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Īccording 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." Sometimes the word saint also denotes living Christians. There are many persons that 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.
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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. 2 Tim 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". These "may include our own mothers, grandmothers or other loved ones (cf. Christianity Catholic Church Ī portrait depicting Saint Francis of Assisi by the Italian artist Cimabue (1240–1302)Īccording to the Catholic Church, a saint is anyone in Heaven, whether recognized on Earth or not, who form the "great cloud of witnesses" (Hebrews 12:1). They exert "powerful attractive influence on followers but touch the inner lives of others in transforming ways as well". These saintly figures, he asserts, are "the focal points of spiritual force-fields". The anthropologist Lawrence Babb in an article about Indian guru Sathya Sai Baba asks the question "Who is a saint?", and responds by saying that in the symbolic infrastructure of some religions, there is the image of a certain extraordinary spiritual king's "miraculous powers", to whom frequently a certain moral presence is attributed. possession of a special and revelatory relation to the holy.a life often refusing material attachments or comforts.wonder worker or source of benevolent power.Coleman, SJ, of the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California, wrote that saints across various cultures and religions have the following family resemblances: Many religions also use similar concepts (but different terminology) to venerate persons worthy of some honor. The word sanctus was originally a technical one in ancient Roman religion, but due to its globalized use in Christianity the modern word saint is now also used as a translation of comparable terms for persons "worthy of veneration for their holiness or sanctity" in other religions. The word ἅγιος appears 229 times in the Greek New Testament, and its English translation 60 times in the corresponding text of the King James Version of the Bible. The English word saint comes from the Latin sanctus, with the Greek equivalent being ἅγιος ( hagios) 'holy'. 2.8 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day 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). 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", referring to the Jewish tzadik, the Islamic walī, the Hindu rishi or Sikh guru, the Shintoist kami, and the Buddhist arhat or bodhisattva also as saints. Official ecclesiastical recognition, and consequently a public cult of veneration, is conferred on some saints through the process of canonization in the Catholic Church or glorification in the Eastern Orthodox Church. In 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. However, the use of the term saint depends on the context and denomination. In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. In Christian iconography, saints may also be depicted with wreaths, palm branches & white lilies.