Venerable

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Venerable

The Venerable is used as a style or epithet in several Christian churches

Christianity

Christianity is a Monotheistic religion #Christian view religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus as New Testament view on Jesus' life....
. It is also the common English language

English language

English is a West Germanic language that originated in Anglo-Saxon England and has lingua franca status in many parts of the world as a result of the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and that of the United States from the mid 20th century onwa...
translation of a number of Buddhist titles.

he Roman Catholic Church

Roman Catholic Church

The Roman Catholic Church, officially known as the Catholic Church is the world's largest Christianity Ecclesia , representing over half of all Christians and one-sixth of the world population....
's Latin rite, The Venerable is the style used for a person who has been posthumously declared "heroic in virtue

Heroic virtue

Heroic virtue is a phrase coined by Augustine of Hippo to describe the virtue ethics of early Christian martyrs. The Greek pagan term hero described a person with possibly superhuman abilities and great goodness, and "it connotes a degree of bravery, fame, and distinction which places a man high above his fellows" ....
" during the investigation and process leading to possible canonization

Canonization

Canonization is the act by which a particular Christian church declares a deceased person to be a saint and is included in the canon, or list, of recognized saints....
as a saint.

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Christianity

Roman Catholic

In the Roman Catholic Church

Roman Catholic Church

Heroic virtue

Canonization

Canonization is the act by which a particular Christian church declares a deceased person to be a saint and is included in the canon, or list, of recognized saints....
as a saint. Before a person is considered to be venerable he or she must be declared as such by a proclamation, approved by the pope, of having lived a life that was "heroic in virtue" -- the virtues being the Theological Virtues

Theological virtues

In Christian philosophy, theological virtues are the character qualities associated with salvation. The three theological virtues are:*Faith in Christianity - steadfastness in belief...
of faith, hope and charity and the Cardinal Virtues

Cardinal virtues

In some Christian traditions, there are four cardinal virtues:*Prudence - able to judge between actions with regard to appropriate actions at a given time...
of prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance. The next step is beatification

Beatification

Beatification is a recognition accorded by the Catholic church of a dead person's accession to Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in his or her name ....
, at which point the person is referred to as The Blessed, and then finally canonization

Canonization

Canonization is the act by which a particular Christian church declares a deceased person to be a saint and is included in the canon, or list, of recognized saints....
, at which point the person is referred to as Saint
Saint

A saint in Christianity is a human being who has been called to holiness. The term is used differently by various denominations, with some, such as the Anglicans, Methodists, and Lutherans distinguishing between Saints and saints....
.

The 7th century English monk St. Bede was referred to as being venerable soon after his death and, by tradition, is therefore often referred to as "The Venerable Bede" despite his also having been canonized. St Bede was the first person to be recorded as The Venerable.

Eastern Orthodox

In the Eastern Orthodox Church

Eastern Orthodox Church

The Eastern Orthodox Church is the second largest single Christian communion in the world with an estimated 225 million members worldwide. It is considered by its adherents to be the Four Marks of the Church established by Jesus Christ and his Apostles nearly 2000 years ago....
, venerable (Greek

Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
: "?s???" for men and "?s?a" for women; ) is a title attributed to saints who had lived a monastic

Monastery

Monastery , a term derived from the Greek language word ???ast?????, neut. of ???ast????? - monasterios denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of Monk, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in Cenobium or alone ....
or eremitic

Hermit

A hermit is a person who lives to some greater or lesser degree in solitude and/or isolation from society.In Christianity the term was originally applied to a Christian who lives the eremitic life out of a religious conviction, namely the Catholic spirituality#Desert spirituality of the Old Testament ....
life, and it is considered equal or sometimes superior to the usual "Saint".

Anglicanism

In the Anglican Communion

Anglican Communion

The Anglican Communion is an international association of national Anglican churches. There is no single "Anglican Church" with universal juridical authority as each national or regional church has full autonomy....
"The Venerable" (abbreviated as "the Ven") is the style given to an archdeacon

Archdeacon

A position of archdeacon is a senior position in Anglicanism, Syrian Malabar Nasrani, and in some other Christian denominations, above that of most clergy and below a bishop....
.

Buddhism

In Buddhism, the Western style of Venerable (also abbreviated as Ven.) is entitled to ordained Buddhist monks

Bhikkhu

A Bhikkhu , Bhiksu is a fully ordained male Buddhism monastic. Female monastics are called Bhikkhunis . Bhikkhus and Bhikkhunis keep many precepts: they live by the vinaya's framework of monastic discipline, the basic rules of which are called the patimokkha....
and nuns

Bhikkhuni

A Bhikkhuni is a fully ordained female Buddhism monastic. Male monastics are called Bhikkhus. Both Bhikkunis and Bhikkhus live by the vinaya. Bhikkhuni lineages enjoy a broad basis in Mahayana countries like Korea, Vietnam, China and Taiwan....
. The title of Master may be followed for senior members of the Sangha

Sangha

Sangha is a word in Pali or Sanskrit that can be translated roughly as "association" or "assembly," "company" or "community" with common goal, vision or purpose....
. Venerable is used as a western alternative to Maha Thera in the Theravada

Theravada

Theravada...
branch and Shì (?, as in "Sakya") in Chinese

China

China is a Culture of China, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
Mahayana

Mahayana

Mahayana is one of the two main existing schools of Buddhism and a term for classification of Buddhist philosophy and practice. It was History of Buddhism in India....
branch.

Venerable

Christianity

Roman Catholic

Eastern Orthodox

Anglicanism

Buddhism

See also