A saint (from the Latin sanctus) is a human being to whom has been attributed (and who has generally demonstrated) a high level of holiness and sanctity in an exemplary life of virtuous behaviour. A saint is therefore not simply a believer but one who has been transformed by virtue and presents an example (often providing guidance) to other human beings striving to conform their lives to God. Such a person is often (but not always) recognized after their death by other human beings as someone who lived a divine life and who is in the Divine presence even in death. Saints are sometimes formally honored by fellow believers after their death being given the title of Saint before their name. Examples are the Apostles, Martyrs, and Doctors of the church.

Saints are not exclusive to Christianity. In every religion, in every nation, there are people who have been recognised as having fulfilled the highest aspirations of religious teaching and have realised God's will in their actions. In the mystical traditions of the world's religions one who has reached the uppermost level of purity and wisdom are also referred to as a saint.

Etymology

The English word saint derives from the Latin sanctus (French saint, Spanish santo, and so on). The Latin term first appears in a Christian context in the Latin translation of the Old Testament, where it is used to translate two distinct Hebrew words: קדיש /kadesh/ "holy" (as in Deuteronomy 33:3, Job 5:1, and Psalms 16:3) and חסד /hasid/ "loyal, faithful; pious" (as in 1 Samuel 2:9, 2 Chronicles 6:41, and Psalms 30:4; for related Jewish terms, see Kaddish and Hasidim). The Latin word sanctus is also used to translate the word hagios (Greek άγιος "holy" or "holy one") in early Greek Christian literature and in the New Testament, where it is used to describe the followers of Jesus of Nazareth.

Characteristics and definitions

John A. Coleman S.J., associate professor of religion and sociology at the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, wrote in 1987 that saints across various cultures and religions have the following family resemblances 1. exemplary model 2. extraordinary teacher 3. wonder worker or source of benevolent power, 4. intercessor 5. possessor of a special and revelatory relation to the holy.

In the Catholic Church, persons with stigmata, wounds of the Cruxifiction and Passion of Jesus Christ given to a person, is a sign of holiness or sainthood

The anthropologist Lawrence Babb in an article about Sathya Sai Baba asks the question "Who is a saint?", and responds by saying that in the symbolic infrastructure of some religions, there is the image of certain extraordinary spiritual persons who are "commonly believed to possess miraculous powers", and to whom frequently a certain moral presence is attributed. These saintly figures, he asserts, are "the focal points of spiritual force-fields," exerting "powerful attractive influence on followers but touch the inner lives of others in transforming ways as well."