saints

The Stage Between Blessed and Saint?

Pat McCloskey, OFM September 16, 2025

Why is there an intermediary stage between Blessed and Saint if both titles assure someone of going to heaven? Are Blesseds waiting on the periphery to be admitted into heaven?

Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican for the canonizations of Sts. Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis Sept. 7, 2025.

Carlo Acutis, Pier Giorgio Frassati canonized

OSV News September 8, 2025

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The greatest risk in life is to waste it by not seeking to follow God’s plan, Pope Leo XIV said, proclaiming two new saints — two young laymen of the 20th and 21st centuries. “Sts. Pier ...

Why So Few Lay Saints?

Pat McCloskey, OFM September 7, 2025

Few lay men or women have been formally canonized. Most saints belonged to religious communities, but people in that state of life make up a tiny percentage of the Church.

The ‘Lot’ of the Saints

Herman Sutter September 3, 2025

What is the “lot of the saints?” In his letter to the Colossians, Paul speaks of giving thanks that we have been made worthy to partake of it. But what does he mean?