In his commentary on the First Letter of Saint John, Saint Augustine once wrote that we are to exercise the soul. Because our hearts long for God, we ache to exercise our souls.
If the activity of an athlete is to exercise the body, then the activity of a saint is to exercise the soul. For just as exercising the body helps keeps the person physically healthy, so too then exercising the soul helps keep the person spiritually healthy. We call spiritual health, holiness. And God calls each of us to a life of holiness. That means we are called to be saints—to be healthy and holy—and this is possible because God created each of us in his image and likeness.
This notion of keeping oneself healthy and holy seems to beg the question: Can a person be considered a saint if he or she is physically unhealthy?
The simple answer is yes. A saintly person could be physically unhealthy by no fault of their own. For example, a physical deficiency such as being susceptible to heart disease might be consider an unhealthy physical trait. However a person with such physical susceptibility has a moral obligation to care for his or her body, especially in regards to counterbalancing or counteracting the physical deficiency. This is where exercising the soul becomes vital.
Should then the Church’s formalized process of recognizing a person as a saint, called canonization, include consideration of the person’s physical health? I would think so in regards to how well that person cared for his or her body. Furthermore since God created each person with a body and a soul, the Church should consider the whole person. Sacramentally if one is exercising the soul, shouldn’t there be evidence of physical health as well, or at least evidence of no intentional self-inflicted physical harm? For example how could someone who is abusing or torturing his or her body ever be considered holy, such as in the mortification practice of self-flagellation? Yet just because a person has stayed in good physical shape doesn’t necessarily guarantee any condition of holiness either.
So if I am conditioning my soul for holiness, then I would imagine that this would be reflected to some degree in the conditioning of my body for healthiness. Of course those holy men and women whom the Church recognizes as “Saint” and “Blessed” are confidently known to be in Heaven because of their miraculous interventions here on Earth. The Church’s canonization process is to benefit those of us who are still striving for that healthy and holy life here and now.
Their miracles give me evidence that I must continue to exercise my soul so that my desire for Heaven never wanes and my heart continues to long for God. Perhaps then there is truth to understanding that the heart and soul are intimately related.
