Saint

Authority level: Dogma
Disciplinary status: Church discipline
This article contains claims at more than one doctrinal grade. The summary shows the highest represented grade.
GuideThe communion of saints, heavenly intercession, and the beatific vision belong to doctrine; an individual canonization is a definitive ecclesial judgment, while calendars and forms of public cult are governed by discipline.
Contents

Saint is a holy person who lives with Christ in heaven; in ordinary ecclesial usage, especially one whom the Church definitively recognizes and publicly venerates as such.

In Christian belief, a saint, also known as a hallow, is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term saint depends on the context and denomination.[11] Official ecclesiastical recognition, and veneration, is conferred on some denominational saints through the process of canonization in the Catholic Church or glorification in the Eastern Orthodox Church after their approval.[12][13] The saints are honored in the liturgical calendars of Evangelical Lutheranism and Anglicanism.[14] In other nonconformist denominations, such as the Plymouth Brethren, and following from Pauline usage, saint refers broadly to any holy Christian without special recognition or selection.

While the English word saint (deriving from the Latin sanctus) originated in Christianity, historians of religion tend to 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 Hindu rishi, Sikh bhagat or guru, the Shintoist kami, the Taoist immortal or zhenren, the Jewish tzadik, the Islamic walī/fakir, and the Buddhist arhat or bodhisattva also as saints.[15][16] Depending on the religion, saints are recognized either by official declaration, as in Catholicism, Oriental Orthodoxy or Eastern Orthodoxy, or by popular acclamation (see folk saint).[17][18]

Holiness and recognition

Holiness and heavenly life

A saint is not merely an admired dead Christian. The saints have died in Christ, attained the beatific vision, and belong to the Church Triumphant. They remain living members of Christ's body, love the faithful on earth, praise God, and intercede for them. Every soul in heaven is a saint in this fundamental sense, including many whose names are known to God alone.[1]

Scripture also calls the baptized on earth holy ones or saints because they have been consecrated to God. This does not mean that every Christian has completed sanctification or may receive public veneration. Christian holiness is God's own life communicated by grace and brought to perfection through faith working in charity.

Canonized saints

In its usual title-like sense, Saint names a person whose sanctity and heavenly glory the Church has definitively recognized through canonization or whose immemorial cult she has equivalently confirmed. Canonization does not make anyone holy or admit a soul into heaven; it recognizes what God has accomplished and presents the saint to the universal Church as an intercessor and model of Christian life.[2]

The Church distinguishes a canonized saint from a Blessed, whose public cult is normally limited to specified places, communities, or circumstances, and from a Venerable, whose heroic virtue or martyrdom has been recognized without beatification. Servant of God ordinarily designates a person whose cause has formally begun. These titles should not be used loosely as though they were interchangeable.

Cult and liturgy

Veneration and intercession

Catholics venerate saints with dulia, an honor categorically different from latria, the adoration owed to God alone. The Blessed Virgin Mary receives a unique and pre-eminent veneration called hyperdulia because she is the Mother of God and the greatest of the saints; she is never adored as a goddess. Honor shown to a saint ultimately glorifies the grace of Christ at work in that member of his body.[3]

The faithful may ask saints to pray for them just as Christians ask one another for prayer, with the added confidence that the saints behold God and are perfectly united to his will. Relics and sacred images are venerated because of their relation to holy persons and to Christ; no material object is worshiped or treated as possessing magical power.

Saints in the liturgy

The liturgical calendar commemorates the saving work of Christ manifested in his saints. A saint's assigned day may be a solemnity, feast, memorial, optional memorial, local observance, or simple entry in the Roman Martyrology. These ranks are not synonyms, and a higher celebration can supersede a saint's observance without changing the truth of the saint's heavenly glory.

Groups of martyrs or other saints commemorated together form one historical and liturgical observance and should ordinarily remain together. The date is often the dies natalis, the anniversary of death understood as birth into heaven, though pastoral, historical, or calendar reasons can assign another date.

Biblical foundations of the communion of saints

In the New Testament saint first names those consecrated to God in Christ, not only an exceptional class honored after death. Baptism joins believers to Christ's death and resurrection, the Spirit dwells in them, and the Church is called holy even while her members still need conversion. This universal vocation explains later usage: a canonized saint is not a different species of Christian but a disciple in whom baptismal grace reached mature, publicly recognizable fruit. The holiness is God's gift, freely received and embodied through faith, hope, charity, repentance, prayer, and concrete fidelity to vocation.

The Church's communion does not end at death because the risen Christ has conquered death and gathers the living and the departed in one body. Scripture portrays heavenly worship, the prayers of the righteous, the cloud of witnesses, and the communion of angels and redeemed humanity before God. Catholic devotion develops within this paschal conviction. It does not imagine the saints as absent spirits who must be persuaded to care; they live in Christ, love by participation in his charity, and await with the whole creation the resurrection of the body.

