What Is the Connection Between Suffering and the Path to Sainthood?

Brief Overview

• Catholics believe that suffering, when offered with faith and love, can become a powerful way to grow closer to God and help others.
• The Church teaches that saints did not avoid pain and hardship but instead accepted these difficulties as chances to follow Jesus more closely.
• Suffering helps people develop virtue and strength of character, preparing the soul for eternal life with God.
• The lives of saints show that physical pain, illness, rejection, and loss can all be turned into spiritual gifts through prayer and trust.
• Catholics understand that Christ himself suffered on the cross, and believers are called to take up their own crosses as part of following him.
• The road to sainthood requires that a person grow in holiness through accepting God’s will, and suffering often becomes the way this growth happens.

How Jesus Showed Us the Meaning of Suffering

Jesus did not teach his followers to seek out pain or to desire hardship for its own sake. Rather, he showed that suffering, when accepted with faith and love, becomes a path to deeper spiritual life. In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus faced his own suffering with honesty and fear, praying that the cup might pass from him. Yet he also chose to accept his Father’s will, saying that what his Father wanted was what mattered most. This moment shows that accepting difficult things is not about being happy or comfortable in the moment. Instead, it means trusting that God knows what is best for our souls, even when our hearts hurt. Jesus went to the cross not because he wanted to suffer, but because he wanted to save humanity and show the fullness of obedience to God. His suffering was not pointless pain but had deep meaning and purpose. The cross became the source of hope for all people because Jesus transformed suffering into an act of love (CCC 614). When Jesus calls his followers in Matthew 16:24, he tells them to take up their cross and follow him. This does not mean Christians should hunt for suffering or make life hard on purpose. It means that when suffering comes, as it does for everyone, we can choose to offer it to God and connect it to Christ’s suffering. This changes how we understand pain and loss in our lives.

Saints throughout history looked at Jesus on the cross and found strength to face their own hard times. They did not run from difficulty or try to escape pain through sin or selfishness. Instead, they saw in Christ’s example a way to make their suffering meaningful. Many early saints were willing to face death rather than turn away from God. Saint Peter asked to be hung upside down on his cross because he felt unworthy to die in the same way as Jesus. Saint Paul spoke of filling up what was lacking in the sufferings of Christ through his own struggles and trials (CCC 1505). These men and women were not crazy or seeking death for its own sake. They understood that when suffering comes from staying true to God, it becomes a gift that joins them to Christ. The Church recognizes that the willingness to suffer rather than abandon faith shows a person’s real love for God. This is why the early martyrs are honored so highly in the Catholic faith. Their deaths were not the end of something but the beginning of their eternal life with God.

What Does the Church Teach About Suffering

The Catholic Church teaches that suffering is not a punishment from God for being human (CCC 385). God created the world good, and suffering entered the world through sin, as explained in Genesis. This means that not all suffering is deserved or earned through personal wrongs. Sometimes good people suffer because they live in a broken world where sin affects everyone. Jesus himself was innocent, yet he suffered greatly, showing that pain and hardship do not always come from doing something wrong. The Church also teaches that suffering can help people grow and change in important ways. When we face hard things with faith, we learn patience, kindness, and trust in God. Suffering can strip away our selfishness and help us see what truly matters in life. Many people who have faced serious illness or loss say that these experiences changed them for the better. They learned to value people more and to worry less about things that do not really matter. The Church points out that suffering can also help others. When we bear our pain with grace, we show those around us that faith in God is real and strong. We give them hope that they can face their own hard times with courage.

Saint Paul wrote that he rejoiced in his suffering for the sake of the Church because he was able to complete in himself what was lacking in the sufferings of Christ. This does not mean that Christ’s suffering was incomplete or that he needed help. Rather, Paul means that each member of the Church can join their own suffering to Christ’s suffering in a real way. When someone faces pain and offers it to God with love, that suffering becomes part of how God works in the world (CCC 1521). A mother who suffers through a long illness but continues to pray for her children is offering her pain for them. A worker who faces unfair treatment but refuses to respond with anger is making his suffering a gift to God. A person who loses a job and keeps faith even when scared is trusting God in a powerful way. All of these examples show how ordinary people can turn their suffering into something that helps their souls grow and helps others spiritually. The Church teaches that this kind of offering is not forced or fake. It comes from a real choice to say yes to God even when things are hard. It comes from believing that God is good and that he can bring good out of even the worst situations.

