Sainthood in the context of "Four Sages"

"The Canonization" is a poem by English metaphysical poet John Donne. First published in 1633, the poem is viewed as exemplifying Donne's wit and irony. It is addressed to one friend from another, but concerns itself with the complexities of romantic love: the speaker presents love as so all-consuming that lovers forgo other pursuits to spend time together. In this sense, love is asceticism, a major conceit in the poem. The poem's title serves a dual purpose: while the speaker argues that his love will canonise him into a kind of sainthood, the poem itself functions as a canonisation of the pair of lovers.

New Critic Cleanth Brooks used the poem, along with Alexander Pope's "An Essay on Man" and William Wordsworth's "Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802", to illustrate his argument for paradox as central to poetry.

Saints in the Russian Orthodox Church (and the preceding Metropolis of Kiev and all Rus' until 1448) are confirmed by canonization which lists the decedent into the Community of Saints. After canonization, the saint is usually listed in the Menologium. The saint is honoured by illustrating him on icons, mentioning him in kondaks or troparions, narrating his achievements in the Lives of Saints, confirming a celebration date in the Orthodox calendar and building churches and monasteries holding his name. The office of canonization is usually the last prayer to the departed (parastasa, pannychis, lity) and first prayer to the saint (all-night vigil, moleben, megalynarion).

A number of people have claimed to have had visions of Jesus Christ and personal conversations with him. Some people make similar claims regarding his mother, Mary. Discussions about the authenticity of these visions have often invited controversy. The Catholic Church endorses a fraction of these claims, and various visionaries it accepts have achieved beatification, or even sainthood.

The first reported visions of Christ, and personal conversations with him, after his resurrection and prior to his ascension are found in the New Testament. One of the most widely recalled resurrection appearances of Jesus is the doubting Thomas conversation (John 20:24–29) between Jesus and Thomas the Apostle after his death.