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THE SAINTS PORTAL

Showcased saint-related content

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

Saint Cædmon /kædmɒn/ is the earliest English poet whose name is known. An Anglo-Saxon herdsman attached to the double monastery of Streonæshalch (Whitby Abbey-pictured) during the abbacy of St. Hilda (657–680), he was originally ignorant of "the art of song" but supposedly learned to compose one night in the course of a dream. He later became a zealous monk and an accomplished and inspirational religious poet.

Cædmon is one of twelve Anglo-Saxon poets identified in medieval sources, and one of only three for whom both roughly contemporary biographical information and examples of literary output have survived. His story is related in the Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum ("Ecclesiastical History of the English People") by St. Bede who wrote, "[t]here was in the Monastery of this Abbess a certain brother particularly remarkable for the Grace of God, who was wont to make religious verses, so that whatever was interpreted to him out of scripture, he soon after put the same into poetical expressions of much sweetness and humility in English, which was his native language. By his verse the minds of many were often excited to despise the world, and to aspire to heaven."

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Did you know...

...that the Calendar of saints of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa includes feasts for a number of individuals from Africa, including Bernard Mizeki, Robert Gray, Manche Masemola, and Charles Frederick Mackenzie?
...that Calimerius, a 3rd century bishop of Milan, was said to have been killed by being thrown into a well after his relics were found submerged in water?
...that in place of execution, Saint Cerbonius was exiled after the bear brought in to kill him instead licked his feet?

More did you know facts

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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 1A portrait depicting Saint Francis of Assisi by the Italian artist Cimabue (1240–1302) (from Saint)
Image 2Saint, 12th century fresco in Staraya Ladoga (from Saint)
Image 3Icon of St. Cyprian of Carthage, who urged diligence in the process of canonization (from Canonization)
Image 4On 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 5Eremitic Saint Onuphrius by Emmanuel Tzanes, 1662 (from Saint)
Image 6Pope Pius II canonizes Catherine of Siena. (from Canonization)
Image 7Portrait of the saintly Kanua, a Hindu baba of Mathura, India, also pictured with a halo encircling his head. (from Saint)
Image 8Dutch 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 9The 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 10The 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 11"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 12St. 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 13The Turkish atrocities in Bulgaria (1876). On 3 April 2011, Batak massacre victims were canonized as saints. (from Canonization)
Image 14Canonization of Elizabeth of Hungary in 1235. Sándor Liezen-Mayer (1863). (from Canonization)

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Related portals

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WikiProjects

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.

Featured articles

Good articles

Featured pictures

Annunciation Memling
Cabinet Card of Sojourner Truth - Collection of the National Museum of African American History and Culture
Jan van Eyck - Kardinal Niccolò Albergati - Google Art Project
Jan van Eyck - Portrait of Cardinal Niccolò Albergati - Google Art Project
Leonardo da Vinci - Virgin and Child with St Anne C2RMF retouched
Raffaello Sanzio - Madonna del Cardellino - Google Art Project
Raphaël - La Madone de Lorette - Google Art Project
Russian Imperial Family 1913
Saint Côme & Saint Damien Grandes Heures Anne de Bretagne XVIe
San Giovanni Evangelista (Parma) - Dome
Sir Anthony Van Dyck - Charles I (1600-49) - Google Art Project
Sojourner Truth, 1870 (cropped, restored)
William Holman Hunt - The Finding of the Saviour in the Temple - Google Art Project