The saints reveal the many forms of one holiness. Martyrdom gives supreme witness to Christ; consecrated virginity manifests undivided eschatological love; Christian marriage sanctifies family and society; ordained ministry serves Word and sacrament; hidden labor, scholarship, political responsibility, poverty, illness, and works of mercy can become places of heroic charity. Canonical recognition has historically favored people whose stories left records, but the liturgy also celebrates the innumerable unknown saints whose fidelity is known fully to God.

Veneration, intercession, and Christ's mediation

Catholic theology distinguishes adoration, owed to the Triune God alone, from the honor given to creatures because of God's work in them. Traditional terminology calls the former latria and the latter dulia, with hyperdulia indicating the singular honor accorded to Mary as Mother of God. The distinction is not merely a difference in emotional intensity. Adoration acknowledges the Creator as the first source and final end of all good; veneration praises grace in a creature and ultimately returns thanksgiving to God. Treating a saint as divine, omniscient by nature, or a source of grace independent of Christ would contradict Catholic faith.

Asking a saint to pray follows the same ecclesial logic as asking another Christian on earth, intensified rather than abolished by heavenly glory. The request terminates in prayer to God, from whom every gift comes. Christ remains the one mediator whose Incarnation and Paschal sacrifice reconcile humanity to the Father. Members of his body share subordinately in intercession because his unique mediation creates, sustains, and includes their prayer. Competition arises only if creaturely participation is mistaken for an independent channel alongside him.

Devotional language and pastoral clarity

Popular prayers may address saints directly with verbs such as help, protect, or heal. Read within Catholic worship, these petitions ask for intercession and for the saint's charitable participation under God's providence; they do not assign divine power by nature. Pastors should explain this grammar rather than demand that every prayer repeat a technical qualification. They should also correct formulas or practices that genuinely obscure dependence on God. Authentic devotion makes the Trinity more central, leads to sacramental life, encourages imitation of virtue, and deepens solidarity with the needy.

No Catholic is required to adopt every private devotion, apparition, patronage, or devotional story. The liturgical cult of saints belongs to the Church's public worship, while particular novenas and customs vary in authority and usefulness. Ecclesiastical approval means that a devotion may be practiced within stated conditions; it does not certify every attached historical claim or promise. The faithful may prefer a simple spirituality centered on Scripture and the liturgy without despising forms that legitimately nourish others.

Canonization as an ecclesial judgment

Canonization authoritatively enrolls a person among the saints and proposes that person's heavenly glory and Christian witness to the universal Church. It is not a declaration that every earthly decision, political judgment, theological opinion, or cultural assumption of the person was perfect. Grace heals and elevates real people with limitations. The Church proposes the person's fidelity to Christ, not an uncritical edition of everything the person said. This distinction permits honest history while preserving the religious meaning of canonization.

A modern cause normally begins only after a waiting period, though the pope may dispense from it. The competent bishop investigates reputation for holiness or martyrdom, writings, witnesses, and possible obstacles. Once the Holy See accepts the cause, the candidate is commonly styled Servant of God. A decree recognizing heroic virtue ordinarily permits the title Venerable; it does not authorize public liturgical cult. Beatification permits limited public veneration, often in specified places or communities. Canonization extends liturgical veneration to the universal Church.[4]

For a confessor who did not die as a martyr, beatification ordinarily requires recognition of a miracle attributed to the candidate's intercession after death, and canonization ordinarily requires another occurring after beatification. A martyr's beatification does not ordinarily require a miracle because freely accepted death out of hatred for the faith is itself the decisive witness; a miracle is normally required for later canonization. The pope can establish or apply norms in particular cases, and the process seeks moral certainty rather than laboratory proof of sanctity.

Martyrdom, heroic virtue, and offering of life

Martyrdom requires death inflicted out of hatred for the Christian faith or a virtue inseparable from it, together with the victim's voluntary acceptance in fidelity to Christ. Being a Catholic who is murdered, dying in war, or suffering for a broadly good cause does not by itself establish canonical martyrdom. Investigators examine the persecutor's motive, the candidate's dispositions, the causal sequence, and the evidence. Contemporary cases involving totalitarian regimes, organized crime, racial hatred, or defense of vulnerable people can demand especially exact analysis of motives.

Heroic virtue means stable and outstanding practice of the theological and cardinal virtues according to a person's state of life, not constant emotional ease or absence of ordinary faults. In 2017 the Church also articulated the offering of life as a distinct path: a free and voluntary offering, heroic acceptance for charity of a certain and premature death, perseverance to death, and a connection between the offering and death. It is neither a broad synonym for generosity nor a way to bypass proof. The categories help a cause name accurately how Christlike charity shaped the person's final witness.[5]

Evidence, miracles, and historical truth

A cause collects favorable and unfavorable evidence. Archival documents, correspondence, published works, medical records, testimony, and the social setting are examined so that devotional enthusiasm does not substitute for historical judgment. The process has changed across centuries, and older canonizations cannot be expected to have modern dossiers. Critical historical work serves devotion by distinguishing the actual person from later legend. Discovering a legendary embellishment does not by itself disprove sanctity, while an edifying story does not become factual merely because it has been repeated in preaching or art.

