Servant of God

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Servant of God is a title given to individuals by various religions, and in general it is a person believed to be pious in his or her faith tradition. In the Catholic Church, it designates someone who is being investigated by the Church for possible sainthood. In the Eastern Orthodox churches, this term is used to refer to any Eastern Orthodox Christian.[1]

The Arabic name Abdullah[2] (عبد الله, 'Abd Allah "slave of god"); the Hebrew name Obadiah (עובדיה) and the German name Gottschalk mean "servant of God".



Catholic Church[edit]

"Servant of God" is the title given to a deceased person of the Catholic Church whose life and works are being investigated in consideration for official recognition by the Pope and the Catholic Church as a saint in Heaven.[4][5] The title "Servant of God" (Latin: Servus Dei) should not be confused with Servus Servorum Dei (Servant of the Servants of God), one of the titles of the Pope.

Receiving the title Servant of God is the first of the four steps in the canonization process. The next step is being declared Venerable, upon a decree of heroism or martyrdom by the honored. That is followed by beatification, with the title of Blessed. After the confirmation of miracles resulting from the intercession of the honored, the final step is canonization, where the honored would receive the title of Saint.[6][7] The process for canonization is under the jurisdiction of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.


A guru or sat guru in various traditions of Hinduism is given the name Dasa,[8] or "servant of God". A teacher also can be called uda ka das, which means "the servant of the one God".[9] In Sanskrit, the word dasa (IAST dāsa) means "servant," and this meaning is retained in all Indian languages where devotion to a personal God is practiced. In Tamil, tontai, dasa, servant, or "slave," commonly are used to refer to devotees of Vishnu or Krishna.[10] According to Gaudiya Vaishnava theology, as expressed in the Smriti statement dāsa-bhūto harer eva nānyasvaiva kadācana, living entities (bhuto) are eternally in the service (dasa) of the Supreme Lord (Hari).[11] Thus, designation for Vaishnavas was the status title dasa as part of their names, such as Hari dasa, Narayana dasa, Ram das, Gopal das, etc.[12]

See also[edit]

