Old Testament In the
Hebrew Bible, English "saints" most often renders terms of holiness, especially the adjective
qādôš ("set apart, consecrated, holy"), and in the plural it appears as "holy ones" or "saints", with emphasis on consecration and ideally the absence of moral and ceremonial defilement. The
Old Testament does not present a fixed category of individual saints though related ideas appear in prophet and martyr traditions in later narratives.
Apostolic Age In the
Apostolic Age, New Testament writers use "saints" predominantly in the plural as a collective designation for Christians in a given locality; the only clear singular instance is distributive in
Philippians 4:21 ("every saint"), so the term marks the church as a people set apart for God rather than an elite subgroup. Paul makes this corporate sense explicit by identifying "the saints" with "you" in
1 Corinthians 6:2, so that
oi hagioi functions as a self-designation for all Christians; he also addresses communities as "saints" in letter openings/closings and often speaks of "all the saints" to emphasize corporate unity across locations (
Romans 1:7; 1 Cor 1:2; 2 Cor 1:1; Phil 1:1;
Colossians 1:2). In practical matters he urges "service" and aid "for the saints," including the Jerusalem poor, sometimes with abbreviated phrasing that presumes this shared self-designation (e.g., 1 Cor 16:1; 2 Cor 8:4; 9:1, 12 ≈ Rom 15:26). Scholars also observe
covenantal–
eschatological and temple/priestly overtones in such language (e.g., judging the world/angels; participation in Christ’s altar). Other New Testament writers vary: calling believers
hagioi is common in
Hebrews and
Jude, it is frequent in
Revelation with an emphasis on prayer/endurance and is used for the same group as "believers/Christians," while
1 Peter does not use
hagioi as Paul does (even as it speaks extensively of holiness). Standard reference works concur that
hagioi designates all believers (not a special class), that the plural, collective usage predominates, and that the underlying idea is consecration/belonging to God. Later Christian traditions (e.g. Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, Protestantism) developed distinct practices of recognizing exemplary figures, but this stands apart from the New Testament’s collective usage. These "may include our own mothers, grandmothers or other loved ones (cf.
2 Timothy 1:5)" who may have not always lived perfect lives, but "amid their faults and failings they kept moving forward and proved pleasing to the Lord". The title
Saint denotes a person who has been formally
canonized – that is, officially and authoritatively declared a saint – by the church as holder of the
Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and is therefore believed to be in Heaven by the
grace of God. There are many persons who the church believes to be in Heaven who have not been formally canonized and who are otherwise titled saints because of the fame of their holiness. Sometimes the word saint also denotes living Christians. The
Second Vatican Council noted that some saints are commemorated by the whole church because they "are truly of universal importance", while many others have significance for "a particular Church or nation or
family of religious" and their lives should be celebrated within those particular contexts. According to the
Catechism of the Catholic Church, "The
patriarchs,
prophets, and certain other Old Testament figures have been and always will be honored as saints in all the church's liturgical traditions." In his book
Saint of the Day, editor Leonard Foley says that the "[Saints'] surrender to God's love was so generous an approach to the total surrender of
Jesus that the Church recognizes them as heroes and heroines worthy to be held up for our inspiration. They remind us that the Church is holy, can never stop being holy and is called to show the holiness of God by living the life of Christ." The Catholic Church teaches that it does not make or create saints, but rather recognizes them. Proofs of heroic virtue required in the process of beatification will serve to illustrate in detail the general principles exposed above upon proof of their holiness or likeness to God. On 3 January 993,
Pope John XV became the first pope to proclaim a person a saint from outside the diocese of Rome: on the petition of the German ruler, he had canonized Bishop
Ulrich of Augsburg. Before that time, the popular "
cults", or venerations, of saints had been local and spontaneous and were confirmed by the local
bishop.
Pope John XVIII subsequently permitted a cult of five Polish
martyrs. Thenceforth a decree of
Pope Alexander III in 1170 reserved the prerogative of canonization to the Pope, insofar as the
Latin Church was concerned. Robert Sarno, an official of the
Dicastery for the Causes of Saints of the
Holy See, expressed that it is impossible to give an exact number of saints. The
veneration of saints, in
Latin , or the "
cult of the Saints", describes a particular popular devotion or entrustment of one's self to a particular saint or group of saints. Although the term
worship is sometimes used, it is only used with the older English connotation of honoring or respecting (
dulia) a person. According to the church, divine worship is in the strict sense reserved only to God (
latria) and never to the saints. One is permitted to ask the saints to
intercede or pray to God for persons still on Earth, just as one can ask someone on Earth to pray for him. A saint may be designated as a
patron saint of a particular cause, profession, church or locale, or invoked as a protector against specific illnesses or disasters, sometimes by popular custom and sometimes by official declarations of the church. Saints are not believed to have power of their own, but only that granted by God.