How Saints Used Suffering to Grow in Holiness

Saints did not become holy by living easy lives where everything went their way. Most of the great saints faced major challenges and difficulties that tested their faith deeply. Saint Francis of Assisi started out as a young man who wanted fun and excitement. After he was captured in war and became sick, he began to think about what really mattered in life. His suffering led him to seek God in a new way. He eventually gave away his wealth and lived a simple life focused on serving God and the poor. His illness and imprisonment were not good things in themselves, but they became the way God led him to his true purpose. Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, a young nun in France, suffered from tuberculosis and also from spiritual dryness where she felt far from God. She could not work as a missionary in distant lands because of her illness, and her prayers sometimes felt cold and empty. Yet she chose to see her suffering and loneliness as a way to love God. She developed what she called a little way, finding God in small things and small suffering in her daily life. Her willingness to accept pain and hardship, even when it felt meaningless, became the path to her holiness. The Church recognized her as a saint not because her life was easy, but because she remained faithful and loving even through deep suffering.

Saint Ignatius of Loyola was a soldier who had his leg badly broken in war. During his long recovery, he had time to think about his life and what he really wanted. He read books about Christ and the saints, and his heart was moved toward serving God. His injury, which could have made him bitter, instead became the doorway through which God called him to serve. He went on to start the Jesuit order, which has done enormous work in schools and missions around the world. Saint Joan of Arc was only a young woman when she was captured and put on trial by enemies of her king. She faced fear and pressure from powerful people who wanted her to deny her faith. She chose to stay true to what she believed God had called her to do, even though it meant her death by fire. Her suffering was not random or pointless, for through her sacrifice she became a witness to faith for all time. The Church looks at these lives and sees that saints grew strong in their love of God not in spite of their suffering, but in many ways through it.

Suffering teaches lessons that comfort and ease cannot teach. When someone faces a serious illness, they often learn what it means to depend on God for each day. When someone loses someone they love deeply, they learn that God is present even in the deepest sadness. These lessons sink into a person’s heart in a way that simple words cannot match. A saint is not someone who never doubted or never felt afraid. Rather, a saint is someone who faced these hard feelings and kept trusting God anyway. A saint is someone who continued to pray and love even when prayers felt dry and love seemed hard. The suffering of saints shows that following God is not about feeling good all the time. It is about staying faithful even when feelings are not good, when circumstances are hard, and when the future is unclear. This kind of faithfulness is the real stuff of holiness. God does not need our pain, but he can use it to shape us into people who are more loving, more wise, and more like Christ.

The Role of the Church Suffering

The Church teaches about something called the Communion of Saints, which is the belief that all Catholics on earth, those in heaven, and those in purgatory are connected to each other through Christ. This means that the suffering of one person can help others spiritually. When someone bears pain with faith and offers it for others, that suffering is not wasted or lost. It becomes part of how God helps people grow and change. The Church also teaches about purgatory, the state after death where souls who are not yet perfect are made clean and ready for heaven. The prayers and good works of the living, and the suffering of those on earth, can help souls in purgatory. This is one reason why the living offer their suffering for people who have died. A person might pray that their pain from illness might help free a dead loved one from purgatory. This is not magic or superstition, but a reflection of how the Church believes all members are connected.

The suffering of the Church itself, through its members, is part of God’s plan for saving and healing the world. When prophets in the Old Testament faced hardship and pain, their suffering was often connected to their message from God. In the New Testament, Paul writes about suffering for the sake of the Gospel. He was beaten, shipwrecked, and imprisoned because he would not stop sharing the faith. The early Church grew strong partly because of the witness of martyrs who were willing to die rather than deny Christ. Their suffering became a seed that made the faith grow. In modern times, the Church still exists where people face hard things because of their faith. In some parts of the world, being Catholic means facing anger from others or losing jobs and safety. The courage of these believers is part of how God works in the world. Their willingness to suffer for Christ inspires others and shows that faith is worth everything. The suffering of the Church is not punishment but rather the cost of speaking truth in a world that often does not want to hear it.

The Catechism and What the Church Officially Teaches

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that Christ suffered to save us and that his sacrifice on the cross is the source of our salvation. It also teaches that suffering can help us grow in faith and become more like Christ if we accept it with love. The Catechism states that human suffering is a mystery that we cannot fully understand in this life. However, when we suffer with Christ, our pain takes on meaning and purpose. The Church teaches that God does not cause suffering to happen, but he can bring good things out of suffering when we trust him. This is different from saying that God wants us to suffer, which is not true. Rather, God works with us even in suffering to bring us closer to himself and to help us become better people. The Catechism emphasizes that we should not seek suffering out or worship pain itself. Instead, we should accept the suffering that comes our way and try to make it meaningful through faith, prayer, and love.

God’s goal is not our pain but our happiness and holiness, both now and in heaven. The Catechism teaches that Jesus came so that people might have life to the full, not so that they might suffer. Yet Jesus also knew that in a broken world, suffering would come to everyone. He showed us how to handle suffering in a way that brings us closer to God instead of further away. When someone responds to suffering with anger at God, or with sin, they add to their pain instead of making something good from it. But when someone responds to suffering with faith, prayer, and love, they join themselves to Christ’s suffering and find healing for their soul. This is what the Church means when it talks about redemptive suffering, or suffering that saves and heals.

