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My question for you is who makes a saint a saint, I hope I'm making sense
Answer to Question 526 The Orthodox tradition for recognizing a saint begins with the people themselves. They are the first to recognize someone as a saint and the Church Synod, after examining the life and miracles surrounding the person, comes along later and officially recognises the saint.
Same member thank you, can a single act of kindness make the church award that person a sainthood
Reply I wouldn't go that far, usually the person is known for leading a holy and spiritual life with signs like miracles that testify to his holiness. Of course there is another way - one can go to Iran or Irag and shout out that he is a Christian. They will no doubt kill him, so he will be a martyr for Christ with guaranteed sainthood
Same member the reason i asked is because there have been saints who were soldiers that fought in bloody battles and killed many people and they became saints, anyway its all to confusing for a Monday morning
Reply There are two kinds of baptism, the first by water and the Spirit and the second by blood. Many of the soldier saints were not baptised but coming to believe in Christ they were baptised with the blood of their martyrdom. As Christians we must accept the Mystery of Baptism and believe that it does wash away all sin otherwise we have no hope of salvation. Baptism is the cleansing of original sin and all sin, it bestows on man a clean slate, for he emerges from the water dead to sin, reborn unto a new life, resurrected into a life in Christ; a child of God; a faithful Christian; a citizen, heir and member of God’s heavenly kingdom. Another example is St. Constantine the Great. As an emperor, he was involved with battles and treachery from many sides, and many historians make him out to be brutal, not only in battle, but also in his taxations and laws. Of course, not all that has been written on Constantine must be taken as Gospel truth. Authors love to exaggerate or make up stories to fill up the pages and make for more interesting reading. He was not baptized until he was on his death bed. With Baptism, Constantine’s sins were washed away, so the Church must disregard all his past evil actions. What remains are only the good actions, which are many. But if we just stick to just three of these good actions - The edict of Milan, The Christian Capital of Constantinople and the First Ecumenical Council - they marked the Church’s coming of age. They allowed the True Christian faith to spread and be preached throughout the Empire. Fifty years after his death, Theodosius carried Constantine’s policies to their conclusion by making Christianity the only recognized religion of the Empire. The Church was now established. The Roman authorities once said to the Christians “You are not allowed to exist” Constantine was responsible for the continual existence of the Church. Indirectly, through his actions, millions of people were able to hear of Christ and be converted to the true faith. Truly, he deserves his title as St. Constantine ‘Equal to the Apostles’.
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