Some saints are known to be wealthy. Who are these saints in particular? I'd like to know more about them. Specifically, I'd like to know why they became saints in spite of their wealth.
One famous saint, Francis of Assisi, became a saint not because he was wealthy but because he disowned his inheritance. Francis' story somewhat sent a Buddhist message: that material wealth is evil and thus to be spurned. But apparently, that's not how authentic Christianity views wealth. The Church's magnificently beautiful cathedrals, like the ancient ones in Europe, in fact affirm materiality, art, wealth, instead of looking down on them, as though to say everything that God made is good.
Why did materially, financially rich saints got canonized anyway? One easy answer being bandied about is that because they were not attached to, or were detached from, their worldly possessions. Another easy answer is that they used their worldly goods for the glory of God, or in concrete terms, in support of God's work here on earth, as in ministry to the poor, etc.
Perhaps we can make the same analogy for power or lofty positions. Some saints were kings, queens, princes, princesses, bishops, perhaps even governors or politicians of some sort. This drives home the message that earthly power is not evil per se, just as earthly wealth is not evil per se.
This urban mashup has a lot of reading up to do.
One famous saint, Francis of Assisi, became a saint not because he was wealthy but because he disowned his inheritance. Francis' story somewhat sent a Buddhist message: that material wealth is evil and thus to be spurned. But apparently, that's not how authentic Christianity views wealth. The Church's magnificently beautiful cathedrals, like the ancient ones in Europe, in fact affirm materiality, art, wealth, instead of looking down on them, as though to say everything that God made is good.
Why did materially, financially rich saints got canonized anyway? One easy answer being bandied about is that because they were not attached to, or were detached from, their worldly possessions. Another easy answer is that they used their worldly goods for the glory of God, or in concrete terms, in support of God's work here on earth, as in ministry to the poor, etc.
Perhaps we can make the same analogy for power or lofty positions. Some saints were kings, queens, princes, princesses, bishops, perhaps even governors or politicians of some sort. This drives home the message that earthly power is not evil per se, just as earthly wealth is not evil per se.
This urban mashup has a lot of reading up to do.
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