Saints in the context of "Glorification"

Play Trivia Questions online!

or

Skip to study material about Saints in the context of "Glorification"

Ad spacer

⭐ Core Definition: Saints

In Christian belief, a saint, also known as a hallow, 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. Official ecclesiastical recognition, and 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. The saints are honored in the liturgical calendars of Evangelical Lutheranism and Anglicanism. In other nonconformist denominations, such as the Plymouth Brethren, and following from Pauline usage, 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 Hindu rishi, Sikh bhagat or guru, the Shintoist kami, the Taoist immortal or zhenren, the Jewish tzadik, the Islamic walī/fakir, and the Buddhist arhat or bodhisattva also as saints. Depending on the religion, saints are recognized either by official declaration, as in Roman Catholicism, Oriental Orthodoxy or Eastern Orthodoxy, or by popular acclamation (see folk saint).

↓ Menu

>>>PUT SHARE BUTTONS HERE<<<
In this Dossier

Saints in the context of Divine Liturgy

Divine Liturgy (Koine Greek: Θεία Λειτουργία, romanized: Theía Leitourgía, pronounced [ˈθi.a li.turˈʝi.a]) or Holy Liturgy is the usual name used in most Eastern Christian rites for the Eucharistic service.

The Eastern Orthodox Churches, Eastern Catholic Churches and Eastern Lutheran Churches believe the Divine Liturgy transcends both time and the world. All believers are seen as united in worship in the Kingdom of God along with the departed saints and the angels of heaven. Everything in the liturgy is seen as symbolic, but not merely so, for it makes present the unseen reality. According to Eastern tradition and belief, the liturgy's roots go back to the adaptation of Jewish liturgy by Early Christians. The first part, termed the "Liturgy of the Catechumens", includes the reading of scriptures like those in a synagogue, and in some places, also a sermon/homily. The second half, the "Liturgy of the Faithful", is based on the Last Supper and the first Eucharistic celebrations by Early Christians. Eastern Christians (and many other branches of Christianity) believe that the Eucharist is the central part of the service in which they participate, as they believe the bread and wine truly become the real Body and Blood of Christ, and that by partaking of it they jointly become the Body of Christ (that is, the Church). Each liturgy has its differences from others, but most are very similar to each other with adaptations based on tradition, purpose, culture and theology.

↑ Return to Menu

Saints in the context of Intercession of saints

The intercession of saints is a Christian doctrine that maintains that saints can intercede for others. The invocation of the saints is the practice of persons requesting saints to intercede for them; the comprecation of saints is the practice in which Christians ask God for a share in the prayers offered by the saints. The practice of the invocation of the saints is held by the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, and some Lutherans and Anglicans (chiefly those of Evangelical Catholic or Anglo-Catholic churchmanship, respectively). The Lutheran Churches and the Anglican Communion accept the doctrine of the intercession of the saints, holding that the saints (living and in heaven) pray for the Church; the practice of the comprecation of saints is accepted by these traditions, though the invocation of the saints is generally rejected by these Christian denominations (apart from certain Evangelical Catholics and Anglo-Catholics).

To intercede is to go or come between two parties, to plead before one of them on behalf of the other. In ecclesiastical usage both words are taken in the sense of the intervention primarily of Christ, and secondarily of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the angels and saints, on behalf of men and women.

↑ Return to Menu

Saints in the context of The Last Judgment (Michelangelo)

The Last Judgment (Italian: Il Giudizio Universale) is a fresco by the Italian Renaissance painter Michelangelo covering the whole altar wall of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City. It is a depiction of the Second Coming of Christ and the final and eternal judgment by God of all humanity. The dead rise and descend to their fates, as judged by Christ who is surrounded by prominent saints. Altogether there are over 300 figures, with nearly all the males and angels originally shown as nudes; many were later partly covered up by painted draperies, of which some remain after recent cleaning and restoration.

The work took over four years to complete between 1536 and 1541 (preparation of the altar wall began in 1535). Michelangelo began working on it 25 years after finishing the Sistine Chapel ceiling, and was nearly 67 at its completion. He had originally accepted the commission from Pope Clement VII, but it was completed under Pope Paul III whose stronger reforming views probably affected the final treatment.

↑ Return to Menu

Saints in the context of Culture of Bangladesh

The culture of Bangladesh is intertwined with the culture of the Bengal region of the Indian subcontinent. It has evolved over the centuries and encompasses the cultural diversity of several social groups of Bangladesh. The Bengal Renaissance of the 18th early 19th centuries, noted Bengali writers, saints, authors, scientists, researchers, thinkers, music composers, painters, film-makers have played a significant role in the development of Bengali culture. The culture of Bangladesh is deeply intertwined with the culture of the Bengal region. Basically, Bengali culture refers to the culture of Bangladesh. The Bengal Renaissance contained the seeds of a nascent political Indian nationalism which was the precursor in many ways to modern Indian artistic cultural expression.

The cultures of Bangladesh composite over the centuries have assimilated influences of Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity. It is manifested in various forms, including music, dance, drama; art craft; folklore folktale; languages literature; philosophy religion; festivals celebrations; as well as in a distinct cuisine culinary tradition.

↑ Return to Menu

Saints in the context of Caroline Divines

The Caroline Divines were influential theologians and writers in the Church of England who lived during the reigns of King Charles I and, after the Stuart Restoration, King Charles II (Latin: Carolus). There is no official list of Caroline-era divines; they are defined by the era in which they lived, and Caroline Divines hailed from England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. However, of these four nations, it is Caroline England which is most commonly considered to have fostered a golden age of Anglican scholarship and devotional writing, despite the socio-cultural upset of civil war, regicide, and military rule under Oliver Cromwell. Importantly, the term divine is restricted neither to canonised saints nor to Anglican figures, but is used of many writers and thinkers in the wider Christian church.

↑ Return to Menu

Saints in the context of Aniconic

Aniconism is the cultural absence of artistic representations (icons) of the natural and supernatural worlds, or it is the absence of representations of certain figures in religions. The prohibition of material representations may only extend to a specific supreme deity, or it can encompass an entire pantheon, it can also include depictions of a prophet, saints, or sages, or even depictions of living beings and anything in existence generally. It is generally codified by religious traditions and as such, it becomes a taboo. When it is enforced by the physical destruction of images, aniconism becomes iconoclasm.

Aniconism has historical phases in both Buddhism and Christianity, though these movements have been largely rejected as Buddha in art, life of Buddha in art, Buddhas and bodhisattvas in art, God the Father in Western art, Holy Spirit in Christian art, the depiction of Jesus, The Trinity in art, and Manus Dei are common. By contrast Islam has predominantly been aniconistic throughout their histories, including representations of major figures such as Muhammad. The view of aniconism in Judaism has been challenged, with a number of medieval Ashkenazi illuminated manuscripts collected by David Kaufmann. The earliest phases of ancient Greek religion were rich in aniconic representation, even though Greek mythology is heavily anthropomorphic.

↑ Return to Menu