Alleged healing miracles undergo medical and theological study. Medical consultants ask whether the diagnosis is secure, the prognosis serious, the recovery complete and lasting, and an adequate natural explanation available. Theological consultors then consider whether prayer was directed specifically enough to the candidate for the event to function as a sign of intercession. A miracle is not magic, a reward purchased by intensity, or proof that medicine should have been refused. Catholics may seek treatment and pray; all healing remains an unowed gift of God.

Canonization does not settle disputed allegations by erasing the record. When a candidate exercised leadership, questions about institutional decisions, failures of oversight, or treatment of victims require candid investigation. Personal holiness and administrative prudence are related but not identical judgments. The credibility of a cause depends on refusing both hagiographic denial and retrospective standards applied without context. Truthful memory honors God more than a polished portrait unable to survive evidence.

Relics, images, and pilgrimage

Relics are bodily remains of saints or objects closely associated with them. Their veneration follows Christian belief in the goodness of the body, the Incarnation, and future resurrection. Matter can serve grace without becoming divine: water in baptism, oil in anointing, and the bodies of believers all contradict a spirituality that treats holiness as escape from creation. Relics should be authenticated, preserved reverently, and never traded as commodities. Canon law absolutely forbids selling sacred relics and reserves the transfer of significant relics to competent authority.[6]

Sacred images make visible the communion confessed in worship. Honor shown before an image passes to the person represented; wood, pigment, plaster, and metal are not adored. The defense of images at the Second Council of Nicaea rested on the Incarnation: because the Word truly became visible flesh, depicting Christ does not deny divine transcendence. Images of saints proclaim what grace accomplishes in human lives. Superstition begins when an object is treated as mechanically powerful apart from faith, prayer, sacramental life, and God's freedom.[7]

Pilgrimage to a saint's tomb or shrine unites bodily travel, memory, penance, intercession, and ecclesial fellowship. A shrine can gather cultures and social classes around worship, reconciliation, and works of mercy. Pilgrimage is not spiritual tourism guaranteed to produce a sensation. Its Catholic measure is conversion toward Christ and participation in the Church's liturgy. Commercial exploitation, invented relics, pressure on the sick, or rivalry among shrines calls for pastoral correction rather than contempt for embodied devotion itself.

Saints in the Church's calendar and daily life

The liturgical calendar situates saints within the annual celebration of Christ's mysteries. A solemnity, feast, memorial, optional memorial, or local observance has a defined rank and scope; popularity alone does not set liturgical precedence. Universal and particular calendars allow the worldwide Church and local churches, nations, religious families, and communities to remember witnesses especially connected to them. The Eucharist remains the action of Christ and his Church even when celebrated on a saint's day, and the sanctoral cycle must never obscure Sunday or the seasons centered on the Paschal mystery.

Patron saints connect vocations, places, peoples, illnesses, and needs with exemplary witnesses and intercessors. Some patronages arise from biography, others from wordplay, iconography, translation of relics, or longstanding custom. They are invitations to prayer and imitation, not guarantees of a favorable outcome. Taking a saint's name at baptism or confirmation expresses communion and a pattern of discipleship. It should not reduce the saint to a mascot or replace knowledge of the person's actual witness.

Discernment, reform, and Christian unity

Devotion to saints has repeatedly required reform. Church authorities have removed historically doubtful names from universal observance, revised legendary readings, regulated relics, and placed popular piety in clearer relation to liturgy. Such reform does not imply that all earlier devotion was fraudulent. It distinguishes the permanent doctrine of communion and intercession from changeable historical judgments and customs. Mature devotion can endure uncertainty about a story because its foundation is Christ's victory and the Church's communion, not the attractiveness of a legend.[8]

Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches share ancient veneration of saints, relics, and icons, though calendars and post-separation canonizations differ. Many communities of the Reformation honor exemplary Christians but reject invocation or the Catholic doctrine of heavenly intercession. Ecumenical discussion benefits from distinguishing adoration from veneration, Christ's unique mediation from subordinate participation, and official doctrine from abuses. Catholics should neither conceal their practice nor attribute idolatry casually to Christians whose objections often arise from a sincere concern to protect divine glory.[9]

Every devotion is judged by the Gospel's call to holiness. Admiration that never becomes conversion is incomplete; collecting favors while neglecting worship and neighbor is a distortion. Saints point beyond themselves by showing what friendship with Christ can make of a human life. Their differences prevent holiness from being confused with one temperament, nation, class, or ministry, while their common charity reveals the unity of grace. The final purpose of their veneration is that God may be glorified in Christ and the pilgrim Church encouraged toward the same communion.[10]

Etymology

The word saint derives from the Latin sanctus, meaning "holy" or "consecrated", and entered English through Old French seint and Middle English saint, retaining its meaning as a holy person and historically used to refer to individuals regarded as holy.

