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In the early days of the Church, people were declared to be saints by acclamation when they were recognized to have lived holy lives -- the word "saint" means "holy one." We know many of these people from scripture, such as Mary, the apostles, and Stephen.

As time went by the early Christian martyrs also came to be recognized as saints, as did others who in one way or another lived lives that were regarded as heroically virtuous.

There was no official process of canonization back then, so there was no universal standard by which to discern whether a person was in fact a saint. By about the year 1000, the Church took over the process and established standard guidelines of discernment with the pope making the final proclamation of sainthood. When this happened, the new saint's name and feast day were added to the list, or "canon," of feast days on the Church's liturgical calendar.

St. Mary was never formally canonized. She was considered a saint from the very beginning of the christian era. She is a saint because she beared a child (Jesus Christ) and protected him from day 1 when she never lost her virginity. she could have died but instead she listened to angel Gabriela. She helped others all of the time and always respected God with almost no sins.

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14y ago

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