Blessed
Blessed is a person whom the pope has beatified and whose public ecclesiastical cult is permitted within the limits established by the Church.
Beatification
Beatification is a papal act permitting the public veneration of a Servant of God as Blessed in the places and communities specified by law. It follows the Church's examination of the candidate's life and of the juridical basis of the cause, together with any miracle required for beatification.
The Blessed may be assigned a proper liturgical celebration where it is lawfully inscribed, and the person's remains are treated as relics. The permitted cult is ordinarily local or otherwise limited rather than automatically extended to the universal Church.
Distinction from canonization
A Blessed is genuinely proposed for ecclesial veneration, but beatification is distinct from canonization. Canonization definitively enrolls a person among the saints and extends public cult to the universal Church. A later miracle is ordinarily required for canonization, subject to the norms governing the particular cause and any papal dispensation.[1][2]
Historical cases of equivalent beatification or confirmation of ancient cult follow their own juridical history.[3]
Liturgical use
The title Blessed precedes the person's name in appropriate liturgical and devotional contexts. A celebration is called a solemnity, feast, memorial, optional memorial, or commemoration according to its actual rank and calendar; beatification alone does not make every annual observance a feast.
References
- Back to citation Sanctorum Mater — Instruction governing diocesan and eparchial inquiries in causes of saints.
- Back to citation Divinus perfectionis Magister — Apostolic constitution governing causes of canonization.
- Back to citation New procedures in the rite of beatification — Dicastery explanation of the juridical distinction between beatification and canonization.