Relics of saints are respected, or venerated, similar to the veneration of holy images and
icons. The practice in past centuries of venerating relics of saints with the intention of obtaining healing from God through their intercession is taken from the
early Church. For example, an American
deacon claimed in 2000 that
John Henry Newman (then a
blessed) interceded with God to cure him of a physical illness. The deacon, Jack Sullivan, asserted that after addressing Newman he was cured of
spinal stenosis in a matter of hours. In 2009, a panel of theologians concluded that Sullivan's recovery was the result of his prayer to Newman. According to the church, to be deemed a miracle, "a medical recovery must be instantaneous, not attributable to treatment, disappear for good." Some of the saints have a special iconographic
symbol by tradition, e.g.,
Saint Lawrence, deacon and martyr, is identified by a
gridiron because he is believed to have been burned to death on one. This symbol is found, for instance, in the Canadian heraldry of the office responsible for the
St. Lawrence Seaway.
Stages of a canonization process Canonization is a lengthy process, often of many years or even centuries. In a beatification process there are four major steps: The first stage in this process is an investigation of the candidate's life by an expert. After this, the official report on the candidate is submitted to the bishop of the pertinent diocese and more study is undertaken. The information is then sent to the
Dicastery for the Causes of Saints of the
Holy See for evaluation at the universal level of the church. Further investigation may lead to the candidate's
beatification with the title
Blessed, The remains of saints are called holy relics and are usually used in churches. Saints' personal belongings may also be used as relics. The Orthodox Church does not require the manifestation of miracles, as it does in
Roman Catholicism; what is required is evidence of a virtuous life and prior
local veneration of the saint. This does not, however, make the person a saint; the person already was a saint and the Church ultimately recognized it. As a general rule, only
clergy will touch
relics in order to move them or carry them in procession; however, in
veneration the faithful will kiss the relic to show love and respect toward the saint. The
altar in an Orthodox Church usually contains relics of saints, often of
martyrs. Church interiors are covered with the
icons of saints. When an Orthodox Christian venerates icons of a saint he is venerating the image of God which he sees in the saint. '' by
Emmanuel Tzanes, 1662 Because the Church shows no true distinction between the living and the dead, as the saints are considered to be alive in
heaven, saints are referred to as if they are still alive, and are
venerated, not
worshipped. They are believed to be able to
intercede for the living for
salvation or other requests and help mankind either through direct communion with God or by personal
miraculous intervention. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the title
Ὅσιος,
Hosios (f.
Hosia) is also used. This is a title attributed to saints who had lived a
monastic or
eremitic life equivalent to the more usual title of "Saint".
Oriental Orthodoxy The
Oriental Orthodox churches ‒ the
Armenian Apostolic Church, the
Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, the
Tewahedo Church,
Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church, and the
Syriac Orthodox Church ‒ follow a canonization process unique to each church. The Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, for example, has the requirement that at least 50 years must pass following a prospective saint's death before the Coptic Orthodox Church's
pope can canonize the saint.
Evangelical Lutheranism Article XXI. In the
Lutheran Church, all Christians, whether in Heaven or on Earth, are regarded as saints. However, the church still recognizes and honors specific saints, including some of those recognized by the Catholic Church, but in a qualified way: according to the
Augsburg Confession, the term
saint is used in the manner of the Catholic Church only insofar as to denote a person who received exceptional grace, was sustained by faith, and whose good works are to be an example to any Christian. Evangelical-Lutherans believe that saints pray for the Christian Church in general. However, Evangelical-Lutheran belief accounts that prayers to the saints are prohibited, as they are not mediators of redemption.
