Portal:Saints
Introduction
_-_stained_glass,_St._Theresa_of_%C3%81vila_detail.jpg)
In traditional Christian iconography, saints are often depicted with halos, as symbol of holiness. St.Theresa of Avila
A saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness or likeness or closeness to God. Depending on the context and denomination, the term also retains its original Christian meaning, as any believer who is "in Christ" and in whom Christ dwells, whether in Heaven or on Earth.[page needed] In Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, Oriental Orthodox, and Lutheran doctrine, all of their faithful deceased in Heaven are considered to be saints, but some are considered worthy of greater honor or emulation; official ecclesiastical recognition, and consequently veneration, is given to some saints through the process of canonization in the Catholic Church or glorification in the Eastern Orthodox Church.
While the English word saint originated in Christianity, historians of religion now use the appellation "in a more general way to refer to the state of special holiness that many religions attribute to certain people", with the Jewish tzadik, the Islamic walī, the Hindu rishi or Sikh guru, and the Buddhist arhat or bodhisattva also being referred to as saints. Depending on the religion, saints are recognized either by official ecclesiastical declaration, as in the Catholic faith, or by popular acclamation (see Folk saint).
Selected general articles
The Tridentine Calendar is the calendar of saints to be honoured in the course of the liturgical year in the official liturgy of the Roman Rite as reformed by Pope Pius V, implementing a decision of the Council of Trent, which entrusted the task to the Pope.
The text of the Tridentine Calendar can be found in the original editions of the Tridentine Roman Breviary and of the Tridentine Roman Missal. Read more...
Revelation 5:8 presents the saints in heaven as linked by prayer with their fellow Christians on earth.
The communion of saints (Latin, communio sanctorum), when referred to persons, is the spiritual union of the members of the Christian Church, living and the dead. They are all part of a single "mystical body", with Christ as the head, in which each member contributes to the good of all and shares in the welfare of all.
The earliest known use of this term to refer to the belief in a mystical bond uniting both the living and the dead in a confirmed hope and love is by Saint Nicetas of Remesiana (ca. 335–414); the term has since then played a central role in formulations of the Christian creed. Belief in the communion of saints is affirmed in the Apostles' Creed. Read more...- The Church of England uses a liturgical year that is in most respects identical to that of the Roman Catholic Church. While this is less true of the calendars contained within the Book of Common Prayer and the Alternative Service Book (1980), it is particularly true since the Anglican Church adopted its new pattern of services and liturgies contained within Common Worship, in 2000. Certainly, the broad division of the year into the Christmas and Easter seasons, interspersed with periods of Ordinary Time, is identical, and the majority of the Festivals and Commemorations are also celebrated, with some exceptions.
In some Anglican traditions (including the Church of England), the Christmas season is followed by an Epiphany season, which begins on the Eve of the Epiphany (on 6 January or the nearest Sunday) and ends on the Feast of the Presentation (on 2 February or the nearest Sunday). Ordinary Time then begins after this period. Read more...
In the Catholic Church, Servant of God is the style used for a person who has been posthumously declared "heroic in virtue" during the investigation and process leading to canonisation as a saint.
The following is an incomplete list of people declared to be a Servant of God. The list is in alphabetical order by Christian name but, if necessary, by surname or the place or attribute part of the name. Read more...- "Servant of God" is a term used for individuals by various religions for people believed to be pious in the faith's tradition. In the Catholic Church, it designates an individual who is being investigated by the Church for possible canonization as a saint. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, this term is used to refer to any Eastern Orthodox Christian. The Arabic name Abdullah (from عبد الله, ʿAbd Allāh, "slave of God"), the Hebrew name Obadiah (עובדיה), the German name Gottschalk, and the Sanskrit name Devadasa are all variations of "servant of God". Read more...
Pope John Paul II beatified more people than all his predecessors had during the previous 400 years, and was himself beatified six years after his death, on the Divine Mercy Sunday 2011.
Beatification (from Latin beatus, "blessed" and facere, "to make") is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a dead person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in his or her name. Read more...- The Eastern Orthodox Liturgical Calendar describes and dictates the rhythm of the life of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Passages of Holy Scripture, saints and events for commemoration are associated with each date, as are many times special rules for fasting or feasting that correspond to the day of the week or time of year in relationship to the major feast days.
There are two types of feasts in the Orthodox Church calendar: fixed and movable. Fixed feasts occur on the same calendar day every year, whereas movable feasts change each year. The moveable feasts are generally relative to Pascha (Easter), and so the cycle of moveable feasts is referred to as the Paschal cycle. Read more... 
The Eleusa style icon of the Madonna with the Child Jesus nestled against her face has been depicted in both the Western and the Eastern churches.
