What does a saint mean?

Historically, hundred schools of thought's views on saints are different. Confucianism believes that people who manage the world like Confucius and Zhou are saints; According to Taoism, people like Lao Zi and Zhuangzi, who are detached and natural and unrestrained, are regarded as saints. Mohism believes that saints must love others; Strategists believe that saints must be familiar with human feelings and so on.

From this point of view, there was no strict definition of saint in ancient times. He is just a perfect image in people's minds, so the individual's standards for saints are different. If you think someone is impeccable in your opinion, then you can say that he is a saint; If more people agree with you, his status as a saint will gradually be accepted by ordinary people.

Confucius and Mencius, Yao and Shun, Wu Wen, Lao Zi and Zhuang Zi, as well as Mo Zhai, who we are talking about today, are all saints. In fact, they are all factional views of the previous school, but after a long time, everyone accepted them. A saint is a perfect person, and a perfect person is a person without partiality, that is, a person without ego, that is, a person who is selfless at ordinary times. For example, Moses (Cuglia, the Salvation God) after 40 years old, Sakyamuni (Agaya, the Fuehrer God) after 40 years old, Jesus (Bashari, the Salvation God) after 36 years old, and Mencius (ethereal) in China should all be listed here. '

Generally speaking, a saint refers to a person who is considered by the public to have special virtue and holiness. Some saints were specially promoted to saints by a certain religion through a certain ceremony, but others were directly recognized as saints by the public. In China, the legendary holy king or a person who is particularly accomplished in Confucianism or who is directly related to Confucius (such as his students) is generally regarded as a saint.

There are saints in Christianity (including Orthodox Christianity, Catholicism and Protestantism), Hinduism, Islam and Santiago in Cuba. Some people in the new era movement also integrated the concept of saints into their beliefs. In different religions, the definition of saint is different.

Christian saint

definition

In Catholicism and Orthodox Church, saints must be recognized as saints by the Christian Church. Only the dead can be regarded as saints, because anyone who is still alive may fall into the abyss of sin at the last minute, so before adding a person as a saint, you must have enough time to reflect on his life. Christian dogma says that anyone who is not officially recognized as a saint does not mean that they are not saints, that is, they were saints before they were recognized.

Other definitions

Some people who don't recognize Catholicism or Orthodox believe that saints are people who are directly connected with God, so that one can lead others back to God's path. Many religious leaders call themselves saints, and their followers must blindly believe.

Worship sacred objects in rituals.

It is generally believed that saints can pray to God directly through prayer, or they can pray to God on behalf of believers. Although some people are recognized as saints by the public, they are not recognized by the church.

In Christianity, saints usually add a holy word before their names. This holy word is the pronunciation and free translation of Latin sanctus. Sometimes an angel's name is preceded by a sacred word.

agree with

The saints in Catholicism and Orthodox Church are often different. Some of these differences are due to the division of the church and some are due to local reasons. In the early days of Christianity, some people were regarded as saints in their places or regions because of their holiness or miracles they created. Most saints only have local admirers, and only the most famous people (such as the students of Jesus described in the Bible and a few celebrities) will be worshipped everywhere. In the Orthodox Church, this practice is still adopted.

Shortly before the church split, the Roman church established a highly organized authentication system. Some churches that later split from the Roman church (such as the church in England) continue to accept the saints of the Roman church. The saints in the Orthodox Church are scattered and sometimes inconsistent, because there is no central organization in the Orthodox Church, and archbishops in many places decide their own saints.

Even within Catholicism, groups in different regions and directions worship different saints in different ways. Some saints are worshipped only in their hometown, and some religious orders mainly worship those who are recognized as saints in their religious orders. In the Orthodox Church, the dead members of a parish will be commemorated by the church for a long time after their death.

Related customs

A related custom is to worship sacred objects. Sacred objects in Christianity are generally a part of a saint's body (usually bone fragments) or used items. The worship of sacred objects is similar to the worship of icons. The worship of sacred objects has existed since the beginning of Christianity. At that time, Christians often hid in the cellar to participate in sacred affairs, that is, to use the bodies of their dead believers. At the same time, Christianity believes in the resurrection of Christ and the resurrection of all other Christians one day. Their trust in miracles leads to the worship of sacred objects.

In Catholicism and Orthodox Christianity, Christians often name their children after saints. They hope that these saints can pray and bless people with their names. Usually the saint's anniversary is also his naming day.

Although there are many similarities between the Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church in the rituals and sources of saints, the two churches do not recognize each other's lists of saints.

historical

Some Christian saints may never have existed. It is not easy to prove that they don't exist, and the lack of other documents about them doesn't necessarily mean that they don't exist. It is possible that some gods in ancient Roman mythology and other gods in pre-Christian beliefs were accepted as saints. It has been verified that some small religious groups have joined Christianity as a whole. The names of some early Christian saints are very similar to the names of local ancient gods. Besides, both the Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church believe that not all saints are on their list. Because not all saints are known. But saints are not created by the church, but by God, and the church only recognizes them. So there are also saints unknown to the church.

Hinduism

Hinduism also has many saints.

Buddhism

Some people think that bodhisattvas in Buddhism are similar to saints in other religions.

Islamism

Although Islamic scholars do not recognize saints, the worship of their tombs and holy places is very common in Islam, which exists in all parts of the Islamic world, including the very dogmatic Arabian Peninsula. Islam believes that saints have the ability to communicate directly with Allah, so they can create miracles and bless.

In most Muslim countries, there are festivals related to saints. In these festivals, local saints are worshipped and believers hope to get their blessings. But the blessing of saints is different from that of prophets.

In folk Islam, saints are a very important part. Especially in Sufism of Islamic mysticism, saints play an important role. Sufism has different lessons for scholars who follow saints. Different from the worship of saints in Christianity, there is no worship of saints or rituals dedicated to saints in Sufi school.

Santlya religion

The worship of saints by Catholicism is the foundation of santria in Cuba. In Santoria, saints are integrated with the gods in Yoruba mythology. They are worshipped by saints in the church and as gods in the Santria Festival.

There are no fixed standards for saints. Everyone has a ruler in his heart. When you are very knowledgeable, your ruler is very clear. The more you admire the idea of a saint, the more likely you are to respect it as a saint.

Because scholars are the favorite group, often a group, and a group of scholars respect the same saint.

For people with poor knowledge, we can only follow the thinking of learned people and respect the sacredness of others.

Therefore, the key to holiness lies in whether his/her thoughts are respected by future generations, in that holiness is not specific to that person in a certain period, but in that person's thoughts and theories. Can spread for thousands of years, continuous, should be considered "sacred".

Saint Confucius