The Venerable facts for kids

"The Venerable" is a special title or way to describe someone. It's used in different Christian churches, like the Catholic Church and Anglican Communion. It also describes important religious people, such as clerics in Eastern Orthodoxy and monastics (monks and nuns) in Buddhism. The word "Venerable" comes from the Latin word venerabilis, which means "worthy of respect."

The Catholic Church

In the Catholic Church, "Venerable" is a step on the way to becoming a saint. After someone has passed away, a bishop might suggest them for sainthood. If the Pope agrees, the person is first called a Servant of God.

Becoming Venerable

The next step is to be declared "Venerable." This happens after a long study of the person's life. The Church looks to see if they lived a life of "heroic virtue." This means they showed great faith, hope, and love (called theological virtues). They also showed wisdom, fairness, courage, and self-control (called cardinal virtues).

Being declared Venerable means the Church believes the person likely lived a very holy life. It suggests they might be in Heaven. However, it is not a final statement that they are definitely in Heaven.

Steps After Venerable

After someone is declared Venerable, the next step is beatification. For this, a miracle usually needs to happen through the person's prayers. Once beatified, the person is called "The Blessed." This means the Church believes they are in Heaven.

The final step is canonization, which makes someone a saint. This usually requires a second miracle. When someone is declared a saint, the Church is saying they are certainly in Heaven.

Famous Venerables

For example, Popes Pius XII and John Paul II were both declared Venerable in 2009. Pope John Paul II later became a saint in 2014.

Other people declared Venerable include Bishop Fulton J. Sheen and Mother Mary Potter. Even though St Bede was made a saint in 1899, he is still often called "the Venerable Bede."

Anglican Communion

In the Anglican Communion, "The Venerable" is a title given to an archdeacon. An archdeacon is a senior cleric who helps the bishop manage a part of the diocese. The title is often shortened to "the Ven."

Eastern Orthodoxy

In the Eastern Orthodox Church, "Venerable" is the English word used for monastic saints. These are monks or nuns who lived very holy lives. The Greek word for this is hosios, and in Church Slavonic, it is prepodobni.

If a monastic saint was also killed for their faith, they are called a "Venerable Martyr." Sometimes, in the 20th century, "Venerable" was also used for people being considered for sainthood, like Saint John of Shanghai and San Francisco.

Buddhism

In Buddhist monasticism, different titles for respected monks can be translated as "Venerable." For example, in Theravada Buddhism, titles like Bhante are used. In Tibetan Buddhism, a highly respected teacher might be called Rinpoche. These titles show great respect for their wisdom and spiritual journey.

See also

In Spanish: Venerable para niños

• Lists of venerable people (disambiguation)
• Venerable Order of Saint John