T rays from the Catechism of the Catholic Church the essential points which speaks of "holiness" and "communion of saints." II. The Church is holy
823 "We believe that the Church ... is unfailingly holy. Christ, the Son of God, who with the Father and the Spirit is praised as "uniquely holy," loved the church as his bride and gave himself for it, in order to sanctify it, broke it together and broke it to himself as his body filled with the gift of the Holy Spirit for the glory of God "[Conc Ecumenical Council, Lumen Gentium, 39]. The Church is therefore "the holy People of God" , [Conc Ecumenical Council, Lumen Gentium, 39] and its members are called "saints" [cf Acts 9:13, 1 Cor 6.1, 1 Cor 16.1].
824 The Church, united to Christ, he is sanctified by him and in him she becomes sanctifying. All the activities of the Church converge, as they last, "to the sanctification men and the glorification of God in Christ "[Conc Ecumenical Council, Sacrosanctum Concilium, 10]. It is in the Church that "the whole fullness of the means of salvation" [Conc Ecumenical Council, UR, 3]. It is in her that "by the grace of God we acquire holiness" [Conc Ecumenical Council, Lumen Gentium, 48].
825 "The Church on earth is already adorned with holiness a real though imperfect [Conc Ecumenical Council, Lumen Gentium, 48]. In its members perfect holiness is yet to be reached. "So many and such great means of salvation, all the faithful of every state condition and are called by the Lord, each in his way to that perfection of sanctity by which the heavenly Father is perfect "[Conc Ecumenical Council, Lumen Gentium, 48].
826 Charity is the soul of holiness to which all are called : it "runs all the means of sanctification, it gives them form and lead them to their end": [Conc Ecumenical Council, Lumen Gentium, 48]
understood that the Church had a body composed of different members, and did not lack the noblest and most necessary member. I realized that the Church had a heart, a heart burning with Love. I understood that Love alone pushed the action the members of the Church and that this love is off, the Apostles would no longer be proclaimed the Gospel and martyrs would no longer shed their blood ... I understood that love embraces in itself all vocations, that Love was everything, that extended to all times and all places ... in a word, that Love is eternal! [St. Therese of the Child Jesus, autobiographical writings, B 3v]
827 "While Christ, holy, blameless, undefiled," knew no sin, but came only to expiate the sins of the people, the Church embracing in its bosom sinners, holy and always in need of purification, follows constantly the path of penance and renewal "[Conc Ecumenical Council, Lumen Gentium, 8; cf Idem, UR, 3, 6]. All members of the Church, including her ministers, must recognize our sins [cf 1 Jn 1.8 to 10]. In all, until the end of time, the weeds of sin will still be mixed with the good wheat of the Gospel [cf Mt 13,24-30]. Hence the Church gathers sinners already caught the salvation of Christ, but always in the process of sanctification:
The Church is holy, though in its bosom sinners, because it has no other life but that of grace : by living by her life, her members are sanctified, it is by removing his life, they fall into sins and disorders that prevent the radiation of her sanctity. Why she suffers and does penance for these sins, from which she has the power to heal her children through the blood of Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit [Paul VI, Credo of the People of God, 19].
canonizing some 828 faithful, ie by solemnly proclaiming that the faithful have practiced heroic virtue and lived in fidelity to the grace of God, the Church recognizes the power of the Spirit of holiness within her , and supports the hope of the faithful by offering them the saints as models and intercessors [cf Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Lumen Gentium, 40, 48-51]. "The saints have always been source and origin of renewal in the most difficult moments in the history of the Church "[John Paul II, Apost. ap. Christifideles laity, 16]. Indeed, "holiness is the hidden source and infallible measure of her apostolic activity and missionary zeal of his [John Paul II, Apost. ap. Christifideles laity, 16].
829 "While the Church has already reached the Blessed Virgin that perfection without spot or wrinkle, the faithful still strive to grow in holiness by conquering sin, and so they turn their eyes to Mary": [Conc Ecumenical Council, Lumen Gentium, 65] in her, the Church is already the all-holy.
COMMUNION OF SAINTS
946 After confessing "the holy catholic Church, the Apostles' Creed adds" the communion of saints. " This article is, in some respects, an explanation of the preceding: "What is the Church if not the assembly of all the saints?" [Niketas Explanatio symbol, 10: PL 52, 871B]. The communion of saints is the Church .
947 "Since all believers are one body, the good of each is communicated to others ... We must therefore believe that there is a communion of goods in the Church. But the most important member is Christ, as is the head ... So the sake of Christ is communicated to all members , this is done through the sacraments of the Church "[St. Thomas Aquinas, Expositio in Symbolum Apostolicum, 10] . "The unity of the Spirit, from which the Church is alive and upright, means that all it has to be common to all those who belong to it" [Roman Catechism, 1, 10, 24].
948 The term "communion of saints" therefore has two meanings, which are closely linked, "communion in holy things [" holy "]" and "communion between people holy ["sancti"]. "
"Sancta Sanctis," - God's holy saints - is proclaimed by the celebrant in most Eastern liturgies during the elevation of the holy Gifts before the distribution of communion. The faithful ["sancti"] are nourished by the Body and Blood of Christ ["holy"] to grow in the communion of the Holy Spirit [koinonia] and tell the world.
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