Catholicism is well known for its veneration of saints – but what does this mean? The term “saint” has three levels of usage.

At its most basic level, “saint” simply means a holy person. It is an adaptation of the Latin word “sanctus,” meaning “holy.” Many languages (e.g. Spanish) in fact use the same word for “holy” and “saint.” At times the Scriptures refer to the members of the Church on earth as the saints (in other words, “holy ones”). For example, Paul does this in his farewell in Philippians 4:21. 

The second sense of “saint” refers in general to those who have died and are now in heaven. The Book of Revelation connects these first two usages when it talks about the interaction of the “saints” on earth with those in heaven: [The Lamb] came and received the scroll from the right hand of the one who sat on the throne. When he took it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each of the elders held a harp and gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of the holy ones (Revelation 5:7-8).

Here, we see the twenty-four elders in heaven (i.e. the heads of the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve Apostles) receiving the prayers of the holy ones (literally “saints”) on earth, symbolized by the gold bowls of incense. Those in heaven then present these prayers at the throne of God. On a side note, this scripture passage also helps clarify a common misconception about the Catholic veneration of saints, thinking that we “worship the saints” as a form of idolatry. It is important to understand that we don’t pray to them in the same sense as praying to God. Rather, we are asking them to pray for us by presenting our petitions to God, much like we ask those on earth to pray for us. The scriptures say, “Therefore… pray for one another, that you may be healed. The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful” (James 5:16). 

A further objection might be that those who have died are in a state of stasis until awakened at the end of time. While we do believe that in a sense the saints are waiting to be “awakened” at the final resurrection, we do not believe that this means their souls are inactive in heaven. Jesus says, “but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age and to the resurrection of the dead… can no longer die, for they are like angels; and they are the children of God because they are the ones who will rise. That the dead will rise even Moses made known in the passage about the bush, when he called ‘Lord’ the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive” (Luke 20: 35-38). This indicates that the souls of the deceased are alive and active in the same way angels are. Another passage we can look at is from the Transfiguration: “And behold, two men were conversing with [Jesus], Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem” (Luke 9: 30-31). Again, we see that Moses and Elijah are able to speak with Jesus even though this is long after their time on earth.

Back to the point at hand, there is a third more technical meaning of the word “saint:” those who have been canonized by the Church. This refers to an official process by which the Church solemnly recognizes that a person is in heaven, is worthy of veneration, and is permitted for public devotion in the liturgy. This topic deserves its own article, and so I will continue this point in my next post!