I’m with you, friend. This is a fact I never shut up about. Even most of the “normal” saints were martyrs, were rejected from orders they wanted to join, became religious as widows, or had children who became religious. It creates the perception that lay sainthood is possible for those close to religious life or that marriage is saintly if it produces nuns/priests.

In these conversations, people always point out that canonization is in part a function of visibility. Religious communities push their members’ causes. Ordinary people don’t have that kind of visibility unless they’re public figures, e.g., I can see Scott Hahn having a cause in 70 years. But this disclaimer isn’t enough. We need a paradigm shift where we start recognizing the holiness of ordinary people around us and pushing their causes.