Saints Who Showed the Power of Accepting Suffering

Saint Stephen was the first person killed because of his faith in Christ. When people were throwing stones at him to kill him, he saw a vision of Jesus standing at the right hand of God. Even though he was dying, he prayed for forgiveness for those who were killing him, just as Jesus had done. His death was not the end of his story but the beginning of his glory with God. Saint Stephen showed that suffering faced with faith and forgiveness becomes a witness to God’s power. Saint Catherine of Siena was a young woman living in Italy during the 1300s when the Church faced many problems and struggles. She spent time in prayer and came to feel called to speak to leaders of the Church about what needed to change. She faced criticism from people who thought women should stay quiet. She endured illness and hardship in her body. Yet she continued to speak what she believed God wanted her to say. Her suffering and her faithfulness became part of how the Church was renewed during a hard time. Saint Teresa of Calcutta, known as Mother Teresa, spent decades serving the poorest people in the world. She worked with people who had diseases, no homes, and no one who cared for them. This work was hard and often heartbreaking. She also faced times when she felt God was far away and did not feel his presence in prayer. Yet she continued to serve with love and faithfulness because she believed this was what God wanted. Her life shows that serving others through hard work and suffering can be a path to holiness.

Saint Paul, before his conversion, was a man who hunted down Christians and had them killed. After he met Christ on the road to Damascus, he became one of Christ’s most faithful servants. He traveled around the world sharing the faith, and he was beaten, imprisoned, and finally killed for it. When he wrote to his followers, he told them about his suffering but never complained or asked them to pity him. Instead, he told them that his suffering was a way to follow Christ more closely and to help build up the Church. His letters show that he had learned to see his pain not as something against him but as something for him, something that was part of God’s plan for his life. Saint Thérèse showed that big accomplishments are not always needed to become holy. She lived in a small convent and did ordinary work, and she faced ordinary hardships. She also faced the hardship of not feeling God’s presence in prayer, which is a real and serious suffering. Yet she found God in these small things and small sufferings. She developed a simple way to love God that anyone could follow. Her life and her writings have helped millions of people understand that holiness is not about being special or doing huge things. It is about being faithful in small things and about accepting what comes with love.

How Suffering Can Lead to Greater Love of God and Others

Suffering that is accepted and offered to God often makes a person more loving toward others. When someone has experienced real pain, they are usually more kind to people who are suffering. A parent who has faced illness often becomes more patient with their sick children. A worker who has lost a job often becomes more generous to people who are poor. Suffering can break down the walls that selfishness builds around our hearts. When we are forced to depend on others or on God, we learn that we are not in control of everything. This can be a hard lesson, but it often leads to real freedom and peace. We stop trying so hard to manage everything and we start to trust. We become less proud and more open to help from others and from God. This is when real love can grow in our hearts.

Many people who have faced serious illness or loss say that these experiences changed what they care about. They stopped worrying about having the newest things or the biggest house. They started to care more about spending time with people they love. They became more patient with people who were difficult. They found it easier to forgive people who had hurt them. These changes are not small things; they are a real changing of the heart. In the Church’s teaching, this is part of what it means to grow in holiness. A person becomes more like Christ when they become more loving, more patient, more willing to forgive, and less focused on their own comfort and pleasure. Suffering, when handled with faith, can speed up this process of becoming more like Christ. It is not the only way to grow in holiness, but it is a real way that God uses to shape people’s hearts.

The Difference Between Suffering and Self-Harm

It is important to be clear that the Church does not teach that people should hurt themselves or seek out suffering just to become holy. Some people in history have gone too far in this direction and the Church has had to teach them that this is not the right path. Saint Paul wrote about people who were proud of the suffering they caused their own bodies, and he warned against this. The Church teaches that we should take care of our bodies and our health. We should eat when we are hungry, we should rest when we are tired, and we should see a doctor when we are sick. These are not sins; they are simple acts of caring for ourselves. However, when we do face real suffering that comes to us through sickness, loss, or hard circumstances, then we can offer that suffering to God. This is different from making suffering happen to ourselves. One is accepting what life brings; the other is choosing to harm ourselves, which is not good.

Some people in the past wore rough clothes or slept on hard beds as a way to practice what they called penance. The Church has generally moved away from this kind of practice in modern times. The focus is now more on spiritual penance, like spending time in prayer or serving others, rather than on physical suffering. A person might give up something they enjoy for a time, like meat or sweets, as a way to remember Christ’s suffering. But this is different from actually hurting the body. The Church wants people to be healthy and to live full lives. God made the human body good, and we should respect and care for it. At the same time, when real suffering comes to us through illness or loss or hard work, we can make that suffering meaningful by offering it to God. We can say to God that we are accepting this pain and we are joining it to Christ’s pain on the cross. This is how ordinary people can participate in the saving work of Christ.

