saint, in Christianity

saint [O.Fr., from Latin sanctus=holy], in Christianity, a person who is recognized as worthy of veneration.

Nature of Sainthood

In the Hebrew Scriptures God is "the Holy One" or "one who is holy" (Isa. 1.4; 5.19; 41.14). "His people share His holiness" (Ex. 19.6). To the New Testament authors the church is the community of saints (Acts 9.13 and the Pauline epistles). Although the creeds, with the phrase "communion of saints," maintain that usage, in later Christianity the term saint came to be used for those who live in heaven.

Generally in the Roman Catholic Church the title saint is limited to the canonized if they lived after the year 1000; otherwise the title is used according to custom. In East and West criteria for recognition of sainthood are martyrdom, holiness of life, miracles in life and after death (e.g., with relics relics, part of the body of a saint or a thing closely connected with the saint in life. In traditional Christian belief they have had great importance, and miracles have often been associated with them.
..... Click the link for more information. ), and a popular cultus. The addition of the name of a person to the official list of saints occurs through the process canonization canonization (kăn'ənĭzā`shən), in the Roman Catholic Church, process by which a person is classified as a saint .
..... Click the link for more information. . The Virgin Mary Mary, in the Bible, mother of Jesus. Christian tradition reckons her the principal saint, naming her variously the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady, and Mother of God (Gr., theotokos). Her name is the Hebrew Miriam.
..... Click the link for more information. is the chief saint, and the angels are counted as saints. In 1969 the Roman Catholic Church dropped a number of saints from its liturgical calendar because of doubt that they ever lived; among them was the popular St. Christopher.

Religious Role of the Saints

In traditional belief, as taught by Roman Catholic and Orthodox Eastern churches, faithful Christians on earth and the saints in heaven are all members of the church, and just as living members seek the prayers of others and share in the merits of others, so the living ask those in heaven for their prayers and share in their merits (see indulgence indulgence, in the Roman Catholic Church, the pardon of temporal punishment due for sin. It is to be distinguished from absolution and the forgiveness of guilt. The church grants indulgences out of the Treasury of Merit won for the church by Christ and the saints.
..... Click the link for more information. ). An aspect of the same cooperation of the living and the saints is prayer for those dead who are not yet saints (i.e., in purgatory purgatory (pûrg`ətôr'ē) [Lat.
..... Click the link for more information. ).

Prayer to the saints ("veneration" or "honor") is distinct in kind from prayer to God ("worship" or "adoration"), who is the source of all their glory. In the liturgy saints are commemorated and their intercession sought on special days ("saint's day"; see also All Saints' Day All Saints' Day, feast of the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches, and day on which churches glorify God for all God's saints, known and unknown. It is celebrated on Nov. 1 in the West, since Pope Gregory IV ordered its church-wide observance in 837.
..... Click the link for more information. ), usually the anniversary of their death. In the ancient churches each member has at least one patron patron [Lat.,=like a father], one who lends influential support to some person, cause, art or institution. Patronage existed in various ancient cultures but was primarily a Roman institution.
..... Click the link for more information. saint from baptism, and in the West another is adopted at confirmation; patrons are expected to have a mutual relation of affection with their earthly charges. Saints vary in popularity: St. Joseph, very popular today among Catholics and Orthodox, had scarcely any cultus 1,000 years ago; St. Nicholas, for centuries a favorite in the West, has today few devotees among Roman Catholics. Examples of nonliturgical devotions to saints are pilgrimages (see pilgrim pilgrim, one who travels to a shrine or other sacred place out of religious motives. Pilgrimages are a feature of many religions and cultures. Examples in ancient Greece were the pilgrimages to Eleusis and Delphi. Pilgrimages are well established in India (e.g.
..... Click the link for more information. ), many forms of litany litany (lĭt`ənē) [Gr.,=prayer], solemn prayer characterized by varying petitions with set responses.
..... Click the link for more information. , images and icons, novenas, and annual celebrations in honor of patron saints.

Accounts of the Lives of the Saints

Accounts of saints' lives have been favorite reading material for many, and at times their composition (hagiography) has become a real art. Apart from those that are simple, contemporary records, they often become miracle-studded tales. Two immortal collections of saints' lives are the Golden Legend Golden Legend, The, collection of saints' lives written in the 13th cent. by Jacobus da Varagine . Originally entitled Legenda sanctorum [readings in the lives of the saints], it soon came to be called Legenda aurea
..... Click the link for more information. and the Little Flowers of St. Francis (see Francis, Saint Francis, Saint, or Saint Francis of Assisi (əsē`zē)
..... Click the link for more information. ). In the modern Roman Catholic Church the Bollandists Bollandists (bŏl`əndĭsts)
..... Click the link for more information. have been charged with the task of separating the true from the false in hagiography. The effort entails the revision of official books, e.g., the Roman Martyrology, a compendium of saints' lives.

Bibliography

See G. H. Gerould, Saints' Legends (1916, repr. 1969); H. Thurston and D. Attwater, ed., Butler's Lives of the Saints (4 vol., 1956, repr. 1965); P. McGinley, Saint-Watching (1969); D. Attwater, The Penguin Dictionary of Saints (1970); D. Farmer, ed., The Oxford Dictionary of Saints (2d ed. 1987).

Saint, for Christian saints, use their given names

Saint. For canonized and uncanonized saints, see under the proper name, e.g., Ambrose, Saint Ambrose, Saint (ăm`brōz), 340?–397, bishop of Milan, Doctor of the Church, b. Trier, of Christian parents.
..... Click the link for more information. . For surnames and place names beginning thus, see in alphabetical position here: thus, Saint-Exupéry, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Antoine de(Antoine-Marie-Roger de Saint-Exupéry)
..... Click the link for more information. ; Saint Louis Saint Louis (l

`ĭs), city (1990 pop.
..... Click the link for more information. . For persons not listed under Saint, use St.

saint

Holy person. In the New Testament, St. Paul used the term to mean a member of the Christian community, but the term more commonly refers to those noted for their holiness and venerated during their lifetimes or after death. In Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, saints are publicly recognized by the church and are considered intercessors with God for the living. They are honoured on special feast days, and their remains and personal effects are venerated as relics. Often Christian saints perform miracles in their lifetime, or miracles occur in their names after their death. In Islam, wali (“friend of God”) is often translated as saint; in Buddhism, arhats and bodhisattvas are roughly equivalent to saints. Hindu sadhus are somewhat similar. See also canonization.

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