First, some clarification. Why is he “Blessed” for now? This stage, called “beatification” declares that he is “Blessed” and may be publicly venerated on a somewhat limited basis. For most candidates, a recognized miracle attributed to their intercession is required before canonization.
The miracle that led to the beatification of Blessed Fulton J. Sheen was the miraculous, full recovery of a stillborn infant in September 2010, when the baby, James Fulton Engstrom, was born in Peoria, Illinois, with no signs of life. He had no pulse, and his skin was blue from a total lack of oxygen. For 61 minutes, doctors and medical staff made every attempt to save him, but the baby failed to respond. As medical staff prepared to declare the time of death, the infant's parents began intensely praying for the intercession of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. Just as doctors were about to stop all efforts, the baby's heart suddenly began beating at a normal rate. Despite severe oxygen deprivation that medical professionals expected would cause permanent, massive brain damage, organ failure, or blindness, the infant made a complete and spontaneous recovery with no complications whatsoever.
We now pray for a second distinct miracle which can be attributed to Blessed Fulton Sheen's intercession. This will allow the Church to proceed towards canonization and the extension of his veneration to the universal Church, when he will be definitively placed in the canon of saints.
There has been no time in the history of the Church when the place of the saints has not been part of the very foundation of the Christian experience.
St. John the Divine was nearly a hundred years old when he was exiled to the island of Patmos. It was there that he had his great vision recorded in the Book of the Revelation: “I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no man could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb!’”
This was his great vision of all the saints, and they were standing there because of everything that has gone before. Their holiness is the fruit of all the events in Christ's life, from His Conception and Nativity, to the Resurrection and the Ascension and Pentecost – all those things happened to make saints.
Saints aren’t born; rather, they are made. We are all born with the potential to become saints. The only difference between those who are not saints and those who are, is the difference between people who repent and confess after sinning, and those who refuse to repent and so purposely continue in their sin.
Because one of the purposes of the Church is to make saints, so the characteristics of the saints are the characteristics of the Church. In the Creed we confess that we believe “One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.” These words which define the Church, also define the saints.
The saints are One because they are together. We speak of the communion of the saints. The saints are One, they are united with one another because they are united with Christ.
The saints are also obviously holy. The word “saint” (from “sanctus”) means holy. They’ve been made holy by Christ, through the sacraments, through prayer, through grasping hold of and using God’s grace daily.
The saints are also Catholic, that is, “universal.” In other words, their holiness is the same in all places and at all times. We commemorate all the saints of all countries and of all centuries and of all backgrounds. We recall saints of all ages, of all nationalities, men, women and children, the poor and the rich, the old and the young, the healthy and the sick. They all confess the same Faith. The holiness of the Saints is universal throughout all ages.
And the saints are Apostolic. They share in the same Faith and Tradition that Christ gave to the Apostles, and they shared this Faith with the world through their words and in their lives. Their holiness wasn’t just for themselves; their holiness is for the whole world.
It is into this vast company the Church is now declaring that Blessed Fulton John Sheen stands, ready to pray for us. So we ask for his prayers, and for the prayers of all the saints, that through their constant intercession we might be made saints, to have our place with them as the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic people of God.