In general, the term Saint refers to someone who is exceptionally virtuous and holy. It can be applied to both the living and the dead and is an acceptable term in most of the world's popular religions. The Saint is held up by the community as an example of how we all should act, and his or her life story is usually recorded for the edification of future generations.
The process of officially recognizing a person as a Saint, practiced by some churches, is called Canonization, though many Protestant groups use the less formal, broader usage seen in Scripture to include all who are faithful as saints.
The earliest known occurrence of άγιος as "Saint" seems to be in The Shepherd of Hermas, chapter 5 (or 13, depending on how chapters are counted), verse 2. "The Shepherd" was authored at about the same time as 2 Peter.
There are a large number of Christian saints with what appear to be pagan names. Most likely they were pagans who converted to Christianity and subsequently became Saints. However, it is possible that some pre-Christian deities (especially in Rome's area) were accidentally adopted as saints. It is thought that some cults were “Christianized” in a fairly direct manner. The basis for this is usually a similarity of names. For example, it is now commonly asserted that Saint Brigid was based on the Celtic Goddess Brigid. The goddess was popular long before Christianity reached Ireland. Another possibility is the melding of the actual life of the Saint with myths related to pre-Christian gods and heroes (see Comparative religion). There are some striking parallels to the events portrayed in the lives of certain saints and fables such as Androcles and the Lion.
Contrary to popular belief, Saints are not worshiped - this would violate the Commandments - but they are asked for help or to pray for a person. Saints are usually considered to be specific intercessors for specific problems as well. The term Patron Saint usually defines this purpose. Once a person has been declared a Saint, the body of the Saint is considered to be holy. In past centuries, the bones of saints were distributed as holy artifacts. The ring on the finger of Catholic bishops contains the Relic of a Saint. In modern times, however, there is a growing trend to show respect for the body of a Saint by leaving it alone and buried.
The Orthodox believe that God reveals his Saints to us, often by answered prayers and other miracles. For the Orthodox, canonization often happens after individuals have already begun petitioning an uncanonized saint, sometimes churches on a local level have conducted a local canonization. There are numerous small local followings of countless saints that have not yet been recognized by the entire Orthodox church.
Such was the case with the sainthood of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his family. At first the family was canonized as martyrs by the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad in 1981, after which many believers in Russia began to pray to the Tsar and his family. Miracles were reported, including one miraculous icon which prompted an immediate local canonization. In 2000, the Tsar and his family were officially canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church.
A strong proponent of a saint's canonization can be a miraculous condition of their relics (although it is not in itself alone considered sufficient). In Orthodox countries it is often the custom to re-use graves after 3 to 5 years because of the limited space. Bones are respectfully washed and placed in an Ossuary, often with the person's name written on the skull. Occasionally when a body is exhumed something miraculous occurs to reveal the person's Sainthood. There have been numerous occurrences where the exhumed bones suddenly give off a wonderful fragrance, like flowers; or sometimes the body is incorrupted, just as it was on the day the person died, despite having not been embalmed (traditionally the Orthodox do not embalm the dead) and having been buried for 3 years.
The reason relics are considered sacred is because, for the Orthodox, the separation of body and soul is unnatural. Body and soul both comprise the person, and in the end, body and soul will be reunited; therefore, the body of a saint shares in the “Holiness” of the soul of the saint.
Because the Church shows no true distinction between the living and the dead (the Saints are alive in Heaven), the Orthodox treat the saints as if they were still here. They venerate them and ask for their prayers, and consider them brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus. Saints are venerated and loved and asked to intercede for our salvation, but it should be clearly understood that they are not Worshiped; their holiness is from God who alone is worthy of Adoration. As Christ says in the Gospels, "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." (Matt 4:10). The relics of Saints are highly respected, even more so than the Roman Catholics. As a general rule only Clergy will touch relics in order to move them or carry them in procession, however, in Veneration the faithful will kiss the relic to show love and respect toward the saint. Every Altar in every Orthodox church contains relics, usually of martyrs. The Church building interiors are covered with the Icons of saints.
In the Orthodox Church, Baptism is the moment one is born again into Christ. The person entering the baptismal font is not the same person that emerges. It is for this reason that the person is given a new name; always the name of a saint. What is proper is that the person no longer goes by his old name because that person is dead, but uses the new name exclusively. It is also common that instead of birthdays, the person celebrates his Saints Day, the day on the Calendar of saints ascribed to that particular saint.
In Orthodox tradition some saints are known by the title Equal-to-apostles in recognition of their role in evangelising countries.
In most Muslim countries there are religious festivities associated with saints, such as Urs festivals in India and Pakistan or the annual Mawlid in Egypt. A great Urs is yearly held in the valley of MohraSharif where great saints still live. On these days, the local saint(s) is/are venerated, and blessings are expected. Believers are nevertheless careful to distinguish between the blessings of the prophets (particularly Moses, Jesus and Muhammad) and those of the saints.
Saints are an important component of popular Islam and are associated with Sufism, which includes many of the mystical branches of Islam. Sufism has several orders with precepts (Tarika) for students (Murid) who seek to follow the teachings of a saint. Although saints are acknowledged by many sufis, Sufism distances itself from the more animistic and cultic aspects of the Veneration of saints, which includes, as in popular Christianity, all types of religious paraphernalia and popular rituals.
See also sant and Hindu Gurus and Saints
In the modern religion of Discordianism, sainthood is given very easily. As one of the founders, Kerry Thornley, once said, "To be a saint you don't need to do anything special, you just need to suffer a lot". Discordians don't really agree on who (or what) are saints, but fictional characters are considered "saintlier" than real people, and insanity always helps. Yossarian from Joseph Heller's Catch-22, Don Quixote, and Bokonon from Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle all appear on the Principia Discordia's list of saintly folk.
Santeria, Haitian Vodoun, Brazilian Umbanda and other similar religions adopted the Roman Catholic Saints, or the images of the saints, as representations of their own spirits/deities or 'Orishas' in Santeria and 'Lwa' in Vodoun. Although there are many similarities between Vodoun and Santeria, they are different in respect to origin and language (Vodou is French, Santeria is Spanish). The adoption of Catholic Saints was fairly common in the religions that were adapted by the slaves in the New World. It can be understood as a more recent example of the absorption of pre-Christian elements into European "Catholicism" - although with Santeria and Vodoun the native religion seems to be more dominant. Different regions of the world where Catholicism is practiced have varying ways of practicing their faith.
The Catholic Church has not always condemned the practices of these "religions" or sub-sects (although there were brief local movements against Vodoun by the Church in Haiti). Perhaps the adoption of the Catholic saints is more of a testament to the durability and adaptability of religions like Vodoun. It is remarkable that Vodoun practitioners can consider themselves Catholic and Vodounists at the same time. Perhaps it is more realistic to say that elements of Catholicism were adapted into Vodoun and Santeria.