Good deeds, mortal sacrifices and even inexplicable events arising from an apparent divinity are the reasons why different individuals were beatified and canonized by the Vatican to carry with him the name of saint.
Every daymarked on the calendar, commemorates the life and death of these beings, men and women, who dedicated their existence to the same Catholic Church that earned them the appointment.
This is the saint’s day Saturday June 29.
Saul (also called Saul of Tarsus, Saint Paul the Apostle, the Apostle of the Gentiles and Saint Paul of Tarsus) Apostle of Christianity that he transformed into a universal religion (Tarsus, Cilicia, c. 4/15 – Rome?, c. 64/68). He was the son of Pharisee Jews of Hellenistic culture and with Roman citizenship. He was a contemporary of Jesus Christ and was even in Jerusalem at the same time as him, although they probably did not know each other.
Paul had a solid theological, philosophical, legal, commercial and linguistic training (he spoke Greek, Latin, Hebrew and Aramaic). He participated in the first persecutions against Christians. But during a trip to Damascus, shortly after the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, he converted to the new faith, which at the time was considered a heretical sect of Judaism (according to his own account, it was Jesus himself who appeared to him ).
Since then, Saint Paul became the most ardent propagandist of Christianity, which he helped to spread beyond the Jewish people, among the Gentiles: he traveled as a missionary through Greece, Asia Minor, Syria and Palestine; and he wrote letters (encyclicals) to various peoples in the Mediterranean environment.
The writings of Saint Paul adapted the message of Jesus to the Hellenistic culture prevailing in the Mediterranean world, facilitating its extension outside the Hebrew cultural sphere where it was born. At the same time, these writings constitute one of the first interpretations of the message of Jesus, which is why they contributed decisively to the theological development of Christianity (more than half of the books of the New Testament are attributed to Saint Paul).
Next to this character there is other saints and martyrs which are also celebrated this Saturday, June 29, as the following:
Saint Peter the Apostle
Saint Cassius
Saint Emma
San Siro
The Catholic and Orthodox Church uses canonization to declare a deceased person as a saint.which implies including her name in the canon (list of recognized saints) and permission to venerate her, recognizing her power before God.
During Christianity, people were recognized as saints without the need for a formal process; However, this changed in the Middle Ages.
In the case of Catholicism, the Church must conduct an exhaustive investigation of the life of the person to be sanctified and there are four ways to achieve the appointment: the path of heroic virtues; the path of martyrdom; the path of exceptional causes, confirmed by an ancient cult and written sources; and the path of the offering of one’s life.
Furthermore, it is an essential requirement who has performed at least two miracles (or one in the case of being a martyr). Canonization is made in a solemn papal declaration and a feast day is assigned for liturgical veneration.
There is no established period to carry out the canonization of a character, since there are even cases like that of Saint Peter Damian who was canonized until 756 years after his death or, on the contrary, the case of Saint Anthony of Padua who was named until 352 days after his death.
The last canonization took place in October 2019, when the Pope declared Cardinal John Henry Newman and Sister Dulce of Brazil saints.