The word hallow is synonymous with saint, the former derived from the Old English hālig, the same root as "holy", and refers to holy individuals. It is preserved in certain names and traditions celebrating saints, such as Allhallowtide, a period that includes All Hallows' Eve (Halloween) and All Hallows' Day.

General characteristics

The Greek equivalent of the Latin sanctus is ἅγιος (hagios) 'holy'.[19] This Greek word appears 235 times in the Greek New Testament. The King James Version of the Bible translates 191 times (as 'holy' or 'Holy') and 61 times (as 'saints').[20]

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.

Many religions also use similar concepts (but different terminology) to venerate persons worthy of some honor.[15] Author John A. Coleman of the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California, wrote that saints across various cultures and religions have the following family resemblances:[21]

  1. exemplary model
  2. extraordinary teacher
  3. wonderworker or source of benevolent power
  4. intercessor
  5. a life often refusing material attachments or comforts
  6. possession of a special and revelatory relation to the holy.

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 person's "miraculous powers", to whom frequently a certain moral presence is attributed. These saintly figures, he asserts, are "the focal points of spiritual force-fields". They exert "powerful attractive influence on followers but touch the inner lives of others in transforming ways as well".[22]

History

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.[23] The Old Testament does not present a fixed category of individual saints though related ideas appear in prophet and martyr traditions in later narratives.[24]

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.[25][26][27]

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).[28][29]

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).[30] Scholars also observe covenantal–eschatological and temple/priestly overtones in such language (e.g., judging the world/angels; participation in Christ’s altar).[31][32][33][34] Other New Testament writers vary: calling believers hagioi is common in Hebrews and Jude,[35] it is frequent in Revelation with an emphasis on prayer/endurance and is used for the same group as "believers/Christians,"[36] while 1 Peter does not use hagioi as Paul does (even as it speaks extensively of holiness).[37][38]

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.[39][40][41] Later Christian traditions (e.g. Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Protestantism) developed distinct practices of recognizing exemplary figures, but this stands apart from the New Testament’s collective usage.[42][27][26]

By denomination

Catholic Church

According to the Catholic Church, a saint may be anyone, whether recognized on Earth or not, who forms part of the "great cloud of witnesses" (Hebrews 12:1).[43][44] 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".[43] 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.[45] Sometimes the word saint also denotes living Christians.[46] 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.[47]

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."[48]

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."[49]

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[50] 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.[51] Pope John XVIII subsequently permitted a cult of five Polish martyrs.[51] Pope Benedict VIII later declared the Armenian hermit Simeon of Mantua to be a saint, but it was not until the pontificate of Pope Innocent III that the popes reserved to themselves the exclusive authority to canonize saints, so that local bishops needed the confirmation of the Pope.[51] Walter of Pontoise was the last person in Western Europe to be canonized by an authority other than the Pope: Hugh de Boves, the Archbishop of Rouen, canonized him in 1153.[52][53] Thenceforth a decree of Pope Alexander III in 1170 reserved the prerogative of canonization to the Pope, insofar as the Latin Church was concerned.[52]

Alban Butler published Lives of the Saints in 1756, including a total of 1,486 saints. The latest revision of this book, edited by Herbert Thurston and Donald Attwater, contains the lives of 2,565 saints.[54] 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.[55]

The veneration of saints, in Latin cultus, 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,[56] 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.[57] 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.[58] For example, an American deacon claimed in 2000 that John Henry Newman[59] (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."[60]

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.[61] In a beatification process there are four major steps:[62][63] 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.[64] If the application is approved the candidate may be granted the title Venerable (stage 2).[64] Further investigation may lead to the candidate's beatification with the title Blessed,[64] which is elevation to the class of the Beati and means that the Blessed is venerated in the liturgy regionally. Next, and at a minimum, proof of two important miracles through the intercession of the candidate are required for a canonization. Finally, in the last stage, after all of these procedures are complete, the pope may canonize the candidate.[64] for veneration by the universal church.

Once a person has been canonized, the deceased body of the saint is considered holy as a relic.[65] The remains of saints are called holy relics and are usually used in churches. Saints' personal belongings may also be used as relics.[65]

Eastern Orthodoxy

In the Eastern Orthodox Church, a saint is defined as anyone who is in Heaven besides God, whether recognised here on earth, or not. By this definition, Adam and Eve, Moses, the various prophets, and archangels are all given the title of "Saint". Sainthood does not necessarily reflect a moral model, but communion with God; there are many examples of people who lived in great sin and became saints by humility and repentance: Saints Mary of Egypt, Moses the Ethiopian, and Dismas, the repentant thief who was crucified with Jesus Christ. Therefore, a more complete Orthodox definition of what a saint is, has to do with the way that saints, through their humility and their love of mankind, saved inside them the entire Church, and loved all people.

