beatification

/biˈædəfəˌkeɪʃən/

Other forms: beatifications

Beatification is making someone blissful or extremely happy. It's also an action by the Pope that honors a dead person for being holy.

For most of us, beatification is the action of making someone blissfully happy. That kind of beatification produces pure joy. In the Catholic Church, it's the declaration by a pope that someone is entitled to public veneration. After her death in 1997, Mother Theresa of Calcutta was beatified by Pope John Paul II. Beatification is a step along the path to canonization: when someone is made a saint. Only a very holy person can be a candidate for beatification.

Definitions of beatification

1. noun

   the action of rendering supremely blessed and extremely happy
   type of:

   action

   something done (usually as opposed to something said)
2. noun

   a state of supreme happiness
   synonyms: beatitude, blessedness

   types:

   enlightenment, nirvana

   (Hinduism and Buddhism) the beatitude that transcends the cycle of reincarnation; characterized by the extinction of desire and suffering and individual consciousness

   type of:

   felicity, happiness

   state of well-being characterized by emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy
3. noun

   (Roman Catholic Church) an act of the Pope who declares that a deceased person lived a holy life and is worthy of public veneration; a first step toward canonization
   type of:

   sanctification

   a religious ceremony in which something is made holy