Concept in Definition ABC
Miscellanea / / November 13, 2021
By Javier Navarro, in Mar. 2015
Holiness is a concept closely linked to religion and, very especially, to the tradition catholic. In the Old Testament it is indicated by clarity what it means to be a saint: the person who dedicates his life to God, to serve him in a broad sense. Thus, whoever leads this type of life practices holiness.
Holiness can be achieved by any man or woman who has been baptized. It could be said that it is the perfect model of human existence. In other words, it is the ideal of life for Christians.
Being an ideal, achieving it is a very difficult task. First of all, it is necessary to receive the gift of grace from God, who grants this privilege to help man achieve holiness. However, grace is not enough and the true Christian must give himself fully to the goal of holiness. First of all he must to love to God above all things and, at the same time, to love others in the same way that we love ourselves. You have to be a fighter and persevering person. In no case should you give up or abandon the
hope of holiness. The best way to achieve it is by imitating the behavior of Jesus. Whoever wants to be a saint must flee from sin, control his passions and not allow himself to be carried away by trivial matters.Holiness is a model of perfection, which serves as a reference to believers. This idea is specified in those individuals who have achieved holiness according to the Catholic Church.
The life of the saints
In tradition cultural In Christendom, the biographies of saints have played a very important role. These types of stories are known as hagiography and whoever writes them is a hagiographer.
The reader who approaches the trajectory vital of a saint not only knows his exemplary behavior, but at the same time time he meets an archetype of reference, someone he can imitate to become a holy.
The disciples of Jesus Christ and the Christian martyrs were the ones who started this tradition. Most true believers have a reference saint. Among the many examples that we could mention, the life of Saint Augustine reflected in his work autobiographical "Confessions" clearly illustrates what was the personal process to conquer the desired holiness. Saint Augustine presents himself as a man who initially lived in sin and estranged from God. He sought the truth in the wrong ways, but the intervention from his motherFrom her, Santa Monica, led him to change his course dedicating himself to serving God.
Themes in Holiness