Canonization

The Orthodox belief is that God reveals saints through answered prayers and other miracles. Saints are usually recognised by their local community, often by people who directly knew them. As their popularity grows they are often then recognised by the entire Church through the Holy Spirit. The word canonization means that a Christian has been found worthy to have his name placed in the canon (official list) of saints of the Church. The formal process of recognition involves deliberation by a synod of bishops.[12][66] The Orthodox Church does not require the manifestation of miracles, as it does in Catholicism; what is required is evidence of a virtuous life and prior local veneration of the saint.[13]

If the ecclesiastical review is successful, this is followed by a service of glorification in which the saint is given a day on the liturgical calendar to be celebrated by the entire Church.[67] 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,[68] 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.

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. Ὁσία 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".[69]

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

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,[70] 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.[71] However, Evangelical-Lutheran belief accounts that prayers to the saints are prohibited, as they are not mediators of redemption.[72][73] Philip Melanchthon, the author of the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, approved honoring the saints by saying they are honored in three ways:

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,[74] which in turn was rebutted by the Evangelical Lutheran side in the Apology of the Augsburg Confession.[75]

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.[76] 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,[77] 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."[78]

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.[78] There are some, however, in Anglicanism, who do beseech the saints' intercession. Those who beseech the saints to intercede on their behalf make a distinction between mediator and intercessor, and claim that asking for the prayers of the saints is no different in kind than asking for the prayers of living Christians. Anglo-Catholics understand sainthood in a more Catholic or Orthodox way, often praying for intercessions from the saints and celebrating their feast days.

According to the Church of England, a saint is one who is sanctified, as it translates in the Authorized King James Version (1611) 2 Chronicles 6:41:

Now therefore arise, O LORD God, into thy resting place, thou, and the ark of thy strength: let thy priests, O LORD God, be clothed with salvation, and let thy saints rejoice in goodness.

Methodism

While Methodists as a whole do not venerate saints, they do honor and admire them. Methodists believe that all Christians are saints, but mainly use the term to refer to biblical figures, Christian leaders, and martyrs of the faith. Many Methodist churches are named after saints—such as the Twelve Apostles, John Wesley, etc.—although most are named after geographical locations associated with an early circuit or prominent location. Methodist congregations observe All Saints' Day.[79] 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.[80]

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.[81] 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.[82]

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.[83] Members are therefore often referred to as "Latter-day Saints" or "LDS", and among themselves as "saints".[84]

