saints

Saints are individuals recognized by a religious community as having lived especially holy lives and, in many traditions, as being in heaven or close to the divine. The word derives from Latin sanctus meaning holy, and from Greek agios or hagios. In Christian usage, saints may include martyrs, confessors, founders of religious communities, and laypeople whose virtue was exemplary.

In Roman Catholicism, the saints are part of a communion of saints that spans heaven and earth. Canonization is a formal declaration by the pope that a deceased person lived a life of heroic virtue and is worthy of public veneration. Beatification typically precedes canonization and allows limited public veneration, often in a particular region. Saints may be invoked for intercession, and their feast days, relics, and associated miracles are commonly observed in Catholic practice.

Eastern Orthodoxy also honors a wide array of saints, with emphasis on those who sealed their faith through martyrdom or monastic devotion. Veneration is expressed in liturgy, icons, and feast days, and saints are often regarded as intercessors before God. Canonization procedures are local or regional and rely on ecclesial recognition and hagiographic tradition rather than a centralized universal process.

In Anglican and many Protestant contexts, the term saint can broadly mean all faithful Christians. Some traditions maintain calendars that commemorate particular saints, but there is no universal process of canonization. The emphasis is more on the ethical example and communal memory of holy lives, rather than formal elevation.

Saints have played a significant cultural role through art, music, and literature, and many cultures designate patron saints for cities, occupations, or causes.