Dear Raymond,
St. Patrick was never canonized. In fact, our greatest Saints
were never canonized: our Blessed Mother, the Apostles, the New
Testament saints like St. Timothy, St. Titus, St. Mark, St. Luke.
None of the great Saints of the early Church were canonized: the
martyrs of the first three centuries, St. Ambrose, St. Monica,
St. Augustine --- the list is endless and includes St. Patrick.
Our earliest Saints, recognized as such in the liturgy and in
popular piety, were the martyrs. Fro them, no special
saint making procedure was necessary. The fact of their martyrdoms
was self-evident. There were eyewitnesses of their trials and
executions as well as official transcripts of those proceedings.
Later on, many Christians who had not shed their blood for Christ
were recognized and publicly honored as saints for their lives of
heroic virtue and for miracles attributed to their intercession
before God.
For centuries, only local bishops moderated popular enthusiasm
for regional saints. The first papal canonization of a saint was
in 993 -- the saint was St. Ulric. In 1234, Pope Alexander III
formally reserved all canonizations to the Holy See. In 1643,
Pope Urban VII established the canonization procedures which were
in force until 1983, when Pope John Paul II revised and updated the
procedures.
Sincerely in Christ,
Father Mateo
- Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit -
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