Venerable Catherine Aurelia

Yesterday at the Vatican, the Holy Father, Pope Francis met with Cardinal Angelo Amato, SDB, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints and issued a number of decrees relating to cases being examined by the Congregation.  Among the declarations published yesterday is the declaration of the heroic virtues of the Servant of God, Catherine Aurelia of the Precious Blood (born Aurelia Caouette).  Sister Aurelia was the foundress of the Congregation of the Sisters Adorers of the Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

In 1983, the Holy Father, Pope John Paul II simplified the process of canonization for prospective Saints.  The Apostolic Constitution Divinus Perfectionis Magister (25 January 1983) and the accompanying norms issued by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints on 7 February 1983 outlined four levels to the process of canonization.

The process begins at the Diocesan level with the gathering of information relating to the virtues of the individual in question; during that process, the person in question is referred to as a Servant of God.  This process usually takes place at least five years after the death of the person.

When enough information has been gathered, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints will recommend that the Pope make a declaration of the Servant of God's heroic virtue: that the Servant of God exhibited the theological virtues of faith, hope and charity, and the cardinal virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance, to a heroic degree.  From this point on, the person said to be heroic in virtue is referred to as Venerable.  Someone who is venerable has not yet been assigned a feast day, no churches can be built in his or her honour, and the Church has not yet made regarding the person's possibile or probable presence in heaven, but prayer cards and other materials can be printed in order to encourage the faithful to pray for a miracle brought about through that person's intercession as a sign of God's will that the person be canonized.

Beatification is a statement by the Church that it is worthy of belief that the person is in heaven.  This step comes about if the person in question is declared to be a martyr - in this case, the Pope declares that the venerable gave his or her life voluntarily as a witness as a witness to the faith or in an act of heroic charity for others - or if not a martyr, as a confessor - since the person confessed or bore witness to the faith by how he or she lived his or her faith.  Once someone has been beatified, we refer to him or her as Blessed.  A feast day will be designated, but its observance is normally restricted to the Blessed's home diocese, to certain locations associated with him or her, and/or to the churches or houses of the blessed's religious order, if they belonged to one. Parishes may not normally be named in honour of a Blessed.

To be canonized a saint, at least two miracles normally must have been performed through the saint's intercession after his or her death, for potential saints who were not declared martyrs.  In the case of martyrs, only one miracle is needed (i.e., normally an additional miracle after that granting beatification). Canonization is a statement by the church that the person certainly enjoys the Beatific Vision. The saint is assigned a feast day which may be celebrated anywhere within the Catholic Church, although it may or may not appear on the general calendar or local calendars as an obligatory feast, parish churches may be built in his or her honour, and the faithful may freely and without restriction celebrate and honour the saint.