How to Offer Suffering to God in Daily Life

A person does not need to be in a monastery or to be a famous saint to offer suffering to God in a meaningful way. Any Catholic can do this in daily life. When someone is facing a difficult day at work, they can start the day by praying and asking God to help them accept whatever comes. They can say something like, “God, I offer you today. Help me to accept what happens with faith and love.” When a person is sick or in pain, they can pray and remember that Christ suffered too. They can say, “Jesus, I join my pain to your suffering on the cross. Let my pain help others and help me grow closer to you.” When someone faces loss or disappointment, they can take time to pray and cry if they need to, and then they can ask God to help them trust him anyway. These simple prayers and acts of offering can change how a person experiences suffering.

The important thing is that the offering comes from the heart and is real. We should not try to pretend that we are happy about suffering when we are not. It is okay to admit to God that we hurt, that we are scared, or that we wish things were different. Jesus himself prayed in the garden of Gethsemane that he could be spared from suffering. The point is not to deny our real feelings but to bring those feelings to God and to say yes to his will anyway. A person can also offer their suffering for specific people. If someone knows a person who is struggling with faith or facing a hard time, they can say, “God, let my suffering today help this person.” This practice connects us to all the people in the world who are suffering. It reminds us that our pain is not pointless and that it can become part of how God works in the world. Over time, this practice can change a person’s heart and help them see their suffering in a new way.

The Path to Sainthood Requires Growth Through Challenges

The Church has a formal process for declaring someone a saint, and one of the things the Church looks for is a person’s response to hard things in life. The Church studies the lives of people who have died to see if they grew in love of God and love of others, if they were faithful in prayer and the sacraments, and if they lived according to the teachings of Christ. The Church looks for signs that a person’s faith was real and strong, not just something they said they believed but did not really live. One way that faith shows itself as real is when a person continues to believe and to pray even when life is hard and when faith does not bring comfort. Someone might face sickness, loss of family, poverty, or rejection, but they keep their faith in God and keep serving others with love. This kind of faithfulness catches the attention of the Church. It shows that a person’s faith was not based on getting rewards or comfort in this life, but was based on a real love of God for his own sake.

The Church has also always known that God can work miracles through people who have died and gone to heaven. When someone is sick or facing an impossible situation and prays to a person who has died and asked them to pray for them to God, sometimes amazing healing or help comes. The Church studies these miracles carefully to see if they are real. If miracles happen through the prayers of someone who has died, this is another sign that this person is in heaven with God and can pray for us. The Church has found that many of the people through whom miracles happen are people who faced great suffering in their lives and accepted it with faith. This is not a coincidence. When someone has learned to trust God through suffering, their prayers are powerful because they come from a heart that has been shaped by faith through hard times. The path to sainthood is not about being rich or powerful or famous. It is about being faithful, growing in love of God and others, and accepting what God sends as part of his plan for saving and healing us.

Suffering as a Mystery We Cannot Fully Understand

In the end, suffering remains a mystery that we cannot fully understand in this life. We cannot always explain why certain bad things happen or why certain people suffer while others do not. A child gets sick and dies while a wicked person lives a long life; this does not seem fair to us. A good person works hard their whole life and loses everything while a dishonest person gets rich; this does not make sense to us. The Church does not pretend that it has easy answers to these questions. Instead, the Church teaches that we must trust God even when we do not understand. God is good and God is all-knowing, but he is also beyond our understanding. His thoughts are not our thoughts and his ways are not our ways, as the prophet Isaiah says. In this life, we see only part of the picture. God sees everything from the beginning to the end. God knows what we need even when we do not understand what is happening to us.

This does not mean that we should simply accept all suffering as if it is good and right. We should work to stop suffering when we can. We should help sick people get better. We should work for justice for people who are treated unfairly. We should care for poor people and help them have what they need. Jesus spent much of his time healing sick people and teaching people to love and serve each other. He did not just tell people to accept their suffering; he actually helped them. So we should follow his example and work to reduce suffering in the world. At the same time, we know that suffering will continue in this world until Christ returns. Until that day, some suffering will touch everyone. When suffering comes to us, despite our efforts to prevent it, we can trust that God is with us. We can believe that God can bring good out of even the worst situations. We can join our suffering to Christ’s suffering and make it meaningful. This is how Catholics understand the path to sainthood; it is not a path of looking for pain, but of accepting pain with faith and making it part of our journey toward God.