, the idea that they are still present--whether inspiration, or whether we pray with them for something, that it can be a great source of comfort. You know, I miss talking to my mom. And so my prayers with her feels like we're together.

Sister Shannon  
Right. And I think it's important for us to recognize the power that our Christian brothers and sisters, as saints of the church, have for us. And to make them always a part of our life. I always thought that was one of the great wisdom. things of the Catholic Church: to recognize the whole sense of the communion of saints, those that have gone before us and those that have continued to live on this planet until God calls us home--that we're all one family. In fact, the Synod that's been called for by Pope Francis recognizes the communion of saints, and the power of synodality means to walk together, to be in each other's presence, in a sense to walk shoulder to shoulder with one another. And that's what the saints do, right? That's our goal in our journey: to one day be united fully with one another and with our God.

Sister Maxine  
And for folks who are listening, maybe they've been involved in one of those processes in their parish. It's a great moment in the church.

Sister Shannon  
Yeah, it is. It is very exciting. So, Lee, thank you for your question. That's a great question. And I'm sure there are others that have wondered about that when they've seen some Protestant churches with a saint's name. I hope we helped you to understand that a little bit better.

Sister Rejane  
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This transcript has been lightly edited for readability.