THE SAINTS PORTAL
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 some 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. While the English word saint 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, the Hindu rishi or Sikh Bhagat and 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...) Selected biography
Saint Æthelberht (also Æthelbert, Aethelberht, Aethelbert, or Ethelbert) (c. 560 – 24 February 616) was
King of
Kent from about 580 or 590 until his death. In his
Ecclesiastical History of the English People, the monk
Bede lists Aethelberht as the third king to hold imperium over other
Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. In the late 9th century
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle Æthelberht is referred to as a
bretwalda, or "Britain-ruler". He was the first English king to convert to Christianity. He was the son of
Eormenric, whom he succeeded as king, according to the Chronicle. He married
Bertha, daughter of
Charibert, king of the
Franks, thus building an alliance with the most powerful state in
Western Europe at that time; the marriage probably took place before Æthelberht came to the throne. The influence of Bertha may have led to
Pope Gregory I’s decision to send
Augustine as a
missionary from
Rome. Augustine landed on the
Isle of Thanet in east Kent in 597. Shortly thereafter, Æthelberht was converted to Christianity, churches were established and wider-scale conversion to
Christianity began. Æthelberht provided the new church with land in Canterbury, at what came to be known as
St Augustine's Abbey, thus establishing one of the foundation-stones of what ultimately became the Anglican church. Æthelberht was later
canonised for his role in establishing
Christianity among the Anglo-Saxons. His
feast day was originally February 24, but was changed to February 25.
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Selected saint days
General imagesThe following are images from various saint-related articles on Wikipedia.
CategoriesRelated portalsWikiProjectsThe 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. Related topics
Saints:
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Virgin Mary -
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Saint John the Baptist -
Saint Stephen -
Saint Peter -
Saint Paul -
Saint Augustine of Hippo Traditions: Calendar of saints - Hagiography - List of saints - Symbology of the Saints Theology:
Communion of Saints -
Intercession of saints -
Martyrs -
Patron saint Roman Catholicism: Congregation for the Causes of Saints - Servant of God - Venerable - Beatification - Canonization
Muslim Sufi saints:
'Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani -
Ahmad al-Rifa'i -
Ibrahim al-Disuqi -
Ahmad al-Badawi -
Al-Shadhili -
Baha' al-Din Naqshband -
Ibn 'Arabi -
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