Philip Melanchthon, the author of the
Apology of the Augsburg Confession, approved honoring the saints by saying they are honored in three ways: :1. By thanking God for examples of His mercy; :2. By using the saints as examples for strengthening our faith; and :3. By imitating their faith and other virtues. The Lutheran Churches have
liturgical calendars in which they honor individuals as saints. The invocation of saints was criticized in the
Augsburg Confession, Article XXI: Of the Worship of the Saints. This criticism was rebutted by the Catholic side in the
Confutatio Augustana, which in turn was rebutted by the Evangelical Lutheran side in the
Apology of the Augsburg Confession.
Anglicanism In the
Anglican Communion and the
Continuing Anglican movement, the title of Saint refers to a person who has been elevated by popular opinion as a pious and holy person. The saints are seen as models of holiness to be imitated, and as a "cloud of witnesses" that strengthen and encourage the believer during his or her spiritual journey. The saints are seen as elder brothers and sisters in Christ. Official Anglican creeds recognize the existence of the saints in heaven. In
high-church contexts, such as
Anglo-Catholicism, a saint is generally one to whom has been attributed (and who has generally demonstrated) a high level of holiness and
sanctity. In this use, a saint is therefore not a
believer only, but one who has been transformed by virtue. In
Catholicism, a saint is a special sign of God's activity. The veneration of saints is sometimes misunderstood to be worship, in which case it is derisively termed "hagiolatry". So far as invocation of the saints is concerned, one of the
Church of England's
Articles of Religion "Of
Purgatory" condemns "the Romish Doctrine concerning ...(the) Invocation of Saints" as "a fond thing vainly invented, and grounded upon no warranty of Scripture, but rather repugnant to the Word of God". Anglo-Catholics in Anglican provinces using the Articles often make a distinction between a "Romish" and a "Patristic" doctrine concerning the invocation of saints, permitting the latter in accordance with Article XXII. Indeed, the theologian
E. J. Bicknell stated that the Anglican view acknowledges that the term "invocation may mean either of two things: the simple request to a saint for his prayers (intercession), 'ora pro nobis', or a request for some particular benefit. In medieval times the saints had come to be regarded as themselves the authors of blessings. Such a view was condemned but the former was affirmed." Some Anglicans and Anglican churches, particularly Anglo-Catholics, personally ask prayers of the saints. However, such a practice is seldom found in any official Anglican liturgy. Unusual examples of it are found in The Korean Liturgy 1938, the liturgy of the Diocese of Guiana 1959 and The Melanesian English Prayer Book. Anglicans believe that the only effective Mediator between the believer and God the Father, in terms of redemption and salvation, is God the Son,
Jesus Christ. Historical Anglicanism has drawn a distinction between the intercession of the saints and the invocation of the saints. The former was generally accepted in Anglican doctrine, while the latter was generally rejected. Many encourage the study of saints, that is, the biographies of holy people. The
14th Article of Religion in the
United Methodist Book of Discipline states: The
Romish doctrine concerning purgatory, pardon, worshiping, and adoration, as well of images as of relics, and also invocation of saints, is a fond thing, vainly invented, and grounded upon no warrant of Scripture, but repugnant to the Word of God.
Other Protestantism In many
Protestant churches, the word
saint is used more generally to refer to anyone who is a Christian. This is similar in usage to
Paul's numerous references in the New Testament of the Bible. In this sense, anyone who is within the
Body of Christ (i.e., a professing Christian) is a saint because of their relationship with Christ Jesus. Many Protestants consider
intercessory prayers to the saints to be
idolatry, since what they perceive to be an application of divine worship that should be given only to God himself is being given to other believers, dead or alive. Within some Protestant traditions,
saint is also used to refer to any
born-again Christian. Many emphasize the traditional
New Testament meaning of the word, preferring to write "saint" to refer to any believer, in continuity with the doctrine of the
priesthood of all believers.
Baptist "Saints" in Baptist theology refers to the body of 'born-again believers'. The reference 'saints' is a derivative of the word 'sanctified', which means 'set apart for a holy purpose'. In the Apostle Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, he addresses the recipients as saints: "To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours". (1 Corinthians 1:2, ESV)
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The use of "saint" within
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) is similar to the Protestant tradition. In the New Testament, saints are all those who have entered into the Christian covenant of baptism. The qualification "latter-day" refers to the doctrine that members are living in the latter days before the
Second Coming of Christ, and is used to distinguish the members of the church, which considers itself the restoration of the ancient Christian church. Members are therefore often referred to as "
Latter-day Saints" or "LDS", and among themselves as "saints". == Other religions ==