Is there any such thing as a “saint” in these days?

What’s the reality of such a designation? Ontologically speaking? In 2024 – our enlightened age – what would constitute such a person?

The definitive source for information on the term “saints” (from the Latin sanctus) would be the Bible, where the Author of the Book defines the word He uses (as an adjectival noun, holy [ones, or things, plural or singular]): ἅγιος hagios – holy, persons or things set apart for God’s use, consecrated to God: “called to be saints”, i.e., called to be holy [ones], as in Paul’s epistle to the Romans 1:7: “To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

The Roman Catholic and Orthodox veneration of individuals known for extraordinary holiness is one use of the term, though the Biblical use includes any genuine believer in Christ however immature or new to the faith. The Biblical use is what will be referred to here unless otherwise indicated: A person born anew by the Spirit of Christ — regenerated is a like term — however old or new in the faith of Christ, irrespective of maturity or understanding.

Paul Kingsnorth, a noted writer on the Orthodox faith — as well contemporary cultural / political events (or he used to) — here on Substack, often focuses on the older saints of the Orthodox or Catholic suasions as those exemplifying deep and sincere devotion to God, while seeking to bring their extraordinary austerities and devotions as models for 21st century saints to, if not actually follow, at least revere and take to heart.

The thing is, the world these older “saints” of yore inhabited was markedly unlike ours in a significant respect: ours is a different psychic world. By this I mean that the older saints escaped the secular societies they were in for the natural wilds of nature — deserts, forests, mountains, caves, etc — while in the world of 2024 the wilds are the psychic or spirit dimensions, which —due to the almost ubiquitous presence of sorcery and sorcerous agents (especially in the United States, and the West generally) — is the cultural and psychic (read, collective consciousness or zeitgeist) context we live in.

In the West generally – I would include Cyprus, the nation where I am presently – society is not escaped by fleeing to the wilds of nature, or island bastions of sincere religious community, but fleeing the psychic wilds of societies deeply informed by either sorcery directly (where “getting high” and that heightened consciousness is the cultural norm), or indirectly (through the sometimes underground use of its agents, or by a sort of osmosis where the collective consciousness (the zeitgeist), like water, flows “downhill” into its individuals’ hearts and minds. In the land I’m now in – especially the denser urban areas – the writing on the walls clearly shows this underground current of Babylon’s wine flowing strongly. Graffiti does speak loudly to attuned ears.

In such environs where is the saint to escape the psychic onslaught of this heightened consciousness within the demonic realm or dimension that has entered our awareness? In John’s Apocalypse (the Book of Revelation) the symbolic “wilderness” the saints find refuge in from the dragon’s fury and wiles is in their separation from the Babylonian spirit, their renouncing the dragon and his ways – and he is a weighty beast, this one, mighty and brilliantly cunning – to walk the path of holiness under the care and power of the Prince of Heaven, even within the hearts of the cities. Cities, not teeming as in New York City (my old home), but teeming nonetheless as compared to the more country-like villages and quieter neighborhoods sought out by the older, simpler folks.

Even so, within these villages and quiet neighborhoods, there is a generation of feral youth waiting to come into their own, into their power, so that eventually even this culturally conservative land will be leavened from within with the spirit of the beast of Revelation, or his master, the Dragon – Lucifer. It could even be quicker than “eventually” if the European Union forces its will upon this land, overcoming Greek Orthodox religious sentiment. The merely “religious” are not always tolerant of those who keep Christ’s words and Spirit in their hearts, for religion may be outward and not inward, ritual and not actual spiritual reality. In fact, some of Christ’s (and Christians’) most fervent enemies are unregenerate “religious”.

While there are true “saints” among the present Greek Orthodox, I am aware of a deep antipathy among some Orthodox toward evangelical and Reformed believers. We may be considered outcasts fit to “throw under the bus” in the eyes of such.

Simply put, a saint is one who, from the heart, desires and wills to love and obey God according to His word. Real saints are often hated by those who drink the wine of harlot Babylon; merely religious, are accepted. One can tell who they are by their “fruits”, that is, their words and conduct.

Real saints, set apart for God’s use in society, may well find themselves at home in inner-city depths – in the heart of the Machine and its denizens (I would call it “in the heart of Babylon”) – for they are Light-bearers in the heart of darkness, commissioned to bring Christ’s presence, truth, and love to those about them.

As Lawrence Ferlinghetti, the great American poet, said in his, Poetry As Insurgent Art (though he was not a believer),

     Bring together again the telling of a tale and the living voice.
     
     Be a teller of great tales, even the darkest.
     
     Poetry a life-giving weapon deployed in the killing fields.

Saints are God’s secret agents of mercy, love, and truth in the midst of the darkened world’s people.

By the way, I am neither Orthodox, nor Catholic – though am brethren to the true saints among them – but am Reformed, and Presbyterian, a saint in the wilderness, outlaw hunted by the legions of the beast and his harlot Babylon system.

An outlaw Poet – but then my King and Saviour was Himself outlawed by the authorities of His day, so I am in good company.