Venerable servant of God
Venerable servant of God ( Latin: venerabilis Dei servus ) or venerable servant of God ( venerabilis Dei serva ) is an honorary title of the Roman Catholic Church . It is awarded to deceased believers for whom the so-called heroic degree of virtue or the authenticity of martyrdom has been established in a process regulated by canon law . The bestowal is a procedural step in the beatification process and takes place solely on the basis of the examination of the conduct of a person by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints , without any examination or considerationMiracle . The award is announced in the presence of the Pope .
Adoration
A venerable servant of God (also venerable for short ) is not venerated by being named in the orations of Holy Mass , but already has the so-called "honor of the altars", so may be mentioned in prayers and worship services of the church and publicly called upon for intercession by the faithful become. His worship and the imitation of his way of life are therefore officially approved and recommended by the church. At this stage, beatification is possible at any time if the missing or uncertain requirements have been reliably confirmed - usually a miracle that is ascribed to an invocation of the venerable servant. Martyrs can be beatified by the Pope without evidence of a miracle.
history
Until 1913, the title of Venerable Servant of God was awarded when the Roman dicastery initiated the canonization process , after the then more extensive preliminary proceedings at the diocese level had been completed. The only requirement was the enduring reputation of holiness enjoyed by a considerable part of God's people. Pope Pius X changed this practice and introduced the regulation that is still in force today, according to which the veneration title can only be awarded with the final determination of the degree of virtue or martyrdom by a decree of the Roman authorities. Venerable persons appointed before 1913 who have not yet been promoted to blessed or saint continue to retain the altar honor.
"Servant of God"
Candidates for canonization do not enjoy altar honor before this procedural step. As soon as an investigation has been successfully initiated in the home diocese after the bishop has examined the application for beatification and with the consent of the local bishops' conference and the Vatican, and the process of beatification has started, however, the term "servant of God" or "servant of God" is used in the language of the procedure. ( Dei servus or Dei serva , but without “venerabilis” or “venerable”). The prerequisite is the confirmation by the bishop that the deceased had the reputation of holiness ( fama sanctitatis ) from the beginning and that nothing prevents the procedure from continuing at the diocese and then at the universal church level. At this stage, no public cult of worship may be practiced for the person concerned, but the believers may privately appeal to God for intercession.
Unlike “venerable servant of God”, the expression “servant of God” is not a canonical title, but a purely procedural designation. Basically, in general ecclesiastical usage, every believer who is well on the way to following Christ can be called a servant of God even before his death .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Jakob Torsy (Ed.): Lexicon of the German saints, blessed, venerable and godly. Cologne 1959.
- ↑ a b Congregatio de Causis Sanctorum - Vincenzo Criscuolo, Daniel Ols, Robert J. Sarno (eds.): Le Cause dei Santi. Sussidio per lo study. Libreria Editrice Vaticana , 3rd edition, Rome 2014, p. 342.
- ↑ AAS 5 (1913), pp. 436-438.
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↑ Sanctorum Mater , Art. 4 § 2:
- A Catholic believer for whom a process of beatification and canonization is open is called “servant of God”.
- ^ Congregatio de Causis Sanctorum: Le Cause dei Santi. 3rd edition, Rome 2014, p. 341f.