How to Become a Saint

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Col. 1:2 “To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.”

I am raised in a Roman Catholic church. And the process of becoming a Catholic saint is lengthy, often taking decades or centuries to complete. Aside from being a Catholic, the most important requirement for you to become a saint is, you must be dead. Besides performing two verified miracles, for you to be a saint, their commission also examines these other phenomena:

1. Incorruptibility: Long after the saint is dead, the body is found free of decay when exhumed from the grave. The Church considers St. Catherine of Siena to be an example. She died in 1380, and 600 years later without any embalming, her flesh is said not to have decomposed.

2. Odor of sanctity: The body of the saint exudes a sweet aroma, like roses, rather than the usual pungent stench of decay. The Church considers St. Teresa of Avila (1515-82) to be just such an example. The Church believes her grave exuded a sweet fragrance for nine months after her death.

Let’s face it. If odor is part of the sainthood criteria, we all could be in trouble. But thank God that according to the Bible, becoming a saint is instantaneous when a repentant sinner abandons all hope of being saved by their own works and place their faith in the work of Jesus Christ on their behalf. All true believers are saints. Why? Because all true believers are ‘in Christ.’