According to Roman Catholic Church theology, in the early days of the Church, the great saints died and went to heaven before they had used up all their accumulated merits, which are earned by all Catholics while doing good work on Earth. The Church had possession of these extra merits and could, in the Church's teaching, sell them back to the people over time in the form of Indulgences, thus allowing one to buy merits, rather than having to do the good works required to earn them.