Mariology is the theological study of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Mariology methodically relates teachings about her to other parts of the faith, such as teachings about Jesus, redemption and grace. Christian Mariology aims to connect scripture, tradition and the teachings of the Church on Mary. In the context of social history, Mariology may be broadly defined as the study of devotion to and thinking about Mary throughout the history of Christianity.
There exist a variety of Christian views on Mary ranging from the focus on Veneration of Mary in Roman Catholicism in Roman Catholic Mariology to Protestant objections (Mariolatry), with Anglican Marian theology in between. As a field of theology, in recent centuries the most substantial developments in Mariology (and the founding of specific centers devoted to its study) have taken place within Roman Catholic Mariology. Eastern Orthodox concepts of Mary have been mostly expressed in liturgy and are not subject to a central dogmatic teaching office. Read more...
Dutch Book of Prayers from the mid-fifteenth century. Group of five saints. From left to right, Saint Joseph, Saint James the Great, Saint Eligius, Saint Hermes, and Saint Ghislain, with their emblems.
Christianity has used symbolism from its very beginnings. Each saint has a story and a reason why he or she led an exemplary life. Symbols have been used to tell these stories throughout the history of the Church. A number of Christian saints are traditionally represented by a symbol or iconic motif associated with their life, termed an attribute or emblem, in order to identify them. The study of these forms part of iconography in art history. They were particularly used so that the illiterate could recognize a scene, and to give each of the Saints something of a personality in art. They are often carried in the hand by the Saint.
Attributes often vary with either time or geography, especially between Eastern Christianity and the West. Orthodox images more often contained inscriptions with the names of saints, so the Eastern repertoire of attributes is generally smaller than the Western. Many of the most prominent saints, like Saint Peter and Saint John the Evangelist can also be recognised by a distinctive facial type – as can Christ. In the case of later saints their actual historical appearance can also be used; Saint Bernardino of Siena (1380–1444) is one of the earliest whose distinctive appearance was well-known from early prints and is nearly always used by artists. Some attributes are general, such as the palm frond carried by martyrs. The use of a symbol in a work of art depicting a Saint reminds people who is being shown and of their story. The following is a list of some of these attributes. Read more...
"As we celebrate with our festive gatherings the birthday of this great man, the Lord’s forerunner, the blessed John, let us ask for the help of his prayers. Because he is the friend of the bridegroom, you see, he can also obtain for us that we can belong to the bridegroom, that we may be thought worthy to obtain his grace." – St. Augustine.
Intercession of the saints is a doctrine held by the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches. The practice of praying through saints can be found in Christian writings from the 3rd century onwards.
The 4th-century Apostles' Creed states belief in the communion of saints, which certain Christian churches interpret as supporting the intercession of saints. As in Christianity, this practice is controversial in Judaism and Islam. Read more...- The Coptic calendar, also called the Alexandrian calendar, is a liturgical calendar used by the Coptic Orthodox Church and also used by the farming populace in Egypt. This calendar is based on the ancient Egyptian calendar. To avoid the calendar creep of the latter, a reform of the ancient Egyptian calendar was introduced at the time of Ptolemy III (Decree of Canopus, in 238 BC) which consisted of the intercalation of a sixth epagomenal day every fourth year. However, this reform was opposed by the Egyptian priests, and the reform was not adopted until 25 BC, when the Roman Emperor Augustus imposed the Decree upon Egypt as its official calendar (although it was unsynchronized with the newly introduced Julian calendar which had erroneously been intercalating leap days every third year due to a misinterpration of the leap year rule so as to apply inclusive counting). To distinguish it from the Ancient Egyptian calendar, which remained in use by some astronomers until medieval times, this reformed calendar is known as the Coptic calendar. Its years and months coincide with those of the Ethiopian calendar but have different numbers and names. Read more...
- The Lutheran Calendar of Saints is a listing which specifies the primary annual festivals and events that are celebrated liturgically by some Lutheran Churches in the United States. The calendars of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS) are from the 1978 Lutheran Book of Worship and the 1982 Lutheran Worship. Elements unique to the ELCA have been updated from the Lutheran Book of Worship to reflect changes resulting from the publication of Evangelical Lutheran Worship in 2006. The elements of the calendar unique to the LCMS have also been updated from Lutheran Worship and the Lutheran Book of Worship to reflect the 2006 publication of the Lutheran Service Book.
The event commemorated is listed with the type of event afterwards in parentheses as well as the country where it is observed (if not commonly observed on that date in North America). For individuals, the date given is the date of their death or "heavenly birthday." The single letter listed after each event is the designated color for vestments and paraments: White (W), Red (R) or Purple (P). Commemorations are noted as being specific to the ELCA or LCMS following the particular entry. Commemorations and Festivals that are held in common are not annotated. Read more... 
