Portal:Saints

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THE SAINTS PORTAL

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In Christian belief, a saint 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. In Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, Oriental Orthodox, and Lutheran doctrine, all of their faithful deceased in Heaven are considered to be saints, but a select are considered worthy of greater honor or emulation. Official ecclesiastical recognition, and consequently a public cult of 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. In many Protestant denominations 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 Jewish ḥasīd or tzadik, the Islamic walī/ fakir, the Hindu rishi, Sikh bhagat or guru, the Shintoist kami, the Taoist shengren, and the Buddhist arhat or bodhisattva also 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). (Full article...)

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Selected biography

Dunstan in The Little Lives of the Saints, illustrated by Charles Robinson in 1904

Dunstan (c.909–19 May 988) was an abbot of Glastonbury, a bishop of Worcester, a bishop of London, and an archbishop of Canterbury who was later canonized as a saint. His work restored monastic life in England and reformed the English Church. His 11th century biographer, Osbern, himself an artist and scribe, states that Dunstan was skilled in "making a picture and forming letters", as were other clergy of his age who reached senior rank.

Dunstan served as an important minister of state to several English kings. He was the most popular saint in England for nearly two centuries, having gained fame for the many stories of his greatness. Adding to Dunstan's myth was his legendary cunning in dealing with the Devil. One story relates how Dunstan nailed a horseshoe to the Devil's hoof when he was asked to re-shoe the Devil's horse. This caused the Devil great pain, and Dunstan only agreed to remove the shoe and release the Devil after he promised never to enter a place where a horseshoe is over the door. This is claimed as the origin of the lucky horseshoe. The Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Anglican Communion mark his feast day on May 19.

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Did you know...

... that Bona of Pisa, after seeing a vision of James, son of Zebedee, became a leader of pilgrimages to his shrine at Santiago de Compostella?
... that Germerius is said to have been given as much land as the shadow of his cloak could cover (about a six mile radius) by Clovis I in exchange for his prayers?
... that John Campanius, an early Lutheran missionary to Delaware, transliterated the Lenape language and created one of the first documents to be written in a Native American language?

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Selected saint days

1 November All Saints' Day
2 November All Souls' Day
3 November Richard Hooker
3 November St Martin of Porres
6 November St Leonard
6 November William Temple
7 November St Willibrord of York
9 November Margery Kempe
10 November St Leo the Great
11 November Martin
14 November Samuel Seabury
16 November Giuseppe Moscati
16 November Saint Margaret of Scotland
16 November Edmund Rich
17 November Hugh of Lincoln
18 November Elisabeth of Hungary
19 November Hilda of Whitby
20 November Edmund the Martyr
20 November Priscilla Lydia Sellon
22 November St Cecilia
23 November St Clement
25 November Catherine of Alexandria
30 November Saint Andrew

...Archive/Noms

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General images

The following are images from various saint-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1"Scripture does not teach calling on the saints or pleading for help from them. For it sets before us Christ alone as mediator, atoning sacrifice, high priest, and intercessor."—A.C. Article XXI. (from Saint)
Image 2Pope Pius II canonizes Catherine of Siena. (from Canonization)
Image 3On 4 November 1992, the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece unanimously declared saints those Christians who had been tortured and massacred by the Turks in the Great fire of Smyrna in 1922. (from Canonization)
Image 4Canonization of Elizabeth of Hungary in 1235. Sándor Liezen-Mayer (1863). (from Canonization)
Image 5The symbols of the four Evangelists are here depicted in the Book of Kells. The winged man, lion, eagle and bull symbolize, clockwise from top left, Matthew, Mark, John, and Luke. (from Saint symbolism)
Image 6The month of November in the Czech calendar for 1867 (detail). The calendar of saints is given not only for Catholics, but also for "Protestants". (from Saint)
Image 7Dutch Book of Prayers from the mid-fifteenth century showing a group of five saints, with their emblems: Saint James the Great (wearing a pilgrim's hat); Saint Joseph; Saint Ghislain (holding a church); Saint Eligius (bishop with a crosier, holding a hammer); Saint Hermes (with the armor and the sword) (from Saint symbolism)
Image 8Icon of St. Cyprian of Carthage, who urged diligence in the process of canonization (from Canonization)
Image 9Eremitic Saint Onuphrius by Emmanuel Tzanes, 1662 (from Saint)
Image 10St. John the Baptist pictured with a halo. In Christian iconography, saints may also be depicted with wreaths, palm branches, white lilies or other attributes. (from Saint)
Image 11A portrait depicting Saint Francis of Assisi by the Italian artist Cimabue (1240–1302) (from Saint)
Image 12The Turkish atrocities in Bulgaria (1876). On 3 April 2011, Batak massacre victims were canonized as saints. (from Canonization)
Image 13Portrait of the saintly Kanua, a Hindu baba of Mathura, India, also pictured with a halo encircling his head. (from Saint)
Image 14Saint, 12th century fresco in Staraya Ladoga (from Saint)

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Religion
- Christianity

The Saints Wikiproject aims primarily at standardizing the articles about people venerated by some Christians as saints or the blessed and ensuring quality articles. If there is an interest in including saints from religions other than Christianity, please propose those changes on our talk page.

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Recognized content

This is a list of recognized content, updated weekly by JL-Bot (talk · contribs) (typically on Saturdays). There is no need to edit the list yourself. If an article is missing from the list, make sure it is tagged (e.g. {{WikiProject Saints}}) or categorized correctly and wait for the next update. See WP:RECOG for configuration options.

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