Portal:Saints

THE SAINTS PORTAL

Showcased saint-related content

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. 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. The saints are honored in the liturgical calendars of Evangelical Lutheranism and Anglicanism. 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. Depending on the religion, saints are recognized either by official declaration, as in Roman Catholicism, Oriental Orthodoxy or Eastern Orthodoxy, or by popular acclamation (see folk saint). (Full article...)

Selected biography

Henry Martyn (18 February 1781 - 16 October 1812), was an Anglican priest and missionary to the peoples of India and Persia. Born in Truro, Cornwall, he was educated at St John's College, Cambridge. A chance encounter with Charles Simeon led him to become a missionary. He was ordained a priest in the Church of England and became a chaplain for the British East India Company.

Martyn arrived in India in April 1806, where he preached and occupied himself in the study of linguistics. He translated the whole of the New Testament into Urdu, Persian and Judaeo-Persic. He also translated the Psalms into Persian and the Book of Common Prayer into Urdu. From India, he set out for Bushire, Shiraz, Isfahan, and Tabriz. On is way to Constantinople, Martyn was seized with fever, and, though the plague was raging at Tokat, he was forced to stop there, unable to continue. On 16 October 1812 he died. He was remembered for his courage, selflessness and his religious devotion. In parts of the Anglican Communion he is celebrated with a Lesser Festival on 19 October.

Did you know...

...that during the annual romeria from the Guadalajara Cathedral to the Basilica of Our Lady of Zapopan, the statue of Our Lady of Expectation is accompanied by more than 3,000,000 people?
...that José María Robles Hurtado, a martyr during the Cristero War, placed the noose that would be used to hang him around his own neck, telling his executioner "Don't dirty your hands"?
...that Australian bishop Sydney James Kirkby, who presided at the synod to elect the successor of Archbishop John Charles Wright, actively worked to not be given the job himself?

Selected saint days

1 March Saint David
2 March SaintChad
4 March Saint Casimir
7 March Saints Perpetua, Felicity and their Companions
8 March Edward King
8 March Felix of Burgundy
8 March Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy
17 March Saint Patrick
18 March Saint Cyril of Jerusalem
19 March Saint Joseph
20 March Cuthbert of Lindisfarne
21 March Thomas Cranmer
24 March Walter Hilton
24 March Saint Oscar Romero
26 March Harriet Monsell
31 March John Donne

General images

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

Image 1Saint, 12th-century fresco in Staraya Ladoga (from Saint)
Image 2Portrait of the saintly Kanua, a Hindu baba of Mathura, India, also pictured with a halo encircling his head. (from Saint)
Image 3Icon of St. Cyprian of Carthage, who urged diligence in the process of canonization (from Canonization)
Image 4The 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 5Eremitic Saint Onuphrius by Emmanuel Tzanes, 1662 (from Saint)
Image 6The Turkish atrocities in Bulgaria (1876). On 3 April 2011, Batak massacre victims were canonized as saints. (from Canonization)
Image 7John the Baptist pictured with a halo. In Christian iconography, saints may also be depicted with wreaths, palm branches, white lilies and other attributes. (from Saint)
Image 8Pope Pius II canonizes Catherine of Siena. (from Canonization)
Image 9"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 10Dutch 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 11On 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 12A portrait depicting Saint Francis of Assisi by the Italian artist Cimabue (1240–1302) (from Saint)
Image 13Canonization of Elizabeth of Hungary in 1235, by Sándor Liezen-Mayer (1863) (from Canonization)
Image 14The month of November in the Czech calendar for 1867 (detail). The calendar of saints is given for both Catholics and Protestants. (from Saint)

Related portals

WikiProjects

Religion
- Christianity
  - Saints
  - Anglicanism
  - Eastern Orthodoxy
  - Oriental Orthodoxy
  - Roman Catholicism

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.

Recognized content

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