References

  1. 1.Catechism: The Communion of Saints — Paragraphs 946–962 on communion among the faithful on earth, the dead, and the saints in glory
  2. 2.Catechism: The Church is holy — Paragraphs 823–829 on holiness, canonization, and the saints
  3. 3.John Paul II, Divinus Perfectionis Magister — Apostolic constitution governing episcopal inquiries and the Congregation's work in causes of saints
  4. 4.Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Sanctorum Mater — Detailed instruction for diocesan and eparchial inquiries in causes of beatification and canonization
  5. 5.Francis, Maiorem hac dilectionem — Apostolic letter establishing the offering of life as a path in causes of beatification and canonization
  6. 6.Code of Canon Law, canons 1186–1190 — Canonical norms for the veneration of saints, sacred images, and relics, including the prohibition on selling relics
  7. 7.Second Council of Nicaea, definition on sacred images — The 787 conciliar distinction between adoration owed to God and venerating honor shown to sacred images
  8. 8.Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy — Sections 208–247 on the saints, blesseds, relics, and sacred images
  9. 9.Council of Trent, Session XXV — Conciliar decree on invocation, veneration, relics, images, abuses, and pastoral instruction
  10. 10.Lumen gentium — Chapter VII on the pilgrim Church and her union with the Church in heaven
  11. 11.Woodward, Kenneth L. (1996). Making Saints. Simon & Sachier. p. 16. ISBN 978-0-684-81530-5. Among other Christian churches, the Russian Orthodox retains a vigorous devotion to the saints, especially the early church fathers and martyrs. On rare occasions, new names (usually monks or bishops) are grafted onto their traditional list of saints ... Something like the cult continues among Anglicans and Lutherans, who maintain feast days and calendars of saints. But while the Anglicans have no mechanism for recognizing new saints, the Lutherans from time to time do informally recommend new names (Da Hammarskjold, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Pope John XXIII are recent additions) for thanksgiving and remembrance by the faithful. The saint, then, is a familiar figure in all world religions. Only the Roman Catholic Church has a formal, continuous, and highly rationalized process for 'making' saints.
  12. 12.[12.2]Bebis, George (n.d.). "The Lives of the Saints". Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  13. 13.[13.2]"The Glorification of the Saints in the Orthodox Church". www.oca.org. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
  14. 14."Commemorations". Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod. Retrieved 9 September 2025.
  15. 15.[15.2]Jones, Lindsay, ed. (2005). "Sainthood". Thomson Gale Encyclopedia of Religion (2nd ed.). Macmillan. p. 8033. Historians of religion have liberated the category of sainthood from its narrower Christian associations and have employed the term in a more general way to refer to the state of special holiness that many religions attribute to certain people. The Jewish ḥasīd or tsaddiq, the Muslim waliy, the Zoroastrian fravashi, the Hindu rsi or guru, the Buddhist arahant or bodhisattva, the Daoist shengren, the Shinto kami and others have all been referred to as saints.
  16. 16.Gustav, Mensching. "Saint – Encyclopedia Britannica". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 13 January 2020. Shintō, the native Japanese religion, is concerned with the veneration of nature and with ancestor worship; it does not have saints according to the standards of ethical perfection or of exceptionally meritorious performance. According to Shintō belief, every person after his death becomes a kami, a supernatural being who continues to have a part in the life of the community, nation, and family. Good men become good and beneficial kamis, bad men become pernicious ones. Being elevated to the status of a divine being is not a privilege peculiar to those with saintly qualities, for evil men also become kamis. There are in Shintō, however, venerated mythical saints—such as Ōkuninushi ("Master of the Great Land") and Sukuma-Bikona (a dwarf deity)—who are considered to be the discoverers and patrons of medicine, magic, and the art of brewing rice.
  17. 17."Coptic Church Recognizes Martyrdom of 21 Coptic Christians". Vatican Radio Archive. 21 February 2015. Retrieved 31 October 2025.
  18. 18.Ben-Ami, Issachar (1998). Saint Veneration Among the Jews in Morocco. Wayne State University Press. p. 13. ISBN 978-0-8143-2198-0. Retrieved 7 September 2012. Veneration of saints is a universal phenomenon. All monotheistic and polytheistic creeds contain something of its religious dimension ...
  19. 19."Canonization". oca.org. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  20. 20."Strong's Greek: 40. ἅγιος (Hagios) -- Holy, sacred, set apart".
  21. 21.Coleman, John A., Conclusion: After sainthood, in Hawley, John Stratton, ed. Saints and Virtues Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987. pp. 214–217. ISBN 0-520-06163-2
  22. 22.Babb, Lawrence A. "Sathya Sai Baba's Saintly Play", in Hawley, John Stratton, ed. Saints and Virtues. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987. pp. 168–170. ISBN 0-520-06163-2.
  23. 23.Tenney, Merrill C.; Silva, Moisés (2011). Zondervan Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Zondervan. In the OT, this English word is used primarily to render the Hebrew adjective qādôš H7705, which means "set apart, consecrated, holy". When the plural is used substantivally, it is translated "holy ones" or "saints" (Ps. 16:3 et al.). The focus of this term is on the CONSECRATION of the subject involved, but all people consecrated to God are ideally to be free from moral and ceremonial defilement.
  24. 24.Jenni, Ernst; Westermann, Claus, eds. (1997). Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament. Hendrickson Publishers. The notion of individual "saints" does not occur in the OT, although the concept is present in the prophet and martyr legends in canonical and noncanonical literature.
