A saint
Channel: zakazkaraoke
Date: 2019-08-10

A saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness or likeness or closeness to God. However, the use of the term "saint" depends on the context and denomination. In Roman 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; official ecclesiastical recognition, and consequently veneration, is given to some saints through the process of canonization in the Catholic Church or glorification in the Eastern Orthodox Church.
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", with the Jewish tzadik, the Islamic wali, the Hindu rishi or Sikh guru, and the Buddhist arhat or bodhisattva also being referred to 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).
General characteristics
The English word " saint " comes from the Latin " sanctus ". The word translated in Greek is "?????" (hagios), which means "holy". The word ????? 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 word sanctus was originally a technical one in ancient Roman religion, but due to its " globalized " use in Christianity the modern word "saint" in English and its equivalent in Romance languages 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. Author John A. Coleman S.J. of the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California wrote that saints across various cultures and religions have the following family resemblances :
exemplary model
extraordinary teacher
wonder worker or source of benevolent power
intercessor
a life often refusing material attachments or comforts
possession of a special and revelatory relation to the holy.
The anthropologist Lawrence Babb in an article about 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. 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".
Christianity
Catholic Church
Further information: General Roman Calendar