Beatifications

[Zeratul]

Does anyone know when St. Augustine of Hippo was beaitified and by who please

 

[Wigglesworth]

The answer, I believe, is no. I have not found any mention of his beatification and have no reason to believe he was beatified.

 

[ps139]

I have read some Orthodox literature that calls him the "Blessed Augustine" and not St. Augustine. Not sure why.

 

[Hairy Tic]

I have read some Orthodox literature that calls him the "Blessed Augustine" and not St. Augustine. Not sure why.

## Probably for much the same reason - whatever that may be - as St.Peter is called "blessed Peter" in liturgical texts: influence on liturgical practice from the Beatitudes, perhaps ?

FWIW, in St. Augustine's time, and for long after, there was no distinction between beatification and canonisation. The advantage of a canonical process with stages such venerabilification (if there is such a word), beatification, and canonisation, is that there are more hurdles for putative Saints to clear. I think the process prior to canonisation should be made as testing as possible, to weed out all the not-really-saintly people.

• Three miracles at least should be required at each stage in the process
• These stages should be:recognition of the reputed Saint as:

Servant of God
Venerable
Blessed
Sainted

• Not a single miracle should ever be dispensed with
• Martyrdom should never do duty for a miracle
• The tests for miracles should be as rigorous as the most hardened atheist could desire
• The fullest weight should be given to even the most trifling objections to the holiness of the reputed saint
• The "devil's advocate" should be restored
• The canonical process should in no case whatever begin for at least fifty years after the death of the reputed Saint
• If a putative Saint was known to the Pope in whose pontificate the canonical cause begins, that Pope should have nothing whatever to do with that cause; no Pope should have anything to do with any cause in which he has any personal interest.
• No Pope should ever be allowed to have anything to do with the causes of his countrymen, religious of the same instute as himself, or with any putative Saint with whom he has anything in common apart from a shared faith.

Canonisation should be made as nearly impossible as could be, so that only the really outstandingly holy are canonised; then there would be a reduction - an end, is too much to hope for - in:

• political canonisations
• canonisations of people whose style of Catholicism appeals to the Vatican authorities
• canonisations resulting from euphoria rather than from faith, hope, charity
• canonisations of those whose holiness is no more than conformity to the mores of their society
• canonisations which divide Catholics from Catholics
• causes of those whose character does not resemble that of Jesus Christ
• canonisation of large groups - instead of canonising 100 or more martyrs at once, each of them should be sifted, even if they suffered in large groups

IMO, a lot of those in the Calendars and martyrologies have no place there: those whose holiness lay in their persecution of non-conformists; saints whose existence is questionable; saints whose holiness consisted in vicious austerities, and not in practical love of their fellow-men; saints who confused faith in Christ with intellectual assent to dozens of theological assertions

Holiness cannot be evident to those who are incapable of seeing it as anything but unholiness - Jesus Himself was said to be possessed by a demon, and His brethren are not above Him, to be treated beter than He was; but it is possible to remove all obstacles to seeing holiness where it does exist. And for such holiness to be seen, it must be real holiness, and not something that is not holiness.

Yet, Christian holiness, does not imply faultlessness - it requires, and presupposes, a saving, creative, act of the God Who is supremely gracious. He creates the holiness He desires in man, where it does not exist. This holiness is always for the sake of Christ - therefore, it is also a paradox; for all grace is from Christ, Who is the First Grace; and grace is always paradoxical. ##

 

[Philip]

I have read some Orthodox literature that calls him the "Blessed Augustine" and not St. Augustine. Not sure why.

You must remember that we do not have the formalized process of canonization the you use. You should not read too much into the word 'Blessed'. Augustine is a saint, but is not honored as greatly in the East as the West.