A stained glass image of the Venerable Father Samuel Mazzuchelli in St. Raphael's Cathedral, Dubuque, Iowa.
The Venerable is used as a style or epithet in several Christian churches. It is also the common English-language translation of a number of Buddhist titles, and is used as a word of praise in some cases. Read more...- This article is a list of people proposed by each diocese of the Catholic Church for beatification and canonization, whose causes have been officially accepted by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints during the papacy of Pope Francis and are newly given the title as Servants of God. The names listed below are from the Vatican and are listed in month beginning the year 2013, with their birth and death year, position in clerical or religious life, and the place where the saint-to-be lived or died.
In the Latin Church of the Catholic Church, Servant of God is the style used for a person whose life is being investigated by the Church for possible sainthood. Read more... - This is an incomplete list of Christian saints in alphabetical order by Christian name, but, where known and given, a surname, location, or personal attribute (included as part of the name) may affect the ordering.
One list says there are 810 canonized Roman Catholic saints (who have been through the formal institutional process of canonization), although some give numbers in the thousands. (Pope John Paul II alone canonized 110 individuals, plus many group canonizations such as 110 martyr saints of China, 103 Korean martyrs, 117 Vietnamese martyrs, Mexican Martyrs, Spanish martyrs and French revolutionary martyrs.) Among the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Communions, the numbers may be even higher, since there is no fixed process of "canonization" and each individual jurisdiction within the two Orthodox communions independently maintains parallel lists of saints that have only partial overlap. Note that 78 popes are considered saints. Read more... 
Saint Matthew the Apostle, depicted with an angel, is the patron saint of Salerno, Italy, bankers, and tax collectors.
A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Roman Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy, or particular branches of Islam, is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family or person.[title missing][page needed] Read more...- Methodism has historically followed the Protestant tradition of referring to sanctified members of the universal church as saints. However, as a title, Saint is usually used to refer to biblical people, Christian leaders, and martyrs of the faith. While most Methodist churches place little emphasis on the veneration of Saints, they often admire, honor, and remember the saints of Christendom.
John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, believed that there was much to learn from studying renowned saints, but he discouraged the 'worship' of them. He expressed concern about the Church of England's focus on saints' days and said that "most of the holy days were at present answering no valuable end." As such, Methodism does not have any system whereby people are canonised. Read more... 
A hagiography (/ˌhæɡiˈɒɡrəfi/; from Greek, Modern ἅγιος, hagios, meaning 'holy', and -γραφία, -graphia, meaning 'writing') is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader. The term hagiography may be used to refer to the biography of a saint or highly developed spiritual being in any of the world's spiritual traditions.
Christian hagiographies focus on the lives, and notably the miracles, ascribed to men and women canonized by the Roman Catholic church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox churches, and the Church of the East. Other religious traditions such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism and Jainism also create and maintain hagiographical texts (such as the Sikh Janamsakhis) concerning saints, gurus and other individuals believed to be imbued with sacred power. Read more...- The Congregation for the Causes of Saints (Latin: Congregatio de Causis Sanctorum) is the congregation of the Roman Curia that oversees the complex process that leads to the canonization of saints, passing through the steps of a declaration of "heroic virtues" and beatification. After preparing a case, including the approval of miracles, the case is presented to the Pope, who decides whether or not to proceed with beatification or canonization. This is one of nine Vatican Curial congregations.[according to whom?] Read more...
- The Roman Martyrology (Latin: Martyrologium Romanum) is the official martyrology of the Catholic Church. Its use is obligatory in matters regarding the Roman Rite liturgy, but dioceses, countries and religious institutes may add to it duly approved appendices. It provides an extensive but not exhaustive list of the saints recognized by the Church. Read more...
- The title Confessor, the short form of Confessor of the Faith, is a title given by the Christian Church to a type of saint. Read more...
- :For historical forms of the General Roman Calendar, see Tridentine Calendar, General Roman Calendar of 1954, General Roman Calendar of Pope Pius XII, General Roman Calendar of 1960, and General Roman Calendar of 1969.
The General Roman Calendar is the liturgical calendar that indicates the dates of celebrations of saints and mysteries of the Lord (Jesus Christ) in the Roman Rite, wherever this liturgical rite is in use. These celebrations are a fixed annual date; or occur on a particular day of the week (examples are the Baptism of the Lord in January and the Feast of Christ the King in November); or relate to the date of Easter (examples are the celebrations of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary). National and diocesan liturgical calendars, including that of the diocese of Rome itself as well as the calendars of religious institutes and even of continents, add other saints and mysteries or transfer the celebration of a particular saint or mystery from the date assigned in the General Calendar to another date. Read more... 
