Saint

See also: Holy (homonymy)

The holy are men or women distinguished in the various religious traditions by their particular relation with the divine one and their spiritual rise or morals.

The impact of a saint often exceeds the space of its own religion, when its moral radiation appears universal: it is the case, for example, of Mère Teresa or Gandhi, like, up to a certain point, of all the founders of great religions.

But if the majority of the religions of India have readily syncretistic tendencies, it is not the case of the three Western monotheisms (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) where holiness is conceived within the framework of a Community or sacramental membership. Islam and Protestant Christianity refuse even the concept of saint and the worship carried to human people. That does not prevent however popular Islam from having developed, in margin of official and erudite Islam, an enthusiastic worship around the tombs of the saints.

Christianity

In a concise way, the holiness is expressed like the desire and the vocation of any man to join Christ in a state which one names " communion". It is an impossible action with the man but not with God. The holy is thus the person who arrives to this proximity.

First Church

Throughout the Old Testament, one finds, as in the Judaïsme, the assertion that only God is holy. However, because of the baptism and with the subsidiary adoption which follows, the Christians are associated and destined for this holiness, which is a universal vocation. The apostle Paul speaks about the holy to designate the Christians living in such or such city. In this direction, holiness expresses the state of communion with God, in the Church, by the Baptême.

The saints in a strict sense are those which, like the Good Small drainage canal with which it Christ known as " Today, you will be with me in Paradis" , arrived at the eternal bliss, contemplate God with the Sky and intercede for the men ici-bas.

Among the late ones, were famous saints and venerated as the such Martyr S (their bloody baptism erased very sinned) and the apostles (chosen by Christ). Other saints, like some Ascetic S, are venerated later. Thus, as of the first times of Christianity, all the faithful ones are called to holiness and can be worthy of posthumous veneration, as well men as women, the philosophers like the simple ones of spirit, some is their social condition, slave or aristocrat (see holy Druon, saint Gerlac or Benoît Joseph Labre with 18th), which is a radical innovation. Moreover, it is not, until the invention of the procedure of Canonization at the 13th century, the hierarchy which decides holiness, but the Vox populi . This one is based on the purity of the saint, and seeks it of an absolute through the faith. This search for absolute can lead until the martyrdom, until dying or enduring Torture S not to give up its faith; martyrdom is, until our time, an average privileged person to reach holiness.

Gradually, the concept of saint widened, and of many local personalities in the primitive Church and among the lately christianized populations acquired the reputation of holiness. Today, the official recognition of the statute of saint passes by the inscription in the calendar of the Church called Martyrologe .

Catholicism

to see the article Holy catholic

For the catholic , the saints form the triumphing Church and intercede near God for the men of ici-bas (the militant Church) and for the late ones with the Purgatoire (the suffering Church): it is the Communion of the saints. All these saints, who inevitably were not officially recognized ici-bas like such, are celebrated together the day of the All Saints' day.

The festival of All Saints' day, celebrated on November 1st, means, at the catholics that, beyond the restricted number canonized people, i.e. which one affirms without ambiguity the holiness and to which a worship can be addressed, many Christians, even strictly speaking not Christians (for example Abraham, Moïse, David, Job), reached the Christian ideal: the communion with God.

The saints registered with the Roman Martyrologe are those for whom the Roman Catholic church declares being sure that they are with the Paradis. They are the subject thus of a public worship (following the example orthodoxe Church) known as worship of Dulie (of the Greek δοῦλος, the servant) which is opposed to the worship Lâtrie (of the Greek λατρεία, service due to God) which is due only to God. In the case of Marie, an exception is allowed, which names Hyperdulie and which appears in the sites of appearance.

Orthodoxe Christianity

At the time of each eucharistic liturgy, at once after the dedication, the priest raises the saints gifts devoted towards the assistance of faithful and proclaims: " the saints gifts are for the saints! " And the faithful ones or the cantors protest: " Only one is holy, only one is Seigneur, Jesus-Christ, with the glory of God Père". Orthodoxe holiness is a participation in the life of Christ and the saints are called thus insofar as they are christophores, i.e. sufficiently humble and obeying in the person of Christ to represent her image accurately, in being an icon.

The orthodoxe Church is unaware of the concept of " bienheureux" , the word is equivalent of saint. She is unaware of also the lawsuits in canonization or the minimum number of necessary miracles to be proclaimed holy. When the veneration of the memory of late is spread among the faithful ones, the synod of the Church concerned meets around the primacy (patriarch or archbishop) and studies the question of the holiness of this person. It often happens that some icons were already painted with its memory. The holiness of the person in question is then proclaimed at the same time as is given one (or several) liturgical feastday and the adoption of a tropaire (anthem in the honor of the new saint). The iconographic gun of the saint is worked out then gradually.

In the orthodoxe calendar, the day devoted to the memory of all the saints is first Sunday after Pentecost.

Protestantism

Protestantism is distinguished from the remainder of Christianity in particular by its refusal of the worship of the saints (and their relics).

The Bible declares holy any person having accepted the blood of Jesus poured with the cross like necessary and sufficient erasing its sins, because all are sinning in front of God (Hebrew cf 10.29 and Romains 3.10-18). This direction of the holy word as synonymous with Christian is most current in Protestantism.

This confession insists on the assertion of the hello on the initiative of God alone ( Sola gratia , Sola fide , " only grace, only faith… "), which implies that “God alone knows those which belong to him”. So the Protestants abstain from declaring particularly whoever holy , the more so as their design of the after-life is very variable not only according to the denominations but also according to the individuals.

In traditional Protestantism, one usually calls holy the characters of the New Testament, without that giving place to the least worship, because for the whole of the Protestants, the worship is due only to God alone ( Soli Deo gloria , " with God only the gloire").

By tradition, several Protestant countries preserved as owner the saint who is famous to have played the greatest part in their evangelization: holy Brigitte in Sweden, holy Olav in Norway, etc

Islam

In the dogma sunnite, the Islam rejects any worship other than that addressed to God. One speaks associateurs to indicate those which associate with God idols, that they are material or human, for a sin named Shirk . Thus, the worship of the " saints" is interdict in the Sunnisme. However, that does not mean not to recognize the holiness of certain people. It is necessary to specify that the Sunnisme, a contrario of another religion like the Catholicisme, does not recognize a " hiérarchie". There is not thus by title of holiness, strictly speaking, declared by an authority of the worship, but rather a recognition by the believers of the holiness of a man.

That explains why in the countries of Africa, and in particular with the the Maghreb, one practices sometimes a " certain" worship of the saints, named locally marabouts. The Soufisme, whose Tariqa are widespread in the whole of Moslem space, knows also wali , term always translated by holy in the literature of French expression, although the direction of " wali" that is to say often synonymous with " guide towards Dieu" or of " maître".

In addition, the Chiisme recognizes the saints and their tomb A contrario gives place to Pèlerinage S. of the Sunnisme, the Chiisme is a religion which recognizes an official hierarchy.

Hindouism

August 1st

Buddhism

August 1st

See too

Related articles

External bonds

  • Nominis: Site of Reference for the Catholic church in France
  • " The worship of Saints" , on the official gate of the catholic liturgy

Sources

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