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Saints
The word seems to have been much in evidence recently. The whole concept is one which does not seem to figure very prominently, if at all, in the reformed tradition. Even the names of the apostles are used without the prefix "St." in many reformed publications.
When did it all start? According to my encyclopaedia the prefix "Saint" to the names of the apostles dates from the 3 rd -4 th century, when the word was applied also to martyrs. Thousands of saints have been commemorated by the 'Bollandists' in the 17 th century.
Jean Bolland of Antwerp (1586-1665) is credited with beginning what is known as the 'Acta Sanctorum'. Bolland and his associate Henskens completed 3 volumes containing notes on the lives of thousands of saints whose feast days fell in January and February. There are 67 folio volumes of the Acta Sanctorum.
The Bollandists are a small group of Jesuits who edit and publish lives of saints. I have no idea how many Bollandists there are now, though I assume there is still such a group.
The idea of sainthood is not confined to Christianity. Some are, I understand, Hindu, Buddhist and Islamic saints, for example.
I am not aware of any equivalents among Humanists, though at least some of their number are held in high regard.
It would be easy, given that the young churches seem to have thought of the apostles as being in a beatified state, that sainthood was a solely male preserve. A moment's thought overturns any such idea; St. Agnes, St. Catherine, St. Helena, St. Joan, St. Lucia and many others.
There are other ideas, sometimes dubious, grouped round the idea of sainthood - patron saints of countries, of occupations, of areas and so on.
The paradox at the heart of all this, I suggest, is that no saint would have thought of himself or herself as a saint. It is not something to work towards. There is no 'BSc (Saint)' degree. The dictionary says "One whose life is consecrated to God". Perhaps it is one whose life is so consecrated to God's service as to make that life the property of God, entirely in service to others - the complete denial of self.
Bob Mclean
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