Using "st." Before The Names Of Angels

[Resurrexi]

[quote name='LouisvilleFan' date='07 June 2010 - 09:38 PM' timestamp='1275964689' post='2125493']
Isn't it a slight mistranslation of the Latin into English? Because both "saint" and "holy" come from "sancte," meaning "holy." In reference to the Archangels the word is describing them as holy, while in reference to those who died in Christ it describes their saintliness.
[/quote]

No, "saint" is not a mistranslation. Translating "Sanctus Michael" as "Saint Michael" is just as correct as translating "Sanctus Ioannes" as "St. John". In a like manner, translating "Sancte Michael" as "the Holy Michael" is just as correct as translating "Sanctus Ioannes" as "the Holy John".

[Innocent]

[quote name='Maria' date='08 June 2010 - 03:00 AM' timestamp='1275942635' post='2125338']
If we can speak of the Persons of the Blessed Trinity, then the word 'person' does not apply solely to human beings, so I don't think there's a problem with calling angels persons.
[/quote]

Here is some more on this topic, from the article series [url="http://www.lifeissues.net/writers/mcm/ph/ph_01philosophyyouth1.html"][i]An Introduction to Philosophy for Young People[/i][/url] by Deacon Doug McManaman, hosted on [url="http://www.lifeissues.net/writer.php?ID=mcm"]Lifeissues.net.[/url]

[url="http://www.lifeissues.net/writers/mcm/ph/ph_01philosophyyouth25.html"][b]Ch 24: Personhood, Integrity, and the Virtues[/b][/url]
[quote] The word 'person', from the two Latin words per and sona, literally means 'through sound'. A person is essentially one who speaks. The human person is a communicator. As the word 'communication' suggests, a speaker (one who communicates) is one who enters into communion with others.

Now if we consider this for a moment, it should become evident that indeed, a person is, as Boethius points out, "an individual substance of a rational nature". Persons communicate ideas, and only rational beings conceive ideas. Your pet cat really only communicates its passions (i.e., desires or fears), for it has no ideas to communicate. When was the last time you had a serious discussion with your cat about anything, let alone its weight problem, or the ethics of killing mice, or the nutritional value of Cat Chow? As they say, "It ain't going to happen."

But not only do we communicate ideas, we communicate our will, that is, our love. Once again, only a rational being has will (rational appetite), which is, as we will see later, very different from the sensitive appetite. For the object of the will is an intelligible good, that is, a known good (known by the mind, as opposed to the senses) such as truth, friendship, beauty, etc. Songs, for instance, not only communicate ideas, but most often they are expressions of love (will).

A person has intellect and will. Man is a person, and so he has intellect and will, but so too are angels persons. Angels have intelligence and will, but they are without matter. They are not rational animals, as is the human person. Rather, they are pure spirits (intelligences). There is also intelligence and will in God, and so God is a person. In fact, God is three Persons in One Divine Nature. But this is an area too vast for us at this point. Let it be said that man is the most inferior creature on the hierarchy of intellectual beings. At the same time, though, man is the highest creature in the hierarchy of beings in the material universe. The universe will reach its perfection only in the perfection of man.

Not only does the word 'person' imply intellect and will, it also implies, as the word 'communication' reveals, community. The human person is a social and political animal. The human person has a radical need for others. Hence, he does not achieve his perfection in isolation from others, but only in and through a life directed to the common good, that is, the good of the whole political or civil community. Individualism does not lead a person to his perfection, well-being, or happiness. Ultimately it leads us to our own personal disintegration, that is, our own destruction. Much more so is this the case with hedonism, which maintains that the ultimate meaning of human life lies in the pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of pain. The hedonist sees no essential difference between brute animals and man, that is, between your pet cat and you. But as was pointed out above, you are a person, not merely an individual. There is an essential difference between man and brute; the former is personal (a person), while the latter is not. [/quote]

[LouisvilleFan]

[quote name='Resurrexi' date='08 June 2010 - 12:06 AM' timestamp='1275966390' post='2125515']
No, "saint" is not a mistranslation. Translating "Sanctus Michael" as "Saint Michael" is just as correct as translating "Sanctus Ioannes" as "St. John". In a like manner, translating "Sancte Michael" as "the Holy Michael" is just as correct as translating "Sanctus Ioannes" as "the Holy John".
[/quote]

You know what I mean... the original intent of calling Michael "Saint" was not to proclaim the holiness of his life.

[zunshynn]

[quote name='LouisvilleFan' date='08 June 2010 - 11:11 AM' timestamp='1276017102' post='2125723']
You know what I mean... the original intent of calling Michael "Saint" was not to proclaim the holiness of his life.
[/quote]

Well, yeah, it kind of is. I mean granted the "life" of an angel is different than what we mean when we say the "life" of a human, but still, the Holy Angels are "saints" because their existence is a holy one, just like that of a human saint. They likewise experienced a test which determined if they would be Holy Angels, or fallen angels. The test for both is essentially submission to the will of God, the major difference being the duration of the test.

[KnightofChrist]

[quote name='zunshynn' date='08 June 2010 - 01:27 PM' timestamp='1276018056' post='2125731']
Well, yeah, it kind of is. I mean granted the "life" of an angel is different than what we mean when we say the "life" of a human, but still, the Holy Angels are "saints" because their existence is a holy one, just like that of a human saint. They likewise experienced a test which determined if they would be Holy Angels, or fallen angels. The test for both is essentially submission to the will of God, [u]the major difference being the duration of the test.[/u]
[/quote]

That and Angels can fully see the results of their choices before they make them. Unlike us [i]who know not what we do[/i], the Angels have a crystal clear picture of the effects of their choices. This is why there will never be any redemption/salvation or second changes for the fallen angels. They knew what the effects would be of their choice to rebel, and they rebelled anyway.

[LouisvilleFan]

[quote name='zunshynn' date='08 June 2010 - 02:27 PM' timestamp='1276018056' post='2125731']
Well, yeah, it kind of is. I mean granted the "life" of an angel is different than what we mean when we say the "life" of a human, but still, the Holy Angels are "saints" because their existence is a holy one, just like that of a human saint. They likewise experienced a test which determined if they would be Holy Angels, or fallen angels. The test for both is essentially submission to the will of God, the major difference being the duration of the test.
[/quote]

But that's not the same as declaring someone a saint who lived as a human being struggling with sin and attachments, etc. Angels are not saved through the merits of Jesus Christ. They are declared holy because of their choice to obey and glorify God, while saints are recognized as holy for how God is glorified through them.