Reliquary and skull of Saint Ivo of Kermartin (St. Yves or St. Ives), (1253–1303) in Tréguier, Brittany, France
In religion, a relic usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangible memorial. Relics are an important aspect of some forms of Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Shamanism, and many other religions. Relic derives from the Latin reliquiae, meaning "remains", and a form of the Latin verb relinquere, to "leave behind, or abandon". A reliquary is a shrine that houses one or more religious relics. Read more...- The term "saint" is a context-specific translation of the Latin "sanctus", meaning sacred, and originally referred to a sacred (extremely holy) person—however, since the 10th century, the Church has reserved the status of saint to people its official canon law (including calendar) has recognised for outstanding Christian service and conduct. When the Church of England was in union with Rome saints arose in the form of canonisation. Those martyrs and confessors recognised before the 10th century and since the break with Rome in the 16th century are generally still considered both "saints" and "Saints". "Hero/heroine" are sometimes used to refer to those holy people whom the church synod or an individual church praises as having had special benevolence who have lived and died since the split with Rome. It considers such muted terms a reversion to a more simple and cautious doctrine which emphasises empowerment (subsidiarity) to all members and components of the church.
The provinces of the Anglican Communion therefore commemorate many of the saints in the General Roman Calendar, often on the same days.
In some cases, Anglican Calendars have kept pre-1954 celebratory days that the Roman Catholic Church abolished or moved. Read more... - Wherever there is a belief in the continued existence of human personality through and after death, religion naturally concerns itself with the relations between the living and the dead. And where the idea of a future judgment or a resurrection of the dead or of purgatory exists, prayers are often offered on behalf of the dead to God. Read more...
The Christian martyrs of Japan; 17th-century Japanese painting
A martyr (Greek: μάρτυς, mártys, "witness"; stem μάρτυρ-, mártyr-) is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, refusing to renounce, or refusing to advocate a belief or cause as demanded by an external party. This refusal to comply with the presented demands results in the punishment or execution of the martyr by the oppressor. Originally applied only to those who suffered for their religious beliefs, the term has come to be used in connection with people killed for a political cause.
Most martyrs are considered holy or are respected by their followers, becoming symbols of exceptional leadership and heroism in the face of difficult circumstances. Martyrs play significant roles in religions. Similarly, martyrs have had notable effects in secular life, including such figures as Socrates, among other political and cultural examples. Read more...
Veneration in Noto St Conrad of Piacenza (San Corrado)
Veneration (Latin veneratio or dulia, Greek δουλεία, douleia), or veneration of saints, is the act of honoring a saint, a person who has been identified as having a high degree of sanctity or holiness. Angels are shown similar veneration in many religions. Philologically, "to venerate" derives from the Latin verb, venerare, meaning to regard with reverence and respect. Veneration of saints is practiced, formally or informally, by adherents of some branches of all major religions, including Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Islam, and Buddhism.
Within Christianity, veneration is practiced by groups such as the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic, and Eastern Catholic Churches, all of which have varying types of canonization or glorification procedures. In the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, veneration is shown outwardly by respectfully bowing or making the sign of the cross before a saint's icon, relics, or statue, or by going on pilgrimage to sites associated with saints. In general, veneration is not practiced by Protestants. Read more...- This is an incomplete list of people and angels whom the Catholic Church has canonized as saints. According to Catholic theology, all saints enjoy the beatific vision; it is impossible therefore for any list to enumerate them all. Many of the saints listed here are to be found in the General Roman Calendar, while others may also be found in the Roman Martyrology; still others are particular to local places and their recognition does not extend to the larger worldwide church.
Candidates go through the following steps on the way to being declared saints. Read more...
Did you know...
- ... that although the Church of the Jacobins in Toulouse, France, was founded by the future Saint Dominic, the relics housed there are those of Saint Thomas Aquinas?
- ... that according to legend, the dragon Graoully, which terrorized the citizens of Metz, was vanquished by Saint Clement?
- ... that Saint Anne's Guest Home is reputed to be haunted by a nun?
- ... that the spikes of the dragon in the sculpture Saint George and the Dragon by Bernt Notke are made of moose antlers?
- ... that Saint Dominic in Soriano was a 1530 painting believed to be of miraculous origin, with numerous miracles being attributed to it?
- ... that Botticelli's four panels with Scenes from the Life of Saint Zenobius are split among three museums?
Need help?
Do you have a question about Saints that you can't find the answer to?
Consider asking it at the Wikipedia reference desk.
Get involved
For editor resources and to collaborate with other editors on improving Wikipedia's Saints-related articles, see WikiProject Saints.
Selected images
In traditional Christian iconography, saints are often depicted with halos, as symbol of holiness. St.Theresa of Avila
A portrait depicting Saint Francis of Assisi by the Italian artist Cimabue (1240–1302)
Subcategories
- Select [►] to view subcategories