  25. 25.Harrison, E. F. (1960). Baker's Dictionary of Theology. Baker Book House. p. 468. In the NT, however, saint is applied to all believers. It is a synonym for Christian brother (Col. 1:2). Except for Phil. 4:21, it is not used in the singular, and even there it reflects the corporate idea -"every saint."
  26. 26.[26.2]Tenney, Merrill C.; Silva, Moisés (2011). Zondervan Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Zondervan. In the NT the adjective hagios G41, when used as a noun, usually refers to members of the Christian church. It is used once in the Gospels (Matt. 27:52) of the saints of the former age. The other references are in Acts, the Epistles, and Revelation. All believers are called "saints," even when their character is dubiously holy. The term is applied usually to the group of Christians constituting a CHURCH, rather than to one individual Christian (e.g., Acts 9:13; Rom. 8:27; Rev. 5:8).
  27. 27.[27.2]Elwell, W. A. (2001). Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. Baker. pp. 235–236. Though rare in Acts, this is a common title in Paul and Revelation, appearing almost exclusively in the plural as a collective....In the NT also the fundamental idea of sainthood is separation to God or belonging to God. Thus the "holiness" of Christians is, in the first place, objective(1 Cor. 7:14). They are saints or holy by virtue of their being people of God (Eph. 2:19-22), chosen and loved by God (Col. 3:12), called (Rom. 1:7), inChrist (1 Cor. 1:30; Phil. 1:1), and the objects of the work of the Holy Spirit (2 Thess. 2:13). The ethical dimension, subjective holiness or saint-hood, is thus secondary, though no less important (Eph. 5:3; Heb. 12:14). The name thus bound believers to their holy God, to the great acts by which he separated them to himself, and to a life corresponding to his holiness.The name survived as a general title for Christians only through the second century.
  28. 28.Trebilco, Paul (2012). Crossley, J. G. (ed.). Identity in the New Testament. Oxford University Press. p. 129. In 1 Cor 6:2 the saints are identified as "you" … Clearly, "the saints" is a designation for all God's people in Corinth.
  29. 29.Trebilco, Paul (2012). "Self-designations and group identity in the New Testament". In Crossley, J. G. (ed.). Identity in the New Testament. Oxford University Press. pp. 129–130. Paul often uses oi hagioi as a way to designate his readers in the openings of his letters … the use of "all the saints" … emphasising the "corporate-ness" of the Christian communities … unity and oneness.
  30. 30.Trebilco, Paul (2012). "Self-designations and group identity in the New Testament". In Crossley, J. G. (ed.). Identity in the New Testament. Oxford University Press. pp. 130–131. εἰς τοὺς ἁγίους … is an abbreviation for "εἰς τοὺς πτωχοὺς τῶν ἁγίων τῶν ἐν Ἱερουσαλήμ" (Rom 15:26).
  31. 31.Barton, Stephen (2003). Holiness: Past and Present. T&T Clark. p. 201. Of great significance is the common designation "saints" (hagioi), a biblical term with eschatological connotations … "called to be saints."
  32. 32.Sumner, D.; Tilling, C. (2025). T&T Clark handbook of Christology. T&T Clark. p. 325. When Paul addresses believers … as "saints" (1 Cor 1:2), the terminology reflects a new priestly identity … explaining roles such as judging angels (6:3) and participation in the altar of Christ.
  33. 33.McKnight, S.; Cohick, L. H.; Gupta, N. K. (2023). Dictionary of Paul and His Letters. InterVarsity Press. The primary terminology associated with holiness in the Pauline corpus is from the hagios word group … Paul applies hagioi to believers … implying that holiness is an essential characteristic of the church community and all its members, not just a special class.
  34. 34.Witherington III, Ben (2016). New Testament Theology and Ethics. IVP Academic. p. 289. Calling believers "saints" or "holy ones" (hagioi) was common in the early church, and originally it may have implied something about their moral rectitude. If so, Jude is contrasting his audience, with whom he has basic affinities, with the false teachers, who are morally corrupt. It is interesting that Jude calls Jesus "master" (despotes) in Jude 4 (cf. 2 Pet 2:1, which probably is based on this text). Jesus is both Lord and Master of the believoners, but these false teachers are disowning him by their words and deeds. This was no way to treat God's gracious offer of salvation through the gospel. It should not be seen as an opportunity for moral perversity.
  35. 35.Witherington III, Ben (2007). Letters and Homilies for Jewish Christians: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on Hebrews, James and Jude. InterVarsity Press. p. 603. Calling believers saints or holy ones (hagioi) was common in the early church … Jude's vocabulary … has precedent or parallels in Paul's letters.
  36. 36.Easley, Kendell H.; Morgan, Christopher W. (eds.). The Community of Jesus: A Theology of the Church. Broadman & Holman. pp. 89–90. Revelation uses "saints" more frequently than Acts … As in Acts, so in Revelation the "saints" are identical with "believers/Christians."
  37. 37.Boring, M. E. (1999). 1 Peter (Abingdon New Testament Commentaries). Abingdon. p. 206. Paul often refers to the Christian community as "holy ones" ("saints," hagioi), but … a key ecclesiological term for Paul is absent from 1 Peter.
  38. 38.Senior, Donald; Harrington, D. J. (2008). 1 Peter. Liturgical Press. p. 190. Here "saints" (hagioi) is another term for Christians … They have been made holy by their contact with God the holy one.
  39. 39.Unger, Merrill F. (2009). The New Unger's Bible Dictionary. Moody Publishers. Positionally, every NT believer; experientially, a person eminent for piety and virtue: a consecrated person. Applied to the pious Israelites (Pss. 16:3; 34:9), Heb. qādôsh, elsewhere "godly ones," "holy ones." Also applied to members of the Body of Christ. All the saved of the NT era are saints (hagioi) by virtue of their position "in Christ" (1 Cor. 1:2; cf. Rom. 6:3–4; 8:1; Eph. 1:3; etc.). The NT refutes the idea of a special class of "saints."
