Spiritist Review - Journal of Psychological Studies - 1866

Allan Kardec

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Qualification of Saint Applied to Certain Spirits


In a provincial group, a Spirit presented with the name “Saint Joseph, saint, three times saint”, giving rise to the following question to be framed:

Can a Spirit, even canonized in life, give oneself the qualification of saint, without failing humility, that is one of the appanages of true holiness, and when invoked, agrees that such a title be given? Shouldn’t a Spirit that takes that name, for this reason, be considered suspect?

You must reject him immediately, for the same would apply to a great captain that would introduce to you pompously, exhibiting his many achievement in arms, before providing his name, or a poet that would start by boasting about his talents. You would see in such words a dislocated pride. That is how it must be with men that had some virtues on Earth and that were considered worthy of canonization. If they present themselves to you with humility, believe in them; if they come preceded by their holiness, thank them and you shall not miss anything. The incarnate is not holy for the fact that he was canonized: Only God is saint because only God enjoys all perfections. Look at the superior Spirits that you know by the sublimity of their teachings. They did not dare call themselves saints; they simply use the qualification Spirits of Truth.”

This answer requires some rectifications. Canonization does not imply holiness in the absolute sense, but only a certain degree of perfection. To some, the qualification of saint became a kind of banal title, becoming an integral part of the name, to distinguish them from their homonyms or given to them by habit. Saint Augustin, Saint Louis, Saint Thomas may, therefore, precede the word to their signature without doing it out of pride, that would be much more dislocated in superior Spirits, because, better than the others, they give no importance to the distinctions conferred by men. It would be the same with the titles of nobility or military ranks. Certainly, the one that was a duke, a prince or a general on Earth, is no longer in the world of the Spirits. Nonetheless, they could use those qualifications in their signatures, without any consequence to their character. Some sign like this: the one that was Duke of something on Earth. The feeling of the Spirit is revealed by the whole set of communications and the unequivocal signs in his language. That is how we cannot be mistaken about someone that starts like this: “Saint Joseph, saint, three times saint”. This is enough to reveal an impostor Spirit, decorated with the name of Saint Joseph. Thus, he could see that, thanks to the knowledge of the principles of the doctrine, his roguery did not find believers in the circle where he wanted to sneak in.

The Spirit that dictated the communication above, is therefore too absolute with respect to the qualification of saint, and is not right when saying that superior Spirits simply call themselves Spirits of truth, a qualification that would not be less than disguised pride with another name, and that could lead to error if taken to the letter, because none can boast about having the absolute truth, nor the absolute holiness.

The qualification of Spirit of Truth belongs to only one and may be considered as a name. It is specified in the Gospel. As a matter of fact, that Spirit communicates rarely and only in special occasions. It is necessary to remain vigilant against those that unduly decorate themselves with such a title. They are easy to recognize by the verbosity and vulgarity of their language.

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