Portal:Saints
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A saint is a particularly good or holy person, whose life and actions are considered inspirational. The term is used within Christianity, with definitions varying by denomination. English-language publications will sometimes use saint to describe a revered person from another religion. The word itself means “holy” and is derived from the Latin sanctus. During periods of Christianity, many people have prayed to saints as intercessors, and communities developed strong rituals around particular saints, adopting one or more as patron saints of a locale or occupation.
In Christianity, the concept arose in early Greek Christian literature with the use of the word hagios (Greek άγιος meaning “holy” or "holy one") and in the New Testament, where it was used to describe the followers of Jesus of Nazareth. (In the Old Testament, the cognate is the Hebrew word qodesh, קדש)
Other religions also recognize certain individuals as having particular holiness (or enlightenment.) For instance, the figures of bodhissatvas in Buddhism occupy a space between people in daily life and the Buddha they work to emulate. In traditional Sephardic Judaism in North Africa, revered rabbis were honored locally in rituals at their graves. In each religious tradition, there has been an official position about the role of saints and similar figures, for instance, in theology, and there have been popular traditions that are created organically by the people.
Bernadette (the sobriquet by which she was universally known) was the daughter of François Soubirous (1807 – 1871), a miller, and his wife Louise (nee Castérot) (1825-1866), a laundress, and was the eldest of six children who survived infancy. Louise actually gave birth to 9 children (Bernadette, Jean 1845 – 1845, Jean-Marie 1848 – 1851, Toinette 1846, Jean-Marie b. 1851, Justin 1855-1865, Bernard-Pierre b. 1859, Jean 1864 – 1864 and a baby girl named Louise 1866 – 1866). Bernadette was baptized at the local parish church, St. Pierre's, on January 9, which was her parents' wedding anniversary. Bernadette's godmother was Bernarde Casterot, her mother's sister. Hard times had fallen on rural France and the family lived in extreme poverty. Neighbours reported that the family lived in unusual harmony, apparently relying on their love and support for one another and their religious devotion.
Lúcia described seeing the lady as "brighter than the sun, shedding rays of light clearer and stronger than a crystal glass filled with the most sparkling water and pierced by the burning rays of the sun." According to Lúcia's account, the lady confided to the children three secrets, known as the Three Secrets of Fatima. She exhorted the children to do penance and to make sacrifices to save sinners. The children wore tight cords around their waists to cause pain, abstained from drinking water on hot days, and performed other works of penance. Most important, Lúcia said that the lady asked them to say the Rosary every day, reiterating many times that the Rosary was the key to personal and world peace.
Saint Barbara is the patron saint of artillerymen. She is also traditionally the patron of armourers, military engineers, gunsmiths, miners and anyone else who worked with cannon and explosives. She is invoked against thunder and lightning and all accidents arising from explosions of gunpowder.
The Spanish word santabárbara and the corresponding Italian word santabarbara mean the powder magazine of a ship or fortress. It was customary to have a statue of Saint Barbara at the magazine to protect the ship or fortress from suddenly exploding.
Saint Barbara is depicted in art as standing by a tower with three windows, carrying a palm branch and a chalice; sometimes cannons are depicted by her side.
"There is not one little blade of grass, there is no color in this world that is not intended to make men rejoice." - John Calvin
The Saints Wikiproject aims primarily at standardizing the articles about people venerated by some Christians as saints or the blessed and ensuring quality articles.
Non-Christian Saints If there is an interest in including saints from religions other than Christianity, please propose those changes on our talk page and we can integrate them into the wikiproject.
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