  40. 40.Erickson, Millard J. (1986). Concise Dictionary of Christian Theology. Baker. p. 147. Saint. In the New Testament, anyone who is a genuine believer in Christ …
  41. 41.Thorsen, Don (2010). Thorsen Pocket Dictionary of Christian Theology. Barbour. p. 62. All who are saved, who have been made righteous because of Jesus Christ's atonement, are described in Scripture as saints (e.g., 1 Corinthians 1:2). They have been set apart for God as the church, and they are to live godly lives.
  42. 42.Patte, Daniel, ed. (2010). The Cambridge Dictionary of Christianity. CUP. p. 1123. Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, and Protestantism have various understandings … The Protestant Reformers … consider all Christians to be "saints" (1 Cor 1:2; 2 Cor 1:1; Col 1:2) …
  43. 43.[43.2]"Gaudete et exsultate: Apostolic Exhortation on the call to holiness in today's world". Holy See. 19 March 2018. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
  44. 44.Kevin Cotter. "How Does Someone Become a Saint? A 5-Step Process". focusoncampus, CHURCH. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  45. 45.What is a saint? Vatican Information Service, archived from the original on 13 October 1999
  46. 46."Catechism of the Catholic Church (Second Edition)". Scborromeo.org. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
  47. 47.Second Vatican Council, Sacrosanctum Concilium, paragraph 111, published on 4 December 1963, accessed on 28 July 2025
  48. 48.Catechism of the Catholic Church Chapter 2, Article 1, 61
  49. 49.Saint of the Day, edited by Leonard Foley, OFM, (Cincinnati: St. Anthony Messenger Press, 2003), xvi. ISBN 0-86716-535-9
  50. 50.The Catechism of the Catholic Church Archived 12 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine, from the Knights of Columbus site
  51. 51.[51.2][51.3]Luscombe, David and Riley-Smith, Jonathan. 2004. New Cambridge Medieval History: c.1024–c.1198, Volume 5. p. 12.
  52. 52.[52.2]William Smith, Samuel Cheetham, A Dictionary of Christian Antiquities (Murray, 1875), 283.
  53. 53."Alexander III". Saint-mike.org. Archived from the original on 15 October 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
  54. 54."Religion: 2,565 Saints". Time. 6 August 1956. Archived from the original on 14 December 2008. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
  55. 55."Keeping Saints Alive". CBS News. 4 April 2010.
  56. 56.The Intercession of the Saints Archived 19 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine on Catholic.com
  57. 57.Patron Saints from Catholic Encyclopedia (1913) on Wikisource.org
  58. 58.Acts of the Apostles, 19: 11–2
  59. 59."Cardinal Newman declared a saint by the Pope". 13 October 2019. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  60. 60.Jenna Russell, "Marshfield man's prayer an answer in sainthood query", The Boston Globe, 28 April 2009, B1, 4.
  61. 61.Table of the Canonizations during the Pontificate of His Holiness John Paul II on Vatican.va
  62. 62."John Paul II Sainthood: 4 Steps to Becoming a Catholic Saint". Mic. 6 July 2013.
  63. 63."4 Steps to Becoming a Saint" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  64. 64.[64.2][64.3][64.4]"The Steps of Canonization". HowStuffWorks. 20 April 2001.
  65. 65.[65.2]"CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Relics". www.newadvent.org. Retrieved 11 March 2025.
  66. 66."The Saints of the Orthodox Church". Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
  67. 67.Frawley J., The Glorification of the Saints in the Orthodox Church at Orthodox Church in America, Syosset, New York
  68. 68.Hopko T., "The Orthodox Faith"
  69. 69.Cotsonis, John A. (1994). Byzantine Figural Processional Crosses. Dumbarton Oaks. p. 70. ISBN 9780884022282.
  70. 70.A Confession of Faith Presented in Augsburg by certain Princes and Cities to His Imperial Majesty Charles V in the Year 1530
  71. 71.Apology of the Augsburg Confession XXI 9
  72. 72.Apology of the Augsburg Confession XXI 14–30
  73. 73.Smalcald Articles-II 25
  74. 74."1530 Roman Confutation". bookofconcord.org. 28 December 2019. Archived from the original on 23 April 2013. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  75. 75.Apology to the Augsburg Confession, Article XXI : Of the Invocation of Saints Archived 27 April 2019 at the Wayback Machine
  76. 76.Hebrews 12:1
  77. 77."Article XXII". Eskimo.com. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
  78. 78.[78.2]Sokol, David F. (2001). The Anglican Prayer Life: Ceum Na Corach', the True Way. iUniverse. p. 14. ISBN 978-0-595-19171-0. In 1556 Article XXII in part read ... "The Romish doctrine concerning ... invocation of saints, is a fond thing vainly invented, and grounded upon no warranty of Scripture, but rather repugnant to the word of God." The term "doctrina Romanensium" or Romish doctrine was substituted for the "doctrina scholasticorum" of the doctrine of the school authors in 1563 to bring the condemnation up to date subsequent to the Council of Trent. As E. J. Bicknell writes, 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.
  79. 79."Daily Bible Study". Methodist Church in Britain. Retrieved 15 June 2019. [T]day we reach one of the high points of the Christian Year – All Saints Day.
  80. 80.The Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church. Cokesbury. 2016. p. 104. ISBN 978-1-501-83321-2.
  81. 81."Beloved of God, Called to Be Saints", New Testament Gospel Doctrine Teacher's Manual. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah. p. 150.
  82. 82."The Sin of Idolatry and the Catholic Concept of Iconic Participation". Philvaz.com. Archived from the original on 13 April 2012. Retrieved 25 December 2012.
  83. 83.Smith, Joseph Jr. "Pearl of Great Price". Archived from the original on 17 August 2000.
  84. 84.M. Russell Ballard, "Faith, Family, Facts, and Fruits", Ensign, Nov 2007, 25–27